FUSUS
FUSUS (
ἄτρακτος), the spindle,
was always, when in use, accompanied by the distaff (
colus,
ἠλακάτη), as an indispensable part of the
same apparatus. (Ovid,
Ov. Met. 4.220-
229.) The wool, flax, or other material,
having been prepared for spinning, and having sometimes been dyed (
ἰοδνεφὲς εἶρος ἔχουσα,
Hom. Od. 4.135), was rolled into a ball
(
τολύπη,
glomus,
Hor. Ep. 1.13,
14; Ovid,
Ov. Met. 6.19), which was,
however, sufficiently loose to allow the fibres to be easily drawn out by
the hand of the spinner. The upper part of the distaff was then inserted
into this mass of flax or wool, and the lower part was held in the left hand
(as in the illustration), or stuck into the girdle, so as to leave both
hands free (as in a mosaic figured by Rich, s. v. “Neo” ). The
fibres were drawn out, and at the same time spirally twisted, chiefly by the
use of the forefinger and thumb of the right hand (
δακτύλοις ἕλισσε,
Eur. Orest. 1432;
pollice docto, Claud.
de Prob. Cons. 177); and
the thread (
filum, stamen,
νῆμα) so produced was wound upon the
spindle
[p. 1.898]until the quantity was as great as it
would carry.
The spindle was a stick, 10 or 12 inches long, having. at the top a slit or
catch (
dens,
ἄγκιστρον) in which the thread was fixed,
so that the weight of the spindle might continually carry down the thread as
it was formed. Its lower extremity was inserted into a small wheel called
the whorl (
verticillus,
Plin. Nat. 37.37), made of wood, stone,
or metal (see woodcut), the use of which was to keep the spindle more steady
and to promote its rotation: for the spinner, who was commonly a female,
every now and then twirled round the spindle with her right hand (
Hdt. 5.12; Ovid,
Ov. Met.
6.22), so as to twist the thread still more completely; and
whenever, by its continual prolongation, it let down the spindle to the
ground, she took it out of the slit, wound it upon the spindle, and, having
replaced it in the slit, drew out and twisted another length. All these
circumstances are mentioned in detail by Catullus (
64.311-
319). The accompanying
woodcut is taken from a series of bas-reliefs representing the arts of
Minerva upon a frieze of the Forum of Nerva at Rome. It shows the operation
of spinning, at the moment when the woman has drawn out a sufficient length
of yarn to twist it by whirling the spindle with her right thumb and
forefinger, and previously to the act of taking it out of the slit to wind
it upon the bobbin (
πήνιον) already formed.
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Spinning. (From a relief.)
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The distaff was about three times the length of the spindle, strong and thick
in proportion, commonly either a stick or a reed, with an expansion near the
top for holding the ball. It was sometimes of richer materials and
ornamented. Theocritus has left a poem (
idyll.
xxviii.) written on sending an ivory distaff to the wife of a friend. Golden
spindles were sent as presents to ladies of high rank (
Hom. Od. 4.131;
Hdt.
4.162); and a golden distaff is attributed by Homer and Pindar to
goddesses,, and other females of remarkable dignity, who are called
χρυσηλάκατοι.
It was usual to have a basket to hold the distaff and spindle, with the balls
of wool prepared for spinning, and the bobbins already spun. (Brunck,
Anal. 2.12 =
Anth. Pal. 6.160; Ovid,
Ov. Met. 12.475.) [
CALATHUS]
In the rural districts of Italy women were forbidden to spin, or even carry a
spindle openly, when they were travelling on foot, the act being considered
of evil omen. (
Plin. Nat. 28.28.) The
distaff and spindle, with the wool and thread upon them (
colus compta), were carried in bridal processions; and were
often suspended by females as offerings of religious gratitude, especially
in old age, or on relinquishing the constant use of them. Thus the reputed
spindle and distaff of Tanaquil were preserved at Rome as relics in the time
of Varro. (
Plin. Nat. 8.194.) [
DONARIA] They were most
frequently dedicated to Pallas, the patroness of spinning and of the arts
connected with it. This goddess was herself rudely sculptured with a distaff
and spindle in the Trojan Palladium (
Apollod.
3.12,
3). They were also exhibited in
the representations of the three Fates, who were conceived, by their
spinning, to determine the life of every man; and at the same time by
singing, as females usually did whilst they sat together at their work, to
predict his future lot (Catull.
l.c.).
[
J.Y] [
W.W]
