594 TRANSACTIOXS OF THE AMERICAN IXSTITUTE. 



they are composed of cotton or flax. It cau only be accom- 

 plished through the medium of a powerful achromatic microscope, 

 under which flax appears cylindrical and jointed like a cane, 

 whereas cotton is flat, not jointed, and twisted similar to a cork- 

 screAV. Cotton may be distinguished from all vegetable fibers by 

 this corkscrew form. 



I must adhere to the idea however, that the material used by 

 the Egyptians to wrap their mummies in, was generally if not 

 wholly linen ; it was the national manufacture of those people, 

 and exported by them in the form of thread, in the days of King 

 Solomon to the Kingdom of Israel, and to Greece in the days of 

 Herodotus, and continued the most esteemed article for clothing 

 until after the Christian era. In 1253 flax was manufactured 

 into linen in England. 



Flax, in Latin linum, from whence the word linen is derived, 

 is an annual, having a slender, smooth, hollow stalk, rising to the 

 height of two feet, and succeeds best in a rich, deep, loamy soih 

 When employed for making thread, the plant must be permitted 

 to grow until the seeds are ripe. 



Hemp (cannabis sativa) has a fiber much stronger than flax, 

 and is used for making canvass, &c. It was a native of Persia, but 

 .has been now naturalized over the world. It grows three feet 

 high ; the male and female are distinct in the clusters of flowers. 

 Russia grows a larger quantity and exports more than any 

 other country. Its leaves are narcotic, and in eastern climates 

 are used as the Chinese use opium, and smoked like tobacco ; the 

 seeds are frequently roasted, mixed with salt and eaten on bread, 

 when they become an increaser of pleasure and exciter of desire. 

 It is a fine graceful plant, and has grown on my farm to the 

 height of fourteen feet ; owing to its tough elastic fibres it is 

 better adapted than any other plant for the making of cordage ; 

 the refuse afi"ords an admirable fuel, and the seeds a perfectly 

 limpid, volatile oil, possessing no smell. If the plant is grown 

 on the borders of plantations it will expel all insects, and will not 

 degenerate for many years if the ground is kept in good condi- 

 tion. It may be called a smothering crop because its copious 

 foliage kills every thing that is grown with it. 



There are various other plants that yield fibers of sufficient 

 strength to be made into thread, such as he golden rod (solidago 

 canadensis), a perennial plant, growing five feet high. The sun 

 flower (helianthus) the fibers of which are as strong as pack 



