31-10-2008, 01:37am
Until the Middle Ages, underwater divers near the Mediterranean coastline collected golden strands from the pen shell, which used the strands to hold itself in place. Called byssus, the strands were woven into a luxury textile, a "cloth of gold," and made into ladies' gloves so fine a pair could be packed into an empty walnut shell. Examples of this lost art exist today in some museums, and the cloth retains its color and softness.