Искусства и ремесла Средневековья

Eшbгoideгies

187

has clung to it, and that is why thin paper is called " tissue paper " to-day. St. Peter's in Rome possessed а great pair of silver cшtains, which hung at the entrance to the church, given Ьу Роре Stephcn IV. in the eightl1 century. Vitruvius tells how to preserve the gold in old em­ broidery, or in worn-out textiles ,vheгe the metal has been extensively used. Не says: " "\Vhen gold is em­ broidered on а garment which is worn out, and no longer fit for use, the cloth is bшnt оvег the fire in eartheп pots. The ashes are thrown into ,vater, and quicksilver added to them. This collects all particles of gold, and unites witl1 them. The wate1· is theп poured off, and the гe­ siduum placed in а cloth, which, ,vl1en squeezed with the Ьands suffers the liquid quicksilver to pass through the pores of the cloth, but retains the gold in а шass within it." An early allнsion to asbcstos woven as а cloth is шаdе Ьу Магео Polo, sho,Ying that fire-proof fabrics \Yere known in his time. In the province of Chinchin­ talas, " there is а mountain wherein аге mincs of stcel . . . and also, as was reported, salamanders, of the ,vool of \Yhich cloth ,vas made, which if cast into the fire, cannot burn. But that cloth is in reality made of stone in this manneг, as one of ту companions а Turk, named Curifar, а man endued with singular industry, informed me, wlю had charge of the minerals in that province. А certain mineral is found in that mountain whicЬ yields threads not unlike wool; and these being dr·ied