12 USEFUL FIBER PLANTS OF THE WORLD. 



Wool was more grown in ancient Greece than flax, though the latter 

 textile was produced in certain favorable districts and imported in 

 large quantities for manufacture. There was a distinct linen industry, 

 slaves being the operatives, as well as a household industry, for 

 whether in the cottage or the palace, if possible, a special room was set 

 apart for the occupation of weaving. In Homeric times not only were 

 maids and ladies of high degree familiar with weaving, but with 

 spinning and embroidery, and the distaff and spindle were often made 

 of ivory or of gold. As in Greece, so in Rome there were regular 

 linen establishments, and at the same time a domestic manufacture 

 practiced by maids and matrons. Woolen was earlier used for cloth- 

 ing by the Romans; then linen was employed, first for domestic uses, 

 then as a dress material, the women adopting it before the men. 



Regarding the early use of linen in our own country, the time when 

 American history began to be made is so recent that the word ancient 

 does not apply. It has been stated that both flax and hemp were known 

 to the ancient Mexicans or Aztecs, though I can refer to no records 

 which relate to their use. 



While it has been shown that cotton was the ancient national textile 

 of India, its cultivation and use were by no means confined to that 

 country. Flax was the aristocratic textile of Egypt, and was gen- 

 erally cultivated, but cotton was grown in the southern part of the 

 country. Cotton and linen were sometimes woven together (flax warp 

 and cotton woof), just as mixed "tow linen" is made in the mountains 

 of Virginia and Xorth Carolina to-day. These Egyptian mixed fabrics, 

 as well as pure cotton cloths, were largely used in upholstery as the 

 coverings of chairs and couches, and probably also as drapery hang- 

 ings. The cottons of India were famous, and Hindoo muslins were 

 formerly produced that were so fine that when laid upon the grass and 

 wet with dew they became invisible. The marvelous fabrics of Cos 

 and Tarentum, by some said to have been made from cotton, were more 

 likely silk, as they are described as floating like mist around the female 

 form, disclosing the contour like a gauze veil. There is also the record 

 of a muslin turban 30 English yards in length, contained in a cocoanut 

 set with jewels, which was so exquisitely tine that it could scarcely 

 be felt by the touch. It is impossible to say how far back into the 

 ages cotton was first used in India, and though it is referred to 800 

 B. C. we may be sure that the industry was old at that time. Cotton 

 was a late introduction into Greece, though it was known 200 B.C., 

 and even linen was an introduced textile, which came slowly into favor 

 at a time when wool was almost universally used. 



Turning to the Western World and to the aboriginal civilization of 

 the Ineas, we find the ancient Peruvians, with their simple handlooms, 

 were enabled to produce fabrics that were marvels of design and 

 exquisite in color and finish. Both cotton and wool were used in the 

 different articles of dress of these people with other libers. The Aztecs. 



