246 WOOL-BEARING ANIMALS. 



The fleeces in which they are wrapped resemble 

 hair in some respects, though differing materially in 

 others. Like the hair of quadrupeds, they attain 

 perfection in one year, and then fall off to be suc- 

 ceeded by another fleece ; but still an obvious differ- 

 ence subsists between them. Wool grows uniformly 

 on every part, and is regularly shed ; each filament 

 springs simultaneously, the fleece grows together and 

 loosens from the skin at the same time, and then 

 falls off, if not previously shorn, leaving the animal 

 covered with a short coat of young wool, which, in 

 its turn, undergoes the same regular mutations. 

 Hairs, which are no other than fine tubes rising from 

 the pores of the skin, and serving either for ornament 

 or covering, are uniformly of the same thickness, but 

 the fibres which constitute wool are generally finer 

 at the base than at the point. 



These fleecy coverings are not only given for the 

 benefit of the creatures to whom they are assigned, 

 but serve also for the use of man. Who does not 

 know that one of England's most valuable manu- 

 factures is based on the fleece ? and no doubt the 

 period will arrive when the wool-bearing animals of 

 America will be rendered equally available. This 

 fleece, when removed by shearing from the back and 

 shoulders of the wearer, affords abundant occupation 

 for the poor at all times and seasons of the year, 

 and has founded many ample fortunes. 



It is not to man only that the innocent sheep 

 gives a portion of her covering. It is often stolen 

 by the furze bushes amongst which she feeds, and 

 whose bright yellow blossoms form such conspicuous 

 ornaments on the village common. Troops of little 



