this animal product was brought to the West manufactured in cloth, which was only half silk; and it is said the plan was devised of unravelling the stuff, which was rewoven into cloth of entire silk. Owing to its high price, the Romans forbade its being used for the entire dress by men, complete robes of silk being reserved for women. It is numbered among the extravagant luxuries of Heliogabalus that he was the first man who wore a silken garment, and the anecdote is well known of the Emperor Aurelian, who refused, on the ground of its extravagant cost, a silk dress which his consort earnestly desired to possess. Monuments still in existence show that the Egyptians, owing to the warmth of their climate, were partial to garments of a semi-transparent character, while those living on the banks of the Tigris, who were subjected to greater extremes of temperature, wore clothing of similar design, but of wool, with heavy fringes of the same as a trimming. In some cases this feature of Assyrian costume is shown in double rows, one pendent, while the other stands out in a horizontal direction. [Illustration: GREEK.] The early Greek dress, or chiton, was a very simple contrivance, reaching to the feet. If ungirdled, it would trail on the ground; but generally it was drawn through the zone or waistbelt in such a manner that it was double to the extent of about thirty inches over the vital organs of the body. The great distinction between male and female dress consisted in the length of the skirt. The trimmings were of embroidery, woven diapers, figure bands with chariots and horses; and, in some cases, glass ornaments and thin metal plates were applied. Among the working classes the chiton was, of course, homespun, or of leather. [Illustration: ROMAN.] The stola was the Roman equivalent for the nineteenth century robe or gown, and in many respects resembled the Greek chiton. The fabrics employed were wool and linen up to the end of the Republic, though at a later date, as has already been stated, silk was imported. Colour, under the Emperors, was largely used, and at least thirteen shades of the dye obtained from the murex, which passed under the general name of purple, could be seen in the costume of both sexes. When the Roman Empire was dismembered (A.D. 395) a style of dress seems to have flourished in the important towns of the Mediterranean, which was similar to that worn in mediæval times in Britain, and which may be examined in the specimens of statuary adorning tombs of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The semi-tight under-dress and sleeves appear to have been elaborately embroidered, and the loose mantle of plain material was edged with a border. [Illustration: BYZANTINE.]