or Asbestus; Asbeste, Halii. The general composition of this substance may be stated as a silicate of magnesia, lime, and protoxide of iron. It occurs in highly delicate fibres, often thinner than a hair, longitudinally cohering, and easily separated. The finest varieties are of a brilliant silky white, and flexible. The Tarentaise in Savoy, and the island of Corsica, are cited as the localities affording the most perfectly fibrous white and silky varieties; and it occurs so abundantly in the last, that Dolomieu was enabled to use it in place of hay for packing his specimens. Anciently it was woven into napery and towels, which, when foul, were thrown into the fire, from whence they came out perfectly clean. Amianthus cloth was sometimes employed by the ancients to preserve the bones of the dead in the funeral pile.