HAIR MANUFACTURES 



II A IKS OF I'LANTS 



509 



lir.l ami d\ed diH'crent column. The length 

 of tin- hair determines i In- \\idtli <>f tin- doth, since 

 tin- weft is formed of .single hairs. Stiung linen or 

 cotton twist commonly form ilir warp. Lp to the 

 miilille of the MHh century a cliilil nt one side of 

 a liamlloum supplied a hair to tin- weaver for cadi 

 throw of the shuttle, to which tin- hair was honked. 

 \ :!i>.M|u-iit invention made it practieahlu to dis- 

 pense wiili the diild in ser\er, the weaver hy means 

 of a treadle working hoth the hook-shuttle for 

 drawing through, and the hat ten for driving home, 

 the weft hairs ; and at the same time supplying 

 these hairs with his or her own hands. 



The power-loom, invented by Mr Isaac Lindsley, 

 of I'aw'.ueket, Rhode Island, was the I irst success- 

 ful attempt to supersede the hand-loom in the 

 weaving of haircloth. In it the end of an arm or 

 rod, made to operate like a finger and thumh, 

 grasps the hairs as they are presented to it by a 

 picker which takes up a single hair from a hunch, 

 and this hair is then carried by the rod through the 

 sheil of the warp. This loom has been extensively 

 used in the manufacture of haircloth. In some more 

 recent ones, however, the working parts have been 

 simplified, and an important arrangement intro- 

 duced by which the thin and the thick ends of the 

 hair are taken up by the picker alternately. 



Haircloth is so woven that only the hair portion 

 is seen on the surface, the linen or cotton warp 

 being hidden. Most of what is made in England is 

 plain, but some haircloth damasks, both black and 

 coloured, are woven ; so also are striped pieces of 

 various colours. These ornamental Kinds, which 

 are well suited for elegant furniture in tropical 

 regions, are largely made on the Continent. In 

 some special kinds of fabric both warp and weft 

 are of horse-hair. Among these are sieve-bottoms 

 for cooks, chemists, and powder manufacturers. 

 Other examples are press-cloths used in making 

 cider, and tailors' ironing cloths. Horse-hair is 

 worked up into ornamental cord-like or braid-like 

 forms (crinoline) for ladies' bonnets, into borders 

 ami cords for carriages, into material for cigar-cases 

 and similar articles, and into fishing-lines. 



' Brussels ' carpet of horse-hair was introduced 

 by Mr E. Webb of Worcester. Several kinds of 

 carpet partly or wholly composed of this material 

 are now made. In these tissues the hair is not 

 woven in the same way as it is in ordinary hair- 

 cloth, but as a yarn for which short hair, some- 

 times mixed with the hair of other animals, is 

 generally used. The material is carded, spun, and 

 twisted. Some carpets have both warp and weft of 

 hair ; others have only a plain warp or hair with a 

 weft of jute ; others again have a backing and weft 

 of hemp, jute, or cotton, and the pile warp of horse- 

 hair. These carpets are extremely durable, and 

 therefore well suited for ottices and other rooms in 

 whieli there is much traffic. 



Cow-hair is consumed in considerable quantities 

 by plasterers to bind the plaster put on the internal 

 walls of houses. As already stated, it is mixed 

 with horse-hair for stuffing purposes, and with wool 

 for common blankets, carpets, rugs, and other 

 articles. Cow-hair is also used in the manufacture 

 of roofing and other felts. This kind of hair is 

 obtained in considerable quantities from tanneries. 

 The imports of it in 1SSS amounted to 95,000 cwt. 



Camel-hair is obtained from the legs, the neck, 

 and the humps of loth species of Camel (q.v.). The 

 hair of the Arabian camel is fine and light-coloured ; 

 that from the Bactrian camel is coarser, and of a 

 darker shade. It, however, varies in degree of 

 fineness according to the age of the animals, young 

 ones yielding the finest kind. In Tartary, Persia, 

 Arabia, and other eastern countries camel-hair is 

 ^ o . en into a soft, warm, and durable cloth for per- 

 sonal wear. It is also made into carpets, tent- 



cuveringH, and other articles. Since 1860 a good 

 deal ot this hair has been Kent to Europe and 

 America for weaving into carpets and for mixing 

 with wool ; in the case of the finer kinds, for wanu 

 dothing. The so-called camel-hair brushes are 

 m.nle 1 1 Mm the tail of the sable or of some kinds 

 of squirrel. 



Hunt linir. The hair of the common goat is used 

 for the manufacture of dn-ap carpets and for other 

 pui poses, but that of the Angora or mohair goat in 

 now a very important material in our textile in- 

 dustries. See, in article Wool, WOOLLEN CLOTH 

 MANUFACTURE. The fine wool forming part of 

 the fleece of the Cashmere or shawl goat is noticed 

 under CASHMERE GOAT, SHAWL. 



Pig -hair or Bristles. Some nig- hair is mixed 

 with other kinds for stuffing. Trie principal use of 

 this material, however, is for making brushes. 

 See BRISTLES and BRUSH KS 



Elephant's Hair. The strong hair of the ele- 

 phant's tail is occasionally turned to some use. 

 For example, a native bracelet is employed by 

 some of the tribes in Nyassaland, which consists 

 simply of two such hairs plaited. 



Hair-powder, a pure white powder, made 

 from pulverised starch, scented with violet or some 

 other perfume, and at one time, especially in the 

 17th and 18th centuries, largely used for powder- 

 ing over the head. The fashion became universal 

 among the higher and middle classes, and by ladies 

 as well as gentlemen. To make the powder hold, 

 the hair was usually greased with pomade, and 

 accordingly the fashion was extremely troublesome. 

 An act of parliament fixed that the fine dust of 

 which the powder was composed should be made 

 from starch alone ; and we learn from the Gentle- 

 man's Magazine, that on November 20, 1746, fifty- 

 one barbers were convicted before the Com- 

 missioners of Excise at London, and fined 20 

 each, for having in their keeping hair-powder not 

 made of starch, contrary to act of parliament. In 

 1795 a tax of a guinea (afterwards 1, 3s. 6d.) was 

 put on the use of hair-powder, and at one time 

 yielded 20,000 per annum, but it had the effect of 

 causing hair-powder to fall into general disuse. 

 The French Revolution, which overturned so many 

 institutions, contributed also to the people of 

 Europe returning to natural and unpowdered hair. 

 At the present day powder continues to be used by 

 some of the footmen of the nobility and higher 

 ranks as pa;t of their livery. The tax on hair- 

 powder was repealed in 1869. At the time of its 

 abolition it was paid by about 800 persons, and 

 yielded a revenue of about 1000 a year. 



Hairs of Plants are outgrowths of epider- 

 mal cells, which assume various forms. They may 

 remain unicellular, resembling simple tubes, or 

 become nuilticellular by division of the originally 

 simple cell. They develop on almost any part 

 of the surface of plants ; and there are few plants 

 that are entirely without them. A plant may 

 have only one form of hair ; but most plants have 

 several forms. Similar kinds of hairs are often 

 characteristic of plants l>elonging to the same order 

 e.g. the glandular hairs of the sun dew (Drosera) 

 order, the stinging hairs of the nettle (I'rtica) 

 order, and the scaly hairs of ferns. Root-hairs 

 (see ROOT) are among the simplest in form ; they 

 are always unicellular tubes which alworb water 

 and certain minerals essential for the life of the 

 plant. The aerial organs of plants develop hairs 

 which serve to protect them Irom cold, or injury 

 from other sources e.g. many winter buds have 

 hairy scale leaves which often, with a gummy 

 secretion, keep out moisture, and thus protect the 

 tender tissues from injury by frost, ^lany leaves 

 also are protected from excessive radiation by the 



