4th February^ IQIS- 



Professor J. A. Lindsay, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.P., President, 

 in the Chair. 



IRISH LINEN AND SOME FEATURES OF ITS 

 PRODUCTION." 



By Sir William Crawford, J. P. 



{Abstract.) 



The Chairman said the proceedings of that evening promised 

 to be of quite unusual interest. They were to be addressed by 

 one of the most honoured citizens of Belfast, and he was sure in 

 the name of those present and in the name of that Society he could 

 give a very hearty welcome to Sir William Crawford. He could 

 assure Sir William that it was a great honour and privilege to have 

 him there. To recount Sir William Crawford's services to Belfast 

 would be a big task, and one he (the Chairman) need not undertake 

 before that audience. He was to address them on the great 

 industry that had done so much for the prosperity and progress of 

 their city, and an industry with which his own life had been so 

 very much associated. 



Sir William Crawford at the outset said the use of linen as 

 an article of clothing was veiled in the mists of antiquity. It was 

 mentioned in the Book of Genesis as in use for robing the Royal 

 princes of Egypt, and in the Bible it was frequently referred to in 

 terms of appreciation and as a symbol of purity and excellence. 

 But it was needless to refer to history, for considerable quantities 

 of linen were actually preserved in Egyptian tombs, and acknow- 

 ledged to be of the respectable age of fifty centuries. Some of the 

 linen was not equalled for fineness in modern times. Irish linen, 



