L 1 N 



L I N 



tlae word alfo in the fame fenfe : he fays, that in Caryftos 

 lliere was found that kind of flax which remained unhurt in 

 the fire; and Hieronymus Mercurialis thinks that the far- 

 li:lfvj of tlie ancient Romans was a word properly uled only 

 to I'pjnify the carpali.vn flax of Paufaiiias, which was not to 

 be deltroyed by the iire, and was the true linum ir.combujiihite, 

 or threads of the aibeitos ftone, or hnen made of that ma- 

 terial. Thi?, however, is not the fcrrle of the word in la!i-r 

 "limes, for we find it evidently ufed tor all linen manutaCtures 

 of whatever kind. 



Linum, Carj(/lium, in Natural HiJIory, a name given by 

 Paufanias to the alheitos. It was found plentituily in- tlji* 

 author's time, near Caryftos, a town in the Negropont, and 

 thence obtained its name. 



LiN'UM Cctharticunit Purging Jljs; in Meiiiclne, makes a 

 common purge among the country people. It is almoll as 

 rough as that of gral'iola. 



It is a fpecics of wild flax, diftingeiHicd by the name of 

 meadow flax, with fmal! flowers which appear in July, and 

 commonly called mountain-flax, growing without culture on 

 chalky hills and dry pafture grounds in m:iny parts of Eng- 

 Lnd, and is taken in infufion in ale. 



This herb is faid to be an efTeftusl and fafe cathartic ; ;m 

 infufion of a handful of the frefh leaves in wVey or white 

 ■wine, or a drachm of the leaves in fubftance with a little cream 

 of tartar and anifeeds, is direQed for a dofe. Linnsus 

 recommends an infufion of two drachms of the dry leaves as 

 a mild laxative. 



It is greatly recommended by fome in dropfies, and to 

 prevent its griping they mix aniie or fome other of the car- 

 minative feeds with it. It is given in mod chronic cafes, 

 where people's conftitutions are ftrong enough to bear it, 

 and often with great fuccefs. 



Linum Fi-Bum, or wcomluflihile, cloth made of a fc ffile, 

 {lony fubllance, of a whitifh colour, and woolly texture, 

 feparable into threads, or filaments, which will endure the 

 fire without confuming. See Ami.wthu.s and AsBf;.STUs. 



As to the art of managing this mineral, and of fpiiining 

 and weaving it, &c. the accounts we have are various. 



Marco Polo, the Venetian, gives us the manufafture of 

 the linum, found in the province of Chinchinthelas, in Tar- 

 tary, from one Curfica, a Turk, fuperintendant -of the 

 mines of that country, as follows. The lanuginous mineral, 

 being firll dried in the lun, is then pounded in a brafs mor- 

 tar, and the earthy part feparated from the woolly, which 

 is afterwards well feparated from filth ; being thus purged, 

 ic is fpun into thread, like other wool, and afterwards woven 

 into cloth, which, if foul or fpotted, they cleanfe, he fays, by 

 throwing it into the fire for an hour's time, whence it comes 

 out unhurt, as white as fnow : which very method, accord- 

 ing to the account given us by Strabo, feems to have been 

 ufed, in ordering the Cretan amianthus ; with this addition, 

 that after it was pounded, and the earthy part feparated 

 from the woolly, he fays it was combed ; and fo does 

 Agricola. 



Signior Ciampani, after defcribing four fiirts of the 

 linum, whereof he had fpecrmens in his mufeum ; the firil 

 fent him from Corfu, the fecond from Sefiri di Poiiente, 

 the third coarfer and darker than the reft, and the fourth 

 from the Pyreneans ; and rifter obferving, that though be 

 kept it three weeks in a glafs-houfe fire, yet he found it un- 

 altered, though it could not preferve a (tick wrapped in it, 

 from the fire ; he proceeds to fhew the man-ner of fpinning, 

 and makmg it into cloth, which he eftefted thus : — He 

 firft. laid the ftone in water, if warm the better, for fome 

 time to foak ; then opened and divided it with his hands, 

 that the earthy part« might fall out of it, which are wlntifti 



Vol XXI. 



like clmlk, and ferve to bind the thready parts together. 



This makes the water thick and milky. That operation be 

 repeated fix or feven times, with frcth water, opening and 

 fqueezing it again and again, till all the heterogeneous 

 parts were wafhed out, and then the flax-like parts were col- 

 letted, and laid in a fieve to dry. As to the fpinning, he 

 firft fliews a method difcovered to him, which is thr.s : — 

 Lay the linum, cleanfed as before, between two card.% 

 fuch as they card wool with, where let it be gently carded, 

 and then clapped in between the cards, fo that fume of it 

 may hang out of the fides ; then lay the cards fall on a 

 table, or bench ; take a fmall reel, made with a little hook 

 at the end, and a part to turn it by, fo that it may be eafily 

 turned round ; this reel mufl be wound over with white 

 thread ; then, having a fmall veflel of oil ready, with which 

 the fore finger and thumb are conllantly to be kept wet, 

 both to preferve the flcin from the corrofive quality of the 

 ftone, and to render the filaments thereof more foft and 

 pliant, by continuing to twift about the thread on the reel 

 in the afbeftos hanging out of the cards, fome of the latter 

 will be worked up together in it ; and, by little and little, 

 the thread may, with care, be v.'oven into a coarfe fort 

 of cloth ; and, by putting it into the fire, the thread 

 and oil will be burnt away, and the incombullible cloth 

 remain. 



But finding this way, of uniting the ftone with the 

 thread, very tedious ; inltead of the thread, he put fome 

 flax on a diftaff, and, by taking three or four filaments of 

 the albetlos, and mixing them with the flax, he found they 

 might be eaUly twilled together, and the thread thtis made 

 much more durable and ftrong ; fo that there is no need 

 of carding, which rather breaks the filaments, than does 

 any good : only open and feparate the filaments, after 

 wafliuig, on a table, and take them up with the flax, which 

 is fufficieat. 



As to the making of paper, he fays, in the walhing of 

 the ftone there will remain feveral fliort pieces in, the bottom 

 of the water, of which paper may be made in the comm.oa 

 method. He concludes with the beft way of prcferving 

 the cloth, or any thing made of the linen, which, by rea- 

 fon of its exceffive drynefs, is very apt to break, and twift ; 

 and It confifts in keeping it always well oiled, which is the 

 only prefcrvative. When the cloth is put in the fire, the 

 oil burns off, and the cloth comes out white and purified. 



Linum, in ylncicnt Geography, a country of Afia Minor, 

 in the province of Hellefpont, between Parium and Priape. 

 — Alfo. a promontory of Illyria, in Chaonia. 



LINUS, in Biography, fuppofed to be the firft biHioji 

 of Rome, was born at Voltt rra, in Tufcany. According 

 to Iren:eus he received his hilhopric from the hands of the 

 apoftles Peter and Paul, which he is fuppofed to have re- 

 tained twelve years. He is mentioned by St. Paul in the 

 fecond epiftle of Timothy, and is faid, by fome writers, to 

 have been the fon of Cla?idia, who is mtnticned at the 

 fame time. Nothing more is known of him which can 

 be relied on, though it has been faid that he teftified to the 

 truth of his principles by fuffering martyrdom ; and tw(» 

 letters in the fecond volume of the liiblicth. Patr. have been 

 alcribed to him, but there i« no goed authority for tLele 

 facts. See I^ardner, vol. ii. edit. 17SS. 



Linus. This perfonage and Orpheus feem to have 

 been the moft ancient poets and m.ufici;tns of Greece; but 

 to determine whether Linus was the mafter of Orpheus, or 

 Orpheus of Linus, would be as vain to attempt, as difficult 

 to accomplifli. All that can be done at this diftance of 

 time, is to compare the opinions of rtacicnt writers upon 

 the fulijecl, and to incline to the molt nurserous and r?- 



R fridzble 



