VOL. XXII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. 605 



two parts of a Roman inch long, and therefore is fitter for making paper than 

 for spinning and weaving. The fourth sort was given him by Signior Boccone, 

 and found in the Pyrenees, some of which was a Roman pahn long ; its fila- 

 ments though longer, were yet thicker and rougher ; he says also that he heard 

 of another sort in Monlibus Volateranis. 



Then quoting some passages out of Pliny, Dioscorides, and other authors, 

 that have mentioned this stone, and the cloth made of it, he touches upon its 

 supposed uses for the wicks of sepulchral lamps, and from some experiments he 

 concludes it unfit for that purpose, having always found the wicks made of it to 

 go out, and not attract or continue up the oil for the flame. Next he says he 

 kept it for 3 weeks in a glass-house fire, but found it unaltered : though it 

 would not preserve a stick wrapt in it from the fire : whence he concludes that 

 the amianthus loses nothing in the fire, because it does not burn or flame ; but 

 in the handling it wastes, though not much, as he found by an exact balance. 

 Lastly, he proceeds to show the manner of spinning it, which he tried thus: 

 first he laid the stone in water (if warm the better) for some time to soak ; then 

 it is opened, and divided with the hands, that the earthy parts may fall out of 

 it, which are whitish like chalk, and hold the thready parts together ; this makes 

 the water thick and milky ; this is repeated six or seven times with fresh water, 

 where it is again opened and squeezed, till all the heterogeneous parts are 

 washed out, and then the flax-like parts are collected, and laid in a sieve to dry. 

 After which the amianthus is placed between two cards, such as wool is carded with, 

 so that some of it may hang out of the sides ; then lay the cards fast upon a table 

 or bench ; take a small reel, made with a little hook at the end, and a part to 

 turn it by, so that it may easily be turned round, which reel is to be wound 

 over with fine thread ; then having a small vessel of oil ready, with which the 

 fore-finger and thumb are constantly to be kept wet, both to preserve the skin from 

 the corrosive quality of the stone, and to render its filaments more soft and 

 pliant ; thus by twisting the thread about upon the reel, with the asbestus hang- 

 ing out of the cards, some of it will be worked up together with it; by little 

 and little, this thread may with care be woven into a coarse sort of cloth, and 

 by putting it into the fire the thread and oil will be burnt away, and the incom- 

 bustible cloth remain. But finding this way of uniting the stone with the thread 

 very tedious, instead of the thread he put some flax upon a distaff; and by 

 taking 3 or 4 filaments of the asbestus, and mixing them with the flax, he 

 found they might easily be twisted together, and the thread thus made much 

 njore durable and strong ; so that there is no need of carding, which rather 

 breaks the filaments than does any good ; only, after washing, open and separate 

 the filaments, upon a table, and take them up with the flax, which is sufficient. 



