The shorter kinds of horse-hair from the manes and tails, also cow-hair and the softer kinds of pig-hair, are twisted into ropes, which, after being boiled and then thoroughly dried in an oven, are pulled to pieces. The hair retains the twist given it, and is then used for stuffing seats of chairs, etc.
Brushes of hair are of various kinds; some are made of the stiff hairs from the backs of pigs, and others are made of the soft hairs of the camel and other animals. The hairs for the first kind are called bristles (see BRISTLES), which constitute an important trade with foreign countries. They are chiefly used in the. manufacture of hair and clothes brushes, tooth and nail brushes, house-sweeping brooms, the larger kinds of painters' brushes, etc. The second kind are chiefly employed in the manufacture of the fine brushes or hair-pencils used by painters and artists. The best bristles come from Russia. Besides the camel, hairs are yielded for this purpose by the badger, sable, goat, (log, etc. In both cases, the sorting of the hairs into lengths is a very important and troublesome matter. Generally, it is done by placing the hairs in small boxes (with the tips upward), sufficiently deep to keep them upright; and the sorter then, with nice eye and hand, selects the sizes, by pulling out all the longest, as they overtop the others; then the next size, and so on. This, in the case of the hairs for artists' pencils, is an extremely difficult operation, as great exactness is necessary. Several attempts have been made, in Russia and in this country, to sort bristles by machinery, and one person has succeeded in doing so with a rude wooden machine. But the really successful manu facture of a machine which can be made generally available, belongs apparently to Mr.
. S. Yates of Leeds, who exhibited in the international exhibition (1862) a machine of great beauty and simplicity, which sorts into ten sizes, and with great rapidity. Most hair-brushes are required to have the bristles or hairs placed with great evenness, so as to form a flat surface outward; but in the case of those which are called artists' and painters' pencils, their value consists in having a fine point, so that the selection of the hairs so as to insure this, is a work of difficulty. The first step is, after selecting a small quantity, to see that all the tips arc in one direction; this is usually done in remov ing them from the skin, a pair of flat-bladed pincers being employed to hold each cut of hairs, whilst the knife or shears severs them from the skin. They arc then placed in
small shallow tin boxes, with the tips upward; and the Lox being carefully shaken, and gently struck on the bottom until the hairs have completely arranged themselves in an upright position, they are then picked out, as before described; each size is placed by itself; and the brushmaker, according to the kind of pencil he is making, takes the proper size, and separating a sufficient number, they are placed upright in another little tin box, but now with the root-end of the hairs uppermost, so as to insure the tips being perfectly even, which is further insured by gently tapping the box as before. Fine thread is then looped round the base of the little bundle of hairs, and securely tied; sometimes more than one ligature is thus made; and the brush, now so far completed, only requires its handle of quill or wood, according to its size and character. Artists' pencils being of various sizes, and many extremely small, several kinds of quills are required. These are obtained from several birds, as the swan, goose, cluck, fowl, pigeon, lapwing, and even such small ones as the lark and thrush. Previous to receiving the brush, the quills, besides being cut to the required lengths, have to be further prepared by soaking in water, to prevent them splitting, as the thick end of the brush is being i pushed down from the wider to the narrower end. They also contract somewhat in dry ing, and consequently hold the brush very tightly.
Ornamental hair-work consists chiefly of the human hair plaited into chains, etc., or worked up into various other fanciful devices, as souvenirs, etc. Under this head we may also mention those manufactures of the human hair which are either required to supply a personal deficiency, or to meet the demands of fashion. To the former class belong the wig, time front, and other imitations of the natural covering of the human head; and to the latter, a variety of contrivances, whose mysterious names, are only known to barbers and ladies' maids, for the purpose of giving an appearance of greater abundance to the natural supply.