The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-08-25
Intentions of Rncieuf Rome:
Some Forsrunners of Modern Ingenuity

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beans. which were preserved for
period Of more than 22O years.
The same ingenuity that could pre-
serve grain from rOtdng, protected
wood, from burning; and this also was
a POntic and perhaps an Oriental in
ventiOn. Aulus Gellius relates that at
a period OF about a century before the
Christian area, Archelaus, one OF the
generals OF Mithridates painted a
wooden tower with a preparation OF
alum, and thus rendered abOrtiye
Sylla's attempt to fire it Another me-
thOd Of protecting wood from fire is
mentioned by the Greek tactician-
Aenas, about $50 B. c. The Greeks
also invented our roof gardens, and
nave left US very explicit directions
now to construct them. The idea was
doubtless taken from the hanging
gardens Of Babylon, while these again
probably came from the Orient But
Jew things are entirely new. Roof
gardens are as much an evolution as
steam engines. They both saw the
light in halepOn ages; we're neglected
or forgotten in times OF retrogressiOn;
and were resurrected, with improve
ments, in more prOpitiOus days.
II now we turn from mechanical
inventions to the agricultural pro-
ducts OF the Roman period, especially
those which are believed to be Of
modern introduction, we Will find
among the number espartO, silk, cot
/ ton, glucose, champagne, and posi-
| bly, tobacco. There will probably be
no question about the first half dozen
Of these commodities; the disputahle
subject is tobacco
EspartO, which is still largely used
/ in southern Europe for making san
/ la 70
/ etc, and which for similar purposes
might be probably cuIiiy.,ted in the
! United States, was known to the
/ Romans ac sparJuTn- lt WAS brought
from Asia by the Carthaginians, and
introduced by them into Spain during
| the fourth century B. c. At about the
same time il was also cultivated in
Greece, and employed in making the
rigging of their light sailing craft
From these countries it spread to all
the intervening ones. The story that
the silkwOrm and the manufacture OF
silk were introduced into Europe by
two monks in the reign Of Justinian, is
unworthy Of credit. SilkwOrms were
cultivated in the Greek island Of Cos
nearly a thousand years before Just
inian; and a tissue was made from
( their silk, which was then, as now,
I known as bOmbazine. The fact is
mentioned by Aristotle and CORRIDOR
ated by Pliny, who remarked that the
/ clinging garments made of il, diSclOS-
ed almost as much as they concealed
The gOssypium, or cotton plant, and
manufacture, are fully described by
| the same author, who, after abiding
to the culture of the plant in Egypt,
says: There is no tissue known that
/ is superior to this thread, either for
most valuable vestments worn by the
/ whitcness, sOftness, or dressing; the
/ Egyptian priests being made from it"
/ To confirm his account, abundance Of
I cotton tissues have been found in
Egyptian tombs of the Alexandrian
age Glucose, known to the Greeks
by nearly the same name, as gleEcOs,
/ or Always Sweet, and to the NarbOn-
enses as dulce, or sweet, was gathered
from raisins- In order to make it,"
says Pliny, they keep the grape
hanging on the vine for a consider
able time, taking care to twist the
stalk In many parts of Europe it is
still made in the same way.
When we speak of champagne, it
is neither cider, mead, nor perry that
is meant, all Of which were manufac-
tured by the Romans, and are fully
described in the works left to US; but
OF a wine made from rapes, and rem
I uELEu spar hAAA46 anu EALCA CSEEAAL "
artificial means. LAS to wines which
have been treated with marble gyp-
sum, or lime, where is the man, how
/ ever robust he may be, who has not
stood in dread OF them?' inquiries
oman mOralist- What is this but
/ champagne2 Strange as it may seem,
| this too appears to have been an ORR
/ entail invention; for previous to the
/ Roman imperial era, both the Greeks
and Egyptians had it In Africa, says
4 Pliny, il was prepared with gypsum
or lime, and in Greece with. powdered
marble, precisely as is done in many
| countries at the present day
/ HO lard is invariably referred to by
| the Greek and Roman writer's as
axungia, or axle grease, that probably
| being its principal use in countries
/ blessed with an abundance Of pure
olive oil. 1t was also largely used for
Ointments, unguents, and pOmades.
1t will not be disputed that the
| culture Of tobacco was brought into
/ Europe from America in the sixteenth
century; what is contended is that,
the smoking Of pipes is Of great an
tiquity, and was practised in India,
/ China and Egypt, long before the dis
cOvery Of America Pliny mentions
| the smoking OF cOlt's-fOOt, inhaled
through a reed" as a cure for a
chronic cough ApOllOdOruS, 2 writer
Of the PtOlemac age, says that: That
/ barbarians, by inhaling the fumes OF
/ the cypirOs plant, diminish the size
| ency Of which they acquire strength
Of the spleen. They never go out Of
the house" he adds, It'll they have
! inhaled these fumes, through the
agency Of which they acquire strength
/ and vigOr" Pliny calls cypirOs an
I. Indian weed; says il resembles the
niger plant; that some people chew
IL; and that it tastes like saffron. All
Of which certainly suggests tobacco
] If the Indian traders Of PtOlemy
could Introduce il no farther west
than Egypt. and Oviedo first intro
duced IL from America into Spain, il
took nearly two thousand years to
carry il from one 20 the other Of these
l distant frontiers of the empire It
/ would be a curious subject TO inquire
what pantascopic changes its sOOth-
Il ing influences might have brought
/ about. had the Romans encouraged
its use during the interval