Studies of the coat of the Romney lamb : practical and theoretical aspects of hair morphology, with special reference to the evolution of the fleece : thesis submitted by "Bourn" [for the degree of Master of Agricultural Science]

Abstract

The original purpose of the present thesis was to answer this question: "To what extent is a britch of high halo-hair abundance an indicator of the non-kemp hairiness of the fleece?" It was assumed by Dr Dry in the light of earlier observations, that, on a britch with very many halo-hairs, the large Curly Tip fibres would be very hairy, and this has proved to be so. Especially did we want to learn about the degree of hairiness on the part of the fleece near to the britch. The gradient over the body from the britch was also much in mind, all the more because the boundary between the area on the britch with very many halo hairs and the neighbouring region with far fewer halo hairs is often abrupt. The aim of the work was that just defined, but the analysis of the samples examined provided information on a number of other matters, several of which may be thought more interesting than the problem proposed at the outset. These various results are reported in this thesis.