Hence the use of the hair-shirt by devotees in more recent times. St. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in the fourth century, in answer to the question, Whether a monk ought to have besides his night-shirt (_post nocturnam tunicam_) a Cilicium or any other, says, “Cilicii quidem usus habet proprium tempus. Non enim propter usus corporis, sed propter afflictionem carnis inventum est hujuscemodi indumentum, et propter humilitatem animae[389].” He then adds, that as the word of God forbids us to have two shirts, we ought not to have a second except for the purpose here mentioned. From this it is clear, that the Cilicium was not commonly worn by the monks, but only at particular times for the sake of humiliation. [389] From the ancient version of Rufinus, p. 175. ed. 1513. Dr. Sibthorp (_in Memoirs, edited by Walpole_,) informs us, that in the present day the shepherds of Attica “shear the goats at the same time with the sheep, about April or May,” and that the hair is made into sacks, bags, and _carpets_, of which a considerable quantity is exported. In modern as in ancient times, the inhabitants of Greece subsist in a great measure upon goats’-milk and the cheese made from it[390]. [390] Dodwell’s Tour, vol. i. p. 144. The wives of the Arabian shepherds still _weave_ goats’-hair for their tents. This hair-cloth is nearly black, and resembles that of which our modern coal-sacks are made[391]. The Arabs also hang bags of the same cloth, containing barley, about the heads of their horses to supply them with food[392]. [391] Harmer’s Observations, ch. ii. Obs. 36. Dr. Shaw’s Travels, Part iii. ch. 3. § 6. E. F. K. Rosenmuller, Biblische Alterthumskunde, iv. 2. p. 89. The use of goats’-hair for making cloth among the Moors is mentioned by Rauwolff, _Travels_, part ii. ch. 1, p. 123 of Ray’s Translation. The herdsmen on the wide plains about Smyrna live in tents of “black goats’-hair.”--C. Fellows’s _Discoveries in Lycia_, p. 8. [392] D’Arvieux and Thevenot, ap. Harmer, ch. v. Obs. 9. The goat, as is the case with some other quadrupeds, if confined to a country, which is hot in summer and very cold in winter, is always protected in the latter season by an additional covering of fine wool beneath its long hair. A specimen of the Syrian goat in the Hunterian Museum at Glasgow shows both the hair and the wool. In Kerman and Cashmere this very fine wool is obtained by combing the goats in the spring, when it becomes loose; and, having been spun into yarn, it is used to make the beautiful _shawls_ brought from those countries. We will now conclude this chapter with the following interesting communication from Mr. E. Riley, being the substance of a paper lately read before the Society of Arts, London.