Animal products; . HUxMAN HAIR. RABBIT FUR. Wool, we find, is not then peculiar to the sheep, but forms an un-dercoat beneath ,the long hair in very many animals. Articles forclothing have been made from the wool of the musk-ox of NorthAmerica, and from the wool of the ibex of Little Thibet; but inthese and other such instances, they have been produced as objects•of curiosity rather than for any commercial purpose. In the sheep, judicious management has in the course of yearsincreased the growth of wool, and rendered the occurrence of hairunusual. Wherever attention has been paid to sheep-bree
Animal products; . HUxMAN HAIR. RABBIT FUR. Wool, we find, is not then peculiar to the sheep, but forms an un-dercoat beneath ,the long hair in very many animals. Articles forclothing have been made from the wool of the musk-ox of NorthAmerica, and from the wool of the ibex of Little Thibet; but inthese and other such instances, they have been produced as objects•of curiosity rather than for any commercial purpose. In the sheep, judicious management has in the course of yearsincreased the growth of wool, and rendered the occurrence of hairunusual. Wherever attention has been paid to sheep-breeding,there a marked improvement has been manifested in the particulardirection in which the improvement has been sought, whether inthe carcase or in the fleece. The sheep produces the finestquality of wool in the warmer temperate and sub-tropical zones-only. i6 CHARACTERISTICS OF FIBRES OF FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, COTTON, AND WOOL MAGNIFIED. Wool seems to be the only substance provided by Nature tosatisfy all conditions required for beauty and utility in clothingthe inhabitants of climates where extremes of heat and cold CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 01 WOOL. 17 prevail. There is not a single property desirable in a fabric forhuman use that is not found in wool. The engraving on the opposite page shows the contrast betweenvegetable and animal fibres as seen under the microscope. Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 represent flax, jute, hemp, and cotton, andfigures 5 to 10 magnified representations of coarse long, fine Saxony,and fine English wool, illustrating the difference of appearance. The chemical composition of wool is as follows : Carbon 5°65 Hydrogen 7°3 Nitrogen . ^7~- . . I771 Oxygen and sulphur . .. 24*61 M. Chevreul, after analysing Merino wool heated to drynessabove ioo°, found it to consist of Earthy matter left in water with which it was washed . 26*06 Suint or fat,
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