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

396 USES OF ASBESTOS.
Great Khan. It was pounded in a brass mortar ; then wa.>;hed
to separate the earthy particles ; spun and woven into cloth
and cleansed, when dirty, by being thrown into the fire.
Bugnon, in his Relation Exacte concernant les Caravanes
{Nancy, 1707, p. 37-39.) mentions, that Amiaiitus was found
in Cyprus and on the confines of Arabia. He says, they spun
it and made stockings, socks, and drawers, which fitted close-
ly ; that over these they wore their other garments ; and that
they were thus protected from the heat in travelling with the
caravans through Asia.
Basil, Bishop of Cajsarea, shows that he was acquainted with
the properties of this substance, hy cojnparing the three chil-
dren cast into the fiery furnace without being hurt [Dan. iii.)
to Asbestos, " which, when put into the fire seems to burn and
to be turned to ashes, but, when taken out, becomes purer and
brighter than it was before*."
Damasus [in Silvestro Papa) mentions, that the Emperor
Constantine directed asbestos to be used for the wicks of the
lamps in his baptistery at Rome.
For further particulars respecting the places where amiantus
is procured, and the mode of preparing it for the manufacture
of cloth, we refer to the treatises of mineralogists and to the
Essays of Ciampini, TiUngius, Mahudel, and Bruckmann on
this particular subject. We are informed, that it is softened and
rendered supple by being steeped in oil, and i\\:xX fibres of flax
are then mixed with it in order that it may be spun. When
the cloth is woven, it is put into the fire, by which the flax and
oil are dissipated, and the asbestos alone remainsf.
Ignorance of the true nature of Asbestos caused it to be em-
ployed in the dark ages for purposes of superstition and relig-
ious fraud. Of this we have a proof in the following account
* Homilia de Jejunio, p. 111.
t Tournefort's Travels, vol. i. p. 129. Bruckmann, Hist. Nat. Lapidis. Bruns-
wic. 1727. p. 31, 32. This author says the asbestos was put into warm water,
and there rubbed and turned about. An earth separates from it, which makes
the water as white as milk. This is repeated five or six times. The fibres, thus
purified, are spread out to dry.
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