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

374 ANCIENT HISTORY OF
Pollux and some others call it), i. e. cotton, to be intended. His
conjecture seems probable. The remark of Isidore intimates,
that in his time it had already been a matter of dispute whether
Byssus Avas a kind of flax or something else.
XIII. Pauhnus, Bishop of Nola, testifies to the great strength
of the threads of Byssus.
Cloth made of Byssus indicates finn faith :
For threads of Byssus, it is said, surpass
E'en ropes of broom in firmness and in strength*.
Ad Cytherium in Max. Biblioth. Patrum, vol. vi. p. 264.
Yossius also quotes the authority of Jerome and Eucherius
to prove the great tenacity of Byssus. But, if Byssus were
cotton, it certainly would not have been celebrated on that
account.
The arguments of Dr. J. R. Forster on the other side of the
question will now be considered. See his Liber Sirigularis
de Bysso Antiquorum, Lon. 1776, p. 11. 50.
I. His first argument is as follows. Julius Pollux says
{I. vii. c. 17.), that Bii