―424―

American Review.

Art. XLVI.

Transactions of the American Philo-
sophical Society, held at Philadel-
phia, for promoting useful Know-
ledge.

[Continued from p. 301, and concluded.]

A Disquisition on Wool-bearing Ani-
mals. By Dr. J. Anderson, of
Scotland.

THE author believes that much
economical advantage would
arise from rearing these domestic
animals which bear wool, in pre-
ference to the naked cattle whom
the woolly are equal to the naked
in other respects.

The animals serviceable in this
way, he distributes in the following
manner:

“First—that the sheep is not ne-
cessarily a wool-bearing animal;
there are only certain breeds of it
thus distinguished. The different
breeds of sheep may be thus distri-
buted:

“1st. Those that carry short,
stiff hair, only; as the Madagascar
sheep, and also the Boucharian sheep
of Pallas.

“2d. Those that carry wool
properly so called.

“3d. Sheep that carry long hair
like wool.

“Second—Other animals, some
breeds of which, like the sheep,
carry only close, stiff hair, while
other breeds carry wool, or, at least,
fleeces which admit of being shorn
like the wool of sheep, and applied
to the same purposes.

“As, 1st. The dog.—1. Close,
stiff, short haired: a variety of breeds
common. 2. Long, soft-haired
breeds: the English spaniel, New-
foundland dog, &c. 3. Woolly

breeds: a dog that is by no means
rare in this place. It must be
shorn every year, and yields a fleece
as close as that of any sheep, and
finer than many of them.

“2d. The goat.—1. With short,
stiff hair: common. 2. With long,
coarse, shagged hair: common also.
The goats of this sort have, in gene-
ral, some very fine wool growing
among the hair. The Thibet goat,
from which the Indian shawl wool
is obtained, belongs to this class.
3. Goat carrying a fleece of wool:
the Angora goat.

“3d. The ox (Bos tribe).—1.
Close, stiff-haired kinds: common.
2. Long, lank, softer hairs, also
common in this country, especially
among the highland cattle: some of
these have manes like horses. 3.
Softer and closer hair, more re-
sembling wool, but shorter: the
Louisiana ox. 4. Still longer, and
more soft and silky, the fleece ap-
plied to various purposes in arts:
the Sarluc, and Chittigong cow of
India. 5. Longer and deeper fleece
than almost any sheep: the musk
ox of Hudson's Bay.

“The camel seems also to be re-
ferable to this head. Nor is it alto-
gether certain if the hog, and many
other animals, might not be includ-
ed under it.”