ON THE COMMERCE AND USES OF THE HAIR OF ANIMALS. 451 



the animal. The fleece of this animal, exhibited by Mr. E. B. Roberts, 

 may be seen in the Fur Court, South Kensington Museum. 



The hair of the common goat, which is in colour mostly grey, 

 brown, and black, is used for very low-priced carpetings, &c. Tents 

 and baling cloths are made of it, in the East. Several hundred tons of 

 goat's hair are now imported annually from Ireland to mix with low 

 carpet yarns. 



Camel's Hair. — The hair obtained from an ordinary camel weighs 

 about 10 lbs., but its colour and abundance depend entirely upon the 

 particular species of camel, and the climate which he inhabits. It is 

 sometimes finer than silk, and is always longer than sheep's wool. The 

 camel annually casts its hair in the spring. The hair of the Arabian 

 camel is thin and whitish ; that of the Bactrian camel thicker and 

 darker coloured. The hair is principally imported into this country 

 for the manufacture of fine brushes or pencils for drawing and painting. 

 It is exported in considerable quantities from Smyrna, Constantinople, 

 and Alexandria, and is largely used by the French in the manufacture 

 of bats. It may be obtained in many parts of Africa and Asia. In 

 the East it forms an important article of commerce, and is extensively 

 used in the arts. When spun it serves for wrappers for merchandise, 

 and the fabrication of the tents, shawls, and carpets of the Arabs. A 

 coarse kind of clothing, almost impermeable to rain, is made for camel 

 drivers and shepherds, and as a wrapper for merchandise long exposed 

 to wet in heavy rains. In Persia more valuable manufactures are pro- 

 duced in cloths of different colours, and fine stockings, of which white 

 are the highest prized. The Tartar women of the plains make a kind 

 of warm, soft, and light narrow cloth from the hair of the Bactrian 

 camel, preserving the natural colours. The hair for sale is divided into 

 three qualities — black, ? red, and grey. The black is the dearest, the red the 

 second quality, and the grey is only worth half the value of the 

 red. The import of camel's hair into England, which, but a few 

 years ago, only amounted to a few thousand pounds, has greatly 

 increased of late, as much as 322,000 lbs. having been received in 

 1861. 



Porcupine's Quills. — In certain parts of the bodies of some animals, 

 hairs sometimes become remarkably developed and strangely modified, as 

 in the case of the hedgehog or porcupine, where they assume, over the 

 greater part, but not the whole of the body, the form of spines and 

 quills. Those of the porcupine {Hystrix cristata) come into commerce, 

 and are rather expensive. They are used for penholders, work-piercers, 

 or eyeletteers by ladies, for tooth-picks, fish-floats, making fancy boxes, 

 and other ornamental purposes. 



The hair from the tail of the elephant is stiff and smooth, of glossy 

 black colour, 14 to 15 inches long, the size of small iron wire, solid, of 

 a horny nature, very tough, and will bear to be doubled and tied with- 

 out breaking (though some are brittle), and therefore useful for making 



