Bugnon, in his Rélation Exacte concernant les Caravanes (Nancy, 1707, p. 37-39.) mentions, that Amiantus was found in Cyprus and on the confines of Arabia. He says, they spun it and made stockings, socks, and drawers, which fitted closely; 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 Cæsarea, shows that he was acquainted with the properties of this substance, by comparing the three children 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[564].”
[564] Homilia de Jejunio, p. 111.
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, Tilingius, Mahudel, and Bruckmann on this particular subject. We are informed, that it is softened and rendered supple by being steeped in oil, and that 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 remains[565].
[565] Tournefort’s Travels, vol. i. p. 129. Bruckmann, Hist. Nat. Lapidis. Brunswic. 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.
Ignorance of the true nature of Asbestos caused it to be employed in the dark ages for purposes of superstition and religious fraud. Of this we have a proof in the following account which we find in the Chronicon Casinense of Leo Ostiensis, L. ii. c. 33.
His diebus Monachi quidam ab Jerusolymis venientes particulam lintei, cum quo pedes discipulorum Salvator extersit, secum detulerunt, et ob reverentiam sancti hujus loci devotissimè hic obtulerunt, sexto scilicet Idus Decembris; sed, cum a plurimis super hoc nulla fides adhiberetur, illi fide fidentes protinus prædictam particulam in accensi turibuli igne desuper posuerunt, quæ mox quidem in ignis colorem conversa, post paululùm vero, amotis carbonibus, ad pristinam speciem mirabiliter est reversa. Cumque excogitarent qualiter, vel quanam in parte pignora tanta locarent, contigit, dispositione divinâ, ut eodem ipso die, transmissus sit in hunc locum loculus ille mirificus, ubi nunc recondita est ipsa lintei sancti particula, argento et auro gemmisque Anglico opere subtiliter ac pulcherrimè decoratus. Ibi ergò christallo superposito venerabiliter satis est collocata: morisque est singulis annis, ipso die Cœnæ Dominicæ ad mandatum Fratrum eam a Mansionariis deferri et in medium poni, duoque candelabra ante illam accendi et indesinenter per totum mandati spatium ab Acolito incensari. Demum verò juxta finem mandati a singulis per ordinem fratribus flexis genibus devotissimè adorari et reverentèr exosculari.
There is no good reason to doubt the truth of this narrative so far as respects the veracity and credit of the historian. Leo Ostiensis became an inmate of the Abbey of Monte Casino a few years after the event is said to have happened, and could scarcely be misinformed respecting the circumstances, more especially as he held during the latter part of his abode there the office of Librarian. There is nothing improbable in the story. Asbestine cloth, as we have learnt from Marco Polo, was manufactured in Asia during the middle ages, and the reputed relic was obtained at Jerusalem. That the pilgrims, who visited Jerusalem, should be imposed upon in this manner, is in the highest degree probable, since we are informed, that the very same substance in its natural state was often sold to devotees AS THE WOOD OF THE TRUE CROSS, and its incombustibility was exhibited as the proof of its genuineness. This we learn in the following passage from Tilingius, who wrote “De lino vivo aut asbestino et incombustibili.”
Antonius Musa Brassavolus Ferrariensis tradit, impostores lapidem Amiantum simplicibus mulierculis ostendere vendereque sæpenumero pro ligno crusis Servatoris nostri. Id quod facile credunt, cùm igne non comburatur, quodque ligni modo plurimis constet lineis intercur santibus.—Miscellanea Curiosa Naturæ Curiosorum, Decuriæ ii. Ann. ii. p. 111. Norembergæ, 1684.