The Oregon daily journal., January 09, 1921, Page 66, Image 66

THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAI PORTLAND, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 9, 1921.
Which Show How to -Tell What Any; Kind of Fur
Really Is and Thus Prevent Your Being Cheated with
1 Clever Imitations of Sable, Ermine and Other "
t Expensive Skins
ONE of the most Interesting recent j
developments of -science, and one f
that promises toprove of the great- '
est practical value .to everybody who wears j
or buys furs, is the study now helng made j
of the hairs which compose the fur of ani- j
mals. These little threads of animal mat- j
ter so slender that to the naked eye they
cll look very much alike are being studied
with the most painstaking care, and what
is being discovered about them will make
It far easier to select the most durable fiys f
and to avoid being cheated with clever Im-
ltations of ermine, sable and other rare I
end costly skins. (
The hairs of seals, sables, otters, wolves,
minks, squirrels and other fur-bearing ani-
mals, including even the humble skunk
end woodchuck, are being examined under 1
the most powerful microscopes dissected,
measured, weighed, photographed and
eubjected to all sorts of delicate labora-
.tory tests. The strength of each kind of
ia1r Is hplni? tpsterl in order to Rf hntrl
well it will -wear when made up Into ar
ticles of clothing. And the minute but nuro-
crous differences of structure which make j
the hair of one" species of animal quite'
different from that of every other species;
are . being carefully noted in-order to fix
en absolute standard for Identifying the
various kinds of fur and-thus detecting
fraudulent imitations and substitutions of
the cheaper for the more expensive va
rieties. - i
Already this work has progressed so far
that experts like Leon Augustus Hausman,
of the Cornell University Zoological Lab
oratory at. Ithaca, N. Y., are able to tell
what animal any given piece of fur came
from by studying a single one of its hairs
under their microscopes. The day may not
be far distant" when prudent buyers -will
insist Ion a dealer's sunnortinz his claims
as to;a fur's genuineness with a labora
tory analysis of one of its hairs. And
' the next step -will be to have laws requir
ing each skin to be marked with scientific
evidence of what it-is, just as is now dona
In the case of foods and medicines.
As everybody who has bought or sold
furs knows, few articles of commerce are
the subject of more, dishonest practices.
The scarcity of sable, seal and other skins
which command enormous prices has led
to the flooding of the market with; count
less imitations fashioned In the most in
genious way from the inferior skins of
rabbits, muskrats, woodchucks and other
animals which are found In great abun
dance. Many of these Imitations are so
clever that even dealers of long experience
are deceived by them, and the average
man or woman Is entirely helpless to tell
which is the real article and which the
bogus. The manufacture of these imita
tion, furs .has become an enormous indus
try, one rivalling In magnitude that of the
genuine, simon-pure thing,
p This is why the scientific study of the
structures and identification characteris
tics of animal hairs is something of more
than zoological significance. It is a matter
(of practical dollars-and-cents interest to
j1 every wearer of furs who wants to get the
j most for his or her money,
.t "It; is now possible," says Professor
Hausman in the American Journal of
Natural History, "to clip.-dye. pull and
otherwise alter furs of certain -tvnes so
that tthelr original appearance is entirely
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huu tuj jlu Buiu uuuci uauica uu L
their own.
"Inferior furs, remodeled, may be sold
under the names of furs much superior in
wearing quality or in warmth, or in both;
as, for example, when remodeled, rabbit
(a fur notably poor In wearing quality) is
sold ?as ermine, or remodeled muskrat as
eeal! Such remodeled furs may often be
sold at ten times their legitimate value,
warmth and durability considered.
"The pelts of animals from warmer lati
tudes, such as the opossum, woodchuck
(marmot), raccoon and certain species of
monkeys, are worked up by skilful ur
cressers snto products, very different from
( their originals. The names which are
'given to such remodeled "lurs are the
names of animals of colder latitudes, such
as otter, seal, sable, etc animals which
possess furs superior to those of the crea
j tures of warmer zones ia respect to dense
' ness and 'softness of the under or fur hair,
and to fullness .and length of the over or
, protective hair. Furthermore, the dyeing
.jiand processing to which the warmer latl
"tude furs are subjected render the hair
less durable because more brittle.
"It; is clear that there exists a need for
j some definite criterion by means of which
furs,! no matter how altered by the dyer
' and remodeler, can be Indubitably identi
fied as to species source. This need the
microscopic study of the hair shafts of
mammaxs will Help to meet."
It used to be thought
that an animal's hair
was nothing more than
a solid, horny cylinder,
transparent, or at least
translucent, through its
length, and with no den- ,
nite internal structure. :
But study under power
. fui microscopes shows
that this is far from be
ing the case. The hair
of each animal Is an
exceedingly complex
structure and made up(
of well-defined , ele
ments. j
The hair begins Its
growth as a localized
increase in the number
of cells of the outer
most skin. The dense
aggregations of cells
elongate downward into
the true skin or, dermis
underneath. Directly
beneath these .; down
ward elongating depres
sions of the cells 'of the
outer .skin there is
formed a dense mass composed of the cells
of the inner skin, which ultimately be
come the papilla of the hair.
In general, the hairs of mammals are
circular or elliptical when viewed in cross
section. Those which are circular are
straight or but slightly curved, while those
of elliptical cross-section are curly or
kinky, the amount of curl depending upon
the flatness of the ellipse.
An animal's hair shaft Is built up of four
well-defined structural units the medulla
or pith, composed of many shrunken, and
variously disposed cells; the cortex,'' sur
rounding the medulla and composed of
spindle-shaped cells coalesced into a horny,
transparent mass; the pigment granules,
to which the color of the hair is primarily
due; the cuticle or outer covering, com
posed of thin, transparent, colorless scales
which sometimes overlap like the scales
of a fish.
By studying these units under the micro
scope the animal to which any given
hair belonged can be determined with great
accuracy. You can In this way prove abso
lutely whether the fur a dealer is selling
you for ermine Is really ermine or only
a white rabbit's skin skilfully treated to
resemble the ftr more expensive article.
How necessary' such a method as this is
can be readily seen by glancing at some of
the deceptions which are frequently prac
ticed in the fur trade.
American sable is altered and sold as
Russian sable; goat, as leopard or bear of
various kinds; hare, as sable or fox; kid,
as lamb; woodchuck, as mink, sable or
skunk; mink, as sable; muskrat, as mink,
sable or seal; fitch, as sable; nutria (the
Coypu rat), as seal, beaver or otter; opos
sum, as beaver; otter, as seal of. various
kinds; rabbit, as ermine,' seal, musquash
or chinchilla; kangaroo, as marten; white
hare, as fox.
Most mammals have at least two kinds
of hair a short, thick, fine coat next the
skin, which is called the fur or under hair,
and a longer, coarser, usually stiffer hair
which overlies the first and which is called
the protective or over hair. It is the fur
hair which usually forms the greater part
of the body covering. The fur hair and
the protective hair from the same animal
exhibit certain differences in their medul
las and cuticular scales which enable them
to be readily distinguished.
A few animals possess a great many
different modifications of these two kinds
of hair. .The duckbill, a curious creature
found in Australia that is partly aquatic,
partly subaerlal and partly subterranean,
probably holds the record for having the
largest number of different varieties of
hair. It has fine long hair on the chin;
still finer hair about the ears; short,
stiff, rather flattened hair back of the ears;
..long, stiff flattened hair on the under por
tion of the body; Very stiff, almost bristle
like hair on the wrists; and two distinct
types of hair or. the back long, soft, dark
brown hair on the outside, and fur hair
underneath.
The differences In the cuticular scales
covering the hair shafts furnish science
with the best means of distinguishing the
Lhair of. one animal from that of another.
These, scales fall into two great groups
- those that He singly, overlapping about the
hair shaft; and f those that encircle the
shaft as a continuous band, looking- some
thing like a coronet. The former type is
called Imbricate and the latter coronal.
The simplest form of the imbricate scale
is found In the ! yellow-haired porcupine
Other interesting examples cf this type are'
hi i imin. . i fiiua xmi, i. i fww iin.ininjjmimwn-ii .i
:;fl: --' Ma 4 :p P.- I'M i"
' ' V-4j ;'t v ft ' ' : a . f
r-;-- "n. JKf
A Wrap Like This of Genuine
Russian Sable Is Worth from
$35,000 to $50,000. Fitch;
Hare, Woodchuck,' Mink and
Other 'Cheaper Furs Are
Often Altered in Various
Ways, So That They Look
Like Sable and Can Be Sold
As Such To ' Protect the
Public Against
These
i
V
Fraudulent
Substitutions
Is, One of
the Main
Objects of the
Stud j Science Is
Now Making:
of the. Hairs
pf Fur-Bearing
Animals,
5 'T
Furriers Stretching Skins,
Preparatory to Cutting
Them Into the Desired
Shapes and Sizes.
i'Z
to be; seen in the white-tailed deer, the
pocket gopher, the mole, the shrew, the
armadillo and certain varieties of monkeys.
The coronal scales are foundin the bat,
the chinchilla, the scale-tailed squirrel, the
mink and the otter. The scales of the hair
of bata show remarkable beauties -that
never fail to excite the admiration of the
scientists who study them under powerful
microscopes.
Both the imbricate and the coronal
types; of scales show numerous wide varia
tions,' and It is on these, together with the
marked differences in the medullas or piths
of the hair shafts, that science relies in
fixing positively the kind ""of animarirom
which any given fur cam'
To prepare an animal's
hair j for the laboratory
examination s, that will
settle its identity is not
a difficult task. "The
hair ( shafts are first
soaked in certain chem
ical J solutions which
make the cuticular
scales more easily visi
ble. I The hair is then
covered with glass, and
after being thoroughly
dried in a current of
warm air is ready to
ii
mmmm
mj .i r niiii
Cuticfe:
-Corfex
Medulla
Cuticular
scale
, Pigment
'qranules
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:!'.- S 1 AV
i
t,
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1
14;
Longi
tudinal -Section
of Hair
Shaft,- Showing the Details of Its Complicated
Structure on Which Science Relies to De
termine the Kind of Animal of Whose Fur
. I, It Formed a Part. !
One of the Powerful Microscopes
Under Which the Slender Thread.
Like Hairs of Fur-Bearing Animals-Are
Examined. The Light
Is Directed from Its Source.
(A) Through the Condenser,
(G) to the
" Holder, (B)
Where the
Hair Shaft
Rests and
Is Viewed by
the Observer
Through the
Eye-piece (C)
J
13,
5 '
go trader the microscope. The kind of.
solution used depends on the nature of the
hair how large and prominent its structu
ral elements are. Later still other chem
icals have to be applied in order to give
the medulla or pith of the hair shaft still
greater visibility. i
For the measurement of the diameter of
the hair shaft the ocular micrometer is
used. Thia is a task of the greatest deli
cacy, as will be seen when it is said that
the average shaft of fur hair has a diam
eter measuring only l-254,000tb part of an
Inch. Considerable Tariation is found la
the diameters of the shafts In any given
tuft of hairs, and the average of a large -
number of measurements 'has to be taken
to ensure accuracy. I
As to the durability of the different kinds
of fur, science has by Its! study of the in
dividual hair shafts established some very
useful facts. The table showing the rela
tive durability of twenty-eight. of the more
commonly worn furs, which Professor
Hausman presents In the Scientific Month
ly, Is one which should be kept carefully
In mind by anybody buying a fur coat, cap,
muff, stole or boa.
One of the most durable of all furs, ac
cording to Professor Hausman, is that of
the sea otter. Considering the durability .
of otter to be represented by 100, the rela
tive durability of some of the other furs,
when used with the fur outside (not for
linings), is as follows:
BeaveT, 100; bear (blacker brown),
4: Jiinchllla, 15: ermine. 25: fox
(natural), 40; fox (dyed), 20-25; goat,
-15; hare, 5; kolinsky, 25; leopard, 75 ;
lynx, 25; marten (skunk), 70; mink
(natural), 70; mink (dyed), 25; mole,
v; muskrat, 45; nutria (Coypu rat
plucked),; 25; opossum, 37; rabbit, 5; rac
coon (natural), 65; raccoon (dyed), SO; sa
ble, 60; seal (hair), 80; seal (fur), 80; gray
squirrel, 2 0-25; wolf, 50; wolverene, 100.
As will be seen from this, wolverene is
the only fur equalling the otter in durabil
t ity. Rabbit and hare are the least desir
able of all furs, and mole ranks almost as
low In the scale.
The hair not only of fur-bearing animals
but of those like sheep and goats, whose
coats supply the raw material for various
kinds of textiles, is being studied in the
laboratories. The results are expected to
make it j easier for people to get their
money's worth whenever they buy a dress
or 'a suit of clothes or a pair of blankets
ior tneir loed.
:12,
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II.
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1 Cape) Jumping
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10
Great Bzltals Wsata lavnil