14 EVENINGS AT THE MICEOSCOPE. 



like texture. The " body," or substance of tlie best sort 

 of men's hats, is made of lamb's wool and rabbit's fur, 

 not interwoven, but simply beaten, pressed, and worked 

 together, between damp cloths. The same property en- 

 ables woven woollen tissues to become close and thick : 

 everv one knows tliat worsted stockino;s shrink in their di- 

 mensions, but become much thicker and firmer after they 

 have been worn and washed a little ; and the " stout 

 broad-cloth," which has been the characteristic covering 

 of Englishmen for ages, would be but a poor open 

 flimsy texture, but for the intimate union of the felted 

 wool-fibres, which accrues from the various processes 

 to which the fabric has been subjected. 



lu a commercial view, the excellence of wool is 

 tested by the closeness of its imbrications. ^\^ien first 

 the wool-fibre was submitted to microscopical examina- 

 tion, the experiment was made on a specinjen of Meri- 

 no ; it presented 2,400 serratures in an inch. Then a 

 fibre of Saxon wool, finer than the former, and known 

 to possess a superior felting power, was tried : there 

 were 2,720 se?ratures in an inch. Kext a specimen of 

 South-Down w^ool, acknowledged to be inferior to 

 eitlier of the former, was examined, and gave 2,080 ser- 

 ratures. Finally, the Leicester wool, whose felting 

 property is feebler still, yielded only 1850 serratures 

 per inch. And this connection of good felting quality 

 with the number and sharpness of the sheathing scales 

 is found to be invariable. 



The hairs of many Insects are curious and interest- 

 ing. Here you may see the head of the hive-bee, which 

 is moderately clothed with hair ; each hair is slender 

 and pointed, and is beset with a multitude of subordi- 

 nate short hairs, which project from the main stem, and 



