302 CASSELL'S POPULAB NATURAL HISTORY. 



that common designation. Nor is that surprising when it is remembered that mitts, shirts, drawers, 

 waistcoats, jackets, caps, leggings, braces, "polka jackets," and other articles too numerous to 

 recapitulate, all bear a family likeness, in so far as they are produced by the same kind of chain- 

 stitch or loop, which imparts great elasticity. It is, however, a curious fact, that while the material 

 for all our worsted gloves is made in Leicester and its neighbourhood, many of the gloves are cut out 

 and sewed up in Worcester and its vicinity. Men generally weave the stocking-web at Leicester, 

 while women stitch it up into stockings. The -weaving or knitting is about seven times the value 

 of the stitching in every pair. 



There are three great central and western races of sheep in France : that of Choletaise, having a 

 dark circle round the eyes, a better form than in most of the other species, and a good fleece ; that of 

 Berrichome du Crevant, which yields much milk and wool ; and that of Larzac, a short, thick-set 

 animal, with long, fibrous, but not very abundant wool ; the milk, however, is plentiful, and from it 

 the celebrated Rochefort cheese is made. Other remarkable sheep are those of La Cfutrmois. 



In the Great Exhibition of 18-31 there was a wool of singular and peculiar properties; the hair 

 glossy and silky, similar to mohair, retaining at the same time certain properties of the merino breed. 

 It was exhibited by M. J. L. Graux, of the farm of Mauchamp, Commune do Juvincourt (Aisne), ns 

 the produce of a peculiar variety of the merino breed of sheep. 



The jury entered into an inquiry, not only into the commercial value and application, but into the 

 production of this new kind of wool, and found it to be one of the very few instances in which the 

 origin of a distinct variety of a domestic quadruped could be satisfactorily traced, and all the 

 circumstances attending its development well authenticated. The following is a brief statement of this 

 interesting case : 



In the year 1828, one of the ewes in the flock of merinos, in the farm of Mauchamp, produced a 

 male lamb, which, as it grew up, became remarkable for the long, straight, and .silky character of the 

 fibre of the wool, and for the smoothness of its horns : it was of small size, and presented certain 

 defects in its conformation -which have disappeared in its descendants. In 1829, M. Graux employed 

 this ram with a view to obtain other rams having the same quality of wool. The produce of 1830 

 included only one ram and one ewe having the silky quality of the wool ; that of 1831 produced four 

 rams and one ewe with the fleece of that quality ; but, in the year 1 833, the rams with the silky variety 

 of wool were sufficiently numerous of themselves to serve the whole flock. 



In each subsequent year the lambs have been of the two kinds one preserving the characters of 

 the ancient race, with the curled, elastic wool, only a little longer and finer than in the ordinary 

 merinos ; the other resembling the rams of the new breed, some of which retained the large head, long 

 neck, narrow chest, and long flanks of the abnormal progenitor; whilst others combined the ordinary 

 and better-formed body, with the fine, silky wool. M. Graux, profiting by this partial resumption of 

 the normal type of the merino in certain of the descendants of the malformed original variety, at 

 length succeeded, by a judicious system of ci'ossing and interbreeding, in obtaining a flock combining 

 the long, silky fleece, with a smaller head, shorter neck, broader flanks, and more capacious chest. 



Of this breed the flocks have become sufficiently numerous to enable the proprietor to sell 

 examples of the breed for exportation. 



The crossing of the Mauchamp variety with the ordinary merinos has also produced a valuable 

 quality of wool, known in France as the " Mauchamp merino." The fine, silky wool of the pure 

 Mauchamp breed is remarkable for its qualities as combing wool, owing to the strength as well as 

 the length and fineness of the fibre. It is found of great value by the manufacturers of Cashmere 

 shawls, being second only to the true Cashmere fleece in the fine, flexible delicacy of the fabric, and of 

 particular utility when combined with the Cashmere wool, in imparting to the manufacture qualities of 

 strength and consistence, in which the pure Cashmere is deficient. Although the quantity of the wool 

 yii'Ui'J by the Mauchamp variety is less than in the ordinary merinos, the higher price which it obtains 

 in the French market (25 per cent, above the best merino wools), and the present value of the breed, 

 have fully compensated M. Graux for the pains and care he has manifested in the establishment of the 

 variety. 



The original Spanish sheep were, according to Pliny, Solinus, and Columella, some black-fleeced, 

 some produced red <n- Krythiwan woo], and some, as Ihoso about Cordova, had a tawny fleece. The 



