Abstract
IN the course of investigations on the fleece of Blackface sheep1, we encountered several of the multi-medullated fibres described by Jones2. We made no permanent record of these fibres, but they certainly occurred in samples from more than one sheep. Since this time we have been examining samples from different strains of the same breed in a different locality and again have found similar fibres. Out of 50 sheep in one experiment, multi-medullated fibres were found in samples from five individuals. In each case the fibres occurred in samples taken in two separate years. We estimate that between 1 and 5 per cent of fibres in these samples showed this characteristic at some stage in their growth. A few fragments were found in which the medulla could be seen to change from single to double.
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References
Doney, J. M., and Smith, W. F., J. Agric. Sci., 56, 365 (1961).
Jones, G., Nature, 193, 1001 (1961).
Wildman, A. B., The Microscopy of Animal Textile Fibres (Wool Indust. Res. Assoc., Leeds, 1954).
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DONEY, J., SMITH, W. Multiple Medullæ in Wool Fibres. Nature 195, 723 (1962). https://doi.org/10.1038/195723a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/195723a0
