PREFACE. 



NATURAL HISTORY includes all the works of the Mighty Creator; her votaries, with 

 the aid of the telescope, measure the parallax of the most distant stars, and, with the 

 microscope, scrutinize the minutest portion of the smallest infusoria, plant, or crystal. 

 Nothing for them is too large, nothing too small for examination, which God has placed 

 within their reach. If the Deity has not deemed it beneath His dignity to create an 

 object, surely it would be presumptive in man to consider it too insignificant for his 

 study. Then let no one marvel that we have devoted so much time to ascertain the 

 organization, properties and uses of hair and wool. To the unreflecting, this department 

 of knowledge may, at first view, appear to be trifling; but, with each successive advance, 

 it will acquire more importance. 



The Science which relates to Pile may be called TRICHOLOGY, (from Trix, a hair ;) 

 its descriptive part is TRICHOGRAPHY. It is a branch of Zoology, or rather of Mammo- 

 logy; and, so far, it is connected with Physiology, Anatomy and Comparative Anatomy. 

 Some of its discoveries shed new light upon the ethnological problem of the unity of the 

 human species, and others will be found to be intimately connected with those branches 

 of agricultural industry, which relate to the raising of Sheep and producing of wool, and 

 the raising of Swine for the bristles. It embraces a large field of inquiry, many parts of 

 which are yet only partially explored. 



In our progress we have endured considerable mental labor and encountered some 

 unexpected difficulties; but, cheered by the countenance and aided by a few scientific 

 friends, we have pursued a steady course, and have, at length, brought our examinations 

 to a tolerably successful termination. It will be recollected that we were obliged, in the 

 first instance, to collect the materials; and, after years of untiring exertions, we have at 

 length the largest and the most valuable known cabinet of pile. In the meantime we 

 attended lectures on Physiology and Anatomy. We have made use of none but superior 

 instruments, and some of these are entirely new either in themselves or their application 

 to this study. We have availed ourselves of the researches of those who have gone over 

 the ground before us, at all times acknowledging their truthfulness and pointing out their 

 errors. We have carefully preserved the specimens from which our drawings are made, 

 for future re-examination, if desirable. Upon a theme so extensive, and comparatively so 

 novel, we do not expect to have escaped error; but we trust that when pointed out, we 

 shall ever be found ready to acknowledge and correct them. 



P. A. BROWNE, 



Philadelphia. 



356999 



