[Sca-cooks] more on period asbestos

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius adamantius1 at verizon.net
Wed Dec 15 05:24:26 PST 2010


On Dec 15, 2010, at 2:10 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Pliny the Elder, book 19
> 
> CHAP. 4.--LINEN MADE OF ASBESTOS.
> 
> There has been invented also a kind of linen which is incombustible by
> flame. It is generally known as "live"1 linen, and I have seen, before
> now, napkins2 that were made of it [p. 4137] thrown into a blazing
> fire, in the room where the guests were at table, and after the stains
> were burnt out, come forth from the flames whiter and cleaner than
> they could possibly have been rendered by the aid of water. It is from
> this material that the corpse-cloths of monarchs are made, to ensure
> the separation of the ashes of the body from those of the pile. This
> substance grows3 in the deserts of India,4 scorched by the burning
> rays of the sun: here, where no rain is ever known to fall, and amid
> multitudes of deadly serpents, it becomes habituated to resist the
> action of fire. Rarely to be found, it presents considerable
> difficulties in weaving it into a tissue, in consequence of its
> shortness; its colour is naturally red, and it only becomes white
> through the agency of fire. By those who find it, it is sold at prices
> equal to those given for the finest pearls; by the Greeks it is called
> "asbestinon,"5 a name which indicates its peculiar properties.
> Anaxila?s6 makes a statement to the effect that if a tree is
> surrounded with linen made of this substance, the noise of the blows
> given by the axe will be deadened thereby, and that the tree may be
> cut down without their being heard. For these qualities it is that
> this linen occupies the very highest rank among all the kinds that are
> known.
> 
> http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137&query=head%3D%231153
>>>> 
> 
> I don't have a copy of the original text, but even if I did, I could read and interpret it. Is there anyone here who can? Of course even if asbestos was known and used, that doesn't mean Charlemange did. Even if Charlemange didn't, it doesn't say it wasn't used.

Interesting about the asbestos ash-preserving body bag. My older brother, who is probably only as old as Pliny the Younger, apparently holds a patent (or possibly he invented it and the US DoD holds the patent for which he also wrote the abstract?) for a document pouch which allows for the incineration of documents placed inside without completely destroying the pouch, so the ashes can be disposed of separately. Yes, apparently ashes can be Classified, and have to be disposed of separately from no-account, shiftless, layabout. ordinary ashes.

Adamantius






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls, when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter




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