"Not many years since, a family at Cadiz, of Jewish extraction, still enjoyed the monopoly of manufacturing gold and silver lace."—Letter from Spain, 1863. Merletto Polichrome, or parti-coloured lace, was also invented and perfected by the Jews, and was made in silk of various colours, representing fruit and flowers. This industry has been revived in Venice, and carried to great perfection.
Senor J. F. Riano. The Industrial Arts in Spain.—"Lace."
"Spain has 8,932 convents, containing 94,000 nuns and monks."—Townsend, J., Journey Through Spain in the Years 1786 and 1787.
The aloe thread is now used in Florence for sewing the straw-plait.
Barcelona, 1892, page 225, quoted by Signor J. F. Riano. Date of book 1592.