| (1) | Ford. | What, a hodge-pudding? a bag of Flax? | | Merry Wives, act v, sc. 5 (159). | | | (2) | Clifford. | Beauty that the tyrant oft reclaims
Shall to my flaming wrath be oil and Flax. | | 2nd Henry VI, act v, sc. 2 (54). | | | (3) | Sir Toby. | Excellent; it hangs like Flax in a distaff. | | Twelfth Night, act i, sc. 3 (108). | | | (4) | 3rd Servant. | Go thou: I'll fetch some Flax and white of eggs
To apply to his bleeding face.[95:1] | | King Lear, act iii, sc. 7 (106). | | | (5) | Ophelia. | His beard was as white as snow,
All Flaxen was his poll. | | Hamlet, act iv, sc. 5 (195). | | | (6) | Leontes. | My wife deserves a name
As rank as any Flax-wench. | | Winter's Tale, act i, sc. 2 (276). | | | (7) | Emilia. | It could
No more be hid in him, than fire in Flax. | | Two Noble Kinsmen, act v, sc. 3 (113). | The Flax of commerce (Linum usitatissimum) is not a true native, though Turner said: "I have seen flax or lynt growyng wilde in Sommerset shyre" ("Herbal," part ii. p. 39); but it takes kindly to the soil, and soon becomes naturalized in the neighbourhood of any Flax field or mill. We have, however, three native Flaxes in England, of which the smallest, the Fairy Flax (L. catharticum), is one of the most graceful ornaments of our higher downs and hills.[96:1] The Flax of commerce, which is the plant referred to by Shakespeare, is supposed to be a native of Egypt, and we have early notice of it in the Book of Exodus; and the microscope has shown that the cere-cloths of the most ancient Egyptian mummies are made of linen. It was very early introduced into England, and the spinning of Flax was the regular occupation of the women of every household, from the mistress downwards, so that even queens are represented in the old illuminations in the act of spinning, and "the spinning-wheel was a necessary implement in every household, from the palace to the cottage."—Wright, Domestic Manners. The occupation is now almost gone, driven out by machinery, but it has left its mark on our language, at least on our legal language, which acknowledges as the only designation of an unmarried woman that she is "a spinster." A crop of Flax is one of the most beautiful, from the rich colour of the flowers resting on their dainty stalks. But it is also most useful; from it we get linen, linseed oil, oilcake, and linseed-meal; nor do its virtues end there, for "Sir John Herschel tells us the surprising fact that old linen rags will, when treated with sulphuric acid, yield more than their own weight of sugar. It is something even to have lived in days when our worn-out napkins may possibly reappear on our tables in the form of sugar."—Lady Wilkinson. As garden plants the Flaxes are all ornamental. There are about eighty species, some herbaceous and some shrubby, and of almost all colours, and in most of the species the colours are remarkably bright and clear. There is no finer blue than in L. usitatissimum, no finer yellow than in L. trigynum, or finer scarlet than in L. grandiflorum.
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