COTTON. 171 



was held ; for it is said that " the sacrificial thread of a 

 Brahmin must be made of cotton, so as to put on over his 

 head, in three strings ; that of a Cshatriya, of sana (sun- 

 hemp) only ; that of a Vaisya, of woollen thread." These 

 were probably three orders of Priests — the Brahmins, 

 Cshatriyas, and Yaisyas. " In Book viii. p. 197 we have 

 evidence of the minute attention paid by the Hindoos to 

 the mechanical arts, and of the antiquity of the process of 

 starching ; for it is directed, — 'Let a weaver who has re- 

 ceived ten palas of cotton-thread, give them back increased 

 by eleven of the rice-water, and the like used in weaving ; 

 he who does otherwise shall pay a fine of twelve panas/ " 



Another passage given by Dr. Eoyle, upon the authority 

 of Professor Wilson, would seem to imply that cotton, and 

 the process of starching it, were known at a very much 

 earlier period than that already alluded to ; it occurs in the 

 first book of the 'Bigveda/ Hymn 105, v. 8, written pro- 

 bably fifteen centuries before the Christian era : " Cares 

 consume me, Satakratu, although thy worshiper, as a rat 

 gnaws the weaver's threads." It is suggested by the emi- 

 nent Sanscrit scholar that the threads of the weaver were 

 of starched cotton, and that the rats were tempted by the 

 starch with which the fibres were dressed. 



