100 On the Goats of Angora. 



comb, of which the teeth are vcrv thickly inserted. 1'he 

 hairs, when thus combed, are clear, and disengaged from all 

 cxtraneou.s particles which have adhered to the body of the 

 animal. 



All the inhabitants of Angora whom I have consulted 

 have assured me that this is the only operation which the hair 

 undergoes ; after which it is clean, and fit for being spun, — 

 an operation with which women are generally intrusied. 

 They spin the fleece on a distaff like that which is used for 

 cotton; sometimes twisting a number of hairs into one 

 thread ; but sometimes only three and even two hairs to a 

 thread. This la>t method of spinning produces thread so 

 very fine and clear, that it is sold for twelve parats the 

 drachm. The price of the other kinds of thread diminishe* 

 from this value to that of two or even one parat per drachm. 

 The hair of the tistik-gueschv, thougli thus spun, is yet 

 imblcached, and sioes through no operation of dveing. In 

 this state it is sent to the loom, and made into a stuff known 

 in the East by the name of the schallet of Angora. These 

 schallets, of which there is so great a consumption, arc all 

 of them the actual manufacture of this city. 



It is reckoned that in Angora there are more than two 

 thousand looms in constant employment, and each loom 

 •employs from eight to fittcen workmen. This source of 

 wealth, the only one that Angora enjoys, must necessarily 

 ihe very fruitful, since it yields not even to the destructive 

 Sniiuence of that government which has turned to n}iserable 

 Milages so many cities once so flourishino-. 

 J- The schallet is made in pieces of 28 piks in length and 

 2-3ds of a pik in breadth, which are sent to dyeing as they 

 xome from the loom. They are dyed all manner of colours 

 " with every possible variety of shade ; but lively reds and vio- 

 lets are most esteemed. The schallet is nmch superior to 

 the camlet of Europe for the lightness and fineness of its 

 grain, and is much higher priced. The most common 

 sells at fifteen piastres the piece, the dearest at fifty. This 

 latter kind is chiefly consumed in Consiantmople and in 

 Egypt. 



The beaiitv and fineness of the tistlk-sueschy is a suffi- 

 cient motive for the experiinents that have been proposed 

 lor breeding this animal in France. Already some indivi- 

 duals of the breed have been sent to Rambouillct, where 

 they still continue. But hitherto the owners have not bee* 

 able to make use of their fleeces. Perhaps the above details 

 luav be of use for this purpose. 



The 



