The History of Silk, Cotton, Linen, Wool, and Other Fibrous Substances; Including Observations on Spinning, Dyeing, and Weaving.

The Shepherd Boy--Sheep-breeding in Scythia and Persia--Mesopotamia and Syria--In Idumæa and Northern Arabia--In Palestine and Egypt--In Ethiopia and Libya--In Caucasus and Cora...

Varro mentions the name _Asbestos_ as a proof, that the cloth so called was a Greek invention[550]. His argument is obviously correct. The term (ἄσβεστος) means _inextinguishabl...

Structures of spiders--Spiders not properly insects, and why--Apparatus for spinning--Extraordinary number of spinnerules--Great number of filaments composing one thread--Réaumu...

Earliest mention of Flax--Linen manufactures of the Egyptians--Linen worn by the priests of Isis--Flax grown extensively in Egypt--Flax gathering--Envelopes of Linen found on Eg...

Unrivalled excellence of India muslins--Testimony of the two Arabian travellers--Marco Polo, and Odoardo Barbosa’s accounts of the beautiful Cotton textures of Bengal--Cæsar Fre...

Sheep-breeding in Sicily--Bucolic poetry--Sheep-breeding in South Italy--Annual migration of the flocks--The ram employed to aid the shepherd in conducting his flock--The ram an...

Fourth century--Curious account of silk found in the Edict of Diocletian--Extravagance of the Consul Furius Placidus--Transparent silk shifts--Ausonius describes silk as the pro...

Preliminary observations--The silk-worm--Various changes of the silk-worm--Its superiority above other worms--Beautiful verses on the May-fly, illustrative of the shortness of h...

Whether Silk is mentioned in the Old Testament--Earliest Clothing--Coats of Skin, Tunic, Simla--Progress of Invention Chinese chronology relative to the Culture of Silk--Exagger...

A. D. 530.--Introduction of silk-worms into Europe--Mode by which it was effected--The Serinda of Procopius the same with the modern Khotan--The silk-worm never bred in Sir-hind...

Superiority of Cotton for clothing, compared with linen, both in hot and cold climates--Cotton characteristic of India--Account of Cotton by Herodotus, Ctesias, Theophrastus, Ar...

Sheep-breeding and Goats in China--Probable origin of sheep and goats--Sheep and goats coeval with man, and always propagated together--Habits of Grecian goat-herds--He-goat emp...

Great antiquity of the silk-manufacture in China--Time and mode of pruning the Mulberry-tree--Not allowed to exceed a certain height--Mode of planting--Situation of rearing-room...

Testimony of the Latin Poets of the Augustan age--Tibullus--Propertius--Virgil--Horace--Ovid--Dyonisius Perigetes--Strabo. Mention of silk by authors in the first century--Senec...

The Romans were less addicted to the use of the petasus than the Greeks: they often wore it when they were from home; but that they did not consider it at all necessary to wear...

Nemesianus, in the following passage, asserts that the cord (_linea_) carrying feathers of this description had the effect of terrifying not the stag only, but the bear, the boa...

The Pinna--Description of--Delicacy of its threads--Réaumur’s observations--Mode of forming the filament or thread--Power of continually producing new threads--Experiments to as...

legumes, corn, &c.; the finer for making _sheets_, _napkins_, and _shirts_. The peasants in this district use _no other kind of linen_, not being acquainted with the culture eit...

Sheep-breeding in Germany and Gaul--In Britain--Improved by the Belgians and Saxons--Sheep-breeding in Spain--Natural dyes of Spanish wool--Golden hue and other natural dyes of...

The earliest mention of Mallows is to be found in Job xxx. 4.--Varieties of the Mallow--Cultivation and use of the Mallow--Testimony of ancient authors--Papias and Isidore’s men...

Manufacture of golden textures in the time of Moses--Homer--Golden tunics of the Lydians--Their use by the Indians and Arabians--Extraordinary display of scarlet robes, purple,...

[542] According to a statement in the Western (Missouri) Journal, about 7,000 bales of hemp, the crop of 1844, was shipped from that place last spring. It is thought that 20,000...

Fibres of the Pine-Apple--Facility of dyeing--Manner of preparing the fibres for weaving--Easy cultivation of the plant--Thrives where no other plant will live--Mr. Frederick Bu...

Magnificent dress worn by Herod Agrippa, mentioned in Acts xii. 21--Josephus’s account of this dress, and dreadful death of Herod--Discovery of ancient Piece-goods--Beautiful ma...

“The present time has been called the age of invention and improvement. But if ”there is nothing new under the sun” (a pretty fair illustration of this assertion of the wise man...

Authority for Spanish Broom--Stipa Tenacissima--Cloth made from Broom-bark--Albania--Italy--France--Mode of preparing the fibre for weaving--Pliny’s account of Spartum--Bulbous...

Camels’-wool and Camels’-hair--Ctesias’ account--Testimony of modern travellers--Arab tent of Camels’-hair--Fine cloths still made of Camels’-wool--The use of hair of various an...

The passage quoted from Isidore of Seville, in the last chapter, shows that the ancients made a cloth, the woof of which was of Beavers’-wool (_de fibri lanâ_), and which was th...

The Reverend Mr. C. Forster of Great Britain, has lately published a very curious work on Arabia, being the result of many years’ untiring research in that part of the world; fr...

Sheep and wool Price of wool in Pliny’s time--Varieties of wool and where produced--Coarse wool used for the manufacture of carpets--Woollen cloth of Egypt--Embroidery--Felting-...

A. D. 530.--Introduction of silk-worms into Europe--Mode by which it was effected--The Serinda of Procopius the same with the modern Khotan--The silk-worm never bred in Sir-hind...

Unrivalled excellence of India muslins--Testimony of the two Arabian travellers--Marco Polo, and Odoardo Barbosa’s accounts of the beautiful Cotton textures of Bengal--Cæsar Fre...

Whether Silk is mentioned in the Old Testament--Earliest Clothing--Coats of Skin, Tunic, Simla--Progress of Invention--Chinese chronology relative to the Culture of Silk--Exagge...

Structures of spiders--Spiders not properly insects, and why--Apparatus for spinning--Extraordinary number of spinnerules--Great number of filaments composing one thread--Réaumu...

Superiority of Cotton for clothing, compared with linen, both in hot and cold climates--Cotton characteristic of India--Account of Cotton by Herodotus, Ctesias, Theophrastus, Ar...

Preliminary observations--The silk-worm--Various changes of the silk-worm--Its superiority above other worms--Beautiful verses on the May-fly, illustrative of the shortness of h...

The Pinna--Description of--Delicacy of its threads--Réaumur’s observations--Mode of forming the filament or thread--Power of continually producing new threads--Experiments to as...

Great antiquity of the silk-manufacture in China--Time and mode of pruning the Mulberry-tree--Not allowed to exceed a certain height--Mode of planting--Situation of rearing-room...

Fourth Century--Curious account of silk found in the Edict of Diocletian--Extravagance of the Consul Furius Placidus--Transparent silk shifts--Ausonius describes silk as the pro...

The earliest mention of Mallows is to be found in Job xxx. 4.--Varieties of the Mallow--Cultivation and use of the Mallow--Testimony of ancient authors--Papias and Isidore’s men...

Testimony of the Latin poets of the Augustan age--Tibullus--Propertius--Virgil--Horace--Ovid--Dyonisius Perigetes--Strabo. Mention of silk by authors in the first century--Senec...

Manufacture of golden textures in the time of Moses--Homer--Golden tunics of the Lydians--Their use by the Indians and Arabians--Extraordinary display of scarlet robes, purple,...

The Shepherd Boy--Sheep-breeding in Scythia and Persia--Mesopotamia and Syria--In Idumæa and Northern Arabia--In Palestine and Egypt--In Ethiopia and Libya--In Caucasus and Cora...

Sheep-breeding in Sicily--Bucolic poetry--Sheep-breeding in South Italy--Annual migration of the flocks--The ram employed to aid the shepherd in conducting his flock--The ram an...

Earliest mention of Flax--Linen manufactures of the Egyptians--Linen worn by the priests of Isis--Flax grown extensively in Egypt--Flax gathering--Envelopes of Linen found on Eg...

Sheep-breeding and goats in China--Probable origin of sheep and goats--Sheep and goats coeval with man, and always propagated together--Habits of Grecian goat-herds--He-goat emp...

Fibres of the Pine-Apple--Facility of dyeing--Manner of preparing the fibres for weaving--Easy cultivation of the plant--Thrives where no other plant will live--Mr. Frederick Bu...

Authority for Spanish Broom--Stipa Tenacissima--Cloth made from Broom-bark--Albania--Italy--France--Mode of preparing the fibre for weaving--Pliny’s account of Spartum--Bulbous...

Magnificent dress worn by Herod Agrippa, mentioned in Acts xii. 21--Josephus’s account of this dress, and dreadful death of Herod--Discovery of ancient Piece-goods--Beautiful ma...

Sheep-breeding in Germany and Gaul--In Britain--Improved by the Belgians and Saxons--Sheep-breeding in Spain--Natural dyes of Spanish wool--Golden hue and other natural dyes of...

Camels’-wool and Camels’-hair--Ctesias’s account--Testimony of modern travellers--Arab tent of Camels’-hair--Fine cloths still made of Camels’-wool--The use of hair of various a...