----- In the manufacture of corslets and cuirasses[939] much industry and ability was exhibited. The former were generally composed of linen or hempen twine curiously wrought, and doubled or trebled according to the desire of the purchaser,[940] and worn chiefly in the chase;[941] others consisted of thick leathern jerkins, covered with metallic scales,[942] single, double, or treble, and fastened to each other by a series of hooks. In lieu of these plates was sometimes substituted a coating of intertwisted rings, resembling in some respects the chain armour of a later age. Wooden cuirasses were also sometimes worn.[943] The Sarmatians[944] possessing no iron, headed their darts and javelins with bone, and employed very extraordinary materials in the manufacture of their cuirasses. Collecting carefully all the hoofs of such horses as died, they cut them into laminæ, resembling in form the scales of a fish. These they sewed together with the nerves of horses or oxen, and thus produced a species of breastplate which for elegance and utility was scarcely inferior to those of the Greeks. In the manufacture of linen corslets[945] the Egyptians displayed peculiar excellence, at least the description of one of them which history has preserved is calculated to create a very high idea of their ingenuity. It was curiously wrought, we are told, with fine bobbins, each composed of three hundred and sixty threads, distinctly visible, adorned with numerous figures of animals interwoven with cotton and gold.[946] Among the Greeks this piece of armour was often richly embroidered by the ladies of the warrior’s family, whom, on more than one occasion, we find busy at this task on the eve of battle. The cuirasses of brass or steel were finely polished and buttoned under the arm. Even the horses were furnished with breastplates and frontlets,[947] and occasionally their flanks also were protected by armour. The warrior’s greaves[948] were manufactured of copper, brass, tin, or other metal, and fastened about the legs with silver buttons. Archers seem commonly to have worn a species of gloves or fingerlings.[949] ----- Footnote 939: Poll. i. 148, seq. Footnote 940: Cf. Herod. vii. 89. Footnote 941: Paus. i. 21. 7. vi. 19. 7. Footnote 942: Cf. Paus. ix. 26. 8. Footnote 943: Etym. Mag. 288. 48. Footnote 944: Paus. i. 21. 6. Footnote 945: Cf. Herod. ii. 182. Footnote 946: Herod. iii. 47. Plin. xix. 1. Ælian. Hist. An. ix. 17. Plut. Alex. § 32. Footnote 947: Poll. ii. 162. 167. Footnote 948: Gitone, Il Costume, tav. 38, where we find representations of battle-axes, quivers, bows, swords, etc. Footnote 949: Constant. Lexic. v. χειρίδες. -----