Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Cribrum

Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary, and Greek Lexicon (Rich, 1849)

CRI'BRUM (κόσκινον). A sieve; made of parchment perforated with holes, or of horse-hair, thread, papyrus, or rushes, interwoven, so as to leave interstices between each plat. The Romans sifted their flour through two kinds of sieves, called respectively excussoria and pollinaria, the latter of which gave the finest flour, termed pollen. Sieves of horse-hair were first made by the Gauls; those of linen by the Spaniards; and of papyrus and rushes by the Egyptians. (Plin. H. N. xviii. 28. Cato, R. R. 76. 3. Pers. Sat. 3. 112.) The example (Cribrum/1.1) is from a bas-relief on the Column of Trajan.

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  Cribrum/1.1