Reports by the juries. Class IV. Animal and vegetable substances chiefly used in manufactures, as implements, or for ornaments / Richard Owen, Edward Solly, reporters.

  • Owen, Richard, Sir, 1804-1892
Date:
[1851]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports by the juries. Class IV. Animal and vegetable substances chiefly used in manufactures, as implements, or for ornaments / Richard Owen, Edward Solly, reporters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    9/198 (page 169)
    Class IV.] MAUCHAMP WOOLS—GELATINES AND GLUES. U',9 head, shorter neck, broader flanks, and more capacious chest. Of this breed the flocks have become sufticiently numerous to enable the proprietor to sell examples of the breed for exportation. The crossing of the Mauchamp variety with the ordinary merino has also produced a valuable quality of wool, known in Franee as the “ Mauchamp-merino.” The fine, silky wool of the pure Mauchamp breed is remarkable for its qualities as combing-wool, owing to the strength as well as the length and fineness of the fibre. It is found of great value by the manufacturers of Cachemere shawls, being second only to the true Cachemere fleece in the fine flexible delicacy of the fibre, and is of particular utility, when combined with the Cachemere wool, in imparting to the manufacture qualities of strength and con- sistence in which the pure Cachemere is deficient. Altliough the quantity of the wool yielded by the Mauchamp variety is less than by the ordinary merinos, the higher price which it obtains in the French markets (25 per cent, above the best merino wools*), and the present value of the breed, have fully compensated M. Graux for the pains and care which he has manifested in the establishment of the Mauchamp variety. The Jury, considering the quality of invention which has been superadded to the skill and industry requisite for obtaining the finer qualities of wool under any circumstances, in the development of the new variety of sheep yielding the speci- mens exhibited in No. 245, have recommended that the Council Medal be awarded to J. L. Gkaux. The most remarkable progress in the economical extraction and preparation of pure gelatines and glues from the waste remnants of the skins, bones, tendons, ligaments, and other gelatinous tissues of animals has been rnade in France, where the well-organised and admirably-arranged establishments for the slaughter of cattle, sheep, and horses in large towns, give great and valuable facilities for the economical applications of all the waste parts of animal bodies. Among the beautiful productions of this industry, the specimens exhibited by its chief ori- ginator, L. F. Geenet, under No. 247, merit peculiar approbation. They include different kinds of gelatine in thin layers, adapted for the dressing of stuffs, and for gelatinous baths, in the clarification of wines which contain a sufficient quantity of tannin to precipitate the gelatine ; pure and white gelatines cut into threads for the use of the confectioner; very thin white and transparent sheets called papier glace or ice paper, for copying drawings ; and, finally, a quantity of objects of luxury or ornaments formed of dyed, silvered, or gilt gelatines, adapted to a variety of purposes, and to the fabrication of artificial or fancy flowers. M. Grenet, who was the first to fabricate on a large scale, out of various residues of animal bodies of little value, these beautiful and diversified products, many of which had previously been derived from isinglass, has been deemed by the Jury to merit special notice in the present section of the Report, and they have recommended to him the award of the Council Medal. A considerable number of collections of raw produce from various countries are exhibited, each including a number of different specimens, many of which, * According to the able Report of M. A. Yvart, Inspector of the Veterinary Schools and National Sheepfold of France, p. 42.