Читать книгу The Natural History of Pliny (Vol. 1-6) - Pliny the Elder - Страница 448

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The most esteemed wool of all is that of Apulia, and that which in Italy is called Grecian wool, in other countries Italian. The fleeces of Miletus hold the third rank.1985 The Apulian wool is shorter in the hair, and only owes its high character to the cloaks1986 that are made of it. That which comes from the vicinity of Tarentum and Canusium is the most celebrated; and there is a wool from Laodicea, in Asia, of a similar quality.1987 There is no white wool superior to that of the countries bordering on the Padus,1988 nor up to the present day has any wool exceeded the price of one hundred sesterces per pound.1989 The sheep are not shorn in all countries; in some places it is still the custom to pull off the wool.1990 There are various colours of wool; so much so, indeed, that we want terms to express them all. Several kinds, which are called native,1991 are found in Spain; Pollentia, in the vicinity of the Alps,1992 produces black fleeces of the best quality; Asia, as well as Bætica,1993 the red fleeces, which are called Erythræan; those of Canusium are of a tawny colour;1994 and those of Tarentum have their peculiar dark tint.1995 All kinds of wool, when not freed from the grease,1996 possess certain medicinal properties. The wool of Istria is much more like hair than wool, and is not suitable for the fabrication of stuffs that have a long nap;1997 so too is that which Salacia,1998 in Lusitania, finds the most useful for making its chequered cloths. There is a similar wool, too, found about Piscenæ,1999 in the province of Narbonensis, as also in Egypt; a garment, when it has been worn for some time, is often embroidered with this wool, and will last for a considerable time.

The thick, flocky wool has been esteemed for the manufacture of carpets from the very earliest times; it is quite clear, from what we read in Homer, that they were in use in his time.2000 The Gauls embroider them in a different manner from that which is practised by the Parthians.2001 Wool is compressed also for making a felt,2002 which, if soaked in vinegar,2003 is capable of resisting iron even; and, what is still more, after having gone through the last process,2004 wool will even resist fire; the refuse, too, when taken out of the vat of the scourer, is used for making mattresses,2005 an invention, I fancy, of the Gauls. At all events, it is by Gallic names that we distinguish the different sort of mattresses2006 at the present day; but I am not well able to say at what period wool began to be employed for this purpose. Our ancestors made use of straw2007 for the purpose of sleeping upon, just as they do at present when in camp. The gausapa2008 has been brought into use in my father’s memory, and I myself recollect the amphimalla2009 and the long shaggy apron2010 being introduced; but at the present day, the laticlave tunic2011 is beginning to be manufactured, in imitation of the gausapa.2012 Black wool will take no colour. I shall describe the mode of dyeing the other kinds of wool when speaking of the sea-purple,2013 or of the nature of various plants.2014