Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 517 



injury. The true skin is composed almost entirely of gelatine, so 

 that though it may be dissolved by much boiling, it is insoluble in 

 water at the common temperature. 



Anatomy of Wool. 



Although the fiber of wool has been submitted to severe examina- 

 tions of powerful microscopes, its internal structure is not yet 

 definitely settled — whether solid or consisting of a hard exterior tube, 

 with a pith within. The weight of testimony, however, is much in 

 favor of the supposition of the latter. The fact may be adduced, in 

 support of this conclusion, that the wool of the sheep, when in high 

 condition, is coarser than when in low flesh, the fiber being distended 

 apparently from no other cause than the superabundance of the 

 secretive matter designed for its growth. Could it be otherwise were 

 it not tubular in its conformation ? It may, however, proceed from 

 another cause, for it has been satisfactorily ascertained that the fiber 

 is vascular, being supplied with vessels which convey nourishment 

 from the pulp, which seem to accompany it to a considerable distance 

 from the root, if not through its whole extent. 



The learned Dr. Good says : " The plica-polonica — a disease whose 

 existence is doubted by some, but of the occasional occurrence of 

 which there is abundant testimony — completely establishes the vascu- 

 larity of the hair, for it is an enlargement of the individual hair, so 

 much so as in some cases to permit the passage of blood, for the hair 

 will bleed when divided by the scissors." Admitting it to be true 

 that hair is vascular, it follows that the fiber of wool is also ; and, 

 hence, if a sheep is in more than ordinary condition, the consequent 

 repletion of the fluids would cause an increased bulk of the fiber, 

 Avithout the necessity of a tubular conformation. But leave is taken 

 of the question, with the repetition that the preponderance of testi- 

 mony is in favor of the theory that the fiber is hollow. 



Each fiber of wool is composed of a number of filaments of smaller 

 hairs, ranged side by side, which can be perceived without difficulty, 

 from the tendency it sometimes has to ravel at the point. Mr. 

 Bakewell, the celebrated English sheep breeder, says : " Hair is 

 frequently observed to split at its points into distinct fibers ; a divi- 

 sion has also been seen in the hair of wool. This seems to prove 

 that they are formed of distinct long filaments united in one thread 

 or point. In one hair I distinctly perceived fifteen of these divisions 

 or fibers lying parallel to each other, and in some of the fibers a 

 further subdivision was distinguishable. Probably these subdivisions 



