178 WOOL 



Raising. A huge cylinder covered with thousands of teasel 

 heads set in rows revolves, and the tips of the teasels raise 

 up the surface of the cloth and make it rough. 



Cutting. All these little roughnesses are next shorn off 

 by a machine which acts on the same principle as a lawn- 

 mower. Finally the cloth is steamed, and pressed, and it is 

 then ready for use. 



Felt. The wool of which felt is made is not spun or woven, 

 only pressed. After the wool leaves the carding machine 

 the thin lap is spread out and other layers placed upon it. 

 These are then subjected to great pressure under rollers 

 some of which contain steam. The heat, and moisture, and 

 pressure cause the fibres to expand and mat together, so that 

 a close compact cloth is formed ; it is called felt. 



Mohair is the cloth woven from the long silky hair of 

 the Angora goat. Angora is a town in Asia Minor whence 

 these goats originally came. The word mohair is of Eastern 

 origin. 



Cashmere. The soft woolly hair of the Thibetan goat was 

 woven into the handsome shawls, called, from the place of 

 manufacture, Cashmere shawls. Later on the word was used 

 to designate any fine soft woolly material. 



Alpaca is a mixture of silk, and the long, fine, woolly hairs 

 of the alpaca, an animal which in some respects resembles 

 the camel. It is a native of Peru, and the word alpaca is of 

 Peruvian origin. 



Worsted. The slivers of fine downy wool which leave the 

 carding machine consist of every sort of fibre intermixed in 

 the most thorough manner possible, but for worsted only wool 

 with the longest fibres is used, and these are carded so as to 

 lie, as far as possible, side by side, in parallel lines. Worsted 

 is a town in Norfolk where this method of preparing yarn was 

 first practised. 



Merino. This is a material very like cashmere, originally 

 made of the fine wool of merino sheep. The word merino 

 comes from a Latin word meaning Inspector of sheep walks. 



