SHEEP. 



the operation of the comb. Connect- 

 ed with tlii.s. and a most important 

 quality, is the elasticity of the woolly 

 fibre — the disposition to yield, or sub- 

 mit to some elonjration of substance, 

 some alteration of form, when it is 

 distended or pressed upon, and the 

 energy by means of which the origi- 

 nal form is resumed as soon as the 

 external force is removed. 



" Referrible to this elasticity or 

 yielding character of the wool is its 

 pliability and softness, and without 

 which no manufacture of it can be 

 carried to any degree of perfection. 

 The last quality wliich it is necessary 

 to mention is its feltm^ property — 

 that quality by which it may be beat- 

 en or presse(i together and worked 

 into a soft and pliable substance of 

 almost any size and form. It would 

 seem that the process of felting is of 

 far older date than that of weaving ; 

 and it is still continued, not only by 

 the nomadic tribes of Southeastern 

 Europe and of Asia, but it is made 

 occasionally to vie with the finest 

 productions of the loom. 



" Some late microscopic observa- 

 tions have unravelled the whole mys- 

 tery of felting, and of the employ- 

 ment of wool in almost every form. 

 The fibre, examined under a power- 

 ful microscope, appears like a con- 

 tinuous vegetable growth, from which 

 there are sprouting, and all tending 

 one way, from the root to the other 

 extremity, numerous leaves, assu- 

 ming the appearance of calices or 

 cups, and each terminating in a sharp 

 point. It is easy to conceive how 

 readily one of these fibres will move 

 in a direction from the root to the 

 point, while its retraction must be 

 exceedingly difficult, if not impossi- 

 ble. It was a fibre of Merino wool 

 that was first submitted to microscop- 

 ic observation, and the number of 

 these serrations or projections count- 

 ed. There were 2400 in the space 

 of an inch. A fibre of Saxon wool, 

 finer than that of the Merino, and of 

 acknowledged superior felting (piali- 

 ty, was substituted. There were 

 2720 serrations. A fibre of South 

 Down wool, in its felting power well 



known to be inferior to that of the 

 Saxony and the Merino, was i)laccd 

 in the fi(!ld of vision. Tlicre were 

 only 2080 serrations in the space of 

 an inch, or 640 less than the Saxony 

 exhibited. The Leicester wool is 

 acknowledged to possess a less felt- 

 ing property than the South Down. 

 Tliere were only 1860 in the space 

 of an inch. 



" There can be no doubt as to the 

 structure of the woolly fibre. It con- 

 sists of a central stem or stalk, from 

 which there spring, at ditferent dis- 

 tances, circles of leaf-shaped projec- 

 tions, possessing a certain degree of 

 resistance or of entanglement with 

 other fibres, in proportion as these 

 circlets are multiplied and they pro- 

 ject from the stalk. They are sharp- 

 er and more numerous in the felling 

 wools, and in proportion as the felt- 

 ing property exists. They are con- 

 nected with, or, it may be confidently 

 asserted, they give to the wool the 

 power of felting, and regulate the 

 degree in whicli that power is pos- 

 sessed. 



" Skins. — The skin of the sheep is 

 often partially tanned, and then used 

 in the common sorts of book-bindmg; 

 or it is manufactured into parchment, 

 and becomes exceedingly valuable on 

 account of its durability. Immense 

 numbers of lamb skins are dressed in 

 a peculiar way, and converted into 

 gloves with the wool remaining on 

 them, or used, in some countries, for 

 the linings of valuable garments. It 

 is scarcely credible to what degree 

 vanity and cruelty are sometimes car- 

 ried. The ewe is slaughtered a little 

 before the time when her pregnancy 

 would have expired, and the lamb is 

 taken from the womb and immediate- 

 ly destroyed. It is supposed that the 

 fur nearest to the skin is more beau- 

 tiful than could have been obtained 

 from the same animal after birth. 



" Varieties. — It will now be proper 

 to take a rapid survey of the different 

 breeds of sheep, commencing with 

 the South Downs. The South Downs 

 and the Hampshire and ^^'lltshIre 

 breeds were formerly, according to 

 Mr. EUman, of 'a very small size, 



693 



