by the churches in the use of altar cloths and vestments, and ere the Ship of Human Progress had set full sail, it was reinstated in the wardrobe of all intelligent persons.

So common was linen apparel in England in 1357 that a statute was passed declaring that laborers in husbandry should only wear a blanket and russet and girdle of linen. And if, as Swedenborg tells us, human garments denote states of wisdom, and are, therefore, much spoken of in the Bible, then linen should be the garb of all wise men.

Gradually the demand far exceeded the supply, for though flax grows wild in Persia, that quality of fibre which is suitable for linen, is the result of only careful cultivation in the countries of Russia, Belgium, Germany and Ireland. Considerable labor, as well as skill, is needed in the raising of flax, and it is for this reason that America, using more of this cloth than any other country in the world, is forced to buy almost her entire supply from foreign countries, her linen imports averaging $30,000,000 annually. Recent investigations and experiments have created quite a favorable impression for the northern part of the Pacific Coast as a flax raising country. At the present time, flax is raised by thousands of tons in this country, but it is for seed only, and the fibre cannot be used. Flax for fibre must be grown tall and slender, while for seed a low, bushy growth is desirable.

It will take some years of education and experience, however, before fibre flax raising can be put on a good footing, for the care of the plant from the seed to the yarn, is no ordinary work.

First, it can only be grown in a locality where the air is moist and no severe wind or rain storms play havoc with the crop between the months of May and August. The temperature should be from 50 to 60 degrees, and the humidity from 65 to 78 per cent.

Flax should not be returned to the same soil before the lapse of at least five years in order to allow the earth to enrich itself and throw off any tendency to weeds by a rotation in crops.

The fibre is of such delicate organism that too great care cannot be taken of it, and in some parts of Europe, where the soil seems to be infested with wild growth, persons weed by hand at stated intervals.

When in bloom, one cannot desire a prettier sight than a field of flax. The stalk, a beautiful, fresh, soft green, is topped off with a little blossom of what might be called a deep shade of pale blue. The blending of the two colors is exquisite to lovers of nature, and the plant is so tender that every zephyr sends a motion over the entire field, which well calls forth the expression, "A sea of blossom."

The crop is ready to be pulled when the stalk commences to turn yellow at tne ground.

The roots are generally taken out with the stalk and freed from dirt by being hit against the boot. The stalk ends are tied together in bundles and taken to some body of water to be "retted."

"Retting" consists in covering the flax with water, allowing it to ferment, so that the coarser or outside fibre may be more easily separated from the finer inside. It was done in the past in the ponds and streams, where the flax was kept under water by means of stones and weights, not allowing it, however, to touch the bottom. It took some weeks to gain the desired result by this means and the stench was almost unbearable when the flax was finally removed. Science has invented tanks and other contrivances by which retting may be done in a much shorter space of time, but many parts of Europe still hold to the old custom.

After retting, the stalk is broken, a process which is greatly facilitated by the retting. When the inside or finer fibre is separated from the outside one, the former is sent to be "scutched," which is really the combing of the fibre and the segregating of the good long ones from the small and least useful, which latter are used for tow. The flax is then ready to be spun.

In olden times, spinning was done on a contrivance called a spindle, which, however, was but the crude principle of

the spinning wheel, to which it gave way in the 16th century.

As early as the seventeenth century, Germany established spinning schools, where girls were taught the art which was fast becoming one of the important industries of the day. In fact, it soon became so popular that every house had its spinning chamber, or "Spinn Stube," where the neighboring young maidens would congregate once a week, taking along their spinning wheels and passing the time with spinning their yarn and discussing the events of the day. About ten o'clock the young men would appear upon the scene to offer themselves as escorts after merrymaking and jest had been indulged in, and many a wheel, as it turned on and spun its yarn, winked slyly to its neighbor at the words of love some youth poured into a blushing maiden's ear.

Out of that sphere has come to us the story of Marguerite, the maiden whose lover has followed the fortunes of war. While others make merry, she sits aside, silently spins her yarn, dreaming of the past, she turns over and over again her plans for the future, calling up her fears and excuses that no letter nor word has come from him, and so drifts on in hope.

The old spinning wheel is still used in many parts, and the finest cambric of to-day is still made from hand-spun yarn.

However, when Arkwright invented his cotton spinning device, the attention of linen spinners was called to the possibilities of spinning flax likewise. It was 1812, however, before the first power spinning of linen was started in London, but the cheapness of cotton manufacture, and the lax attention to flax raising had already done considerable harm to the better cloth.

Damascus continued her ancient art of weaving figured linen damask, Cambrai her fine cambric and Ireland the finest linen in the world, but universal attention was hypnotized with the possibilities of the substitution of cotton.

But after a trial, this latter fabric was found wanting for inner wear and for

Flax fibre.

general body use, and instead of turning back to linen, wool was heralded far and wide for body wear. It is only for about the last fifty years that civilization has permitted wool to come in close contact with the skin, and even then in special treatment, such as in cases of sores and burns, linen is still called upon.

Wool as an outer garment was worn, and knitted woolen vests were used previous to this time, but linen was invariably put under the wool to keep it from coming in touch with the skin. In Shakespeare we find such quotations as "I go wool ward for penance," and "They enjoined him in Rome for want of linen."

Voltaire must have recognized the terrible results of the ignorance of linen,

Flax plant.

for he cries out, "Want of linen was the cause of all diseases known as leprosy."

The wearing of linen collars and cuffs is but the relic of an old custom, a custom followed in a way by Charlemagne and the Normans who wore nothing but linen next to the skin and used only that fabric for cloth which came in close contact with the body. As circumstances and customs changed the style, but not the material, the linen shirt of our forefathers gradually worked itself into universal use. The garment was finished at the wrists and neck with cuffs and collar, and at the throat was attached a lap, over which the vest buttoned. Are not our linen cuffs and collars a relic of this ancient custom?

Another point by which linen retains its supremacy is that it can be boiled in washing, and any cloth coming in close touch with the skin should be frequently washed in extremely hot

water or boiled in order to remove any poisons which may have escaped from the body.

An attempt was made to deprive linen of one of its main callings by the introduction of the woolen handkerchief, but a prevalence of sore and irritated noses followed, and it soon took flight. Thus was linen's soothing and healthful qualities demonstrated; but many failed to realize that the mucous membrane of the nose is but the continuation of the outside skin, a little more sensitive on account of its function probably, but still of the same general composition.

II. Its Hygiene.

Life is productive of heat. The chemical changes going on in an average human body under normal conditions produce within 24 hours a sufficient amount of heat to raise sixty pints of water from the freezing to the boiling point.

Our body has to maintain an even temperature, which is about 98% degrees F., hence it has to eliminate whatever heat it produces. A complete retention of the heat generated in the body would cause death within a few hours, while a partial interference with its elimination will cause considerable disturbance of health, the severity of which disturbance will be in accordance with the amount of heat retained.

Our body loses its heat by radiation, evaporation and conduction.

The average loss of heat by radiation amounts to more than 50 per cent of all the heat loss by radiation. Whenever the object surrounding our body, be it air or clothing, ceases to be cooler, as, for instance, in excessive summer heat, radiation will cease, and an increased evaporation will take its place, as shown by perspiration.

Evaporation is favored by dryness and impaired by humidity. While we can stand an amount of dry heat, exceeding that of our body by 50 degrees or more, for some length of time, we must inevitably perish if our body should be exposed to the same amount of moist heat.

It is well known to all of us that in a dry climate excessive heat is much less

felt than in a moist one.

Transplant the summer heat of the interior of California or Arizona to New York, and the reports of death from over-heating will be alarming.

Conduction is the third agent for the disposal of our heat. It is favored by a velocity of the air current as well as by moisture. If you moisten a finger and hold it up in the air, it will feel the cold much more than a dry finger held in the same way. If you should now open the door and window and thereby cause a rapid current of air, commonly called a draught, the conduction of heat will be greatly increased, and you will even be able to tell in which direction the current travels. Hence we feel excessive cold the same as excessive heat much more in a moist than in a dry climate.

The temperature of the surrounding air, its degree of humidity, as well as its velocity, are subject to frequent and considerable changes. While our body has at its command defensive weapons of its own to meet the extremes of climate and season, we resort principally to clothing as the most efficient means of protection. While it is the aim and purpose of our clothing to surround our body with a climate less severe and less subject to variations than the one which nature has provided, our clothing should at the same time be so constructed and of such material as will not interfere with a uniform elimination of that amount of heat of which our body has to dispose.

• The protective feature of clothing depends upon its air-holding capacity or porosity. A calm layer of air is the poorest conductor of heat, hence the air held within the meshes of a porous garment will prevent the rapid loss of heat, caused by plain and smooth fabrics.

A loosely knitted shawl will keep much warmer than a smooth one containing the same amount of wool.

It is for this reason that, although the fibre of wool and the fibre of flax show no difference so far as the property of conducting heat is concerned, a porous woolen garment will keep the body

much warmer than one made of plain and smooth linen, but offers no better protection against the loss of heat by radiation than a porous linen garment of the same air-holding capacity.

The second provision for the elimination of heat is by evaporation. Under normal conditions our body loses through the skin from two to three pints of moisture in the form of evaporation during 24 hours. Since humidity does not favor evaporation, it is important that whatever vapor or water is excreted by the skin should not alone be taken up by such material as we may place next to our skin, but should also be given off or eliminated. Our skin, as well as the air and clothes surrounding it should be dry.

The property of absorbing and eliminating moisture differs greatly in various fabrics used for underclothing. All authorities on matters of hygiene agree that the absorption as well as the elimination of moisture takes place proportionately quicker with linen than with wool, cotton or silk.

The defect of wool in the power of quickly absorbing and eliminating moisture is a serious one, and if properly understood would do away with its use for underclothing. A woolen undergarment, when first put on the dry body, will impart to the same a feeling of warmth and comfort, which will continue as long as the evaporation of the skin is not in excess of the ability of the wool to absorb and eliminate the moisture. However, if the consequences of impaired radiation of heat, as by physical exertion, evaporation should be increased, wool will no longer be able to absorb the moisture as fast as excreted from the skin, nor will it be able to part with all it may absorb, hence the skin and the air surrounding it, as well as the garment itself will be moist, and a further evaporation will be greatly interfered with. The feeling of oppression which the body experiences under such conditions, and which is due to the retention of heat, those who wear wool next to the skin are best qualified to describe.

As observed before, moisture and velocity of air augment the conduction of