t.
Describe the fiber as you see it.

2. Hold a mohair fiber and a wool fiber side by side to the light.
Note the differences.

3. Measure several mohair fibers.

4. Examine the mohair fiber under the microscope. The fiber is covered
with scales, but they lie close to the fiber and do not project in
points as do the scales on the wool fiber, hence mohair will not felt
to any degree.

5. The Angora goat of Asia Minor furnishes the mohair. This goat is
being raised in the western states of the United States now.

6. Detach from the sample of mohair brilliantine a warp thread; a
filling thread. Which is mohair? Which is cotton?

7. What word would describe the feel of mohair brilliantine? the
appearance?

8. What are the characteristics of the mohair fiber?

9. What are the uses of mohair? Mohair is used in the manufacture of
plushes, dress fabrics, and imitation furs.

_Questions_

1. Why will mohair not felt as wool does?

2. The scales lying close to the stem will have what effect on the
surface of the fiber?

3. What effect will a smooth surface have on light?

4. What characteristic is given to mohair from the fact that the
smooth surface reflects light?

5. From what animal is mohair obtained in greatest quantity?

6. Where is mohair being grown in the United States?

=Experiment 10--Cotton Fiber=

Apparatus: Microscope, foot-rule.
Materials: Tuft of cotton fibers, cotton ball, seeds.
Reference: _Textiles_, chapter ix, page 105.

_Directions_

1. Hold a tuft of cotton fibers tightly between the fingers and thumb
of each hand and pull apart with a jerk. What is your judgment of the
strength of the _staple_ (fiber)?

2. Loosen gently the fibers of one of the tufts you have pulled apart.
What is the feel of cotton? the appearance as you hold it to the
light?

3. Detach several fibers one by one. How does the length compare with
that of the wool and mohair? Measure and record the length of three
fibers.

4. How do cotton fibers compare in fineness with wool fibers?

5. Compare the elasticity of cotton with that of wool.

6. Examine the cotton fibers under the microscope. Observe that the
enlarged fiber looks like a twisted ribbon. When the fiber was growing
it was cylindrical in shape. When ripe the plant drew back its
life-giving fluid from the fiber and it collapsed and twisted like a
corkscrew. The twist is peculiar to the cotton, being present in no
other fiber. Th