Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/693

Rh W O W O 653 the aid of the anatomist is invoked no satisfactory arrangement can be supplied, and it is not certain that even then will the desired end be reached, for Macgilli- vray, who furnished Audubon with elaborate descriptions of parts of the structure of several North-American forms, found considerable differences to exist between species which can hardly be but nearly allied. Some of the most striking of these differences often lie in the form and development of the hyoid bones, and of the muscles which work the extensile tongue. Unhappily the subject does not seem to have been pursued by any other investigator ; but it may be mentioned that some limited researches on the pterylosis, conducted by Kessler (Bull. Soc. Nat. Moscou, xvi. p. 285), in addition to those of Nitzsch, indicate that as being also a promising line of inquiry, though one that has scarcely been attempted by any other workers. 1 (A. N.) WOODSTOCK, an ancient corporate market-town of Oxfordshire, England, is situated on a stream formerly called the Ennis and now the Glyme, which separates Old and New Woodstock, about 8 miles north-west of Oxford. The church of St Mary Magdalene, in New Woodstock, is of Norman date, but has been greatly altered by restoration, and now has Decorated chancel with Perpendicular additions, clerestoried nave, Decorated north aisle and Early English south aisle retaining a por tion of the Norman doorway, Perpendicular west porch, and Perpendicular west tower. The church contains many interesting monuments. The town-hall, erected in 1766 after the designs of Sir William Chambers, includes a market-place and the fire brigade station, with public hall and council-chamber above. Almshouses were erected in 1798 by Caroline, duchess of Maryborough, and endowed with 3500, which has been increased by bequest at different periods. The town is dependent chiefly on agri culture, but the manufacture of leather gloves has been carried on from an early period. By the Municipal Cor porations Act, 1882, the borough (area about 30 acres), formerly governed by a charter of Charles II., was placed under a corporation. The population of the parliamentary borough (area 20,804 acres), which had been extended in 1832 and ceased to be separately represented in 1885, was 7033 in 1881. The old manor house of Woodstock, which is supposed to have l&amp;gt;een built upon the site of a Roniau villa, was at an early period a royal residence. Here Alfred the Great is said to have resided while translating Boetius. At a witenagemot held at Woodstock by King Ethelred a code of laws was published for the govern ment of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. Henry I. made Woodstock a favourite residence, and formed a zoological garden there. Wood stock was the scene of Henry II. s courtship of Rosamond Clifford, aiid his frequent visits to the place led to the building of the nucleus of the town of New Woodstock. A first assize was held at Woodstock in 1184. It sent representatives to parliament from 1301-2 till 1885. It was incorporated by Henry VI. in 1453, and the charter was confirmed and extended by successive monarchs, that granted by Charles II. remaining the governing charter till 1882. Queen Elizabeth was a prisoner at Woodstock from May 1554 till May 1555, and after her accession to the throne visited it in 1566 and again in 1575. In 1576 she made the town a staple of wool and yarn. Woodstock was visited by James I. and by Ara bella Stuart. During the Civil War it was the scene of frequent military operations, and after a siege it surrendered to the parlia ment 20th April 1646. After the battle of Blenheim the manor of Woodstock was by Act 3 and 4 of Queen Anne, chap. 4, bestowed in perpetuity on John duke of Marlborough. Blenheim palace, built by the duke from the designs of Sir John Vanbrugh, was completed in 1715. In 1723 the old manor house was destroyed and the site levelled. See Marshall s Early History of Woodstock Manor, 1873. WOODSTOCK, a town, port of entry, and the capital of Oxford county, province of Ontario, Canada, is situated 1 Mr Hargitt, author of many papers in The Ibis on birds of this Family, has undertaken a catalogue of the specimens belonging to it contained in the British Museum. on the river Thames and Cedar Creek, and on the Great Western Railway, 80 miles south-west of Toronto. The trade is of growing importance. There is good water- power, and the town possesses several corn-mills and a woollen factory. Its healthy situation and the beauty cf the neighbouring scenery attract a number of summer visitors. The population in 1881 was 5373. WOOD-WORK. See BUILDING, vol. iv. pp. 476-500. WOOL AND WOOLLEN MANUFACTURES. Wool is a modified form of hair, distinguished by its slender, soft, and wavy or curly structure, and by the highly imbricated or serrated surface of its filaments. The numerous varieties of the sheep are the most characteristic, as they are also by far the most important, producers of wool ; but the sheep is by no means the only animal which yields wool employed for industrial purposes. The alpaca and other allied fibres obtained from the alpaca and its con geners in South America (see ALPACA, vol. i. p. 597, and LLAMA, vol. xiv. p. 738), the mohair yielded by the Angora goat (MOHAIE, vol. xvi. p. 544), and the soft woolly hair of the camel are all wools of much industrial importance, while the most costly wool in the world is that yielded by the Cashmere goat of the Himalayan Mountains. At what point indeed it can be said that an animal fibre ceases to be hair and becomes wool it is impossible to determine, because in every characteristic the one class by imper ceptible gradations merges into the other, so that a con tinuous chain can be formed from the finest and softest merino to the rigid bristles of the wild boar. Next to cotton, wool is the most important of all textile Early fibres used by mankind. From the ease with which it History, may be made into thread, and owing to the comfort derived j from clothing of woollen texture, it naturally would be the I textile first used by mankind for clothing. The testimony of all ancient records goes to prove the high antiquity of woollen textures and the early importance of the sheep. The different kinds of wool and the cloth made from them in antiquity are described by Pliny (//. N., viii. 73, 74, 190*2.). Among the arts of civilized life which the British Isles Wool in owe to the Romans not the least important was the spin- Britain, ning and weaving of wool. The sheep certainly was a domestic animal in England long before the period of the Roman occupation ; and it is most probable that such use was made of sheep skins and of wool as was common among uncivilized races. But the Romans established a woollen factory whence the occupying army was supplied with clothing, and the value of the manufacture was soon recognized by the Britons, of whom Tacitus remarks, &quot; Inde etiam habitus nostri honor et frequens toga&quot; (Ayric., c. 21). The product of the Winchester looms, and the wool whence it was made, soon established a reputation abroad, it being remarked that &quot;the wool of Britain is often spun so line that it is in a manner com parable to the spider s thread.&quot; The reputation which English wool at this early period established was main tained throughout mediaeval times ; and the fibre was in great demand in the Low Countries and other Continental centres where skill in manufacture was highly developed. ! There are many allusions to woollen manufactures in ! England in early times ; but altogether the native industry j could not rival the products of the Continent, although the troubles in various industrial centres, from time to time, caused skilled workers in wool to seek an asylum in England. In the time of William the Conqueror Flemish weavers settled under the protection of the queen at Carlisle, but subsequently they were removed to Pembrokeshire. At various periods in the reigns of succeeding monarchs further immigrations of skilled Flemish weavers occurred, and they were planted at different places throughout the