Q^ ON THE VOLK OF WOOL. 



I am unacquainted with ; 5th, Of an atom of muriate of pot- 

 afli ; 6lh, finally. Of an animal matter to which I attribute 

 the pecuh'ar odour of the yolk. 

 which ire not I am of opinion that all thefe matters are effentiai to the 



icciJental. nature of the yolk, and are not found in it by accident; for I 



have conftantly found them in a great number of famples, as 

 well of Spanifli wool as of French. 



I do not here fpeak of the other matters, infoluble in water, 

 which are alfo met with in wool, fuch as the carbonate of 

 lime, fand, and filth of every fort, thefe being evidently acci- 

 dental. 

 Are they the It remained now to enquire if all the matters in the yolk 



taneous^ranfpU ^^""^ *^^ produCt of cutaneous tranfpiration, accumulated and 

 ration? thickened in the wool, or if they were taken up in the folds 



and other places in which the (beep lie. It is very certain 

 that all the elements fit for the formation of the matters con- 

 tained in the yolk, are found in the excrements of thefe ani- 

 mals, and in the vegetables which ferve them for litter. Ne- 

 verthelefs, I could not believe that all of it was the effefi of 

 dung ; on tlie contrary, I am of opinion that the humour of 

 the tranfpiration is the principal fource of it. 



The analyfis of the dung offers nothing certain in this refpe6l, 



becaufe the matters found in it may have been depofited there 



by the fheep themfelves. 



In '.vhat ilateare But admitting that the principles of the yolk arife from the 



th^'flc"""^'^ ^^ cutaneous tranfpiration, which is very probable, are thefe 



matters emitted by the body of the animal in this Itate, and do 



they not experience fome change while they remain in the 



wool ? This is a queftion on which it is difficult to decide po- 



fitively ; we can only prefume that changes are produced in 



it, as in all very complex fubftances deprived of motion, of 



which, in the prefent cafe, we neither know the caufe nor the 



manner. 



Wa/hing the The yolk, as we have feen above, being a true foapj fo- 



wool it. running j^j^le in water and alcohol, it would feem that nothing better 



water is not i i r r 



enough to cleanfs t:an be done tor Icowerlng the wool than to vvafli them in run- 

 "• ning water. But I (hould obferve that there is a fmall quan- 



tity of fat matter in the wool, which is not in combination 

 with the alkali, and which, remaining attached to the wool, 

 keeps it a little glutinous (poi^cux), nolwithftanding the moft 

 careful waOiing. 



But 



