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

HEMP BY THE ANCIENTS. 389
Dioscorides {I. iii. c. 141.) gives an account of hemp, in which
he distinguishes between the cultivated and the wild. By
Wild Hemp he means the Althoese Cannabina, Lin?!.*. He
observes respecting the Cultivated Hemp, by which he meant
proper hemp, the Cannabis Sativa, Linn., that it was "of great
use for twisting the strongest ropes."
On the whole we may conclude, that hemp was not the
natural growth either of Italy, Greece, or Asia Minor, but was
confined, as it still is in a great degree, to countries lying further
north and having a more rigid climate. The intimate con-
nexion of the Romans with the Greek colony of Marseilles
may have brought it among the Sabines, as the active trade
between the Euxine and Miletus may have introduced it into
Caria. With the material its name was also imported, and this
is substantially the same in all the languages of Europe, as
well as in many Asiatic tonguest.
* See Chap. XII. p. 194.
+ Sanscrit, Goni, Sana, or Siianapu ; Persic, Canna ; Arabic, Kanneh, or
KiNNUB ; Greek, Kannabis ; Latin, Cannabis ; Italian, Cannapa ; French, Ciian-
VRE, or Chanbre ;
Danish and Flamand, Kamp, or Kennep; Lettish and Lithu-
anian, Kannapes ; Slavonian, Konopi ; Erse, Canaib ; Scandinavian, Hampr ;
Swedish, Hampa ; German, Hanf ; Anglo-Saxon, Haenep ; English, Hemp. Our
English word Canvass (French, Canevas,) has the same origin, meaning cloth
made of hemp (Canav).
Hemp is comparatively rare in India, as well as flax ; and, as flax is there
only used for obtaining oil, so hemp is never used for making cordage or for
weaving, but only for smoking on account of the narcotic qualities of its leaves.
(Wissett on Hemp, p. 20, 25.) Its name Sana, Sunu, or Gonu, is given also to
the Crotalaria Juncea, which is principally applied by the Indians to the same
usee as hemp in Europe. See Chap. XIII. p. 202.
If we compare flax with other spinning materials, such as wool and cotton, we
shall find it to possess several characteristic properties. While cotton and wool
are presented by nature in the form of insulated fibres, the former requiring merely
to be separated from its seeds, and the latter to be purified from dirt and grease
before being delivered to the spinner, flax must have its filaments separated from
each other by tedious and painful treatment. In reference to the spinning and
the subsequent operations, the following properties of flax are influential and im-
portant :
—
1. The considerable length of the fibres, which renders it difllcult, on the one
hand, to form a fine, level, regular thread, on the other, gives the yam a consid-
erably greater tenacity, so that it cannot be broken by pulling out the threads
from each other, but by tearing them across.