THE ZOOLOGICAL SIDE OF COMMERCE. 



HORSE-HAIR. 

 Bv HUBERT H. POOLE axu WILFR1:I) MARK \Vi:Br>. 



Thk part 

 day life is 

 go tliroui;! 



which animal [irodurts pla\- in our ever\-- 

 very important indeed, and many of them 

 1 \cry elaborate processes of preparation. 



I-'llU'Ri; 1. 



Sorting the horsehair over suction screens. 



of hairs. Indeed, there is practicalh* no member of 

 the class \\hich does not ])r(3duce hair at one stage 

 or another of its existence. That of the horse is 

 especialh well developed 

 on the neck and tail, prov- 

 ing ornamental in both 

 instances, but in the latter 

 also useful for brushing 

 away flies, which often 

 are a great source of 

 irritation. 



The horse- hair used for 

 commercial purposes arri\'es 

 m hales up to half a ton 

 HI weight, and a hundred 

 and t\\ent\- pounds in 

 \'alue. The chief sources 

 of supply are Great Britain, 

 Nortli and South America, 

 .Australia, German\-, Russia 

 and China. The tails are 

 the best, because the hairs 

 are hard, the manes being- 

 soft and therefore of in- 

 ferior \alue. The specially 

 long hairs are, of course, 

 suitable for particular pur- 

 poses, but we wdl deal 



The w hole subject is attrac- 

 ti\e. and especially so in 

 the cases where there is 

 no p o s s i 1 ) i 1 i t \' of the 

 creatures most tiirecth' 

 concerned being ruthlessh' 

 exterminated. 



We therefore propose 

 to contribute a series of 

 articles on commercial 

 ;^oologv to the pages of 

 " Kncjwledge," and while 

 all will be of general in- 

 terest, some of them will 

 have a special attraction for 

 the specialist who deals 

 with the groups to which 

 the animals in (piestion 

 belong. 



Mammals are at one end 

 of the scale, and their 

 most characteristic exter- 

 nal feature is the presence 



Mixini; various kinds of hair together. 

 3.S4 



