WILD WOOL 



fectness of the instruments at my command, 

 the results thus far obtained must be regarded 

 only as rough approximations. 



As already stated, the clothing of our wild 

 sheep is composed of fine wool and coarse hair. 

 The hairs are from about two to four inches 

 long, mostly of a dull bluish-gray color, though 

 varying somewhat with the seasons. In gen- 

 eral characteristics they are closely related to 

 the hairs of the deer and antelope, being light, 

 spongy, and elastic, with a highly polished 

 surface, and though somewhat ridged and spi- 

 raled, like wool, they do not manifest the 

 slightest tendency to felt or become taggy. A 

 hair two and a half inches long, which is per- 

 haps near the average length, will stretch 

 about one fourth of an inch before breaking. 

 The diameter decreases rapidly both at the 

 top and bottom, but is maintained throughout 

 the greater portion of the length with a fair 

 degree of regularity. The slender tapering 

 point in which the hairs terminate is nearly 

 black: but, owing to its fineness as compared 

 with the main trunk, the quantity of black- 

 ness is not sufficient to affect greatly the gen- 

 eral color. The number of hairs growing upon a 

 square inch is about ten thousand; the number 

 of wool fibers is about twenty-five thousand, 

 or two and a half times that of the hairs. The 



7 



