OVIS ARIES. 



only shorter, but generally finer and softer, than the worsted 

 wools, in order to fit them for the fulling process. Some 

 wool-sorters and wool-staplers acquire by practice great nice- 

 ty of discernment in judging of wools by the touch and trac- 

 tion of the fingers. From a series of observations made upon 

 different wools, the following results were noticed. The fila- 

 ments of the finer qualities varied in thickness from TT Vry to 

 rs l uv of an inch ; their structure is very curious, exhibiting in 

 a good achromatic microscope, at intervals of about ^^ of an 

 inch, a series of serrated rings, imbricated towards each other 

 like the joints of Equisetum, or rather like the scaly zones of 

 a serpent's skin. 



There are four distinct qualities of wool upon every sheep, 

 the finest being upon the spine, from the neck to within six 

 inches of the tail, including one third of the breadth of the 

 back ; the second covers the flanks between the thighs and 

 the shoulders ; the third clothes the neck and the rump ; and 

 the fourth extends upon the lower part of the neck and breast 

 down to the feet, as also upon a part of the shoulders and 

 the thighs to the bottom of the hind quarters. These should 

 be carefully torn asunder and sorted immediately after the 

 shearing. 



The harshness of wools is dependent not solely upon the 

 breed of the animal, or the climate, but is owing to certain 

 peculiarities in the pasture, derived from the soil. It is known 

 that, in sheep fed upon chalky districts, wool is apt to get 

 coarse ; but in those upon a rich, loamy soil, it becomes soft 

 and silky. The ardent sun of Spain renders the fleece of the 

 Merino breed harsher than it is in the milder climate of Sax- 

 ony. Smearing sheep with a mixture of tar and butter is 

 deemed favorable to the softness of their wool. 



All wool in its natural state contains a quantity of a pecu- 

 liar potash-soap, secreted by the animal, called in the country 

 the yolk, which may be washed out by water alone, with 

 which it forms a sort of lather. It constitutes from twenty- 

 five to fifty per cent, of the wool, being most abundant in the 

 Mexico breed of sheep, and, however favorable to the growth 

 of the wool on the living animal, should be taken out soon 

 after it is shorn, lest it injure the fibres by fermentation, and 

 cause them to become hard and brittle. After being washed 

 in water somewhat more than lukewarm, the wool should be 

 well pressed and carefully dried. 



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