430 V. F. MARSTERS — ASBESTOS DEPOSITS OF BELVIDERE MOUNTAIN 



mineralogy of this formation, favor the view that at least a large part of 

 this terrane is sedimentary in origin. 



Early Knowledge of Asbestos and Its Uses 



It is a well known fact that the early Greeks and Romans were ac- 

 quainted with the economic uses of asbestos fiber. The idea of an or- 

 ganic origin has been attributed to Herodotus, who considered it " a kind 

 of mineral wool " which grew on trees. According to the same writer, 

 cremation cloth was made of this material, it being used to completely 

 cover the body, hold and keep separate the remains from the fuel used 

 in the funeral pyre. Pliny also speaks of it as a rare and costly cloth, the 

 funeral cloth of kings. Assuming its vegetable origin, he calls it " linum 

 vivum," the difficulty of weaving which, he says, was very great on ac- 

 count of the shortness of the fiber, which is a somewhat singular reason 

 to give, seeing that he was not speaking of chrysotile, to which the re- 

 mark might with some justice have been applied, but to the Italian 

 mineral amianthus.* 



It is known that asbestos was made use of in connection with the sa- 

 cred fires in the temples of the gods. It is also stated by some writers 

 that this material was employed in the preparation of wicks for the 

 lamps of the Vestal virgins. Strabo and Plutarch both speak of these 

 lamps, calling them aa^eaxa. (perpetual), because the wicks maintained a 

 perpetual flame without being consumed.t Asbestoslcloth was probably 

 used as well for the preparation of napkins and certain forms of dress. 

 It was not, however, until the beginning of the last century that the 

 application of this mineral product began to be recognized in the me- 

 chanical arts. Moreover, its uses as known in the olden times may still 

 be seen in Greenland and Labrador, where the natives are known to 

 twist it into lampwicks. 



While it is more than probable that asbestos paper and cloth were 

 manufactured as early as 1700, in Norway the modern history of asbestos 

 as a useful commodity dates from the beginning of the last century. 

 Early in this period we find Madame Perpenti of Cone engaged not only 

 in the manufacture of paper, but also cloth from an Italian product. Its 

 first use as a means of protection to firemen is attributed to Chevalier 

 Aldini, 1850, and a little later we find one Guiseppe della Corona, a cult- 

 ured Florentine priest, engaged in the manufacture of millboard ; and, 

 later still, Signor Albonico, having given some attention to this product 

 of the mountains of his native province, joined himself with a priest, 

 Corona, and the Marquis di Baviero, a distinguished Roman nobleman, 



* Jagnaux, Traite de Min. ; also Quenstedt. 

 fQuenstedt, Handb. der Min. 



