[502] Etym. L. Lat. v. Byssus.
XII. Isidorus Hispalensis expressly states, that Byssus was a kind of flax, very white and soft.
Byssus genus est quoddam lini nimium candidi et mollissimi, quod Græci papatem vocant.—Orig. l. xix. 27.
Byssina (vestis) candida, confecta ex quodam genere lini grossioris Sunt et qui genus quoddam lini byssum esse existiment.—Ibid. c. 22.
Forster conjectures (p. 4.) that for genus quoddam lini we should read genus quoddam lanæ, and conceives tree-wool (as 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 was a kind of flax or something else.
XIII. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, testifies to the great strength of the threads of Byssus.
Cloth made of Byssus indicates firm faith:
For threads of Byssus, it is said, surpass
E’en ropes of broom in firmness and in strength[503].
Ad Cytherium in Max. Biblioth. Patrum, vol. vi. p. 264.