Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-45l2p Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T04:24:41.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

XIII.—The Appearance in Cross-section of the Hairs of some Carnivores and Rodents

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2012

J. L. Stoves
J. L. Stoves
Affiliation:
University of Leeds.
Get access

Extract

Examination of mammalian pelts reveals the presence of two types of hair—long, glossy fibres known as “guard”- or “top-hair,” and shorter, softer, more curly fibres termed ”ground”- or “under-wool.” Guard-hairs are of two kinds: primary fibres classified by Toldt (1910) as “Leithaare,” and shorter, less robust secondary fibres which Toldt described as “Grannenhaare.” The under-wool is analogous to Toldt's “Wohlhaare.” More recently Toldt (1935) has described the appearance of the various fibre types occurring in hair from a wide range of mammals, and gives an extensive bibliography on hair from many orders of mammalia, including the two at present under consideration. Glaister (1931) made a photomicrographic survey of whole mounts and transverse sections of fibres from a large number of mammals. This work, however, suffers from the disadvantage that the photomicrographs were taken at low magnifications. When photographed at magnifications of the order × 500, transverse sections of fibres readily demonstrate the distribution and structure of cuticle, cortex and medulla. Such information is valuable as a means of studying structural variations in hair from different types of mammals, and often possesses considerable taxonomic significance and practical value—Dearborn (1939) reports the use of cross-sections of mammalian guard-hairs as a help to identifying small hairs found in the stomachs and excreta of predators, while the importance of fibre histology in forensic science has been reviewed by Smith and Glaister (1939). Furthermore, microchemical tests carried out on wool fibres (Bekker and King, 1931) and on transverse sections of kolinsky and hare fibres (Stoves, 1943 a) have shown that cuticle, cortex, and medulla exhibit different chemical properties, so that morphological differentiation is accompanied by variation in chemical reactivity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 62 , Issue 1 , 1944 , pp. 99 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1944

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References to Literature

A.S.T.M., 1943. Standards on Textile Materials, Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Bekker, J. G., and King, A. T., 1931. “Sulphur Distribution in the Component Structures of Wool and Porcupine Quills,” Biochem. Journ., XXV, 1077–1080.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergen, W. Von, and Krauss, W., 1942. Textile Fibre Atlas, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergersen, B., 1931. “Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Haut einiger Pinnipedien, Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Haut der Phoca graenlandica” Skr. Norske Vidensk. Akad. I. Mat.-Nat. Kl., V, 1–79.Google Scholar
Dearborn, N., 1939, “Use of Sections in Identifying Hair,” Journ. Mammal., XX, 346–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dry, J. W., 1925. “The Coat of the Mouse (Mus musculus),” Journ. Genet., XVI, 287–323.Google Scholar
Dry, J. W., 1928. “Agouti Coloration of the Mouse (Mus musculus) and the Rat (Mus norvegicus),” Journ. Genet., XX, 131–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunn, L. C., and Einsele, W., 1938. “Studies of Multiple Allelomorphic Series in the House-Mouse. IV. Quantitative Comparison of Melanins from Members of the Albino Series,” Journ. Genet., XXXVI, 145–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glaister, J., 1931. A Study of Hairs and Wools belonging to the Mammalian Group of Animals, Cairo.Google Scholar
Jones, F. Wood., 1939. Life and Living, London, 215–263.Google Scholar
Koller, P., 1930. “On Pigment Formation in the D-Black Rabbit,” Journ. Genet., XXII, 103–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Löchte, Th., 1938. Atlas der Menschlichen und Tierischen Haare, Leipzig.Google Scholar
Lühring, R., 1928. “Das Haarkleid von Sciurus vulgaris L. und die Verteilung seiner Farbvarianten in Deutschland,” Zeits. Morph. Ökol. Tiere, XI, 667–762.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Needham, J., 1942. Biochemistry and Morphogenesis, Cambridge, 647.Google Scholar
Onslow, H., 1917. “A Contribution to Knowledge of the Chemistry of Coat Colour in Animals and of Dominant and Recessive Whiteness,” Proc. Roy. Soc., B, LXXXIX, 36–58.Google Scholar
Salaman, R. N., 1922. “Inheritance of Fur Types and Hair Characters in Rabbits,” Journ. Genet., XII, 179–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, S., and Glaister, J., 1939. Recent Advances in Forensic Medicine, London, 89.Google Scholar
Stoves, J. L., 1943 a. “Structure of Keratin Fibres,” Nature, CLI, 304–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoves, J. L., 1943 b. “Identification of Animal Fibres in Medico-Legal Cases,” Medico-Legal and Criminological Review, XI, 185–191.Google Scholar
Toldt, K., 1915 “Ueber eine Beachtenswerke Haarsorte und ueber des Haarformensystem der Säugetiere,” Ann. Naturh. Hofmus. Wien., XXIV, 195.Google Scholar
Toldt, K., 1935. Aufbau und natürliche Färbung des Haarkleides der Wildsäugetiere, Leipzig.Google Scholar
Turner, W. J., 1937. “Studies of Porphyria. I. Observations on the Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,” Journ. Biol. Chem., CXVIII, 519–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wildman, A. B., 1940. Animal Fibres of Industrial Importance: Their Origin and Identification, Leeds.Google Scholar