WOODBINE WOOL. 



99 



spaces between the various lines of the drawing. 

 The lines thus stand up, as it is called, in relief; 

 and when ink is applied to them by the printer, in 

 the same way as he applies it to his metal types, 

 they transfer the ink to the paper placed over them 

 upon being subjected to an adequate pressure. We 

 should mention that in this, as in every other spe- 

 cies of engraving, the drawing upon the wood is a 

 reverse of the object copied, in the same way as a 

 mirror shows the reverse of the human counte- 

 nance ; when the impression is taken from the en- 

 graving, the object is correctly represented, in the 

 same way as the reflection of any object in a second 

 mirror placed opposite the first would also give it 

 correctly. 



The wood which is used for the purpose of en- 

 graving, is that of the box-tree. A considerable 

 quantity of box is imported into this country, as 

 the tree with us scarcely ever reaches a sufficient 

 size. The best logs are shipped from Odessa, but 

 very few are adapted for the purpose of the wood- 

 engraver, and the inferior qualities are chiefly used 

 for turnery. The blocks for engraving are cut di- 

 rectly across the grain, so that not many trees fur- 

 nish pieces sufficiently large for some wood-cuts, 

 and in that case two or even three smaller pieces 

 are fitted together with great exactness. The 

 price of box for engravers has advanced consider- 

 ably within the last few years, owing to the increas- 

 ed demand. 



WOODBINE. See Honeysuckle. 



WOODBRIDGE ; a market-town in the county 

 of Suffolk, seventy-seven north-east by east from 

 London. It is a place of considerable antiquity, 

 pleasantly situated on the north side of the river 

 Deben, on the slope of a hill, which commands a 

 fine view down the river to its influx into the sea. 

 The town consists of two principal streets, a spa- 

 cious square called Market Hill, and several narrow 

 streets and lanes, well paved and lighted. The 

 river near its mouth is called Woodbridge Haven, 

 and is navigable for vessels of 120 tons burden up 

 to the town, which carries on a considerable traffic 

 with London, Hull, Newcastle, and the continent, 

 and has several docks for building vessels, with 

 commodious wharfs and quays. The principal ex- 

 ports are corn, flour, and malt ; and the imports 

 coal, timber, foreign wine, spirits, grocery, drapery, 

 and ironmongery. The shipping is greatly on the 

 increase. Population in 1841, 4954. 



WOODCHUCK. See Marmot. 



WOODHOUSELEE. See Tytler. 



WOODPECKER (;>CMS). These birds have a 

 stout angular bill, wedge-shaped at the apex, 

 straight, or, in a few species, slightly arcuate, and 

 furnished with feathers at the base. The tongue 

 is long, worm-like, capable of being protruded 

 beyond the beak, and terminates in a horny and 

 very acute point, barbed with reflexed spines, like 

 an arrow, and serves to transfix insects. This ope- 

 ration is accomplished by the peculiar form of the 

 os hyoides, the two branches of which are prolonged 

 around the skull, passing over the summit, till they 

 reach the base of the bill, and a corresponding 

 muscular arrangement. The tarsi are short and 

 naked ; the toes, two before and two behind, long- 

 armed, with strong, compressed, hooked nails, every 

 way adapted for clinging. The tail, besides, serves 

 the purpose of a third member, having the shafts ol 

 the feathers stiff, elastic and projecting, acting the 

 part of a bracket in supporting the bird, when 

 thrown inward against the trunk of a tree. The 



species are numerous, and are found in all parts of 

 the globe ; at least in all that are covered by forests. 

 They cling to the trunks of trees, holding their 

 bodies upright, ar.d strike holes in the bark, in 

 search of insects which take shelter in the crevices. 

 They nestle in holes of trees, which they excavate 

 by repeated blows with their beaks. Some occa- 

 sionally feed on fruits and berries. Their plumage 

 is very much varied, composed of the most striking 

 colours, blue only excepted. There are numerous 

 and very beautiful species in the United States, 

 such as the ivory-billed, pileated, hairy, downy, 

 Carolina, red-headed, red-cockaded, and yellow- 

 bellied. The golden-winged woodpecker, or flicker, 

 is remarkable for having the bill slightly arcuated. 

 In Canada and the extreme northern parts of the 

 United States, a species is found having but three 

 toes ; and others exist, in the East Indies, having 

 the fourth toe very short, or merely rudimentary. 

 WOODS, LAKE OF THE. See Lake of the Woods. 

 WOODSTOCK ; a borough and market-town 

 of England, in Oxfordshire, sixty-two miles west- 

 north-west from London. Woodstock has two 

 manufactures, those of polished steel and gloves ; 

 the former much decayed; the latter was begun 

 here about seventy years ago. Population in 1841, 

 1412. Previous to the passage of the reform act 

 in 1832, it returned two members to parliament, 

 who were chosen by about 400 voters. By that 

 act it was deprived of one member. 



WOOL ; a term used very indefinitely. It is 

 applied both to the fine hair of animals, as sheep, 

 rabbits, some species of goats, the vicugna, &c., 

 and to fine vegetable fibres, as cotton (the German 

 name of which is tree-wool Baumwolle'), In this 

 article, however, we refer only to the wool of 

 sheep, a substance which, from the earliest periods, 

 has been of primary importance, because it has al- 

 ways formed the principal material of the clothing 

 of mankind in most temperate regions. What 

 Columella says (lib. viii, cap. 2), still remains true; 

 Post majores quadrupedes, ovilli pecoris secunda ra- 

 tio est, qua> prima sit, si ad utilitatem magnitudinem 

 refer as. Nam id prcecipue nos contra frigoris violen- 

 tiam protegit ; corporibusque nostris liberaliora prce- 

 bet velamina. We have given, in the articles Sheep, 

 and Sheep-Raising, some historical and other in- 

 formation on this interesting subject, and must re- 

 fer the reader to that article, as forming, in some 

 degree, one whole with the following. On those 

 parts of the sheep where wool does not grow, it has 

 hair, like other animals, as on the nose and the 

 lower part of the legs. Those parts of the skin 

 which cover flesh, always produce wool in the 

 healthy state of the animal. The fibres of the 

 wool are either straight and lank, or crooked and 

 interlaced. The division into locks, formed by the 

 coherence of the single fibres, varies in every species 

 of wool, and forms what is called the staple. The 

 body of wool, which is shorn in connexion from one 

 animal, is called a fleece. If we imagine a fleece 

 spread out, the wool of the head, the legs, the 

 belly, and the tail (which is the worst), form the 

 exterior parts or margin. The wool of the same 

 animal differs much on the various parts of the 

 body : that on the back and the sides is the best. 

 The great difference in the wool of different sheep 

 depends, in general, upon their descent, the cross- 

 ing of breeds, climate, food, and manner of living, 

 and among the individual animals of the same breed, 

 upon age, sex, and outward circumstances. The 

 wool is, therefore, divided into coarse wool, which 

 o 2 



