18G8.] 429 [Hayes. 



woven from mohair. Its lustre and durability peculiarly fit this 

 material fur the manufacture of braids, buttons and bindings, which 

 greatly outwear those of silk and wool. The (luallties of lustre and 

 elasticity particularly fit this material for, its chief use, the manufac- 

 ture of Utrecht velvets, commonly called furniture plush, the finest 

 qualities of which are composed principally of mohair, the pile being 

 formed of mohair warps which are cut in the same manner as silk 

 warps in velvets. Upon passing the finger lightly over the surfece 

 of the best mohair plushes the rigidity and elasticity of the fibre will 

 be distinctly perceived. The fibre springs back to its original up- 

 rightness when any jiressure is removed. The best mohair plushes 

 are almost indestructible. They have been in constant use on certain 

 railroad cars in the country for over twenty years without wearing 

 out. They are now sought by all the best railroads in the country 

 as the most enduring of all coverings, an unconscious tribute to the 

 remarkable qualities of this fibre. The manufacture of Utrecht vel- 

 vets at Amiens in France consuuies five hundred thousand pounds of 

 mohair, which is spun in England. Ten thousand workmen were 

 employed in weaving these goods at Amiens in 1855, the product 

 being principally sent to the United States. The mohair plushes 

 are made of yarns from No. 26 to No. 70 ; the tissues made of the 

 former number are worth four francs per metre and of the latter ten 

 francs per metre, showing the importance of preserving the fineness 

 of the fleece. A medium article is made extensively in Prussia, of 

 yarns spun from an admixture of mohair Avith combing wool, but it is 

 wanting in the evenness of surface and brilliant reflections or bloom 

 of the French goods. Mohair yarn is employed largely in Paris, 

 Nismes, Lyons and Germany for the manufiicture of laces, which are 

 substituted for the silk lace fabrics of Valenciennes and Chantilly. 

 The shaAvls frequently spoken of as made of Angora wool, are of a 

 lace texture and do not correspond to the cashmere or Indian shawls. 

 The shawls known as llama shawls are made of mohair. I have seen 

 one at Stewart's wholesale establishment valued at eighty dollars, 

 weighing only two and one third ounces. Mohair is also largely 

 consumed at Bradford in England in the fabrication of light sunnner 

 dress goods. They are woven with warps of silk and cotton, princi- 

 pally the latter, and the development of this manufacture is due 

 principally to the improvements in making fine cotton warps, the 

 combination of wool with mohair not being found advantageous. 

 These goods are distinguished by their lustre, and by the rigidity 

 of the fabric. All the mohair yarns used in Europe are sjiun in 

 England, the English having broken down by temporary reduction of 

 pi'ices all attempts at spinning in France. Successful experiments 

 in spinning and weaving Angora fabrics have been made in this 



