LINEN AND HEALTH.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3756, 28 February 1907, Page 4

LINEN AND HEALTH.

The difference between the flax plant and cotton plant is very marked seen under the microscope; the fibre of the flax appears smooth, firm, and long, while that of the cotton is uneven, scally, and short, similar to wool, which is a form of hair. The hygienic virtues of flax arise essentially from its fibre, the smooth enduring surface of which, as linen, has the power of repelling dirt and disease microbes. Ifluen, being easily washed, for wear on the body or use in the home, is not so liable as wool is to escape due acquaintance with the tub. During the Middle Ages infectious diseases were more difficult to suppress than they are to-day ; personal cleanliness had a good deal to do with that, no doubt. That woollen wear is as healthy as linen when kept clean will scarcely be questioned ; but the soft depths of its texture offer comfortable hiding places for germs, which mean anything but well for those who may leave it too long unchanged, as not a few folk are apt to do, especially in winter. Flax, like wool, has been woven into fabrics from a very remote period. Many references are made to it in the Bible and other ancient records ; and the great durability of its fibre, even when of extreme fineness, has been proven by examples of it which have come down to us as mummy swarths from early Egyptian looms. It was extensively cultivated by the Romans, who probably first introduced it into Britain and most of the other countries of Europe that came under their sway.—“ The Sanitary Records.”