^GAGROPIL^. 



Through the kindness of William M. Parker, of Spring- 

 field Township, this county, the museum of the Institute has 

 recently had added to it a specimen of cegagropila, or hair 

 ball, taken from the stomach of a cow. The size of the spe- 

 cimen in question and the rather rare occurrence of such curi- 

 osities may perhaps warrant a few words on the subject. 



^gagropilae consist of masses of matted hair, or hair and 

 vegetable matter, found occasionally in the stomachs of certain 

 ruminating animals. The name [derived from Greek aigagros, 

 wild goat, and Latin pila, a ball (or pilus, hair) Cent. Diet.] 

 would indicate them as commoner to the goat than to other 

 animals. This is in keeping with the goat's reputation for 

 gastronomic feats. 



The specimen of hair ball presented to the museum was 

 taken from the first stomach of a cow killed for beef in 

 Camden, New Jersey. It subsequently came into the hands 

 of Mr. Parker, who presented it to the Institute. In its pre- 

 sent condition, after having a long interval in which to dry 

 out, it is an approximately spherical mass, three and one-fourth 

 inches in diameter, consisting of little else than matted cow's 

 hair. The hair on the surface appears very much the same as 

 hair growing on the skin of a cow. 



On sectioning through the middle of the specimen, it is 

 found to consist of the same material throughout. There is 

 no sign of nucleus of any kind and the whole mass seems 

 nothing but matted cow's hair held together by some sort of 

 adhesive material. This material in its dry condition is fragile 

 and easily reduced to powder. The integrity of the mass is 

 preserved almost entirely by the interlocking of the strands of 

 hair composing it. So firmly are these knit together that it is 

 very difficult to tear the ball apart. The specimen does not 

 present layers in its make-up, and the hairs intertwine in all 

 directions. On the surface of the ball, however, the hairs all 

 pointed in one way around the circumference. Whether this 



