ON THE COMMERCE AND USES OE THE HAIR OF ANIMALS. 



447 



threatens ere long to throw into disuse the once almost universal 

 shaving-brush, the brush trade must always be one of magnitude, for 

 no dwelling, however humble, is complete without the use of the paint- 

 brush, or kept in order without the broom and the scrubbing-brush. 



The brush trade of the United Kingdom finds employment for a 

 large number of people : its various branches are distinct, the workmen 

 of one branch being seldom employed upon any other. The brush- 

 makers and bristle assorters number 2,300 men, of whom 1,500 belong 

 to a trade union, while 800 are not members of this society. The 

 painting- brush-makers number 80 men, of whom 72 belong to a trade 

 union, and only. 8 are not members of this society. About 400 hands 

 are employed in making bass brooms for sweeping streets, areas, etc. 



It would be difficult to ascertain correctly how many men and women 

 are employed in the other branches of the trade, such as — 



Fancy hair-brush making. 

 Bone and ivory brush making. 

 Artists' and grainers' brush making. 



The amount of the home trade in brushes cannot be ascertained, but 

 the returns issued by the Board of Trade show that the exports of 

 brushware and brooms have been as follows : — 



1853 . . . 43,635 



1858 . 



. £39,408 



1854 . . . 45,284 



1859 . 



. 42,570 



1855 . . . 26,307 



1860 . 



. 41,898 



1856 . . . 37,041 



1861 . 



. 37,986 



1857 . . . 43,915 







Lnd the imports of paint-brushes have been — 





1855 . . . £824 



1859 . 



. £1,329 



1856 . . . 968 



1860 . 



1,407 



1857 . . . 1,548 



1861 . 



8,423 



1858 . . . 1,153 







Whilst, however, the demand for brushes is increasing, the supply 

 of bristles, which is the material chiefly used in their manufacture, is 

 slowly but surely decreasing. Fifty years ago excellent bristles were 

 collected in England and Ireland ; but the present breed of pigs in the 

 United Kingdom produces no bristles fit for brush-making. 



Until the year 1816 hair brushes were made upon the same princi- 

 ple as clothes-brushes are now made — the surface of the bristle being- 

 flat or even ; but in that year a simple invention was patented, the 

 object of which was to insert the bristles of hair-brushes in an uneven 

 or spiral form, in order that they might penetrate the hair. This patent 

 was upset on the plea of insufficient description ; the process is now 

 almost universal, an even hair-brush, except for smoothing the hair, 

 being seldom made.* 



Mr. Kent, Jury Reports, Class xxv. Sect. B. 



