HAT part of the fleece of the Angora 

 goat, which at a year's growth is com- 

 posed of long, lustrous, elastic fibers, 

 is called Mohair. It may be more or 

 less curled, but it is readily distinguish- 

 able from that part of the fleece of the Angora which 

 is composed of short, stiff fibers, known as kemp. 



The word mohair probably has its origin in mod- 

 ern times, as the Turkish word for mohair is 

 tiftick. A theory which is advanced by Mr. George 

 Gatheral of Constantinople, and which is tenable, is 

 that the early Dutch traders who visited Angora, 

 found the native clergy wearing a gown made of mo- 

 hair. The Turks called the cloth " mahr," and it is 

 possible that the traders applied this word to the raw 

 material. If this be so, the English hare corrupted 

 the word into the present term mohair. 



The color of mohair varies in different localities 

 and on different individuals. In the vilayet of Ko- 

 niah, in Asia Minor, is a breed of goats producing a 

 brownish colored mohair. This material is sold upon 

 the market as Koniah mohair. The Koniah goat, how- 

 ever, has been rapidly disappearing, as the herdsmen 

 found that the foreign demand was for white mohair, 



