The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous ... - Cd3wd.com

CHAPTER XII.
MALLOWS.
CULTIVATION AND USE OF THE MALLOW AMONG THE ANCIENTS.
TESTIMONY OF LATIN, GREEK, AND ATTIC WRITERS.
The earliest mention of Mallows is to bo found in Job xxx. 4.—Varieties of the
Mallow—Cultivation and use of the Mallow—Testimony of ancient authors
Papias and Isidore's mention of Mallow cloth—Mallow cloth common in the
days of Charlemagne—Mallow shawls—Mallow cloths mentioned in the Pcri-
plus as exported from India to Barygaza (Baroch)—Calidasa the Indian dram-
atist, who lived in the first century B. C.—His testimony—Wallich's (the In-
dian botanist) account—Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the Sacontala
of Calidasa—Valcalas or Mantles of woven bark, mentioned in the Ramayana,
a noted poem of ancient India—Sheets made from trees—Ctesias's testimony
—Strabo's account—Testimony of Statius Cfficilius and Plautus, who lived 169
B. C. and 184 B.C.—Plautus's laughable enumeration of the analogy of trades
—Beauty of garments of Amorgos mentioned by Eupolis—Clearchus's testi-
mony—Plato mentions linen shifts—Amorgine garments first manufactured at
Athens in the time of Aristophanes.
The earliest mention of mallows is that given in the book
of Job, in the following words. " For want and famine they
were solitary : fleeing into the wilderness in former time deso-
late and waste. Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and ju-
nipei'-roots for their meat."—Job xxx. 4.
"We find in ancient authors of a more modern date, distinct
mention of three species of malvaceous plants, which are still
common in the South of Europe. These are, the Common
Mallow, Malva Silvestris, Linn. ; the Marsh Mallow, Althcea
Officinalis, Linn. ; and the Hempleaved Mallow, Althcea Can-
nabina, Linn.
The Common Mallow is called by the Latin writers Malva.
by the Greek MaXd^i, or MoXd;^^.
This plant was used for food from the earliest times. Hesi-
od represents living on Mallows and asphodel as the sign of
moderation, contentment, and simplicity of manners.
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