SACRED BOTANY.—FLAX. 
worketh diligently with her hand .... she layeth her hand to the spindle, and her hands hold the 
distaff .... she maketh fine linen and selleth it” (Prov. xxxi. 13 et seq.) 
Linen cloth is so frequently mentioned in the history of the Jewish nation, that it must have been 
an article of common use among the people, and there is every reason to believe it was home-manufac • 
tured. When Moses constructed the tabernacle in the wilderness, it is said that “ all the women that 
were wise-hearted did spin with then’ hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue and 
of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine linen.” 
Bezaleel and Aholiab were also filled “ with the 
spirit of God in wisdom .... to devise curious 
works . . . and to work all manner of work . . . 
in fine linen and of the weaver.” “ And every 
wise-hearted man among them that wrought the 
work of the tabernacle, made curtains of fine 
twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet.” 
“ And they made coats of fine linen of woven 
work for Aaron and for his sons, and a mitre of 
fine linen, and goodly bonnets of fine linen, and 
linen breeches of fine twined linen, and a girdleof 
fine twined linen.” (Exod. xxxv. et seq). Vari¬ 
ous other texts, scattered throughout both the 
Old and New Testament writings, make mention 
of linen and fine linen as furnishing articles of 
clothing, or of common domestic use. 
" The common Flax, Linum usitatissimum, is 
an annual of erecthabit, growingtwo or three feet 
high, with round, smooth, finely striated, leafy 
stems, mostly much branched in the upper part. 
The leaves are smooth, sessile, bright green, 
lance-shaped, and alternately seated on the stem. 
The inflorescence forms a leafy panicle; the 
flowers solitary, on slender peduncles, consist of 
five, broadly ovate petals, of a fine purplish blue, 
marked with branched veins. These flowers are 
produced about July, and continue for some time 
to have a very ornamental appearance, rendering 
it a desirable border flower. 
But Flax is, after all, more useful than orna¬ 
mental. The tenacious fibres of the stem, when 
cleared of the bark and cellular substance in 
which they lie, and after being dried and beaten, 
form the commercial Flax which is made into 
linen. This fibrous substance is very tenacious 
and durable, rendering it capable of being spun 
into extremely fine threads, and woven into the 
most delicate fabrics. These fibres or threads 
have a most beautiful appearance under a high 
magnifying power—even the finest filaments 
being seen to be composed of an aggregation 
of fine tubes. 
We shall, in conclusion, briefly enumerate some of the principal uses to which the common Flax 
plant is applied :—Its use in the manufacture of linen is well-known, and already mentioned. Besides 
this, its seeds yield, by expression, an oil which is largely employed in the arts (linseed oil). The 
inferior seed, when boiled and prepared, forms a very nutritious jelly-like fattening food for cattle; the 
refuse of that which is crushed to obtain the oil also yields for animals a nutritious food in the well- 
known form of oil-cake. The seeds (linseed) are emollient and demulcent; ground into meal, they are 
used in cataplasms; in infusion they yield a valuable pectoral drink. The proportion of mucilage and 
fixed oil in the seeds is about one-fifth of the former, and one-sixth of the latter. The oil, mixed with 
lime-water, has been a favourite application to burns.—M. 
-- ~ ■ - — EWS 
Vi 
& 
LINUM USITATISSIMUM. 
