WOOL. 41 



the Carthaginians, during their brief possession ; 3c?, from 

 Italy, by the Romans, during their dominion of several hun- 

 dred years ; and 4M, again from Africa, by the Moors, who 

 maintained a footing in the country for nearly eight centuries. 

 The larger Sheep of the plains have long wool, often coloured 

 brown or black. The Sheep of the mountains, downs, and 

 arid plains, have short wool, of different degrees of fineness, 

 and different colours. The most important of 'these latter 

 races is the Merino, now the most esteemed and widely dif- 

 fused of all the fine-woolled breeds of Europe. 



In the British Islands the races of Sheep present extraor- 

 dinary diversities of size, form, and other characters, caused, 

 it may be believed, in part, by a difference of descent, in part 

 by the long-continued influence of climate, food, and other 

 agencies, and in part by the effects of breeding and artificial 

 treatment. But before describing the breeds proper to, or 

 naturalized in, these Islands, it will be well to direct atten- 

 tion to the nature of Wool, which forms an important pro- 

 duction of the Sheep in all countries. 



WOOL. 



The Hair of animals, of which Wool is a variety, springs 

 from the cellular tissue, immediately underneath the corion 

 or true skin. It grows from a soft pulp included in a little 

 sac, into which nerves and bloodvessels pass from the sur- 

 rounding tissue. It extends outwards, passing through the 

 true skin and epidermis in the form of a fine cylinder. It pos- 

 sesses externally a scaly texture, the laminae pointing in one 

 direction from the root to the tip, and is protected by an 

 unctuous secretion. Wool is chiefly distinguished from hair 

 by its growing in a spiral form, by its greater softness and 

 pliability,. and by a property to be referred to, by which the 

 separate filaments adhere under the influence of moisture 

 and pressure. On account of these properties, wool is 



