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Some Account of Angora Wool, and the different species of the Animal which produces that valuable article.

THE denomination of Angora wool is given to a kind of wool or rather hair which the goats that pasture in the vicinity of Angora, a town of Natolia, produce. There are two species of Angora goats, namely the kara-gueschy, and the tistik-gueschy. The kara-gueschy, or black goat, is similar in appearance to the European goat, and is common in Syria, Natolia, and many other parts of the East. Its fleece is black, or, more properly speaking, dark brown. The wool is long and straight, fine towards the extremity which is attached to the skin, but blacker and stiffer about the contrary end. The kara-gueschy is shorn annually, but its wool is not exported, being used for home consumption, in the manufacture of coarse clothing and sacking. Beneath the long wool just described, grows a fine, short fleece, each fibre of which is about an inch or an inch and a half in length, and this, which is of a yellowish gray colour, constitutes the most estimable produce of the animal. It is obtained by daubing over the skin with water saturated with lime. Ere the shearing has taken place, and in the course of a few minutes the coarse and the fine wool both fall off the skin, and are easily separated one from the other. The fine wool is exported mostly for

France where it is employed in the manufacture of the best hats. The Syrian wool is not esteemed, but the wool of Angora, Erzerum, and the northern parts of Persia, enjoys good repute. Some authors are of opinion, and indeed we believe not without reason, that the noted Cachemere shawls are actually made from the fine wool of the animal in question.

The tistik-gueschy or woolled goat, differs widely in appearance from the European goat, and indeed presents such variety even in the same province, that many have been led to divide tistik-gueschys of the

same

race into different species. The tistik-gueschy, which Buffon denominates "the Angora goat," is much lower and less strong than the kara-gueschy. Its fleece is of a dazzling white. The fibres which compose it are long, slender, silky, and naturally curly. The fineness of the fleece is extreme, and the fibres as slender and pliable as the wool of the Spanish merinos, whilst those of the kara-gueschy are nearly as wiry as horse-hair. These long and carly fibres constitute the entire fleece of the tistik-gueschy, being totally unmixed with any shorter or finer kind of wool, and just as slender at one extremity as the other. The tistik-gueschy is only to be met with in the environs of Angora;

whose soil is so particularly adapted for preserving the original character of the animal, that it is scarcely removed to any other part of the East before its wool becomes coarse and of little value. The territory of Angora is mountainous, and its heights, which, during two months of the year, are covered with snow, abound in springs of pure and wholesome water, whence flow innumerable rivulets that fertilize the soil and cover it with fat pastures. So soon as the severe weather is over the tistik-gueschy is turned out to pasture and passes the whole of the fine weather on the mountains, not even being housed at nights, till the approach of winter obliges the herdsmen to drive the animal home each evening to prevent its perishing from the severity of the cold. The she-goats feed in flocks of from 200 to 300, and are mingled with the bucks. The latter are

bigger and stronger than the females, and their fleece, like those of the former, are white and curled, but rather coarser. The flesh of the tistik-gueschy is better than that of the common goat; but it is seldom killed ere it has attained the age of five years, when its wool begins to grow sapless and coarse. The tistikgueschys are shorn annually. After being washed on the animal's back in running water, the fleece is cut off with long shears of steel. The fleece of a she-goat weighs about generally from 45 to 54lb. Of the wool of the tistik-gueschy the most valuable muffs for ladies wear have long been manufactured, but at the present day muffs of this description are not so much in vogue as they formerly were. Shawls are likewise made from this wool, which are, if

any thing, superiour to the Cachet mere shawls. The beauty and fineness of the tistik-guechy's wool have induced some individuals to introduce the breed into France, and there are now a few of the animals at Rambouillet, but hitherto no sort of advantage has been derived from their fleeces, owing to the circumstances mentioned above. The price of the female tistik-gueschy, at Angora, varies from 10 to 12 dollars, and that of the male from 12 to 15. Those who should be inclined to purchase a flock of An goras, for experimental purposes, ought to be careful to hire shepherds on the spot, who will accompany them to any part of Europe, and there tend them for an annual salary of about 1000 piastres. Some persons are of opinion, nor do we think they are mistaken, that if proper attention were paid to a flock of Angora goats in Europe, the breed might be preserved even in England. The same prejudices which exist at Angora have long existed in Spain, and even at this very period it is well known that the Spanish proprietors will not be persuaded but that the race of merinos degenerates in every other part of the world, except the particular places in which its celebrity originated. Actual experience has, however, taught the agriculturalists of England and France that the contrary is the case, and that the mountains of Andalusia and Leon are not the only parts of the globe where a flock of merino sheep may be successfully reared. The same observation may, in course of time, be applicable to the race of Angora goats.

PASQUALI, THE MUSICIAN.

PASQUALI, who is, we think, exhibited by Hogarth in the character of the Enraged Musician, re

sided in Greek street, Soho. He was, we believe, the son of a painter of very considerable merit, particu

larly in the execution of small, but animated, conversation pieces. This excellent artist died about the year

1700.

Pasquali the younger, who was one of the performers at the Opera house, was a man singular in his appearance and irritable in his temper. To this unfortunate propension his contemporaries were charitably in the almost constant habit of administering food; insomuch that it has been said, that a junto of them, who were fond of tricks and mischief, and who consequently, according to the fashion of those times, were called humorists, actually sent all those vocal and instrumental annoyances that appear in the print, who

were characters well known at that period, and that Hogarth took advantage of the assemblage, and drew from nature a scene in which, as far as graphick delineation can convey aërial ideas, the most dissonant grating, abominable and harassing sounds, appear to be operating upon nerves of the most exquisite sensibility, in the moment when the efforts of study had expanded the springs of genius, and wound to the highest pitch of enthusiasm those mental exertions, which a breath will at any time repress, and the rustling of leaves, of silk, or any thing, dissipate; in fact, at the very moment when the musician was composing.

SINGULAR INSTANCE OF CORPULENCE.

A FEW years ago, a man of about forty years of age, hired himself as a labourer, in one of the most considerable ale-breweries in the city of London. At this time he was a personable man; stout, active, and not fatter than a moderate sized man in high health should be. His chief occupation was to superintend the working of the new beer, and occasionally to sit up at night to watch the wort, an employment not requiring either activity or labour; of course, at these times, he had an opportunity of tasting the liquor, of which, it appears, he always availed himself. Besides this, he had constant access to the new beer. Thus leading a quiet, inactive life, be began to increase in bulk, and continued to enlarge, until, in a short time, he became of such an unwieldy size, as to be unable to move about, and was too big to pass up the brewhouse staircase. If by any accident he fell down, he was unable to get up again without help. The integuments of his face hung down to the shoulders and breast; the fat was not confined to any

particular part, but diffused over the whole of his body, arms, legs, &c. making his appearance such, as to attract the attention of all who saw him. He left this service to go into the country, being a burthen to himself, and totally useless to his employers. About two years afterwards he called upon his old masters in a very different shape to that above described, being reduced in size nearly half, and weighing little more than ten stone. The account that he gave of himself was, that as soon as he had quitted the brewhouse he went into Bedfordshire, where having soon spent the money he had earned, and being unable to work, he was brought into such a state of poverty, as to be scarcely able to obtain the sustenance of life, often being a whole day without food; he drank very little, and that was generally water. By this mode of living he began to diminish in size, so as to be able to walk about with tolerable ease. He then engaged himself to a farmer, with whom he staid a considerable time, and, in the latter part of his service,

was able to go through very hard labour, sometimes being in the field, ploughing and following various agricultural concerns, for a whole day, with no other food than a small pittance of bread and cheese. This was the history he gave of the means by which this extraordinary change was brought about. He added, his health had never been so good as it then was.

There is a remarkable contrast to

this case, in the person of a French prisoner of war, who was extremely lean, though the following was his general consumption in one day: Raw Cow's Udder... 4 lb. Raw Beef................10 lb. Candles 2 lb.

Total........16 bl.

Besides five bottles of porter.

PARACHUTES.

THE inventor of parachutes was John Baptist Dante, of Perugia, who used to make experiments on the art of flying by the side of lake Thrasimene, and who many times succeeded in sailing from a rock through the air to a considerable distance. After falling many times into the water, he attempted, on the marriage of count Bortolomeo Alviani, to exhibit his skill over land; and threw himself, in a feathered garb, and with spreading wings, off the pinnacle of the church. But alas! his parachute lost its balance; he fell on hard ground, and broke his thigh. It was some triumph of science not to die on the spot. Pity excited interest in his behalf. He

was invited to Venice as professor of mathematicks, and died there at forty years of age.

EFFICACY OF A PUN.

A member of parliament having brought in a bill that required an amendment, which was denied him by the house, he frequently repeated "that he thirsted to mend his bill." At length another member arose and addressed the speaker, humbly moving "that as the honourable member who spoke last thirsted so very much, he might be allowed to mend his draught." This put the house into good humour, and his petition was granted.

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nose

Pray who could, or who would, wear spectacles then?

On the whole, it appears, and my argu ment shows,

What a reasoning the court will never condemn,

That the spectacles plainly were made for the Nose,

And the Nose was as plainly intended for them.

Then shifting his side, as a lawyer knows how,

He pleaded again in behalf of the Eyes; But what were his arguments few people know,

For the court did not think they were equally wise.

So his lordship decreed with a grave solemn tone,

Decisive and clear, without one if or but, That, whenever the Nose put his specta

cles on,

By daylight or candlelight, eyes should be shut.

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That the action commenced through an envious retort;

For the Nose, as a nose, cannot spectacles want."

So his lordship cried hem! and then stroked down his face;

And when all the court re-considered

it o'er,

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