224 
PLTIfY's NATUEAL HISTORY. 
[Book VII. 
Lydians of Sardis the art of dyeing wool.^^ Closter, the son 
of Arachne, invented the spindle for spinning wool Arachne 
herself, linen cloth and nets f N^icias of Megara, the art of 
failing cloth and Tychius, the Boeotian, the art of making 
shoes. The Egyptians will have it that the medical art was 
first discovered among them, while others attribute it to Arabus, 
the son of Babylonis and Apollo ; botany and pharmacy are 
ascribed to Chiron, the son of Saturn and Philyra.*^^ 
Aristotle supposes that Scythes, the Lydian, was the first 
to fuse and temper copper, while Theophrastus ascribes the art 
to Delas, the Phrygian.'''^ Some persons ascribe the working 
It is very difficult, probably impossible, in the present day, to deter- 
mine to which of the nations of antiquity we are indebted for the inven- 
tion of the art of dyeing. We have notices of coloured stuffs in various 
parts of the Pentateuch, and there is reason to suppose, that the art was 
practised, at a very early period, by the Egyptians, the Phoenicians, and 
the Indians. They had even arrived at the knowledge of partial dyeing, 
or what is technically termed "printing," as applied to cotton or linen. — B. 
^6 According to Justin, B. ii. c. 6, the Athenians introduced the use of 
wool among their countrymen ; but it has been supposed that they learned 
it from the Egyptians. — B. 
^"^ Arachne is said to have been a native of Ilypsepse, near Colophon, in 
Asia Minor, and has been celebrated for her skill in embroidery by Ovid, 
Metam. B. vi. As we have sufficient evidence that linen was manufactured 
by the Egyptians at a very early period, we may presume that this ac- 
count of Arachne is either fabulous, or that, in some way or other, she was 
instrumental in the introduction of linen into Greece. — B. 
6s Nothing is known of this individual, nor have we any further infor- 
mation respecting the discovery ascribed to him. — B. 
69 Homer, 11. B. vii. 1. 221, and Ovid, Fasti, B. iii. 1. 824, speak of 
Tychius, as particularly skilful in making shoes, and other articles of 
leather. — B. 
''^ It is difficult to determine, how far we are to regard the names here 
mentioned as belonging to real or only to fictitious personages, nor is it easy 
for us to ascertain what should be regarded as the actual invention of me- 
dicine. A certain kind of medical, or rather surgical practice, must have 
existed in the rudest state of society and in the earliest ages, which was 
improved and refined by the gradual experience and increased civilization 
of each successive generation. — B. 
"1 In this, as in so many others of the arts, the original invention has 
been given to the Egyptians, while the introduction of it into Greece is 
ascribed to Cadmus. The word ces, which is generally translated " brass," 
as well as the Greek word x^^i^og, was applied by the ancients, either to 
copper, or what is properly bronze, ^. e. a mixture of copper and tin. Brass, 
the compound of copper and zinc, does not appear to have been known to 
them. With respect to the claini of the Scythians to the discovery of the 
use of copper, it has been justly rem^irked, that it is natural to suppose it 
