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Monday, March 23, 2015

Notes on felt...


Eliminate felt from Chinese, Greek, and Roman civiliza- tions, and they would still remain what they are, not being in the least affected by this minus. Eliminate the same element from the life of the nomadic populations, and they would cease to exist, they would never have come into existence. With these peoples felt is a fundamental of culture, an absolutely essential feature and necessity of life, while with the highly civilized nations like the Chinese, Indians, Greeks, and Romans it is a side issue, an incident, an element of occasional and minor im- portance. 


Another interesting point of difference is that to the civilized na- tions felt was simply a utilitarian product which they adopted because it was useful and practical, whereas among the nomads it was associated with religious and ceremonial practices.