LSeEpr., 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 271 
Tn the language of the breeder, we use the term “wool” for 
or less fine and uniform animal hairs, the product of the skin. 
Hair, properly speaking, is a tube containing a cellular mass called marrow 
or medulla; whilst a true wool hair is a solid horny rod, a matter to which I 
shall refer more particularly later on. In order to properly understand the 
nature of wool, we must study it—Firstly, from an anatomical point of view as an 
animal hair ; secondly, as a crop to he cultivated ; thirdly, as a commercial article, 
as judged by the manufacturer. 
Looking upon a fleece of wool as a crop raised from the skin, or its field, 
we may call the skin of a sheep “a woolfield.” In order to cultivate it 
intelligently, the woolerower must understand the conditions under which this 
field can, in after generations, be improved as to the quantity and the quality 
of the crops of wool to be raised from it. We have to deal with its thickness, 
its elasticity, the peculiar nature of its organisation, its individual capacity for 
producing those elements from which the horny matter which constitutes the 
wool fibre is formed, and its healthy condition generally. This interesting organ 
exhibits, in its extreme sensitiveness, the nature of a highly developed animal 
organ; and in its aptitude to regenerate itself, and its capacity of being trans- 
planted, the nature of a vegetable. 
The skin or integument forms a covering over 
of some animals are very thin, of others very thick. 
grained, others are of a more spongy nature. 
The skin of the mammals is made up principally of two parts—the outer 
one which is exposed to the air, and the inner one. Between the skin and the 
body of an animal, we find a whitish mass—the subcutaneous tissue which 
consists of a mass of fibres, bloodyexsels, nerves, &c, 
The outer one of the two parts of the skin is called 
cuticle), and the lower inner part the dermis (or corium), 
The epidermis is hard and horny, and is composed of minute scales which are 
being continually worn away from the surface. The surface of the epidermis 
resents a multitude of minute openings when viewed with a magnifying class. 
hese are called the pores, and they are really the openings of the duets of little 
glands situated in the lower part (the dermis) of the skin, and produce a watery 
fluid—perspiration or sweat. 
The epidermis itself contains no bloodyessels and but few nerves—its office 
is simply to protect the deeper layer of the skin, 
If we thrust a needle through the epidermis without penetrating the 
dermis beneath, we feel no pain and shed no blood; but so soon as the dermis 
or true skin is injured, we feel a sharp sensation of pain, and more or less blood 
flows. The epiderm of all wool-bearing sheep, especially the merino, is very thin, 
so that the blood underneath it shines through and imparts to the skin a peculiar 
pink appearance, which is regarded as a sign of good bealth. 
The deeper portion of the epidermis, which connects the outer horny 
layer with the true skin, is softer and less transparent. It is made up of 
minute cells, some of which contain granules of pigment or colouring matter. 
The latter imparts to our domestic sheep those shades of colour which vary 
from light-grey to black. The pigment layer of the skin is also called 
the rete mucosum (mucous net) or the Malpighian layer. The cells of the 
rele mucosum are nourished by the blood which circulates in the dermis. They 
are also being continually pushed outward by the growth of the new cells 
beneath, and as they approach the surface the pigment disappears, and they 
become gradually more and more horny, being, in fact, converted into horn 
scales which take the place of those which are continuously worn off by friction 
from the outer layer. 
The dermis or true skin (or corivm) consists of fibres or connective and 
elastic tissues, interwoven with minute bloodvessels and nerve-fibres,  Tts 
surface is drawn up into finger-like projections called papille, the largest of 
a mass of more 
the whole body. The skins 
Some skins are very close- 
he epidermis (or 
