322 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



mer one, but contains many interesting facts. M. St. Hilaire advo- 

 cates the naturalization of the alpaca in the higher mountains of 

 France, where he thinks they would thrive and be very useful. To 

 show the quantity of the wool consumed, he states that more than 

 2,800,000 pounds were imported into England as long ago as 1839, 

 and since that time it has much increased, but has not kept pace with 

 the demand, the price having trebled. Several specimens of the wool 

 were produced, and excited much admiration. Among the specimens 

 were two of the wool of the alpa- vigogne. This animal is a mon- 

 grel of the alpaca and vigogne, as stated above, and was only pro- 

 duced after long trials. A correspondent from the town of Macucani, 

 in Peru, where the mongrel was first produced, says that he saw 

 twenty- three of them ; their size is between that of the alpaca and 

 the vigogne, and their wool is white, from 14 to 15 centimetres long, 

 very fine, and resembling silk. One of the males, however, is coffee- 

 colored. These mongrels are productive, which is the peculiar cir- 

 cumstance about them. The desire of having a wool, which combines 

 the two qualities of great length and fineness, the former of which is 

 found in the alpaca and the latter in the vigogne, suggested the idea 

 of endeavoring to produce the alpa-vigogne, and a Dr. Cabrero, hav- 

 ing taken it up, pursued it for several years with great industry. He 

 has finally succeeded in procuring a productive animal, whose wool 

 does unite the two desirable qualities of length and fineness. Anoth- 

 er writer describes the mongrel as resembling more the common llama 

 than either of its parents, except that it has straight ears, and the 

 wool, though a very little shorter than that of the alpaca, is infinitely 

 finer. 



Some instances having been mentioned where the alpacas decreased 

 in number, when they were found in the same region with sheep, M. 

 St. Hilaire, at the next meeting of the Academy, submitted some facts 

 to show that this was merely the result of peculiar circumstances, and 

 by no means a necessary consequence. It seems that generally the 

 sheep occupy the lower mountains and plains in Peru and Bolivia, 

 while the alpacas occupy the higher mountains, where they are still 

 found in immense numbers ; but they also succeed on the lower grounds. 

 In some regions they have disappeared in a measure, but sufficient rea- 

 sons can be assigned for this, while in other sections they are so abun- 

 dant, that one writer estimates that he saw over three millions of them 

 in the course of a short journey. 



WOOL FROM ABYSSINIA. 



M. D'HERICOURT placed before the Academy a portion of the 

 fleece of an Ayssinian sheep, the wool of which is in some parts 60 

 centimetres long. He had endeavored to bring home a male and fe- 

 male of this species, but though the male survived the voyage, the fe- 

 male had died. Comptes Rendus, Nov. 20. 



