1868.] 405 [Hayes. 



would be given by Mr. Horace Mann, in the Society's 



Museum, commencing on the afternoon of the following 

 Saturday. 



March 18, 1868. 

 The President in the chair. Forty-four members present. 



The following paper was read : — 



The Angora Goat; Its Origin, Culture and Products. 

 By John L. Hayes, Secretary of the National Asso- 

 ciation of Wool Manufacturers. 



Tlie Jardin des Plantes, the source and model of our Societies of 

 Natural History, gave to the world not only Buffon and Cuvier, who, 

 by their brilliant labors, won for the researches of the naturalist a 

 place in the domain of science, before accorded only to studies of the 

 imponderable elements, but two other scarcely less illustrious natural- 

 ists, whose labors were inspired by the purpose of applying their 

 favorite science to increase the material resources of man. To this 

 idea France owes the Merino sheep with which Daubenton endowed 

 her, and the Imperial Society of Acclimatation, the creation of Geof- 

 froy St. Hilaire, which aims to submit to practical study all the 

 animals by whose acquisition the geographical zone of France can be 

 advantageously augmented. Trusting that this Society may regai'd 

 with favor the discussion of a subject akin to those which have re- 

 ceived the attention of the great practical naturalists of France, I 

 propose to 'submit a memoir upon the Angora Goat, the last acquisi- 

 tion wliich our agriculture and manufacturers have received from the 

 animal kingdom. 



When we reflect that of the numerous species which compose the 

 animal kingdom, forty-three only are at the command of man, and that 

 the only lanigerous animal extensively appropriated in this country, 

 besides its product of food, has furnished in a single year, from 

 domestic sources, seventy per cent, of the raw mat^ial for a manu- 

 facture valued at over one hundred and twenty millions of dollars, we 

 must regard the acquisition of a new animal producing food and 

 material for clothing, as an epoch in the industrial history of the 

 country. It is the peculiar province of a Society like this to aid the 

 development of this new national resource by shedding the fullest 



