defect is not remedied in the work before us. We now quit it, therefore, not without some degree of satisfaction on being relieved from the toil of a perusal which has seldom been invi gorated by the stimulus of cogent argument and refutation, or enlivened by the light of new truths and brilliant illustra

tions.

APT. V. The Nature and Properties of Wool illustrated: with a Description of the English Fleece. By John Luccock, Woolstapler. Izmo. PP. 360. 5s. 6d. Boards. Harding.

A TREATISE ON Wool by a professed woolstapler is a sort of ex cathedra publication; and the implied qualifications of the writer, united with the great national importance of the subject, must impart to it no inconsiderable portion of interest. We need not remark that, from the remotest periods, mankind have been acquainted with the value of wool-bearing animals, and that the most antient records allude to the methods of manufacturing their fleeces. It may be curious, however, to trace the history of cultivated wool through different periods and among different nations; though no discussions of this kind are necessary to persuade us of the great utility of this article to man; nor to convince us of the advantages which may accrue from an examination of its nature and properties, from a full investigation of the circumstances of its growth, and from inviting the grazier, in conjunction with the manufacturer, to consider the best methods of augmenting the quantity and improving the quality of our native produce.

In this light, Mr. Luccock's book is better intitled to notice than many volumes of a larger and more pompous appearance, and perhaps to a more minute review than our limited space and diversified occupation will enable us to bestow. He seems to us to have that enthusiasm for his profession, which induces him to surpass ordinary woolstaplers by studying every branch of his business with scientific assiduity. A mass of information is collected; and various hints are suggested which merit the consideration of the agriculturist, the manufacturer, and the statesman: but we think that he is sometimes too prolix, and that the whole volume wants arrangement and subdivision. His five sections (I. of wool in general; II. of cultivated wool; III. of the essential qualities of wool; IV. of the wool of England; and V. concluding remarks) should have been made into so many chapters, and these should have been broken into sections, including the multitude of subordinate subjects. which are introduced; and to the whole an index of reference

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should have been subjoined. As the book is at present printed, the sections are fatiguingly long; no indication is given of the transition from one topic to another; and the grazier or stapler, who may wish to turn to any particular part of the treatise, has no guide to direct his search.

Mr. L. informs us, indeed, that his work has been written hastily, but that he has availed himself of all the assistance which he could collect; that his own knowlege has been derived from a residence in different parts of the kingdom; (where all the three kinds of wool passed immediately under his eye;) and that his accounts of the fleeces of those parts which he has not personally visited are derived from the best local descriptions. In an inquiry of so wide a range, in which precise data are not easily collected, he does not presume on perfect accuracy: but, if his statements be sufficiently correct for general purposes, his object is answered.

Before the author proceeds to a description of the essential qualities of wool,-of the circumstances on which its adaptation to manufactures depends, of the peculiarities of British fleeces, and to state the number which this island produces, (points which, to the best of his knowlege, he tells us, have hitherto been unattempted,) he offers some introductory matter on wool in general, including the history of wool-bearing animals, and of cultivated wool. The writings of Drs. Anderson and Parry, M. Lasteyrie, &c. have furnished him with materials for this part of his work; and, if he does not particularly quote them, he generally acknowleges his obligations.

Since wool, as an article of manufacture, is known to assume at least the second place in the rank of importance, as it furnishes a large portion of our population with employment; as it is closely connected with our comfort, and affords many of the ornaments of social life;' and since it is an object also of an extensive commerce, the author cannot help wishing that our fleeces possessed all the excellencies which the climate, and the circumstances of the country will admit;-and that we should ourselves furnish the raw material for our domestic productions, instead of secking to import it from foreign and rival nations, by which a portion of our advantages is indirectly transferred into the hands of strangers. It is farther hinted that the existence of our commerce for Spanish wool is a proof of the indolence or inattention of our forefathers; and the tendency of Mr. L.'s representation and reasonings is to persuade graziers to improve the quality of the British fleece, and to augment quantity of both long and short wool, in order that our manufactures may be fed from the backs of our own sheep, without deクナ

the

pending

pending for a supply of the raw material on the political good humour of our neighbours.

Some physiologists have supposed that the first man was black; and Mr. L. is inclined to believe that this was the colour of the first sheep, or something nearly approaching to it. He also supposes that Jacob, when he superintended the flock of his father-in-law, Laban, was a skilful breeder; who took proper measures for producing a ring-streaked or mottled race, while he concealed the superiority of his knowlege and the means which he adopted. A variety in the flock being once obtained, it became an object of importance to increase it; and in a course of years, the alteration of the colour of wool taking the line of the richest soils,' white fleeces were produced. As an article to be dyed, and afterward woven in the loom, its whiteness was of such essential importance, that, if the first race of sheep were black, we cannot be surprized that the new variety obtained an universal preference over the original breed.-How far this account partakes of mere hypothesis, we shall not attempt to decide; nor shall we endeavour minutely to trace the history of manufactural wool among the most antient Asiatic nations, and to follow its course through Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire, till we arrive at its present state in the communities of Europe. It is a curious fact that the Romans established a manufactory of woollens at Winchester, which was so extensive as to supply their army; and there is reason for believing that the trade which they introduced into Britain was not neglected by the native inhabitants, for the first nine hundred years of the Christian era. The long Spanish wool was imported into this country so early as the 12th century; and we find that, since the days of Edward III., British fleeces were admirably adapted to the kind of cloth which was in greatest request, though now they are generally unequal to the production of that which is sought after. Then it was necessary to provide a channel by which the annual surplus of our wool might be vended; now it is as absolutely required of us to supply their deficiency.' Mr. L. investigates the causes of this change in the state of the woollen manufacture; and he calls on those who are interested, to furnish a remedy adequate to the cure of the evil. We cannot present the reader with his minute details concerning the growth of wool; nor enumerate those various particulars which constitute the sub-divisions of his subject, and which are especially interesting to graziers and clothiers but it was some recompence to us, after having toiled through a long chapter, to be assured that improvement must shortly be made in the fleeces of our country, which will

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surprise

surprise by their magnitude, and gratify by the rapidity of their succession.'

The Section on the essential Qualities of Wool informs us that in this country there are three general kinds of fleeces, and each of them is sorted in a manner different from the others. The finest includes all those adapted to the fabrication. of woollen articles, and comprehends by far the larger proportion of the wool of the island; the second comprehends the longer pile, that which is suitable to worsted goods; and the other is confined to wool of a medium length, that which is used in the hose trade.'-To this section is subjoined a Table shewing the quality of English wool, arranged in classes according to the fineness of the pile;' and we shall abstract the general view which this table presents:

TOTAL VALUE OF ENGLISH WOOL.

The number of Lambs yeaned per ann. is 7,002,802

Annual decrease,

140,054

7,142,856'

A summary of the contents of the 4th Section, in which the author examines into the produce of long and short wool in the several districts and counties of England, is exhibited at the end of the work in a long table, in a number of distinct columns; the 1st giving the district, the 2d the county, the 3d the number of aeres, the 4th the proportionate stock per acre, the 5th the number of sheep, the 6th the weight of the fleece, and the 7th the number of packs. On this table Mr.

L. remarks:

The whole quantity of fleece-wool produced in England, according to the table, is three hundred thirty four thousand four hundred and thirty packs, of which rather more than one third is adapted to the comb; the remainder is wrought upon the card and fabricated into the different articles of woollen goods. But to this quantity of carding wool, obtained from fleeces naturally short, must be added that proportion of skin wool, which is not long enough to be employ ed in the manufacture of worsteds. This is the aggregate of several particulars specified in the table, and amounts to forty two thousand five hundred and fifty packs.'

According to Mr. Luccock's reckoning, the quantity of wool produced in England and Wales is much smaller than it has been commonly estimated; he observes, however,

I do not feel anxious, lest this diminution of sheep should prove detrimental to the woollen manufacture; because, though the flocks of England are not so numerous as formerly, yet those of Scotland and Ireland seem to be increasing in a rapid manner; and in proportion as the waste land of both countries is brought into a state of cultivation, it produces a more useful fleece. Even in England and Wales we have more than three millions of acres capable of being im proved, and carrying a more numerous stock; we have two millions of sheep whose fleeces are scarcely wool, and which might be brought to contribute their share to support the woollen manufacture, and to increase the wealth of the country.'

He thus proceeds in his concluding reflections:

From the general view which we have taken, the English fleece appears susceptible of very great improvement. There are but few tracts of land, and these comparatively small ones, on which it has attained a moderate degree of perfection. Long wool, though not possessed of all the excellent qualities which ought to be communicated to it, is in general, well adapted to those inferior worsted goods, in the manufacture of which it is used, and also to those coarser kinds of woollen articles, which require a long nap and are calculated to produce an extraordinary degree of warmth. But a very small quantity only of this pile, is applicable to superior articles; a more attenuated one might be produced, and would be found of great value. It must be observed with regret that, during the last hundred years, the manufacture of worsted goods has greatly declined If it be desirable to revive it, care must be employed to render them more thin, flexible and soft; to give them a greater similitude to the fabrics of cotton, or of silk; to qualify them to endure the rivalry of the first of these articles both at home and abroad. But whoever examines the manner in which the manufacture of cotton and that of worsted are conducted, will not only observe a great difference in favour of one, but will almost despair of the revival of the other. In the worsted manufacture only small capitals are cmployed; no extensive works are constructed for carrying them on; the machines made use of, are simple and old; the masters in general have but little dead stock, and of course, a small stake in the coun

try;