Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1809-08-18
nv. ROBERT BAKEWELL..
[coNrrNu ED.]


The investigation Of a few plain facts has
since convinced me, that this theory is err
roneous, and that 1t is possible to grow
WOODS Of soft quality On the soils the most
~unfavorable to It's production. 1t may be
proper, before I proceed to state more fully
5 10 those not well acquainted witt: the pecu-
liarities of wool, what is meant by the soft
Silky quality of wool, and woolen cloth ;
and to shew why it IS more highly valued
now, than it was even few years ag'.-
That the subject may be better understood,
il is necessary here TO make few rena,ks
on the nature aud substance of wool.
From some experiments which have
made, and also from the experiment OF to-
reign chemists, am we'll convinced that
the substance of wool, in its constituent
slementary parts, is the same as the sub.
stance Of the Other animal excrescences,
Hair. ftathere. nails and horn. Whatever
external difference may appear in these sub
etarscss, their results by chemral analysis
arc.the same. The external difference con-
sists chiefly in one being solid, the other
GsYpos; ORE hard. and elassic, the other less
inluratsd hence, more Yielding and plla-
ub!r. In.what then consists the differences
between wool and hair? To obtain clear
idea OF the nature Of wool, and to avoid
-sobscurity, il is necessary 20 reply to this
question. I viii venture Their to assert, that
the distinction between wool and hair Is
more artificial than natural: in this, as in
manyA other instances, men have For their
convenience given different names to sub
stances essentially the same, because they
were rendered CAPABLE by some peculiarly,
of being applied by art to different pur
poses.
J. .,... Wool y1he found on some sheep,
which, if grown on any other animal, would
be called what it really is, hair the SAINT
animal will prodnse in other parts of its
fleece, true sleeps wool. Some animals,
as the Vicuna, the Angora goat, &c. though
they produce coarse, long hair, produce also
Other hair SO silky, soft, and fine, as Justly
to en,l,,e il to be ca,lsd wool being in these
qualities superior to the finest Spanish or
Saxony Sleeps wool. The YAK OF Tarta
. ry, Of wnich >nese . a description and plate
IN Turner'S account Of Tibet, appears TO be
a species Of wool-bearine OK. The oxen Of
Hudson's Bay also, II narIrali,ts rightly in
form Us, produce wool finer and softer
than the Vigonia or Vicuna wool it must
be therefore the finest wool hitherto known.
Tha peculiarly which has given the name
OF wool TO some kinds Of hair, is the small
ness, softness, and p,iabiiisy OF the fibre,
whence tits capable ofbeing spun, and WOW
en- into cloth which. will felt or mill into
one universal form, texture, and,by the pro-
cess Of fulling, will cover the surface of the
thread with a pile. When the hair of any
q animal is too hard and elastic to admit Of the
same effect being produced by similar pro-
]. Cess. ws cease to call it wool. Now some
! ze9oihas a much nearer resemblance to hair
al tts hardness and elasticity Of Its fibre,
than other uoool equally fine. Cloth made
. from such wool Is hard and harsh to the
!, touch, loose in its texture, and the surface
of the thread is bare. IS.
Hence, it is much less valuable than cloth
made lromthe softer woods. The difference
] In the quality and value of two pieces of
cloth, manufactured in the same manner
= from woods possessing the same degree Of
6neness, but the one from the calcareous.
the other from the, argillaceous districts,
will be much greater than is generally
known, or than these not we'll acquaiut, d