In the time of Pausanias hemp was grown in Elis. See his Eliaca, c. 26. § 4.
Dioscorides (l. iii. c. 141.) gives an account of hemp, in which he distinguishes between the cultivated and the wild. By Wild Hemp he means the Althœæ Cannabina, Linn.[548]. 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.”
[548] See Chap. XII. [p. 194.]
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 connexion 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 tongues[549].
[549] Sanscrit, Goni, Sana, or Shanapu; Persic, Canna; Arabic, Kanneh, or Kinnub; Greek, Κανναβις; Latin, Cannabis; Italian, Cannapa; French, Chanvre, or Chanbre; Danish and Flamand, Kamp, or Kennep; Lettish and Lithuanian, 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 uses 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 important:—
1. The considerable length of the fibres, which renders it difficult, on the one hand, to form a fine, level, regular thread, on the other, gives the yarn a considerably greater tenacity, so that it cannot be broken by pulling out the threads from each other, but by tearing them across.
2. The smooth and slim structure of the filaments, which gives to linen its peculiar polished aspect, and feel so different from cotton, and especially from woollen stuffs, unless when disguised by dressing. The fibres of flax have no mutual entanglement, whereby one can draw out another as with wool, and they must therefore be made adhesive by moisture. This wetting of the fibres renders them more pliant and easier to twist together
3. The small degree of elasticity, by which the simple fibres can be stretched only one twenty-fifth of their natural length before they break, while sheep’s wool will stretch from one fourth to one half before it gives way.