The Washington times., 1921-01-02

formed dense mass composed OF the cells
of the inner skin. which ultimately be-
come the papilla OF the hair.
In general, the hairs OF mammals are
circular or elliptical when viewed In cross
section. Those which are circular are
straight or but slightly curved, while those
of elliptical cross-section are curly or
kinky, the amount Of curl depending upon
the fairness of the ellipse.
An animals hair shaft is built up OF four
well-defned structural units-the medulla
or pith composed Of many shrunken and
variously disposed cells: the cortex, sur
rounding the medulla and composed OF
spindle-shaped cells cOalesced into horny,
transparent mass; the pigment granules,
to which the color Of the hair is primarily
due; the cuticle or outer covering, com
posed Of thin, transparent, colorless scales
which sometimes overlap like the scales
of fish.
BY studying these units under the micro.
scope the animal to which any given
hair belonged can be determined with great
accuracy. You can in this way prove abso.
lutely whether the fur a dealer Is selling
you for ermine is really ermine or only
a white rabbits skin skilfully treated to
resemble the far more expensive article.
How necessary such a method as this is
can he readily seen by glancing at some OF
the receptions which are frequently prac-
ticed IN the fur trade.
American sable Is altered and sold as
Russian sable; goat, as leopard or bear OF
various kinds: hare, as sable or fox; kid,
as lamb; woodchuck, as mink, sable or
skunk mink, as sable; muskrat, as mink
sable or seal; fitch. as sable; nutria CHE
Coypu rat). as seal, beaver or otter; opos-
sum, as beaver; otter, as seal OF various
kinds; rabbit, as ermine, seal, musquash
or chinchilla kangaroo, as marten; white
hare, as fox
Most mammals have at least two kinds
OF hair--a short. thick fine coat next the
skin. which is called the fur or under hair
and a longer, coarser, usually stiner hair
which overlies the first and which Is called
the protective or over hair. It is the fur
hair which usually forms the greater part
OF the body covering. The fur hair and
the protective hair from the same animal
exhibit certain differences in their nYdul.
las and cuticular scales which enable Them
to he readily, distinguished.
A few animals possess a great many
different notifications of these ,wo kinds
Of hair. The duckbill, a curious creature
found in Australia that il partly aquatic
partly subaerial and partly subterranean,
probably holds the record for having the
largest number OF different varieties of
hair. II has fine long hair on the chin;
still finer hair about the ears; short,
stiH, rather nattened nalr DocK OF the ears,
long, stiff, flattened hair on the under por
ton of the body; very stiH, almost bristle
like hair on the wrists; and two distinct
types OF hair on the back-long, soft, dark
brown hair on the outside, and fur hair
underneath.
The differences in the cuticular scales
covering the hair shafts furnish science
with the best means Of distinguishing the
hair OF one animal from that OF another
20 INT xxrn
those that lie singly, overlapping about the
hair shaft; and those that encircle the
shaft as q continuous band, looking some
thing like coronet The former type is
called intricate and the latter coronal.
The simplest form of the intricate scale
is found in the yelow-haired porcupine
Other interesting examples CT this type are