Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/479

LEFT WOODWARD 409 WOOL a royal manor from immemorial times Woodstock has played a part in history. Here ^thelred held a gem6t, Malcolm and Rhys paid homage, Edward the Black Prince was born, and Elizabeth was kept in ward by Mary. Here, too, the "just Devil" disturbed the Parlia- mentary commissioners, as told in Scott's romance, and Rochester made an edify- ing end. Lastly, in 1704, came the grant to the victor of Blenheim, and the ruth- less demolition of the ancient manor house. WOODWARD; ROBERT SIMPSON, an American scientist; born in Roches- ter, Mich., in 1849. He graduated from the Engineering Department of the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1872, From that year until 1882 he was assistant engi- neer of the United States Lake Survey. From 1884 to 1890 he was astronomer, geographer, and chief geographer of the United States Geological Survey. He was an assistant of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1890 to 1893, and from that year until 1905 was professor of mechanics and mathemati- cal physics at Columbia University. From 1895 to 1905 he was dean of the School of Pure Science at that univer- sity. In the latter year he became the president of the Carnegie Institution of Washington. From 1915 he was a mem- ber of the Naval Consulting Board. He was also a member of many scientific societies. He published monographs, re- ports, and memoirs on scientific subjects. WOOL, the fleecy covering or pile of the sheep, and some other animals, as the alpaca, the vicuna, and some species of goats. Wool is generally divided into three classes, long, short, and coarse or carpet wool; and these are divided into subordinate classes according to fineness. It differs from all other varieties of hair by the corrugated nature of its fibers, due to the epithelial scales which over- lap the course of its fibers, under cer- tain conditions, from their corrugation, interlock with each other and form a felted fabric. Wool is divided into pulled or clipped fleece wool. Pulled wool is pulled by the roots from the skin of the dead animal, the clipped is shorn from the living one. Short-staple wool is used in cloth manufacture, and is fre- quently called clothing wool. To this class belong the Saxon and Silesian wool of Germany, a portion of the wool of Australia, of the Cape of Good Hope, Buenos Aires, Russia, Canada, and the bulk of the wool produced in the United States, all being of immediate or remote Merino blood. The quantities and values of these are about in the ordpr in which they are inserted above, the Saxony wool being best adapted to the very finest qualities of broadcloths. Short-staple wool may vary in length from 1 to 3 or 4 inches ; if it be longer it requires to be cut or broken to prepare it for manu- facture. The felting property of wool is well known. The process for hat mak- ing, for example, depends entirely on it. The wool of which hats are made is neither spun nor woven, but locks of it being thoroughly intermixed and com- pressed in warm water cohere and form a solid tenacious substance. Cloth and woolen goods are made from wool pos- sessing this property; the wool is carded, spun, woven, and then, being put in the fulling mill, the process of felting takes place. The strokes of the mill make the fibers cohere; the piece subjected to the operation contracts in length and breadth, and its texture becomes more compact and uniform. This process is essential to the beauty and strength of woolen cloth. But the long wool of which stuffs and worsted are made is de- prived of this felting process. This is done by passing the wool through heated iron combs, which takes away the lam- inae or feathery part of the wool, and ap- proximates it to the nature of silk or cotton. Long-staple wool is also called combing wool and delaine wool. To this class belong the long lustrous, down- combing English wool of Leicester, Lin- colnshire, and Cotswold; the soft-comb- ing wool of Rambouillet of France; the soft long-staple wool of Australia; the cheviot of Scotland, and the combing wool of Canada, Ohio, Kentucky, Penn- sylvania, New York, Maine, and other parts of the United States, all derived from the Leicester or other English blood. The French and Australian are most esteemed for women's dress goods, such as merinos, cashmeres, thibets, and the like; the cheviot for Scotch tweeds, and the English usually for worsted goods. The American wools of this class are of medium quality. Long wool may vary in length from 3 to 8 inches. The shorter combing wools are principally used for hose, and are spun softer than long-combing wools; the former being made into what is called hard and the latter into soft worsted yarn. To the third class, the coarse-staple wools which are adapted for carpets, belong the Don- ski, and other coarse Russian wool, the native South American, Cordova, Val- paraiso, native Smyrna, and other wool. The art of forming wool into cloth and stuffs was known in all civilized countries, and in very remote ages. Woolen cloths were made an article of commerce in the time of Julius Caesar and are familiarly alluded to by him. They were made in England before a. d.