46 THE SHEEP. 



merits of wool to unite or adhere when moistened and com- 

 pressed. By compression in the moist state, a mass of wool 

 becomes a dense body, as we see in the case of hats or beavers, 

 which are formed of the wool and down of animals subjected 

 to pressure and moisture. Nay, by this process alone, with- 

 out the intervention of spinning or weaving, cloth can be 

 formed. Thus, in ancient times, and among certain people of 

 the East at the present day, caps, mantles, blankets, carpets, 

 and the covering of tents, are formed by felting alone. In 

 England, recent experiments have shewn, that tolerably good 

 cloths, both with respect to durability and fineness, may be 

 formed by this means. The property appears to depend on 

 the form of the filaments before referred to. -Each filament 

 is seen to be notched all round with minute serrations, formed 

 by fine sharp laminse, proceeding from the pile like the leaves 

 of an artichoke, all pointing in one direction from the base 

 to the extremity. Now when, by the process of carding, the 

 filaments are broken into minute fragments, the parts are in- 

 termingled in every direction, and the serrations tend to lock 

 themselves into one another by meeting in opposite direc- 

 tions. But when wool is prepared by combing, the serrations 

 lie in one direction, and do not in the same degree tend to 

 lock themselves together. 



In the manufacture of woollen cloth, the felting process is 

 not called into operation until the threads are spun and 

 woven, and in the preparatory process the tendency of the 

 filaments to cohere is prevented by oiling the wool. But 

 when the cloth is woven, it is subjected to a process termed 

 Fulling, for the purpose of freeing it from the oily matter. 

 The fulling is performed by machinery, and consists in press- 

 ing the cloth in water along with clay, the aluminous matter 

 of which combines with the oil of the cloth. It is in under- 

 going this operation that the threads and filaments cohere 

 together, so that the cloth becomes more thick, and does not 

 unravel when cut. 



From this account, it will be seen that, while the facilitv 



