The upper or free
edges of these scales are all directed towards the end of the hair, and
away from the root. But when you look at a hair in its natural state you
cannot see these scales, so flat do they lie on the hair-shaft. What you
see are only irregular transverse lines across it. Now I come to a
matter of great importance, as will later on appear in connection with
means for promoting felting properties. If a hair such as described,
with the scales lying flat on the shaft, be treated with certain
substances or reagents which act upon and dissolve, or decompose or
disintegrate its parts, then the free edges of these scales rise up,
they "set their backs up," so to say. They, in fact, stand off like the
scales of a fir-cone, and at length act like the fir-cone in ripening,
at last becoming entirely loose. As regards wool and fur, these scales
are of the utmost importance, for very marked differences exist even in
the wool of a single sheep, or the fur of a single hare. It is the duty
of the wool-sorter to distinguish and separate the various qualities in
each fleece, and of the furrier to do the same in the case of each fur.
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