CASHMERE, is a peculiar textile fabric formed of the fine downy wool found about the roots of the hair of the Tibet goat, and so called from the original seat of the manufac ture, in the valley of Cashmere. Shawls of exceedingly delicate quality are the principal articles manufactured of this material; but a cloth woven in imitation of them is also made, and called by the same name, orby corruption, Cashmere. Kersernere, which resembles cassimere in sound, is a different fabric. [WOOLLEN AND WORSTED ]1BANUFACTURES.] An interesting description of the manufac ture of Cashmere shawls is given in Viene's Travels in Kashmir.' The process is exceed ingly slow, the weaving of a pair of shawls, or, as some writers have it, of a single shawl, often employing three men with a clumsy old. fashioned loom for a period of six months ; and, owing to the numerous heavy duties charged upon the shawls between leaving the loom and reaching a purchaser in this country, the price of real Cashmere shawls of the best quality is very high. They have frequently been sold in London at from 100 to 400 gui neas each, and at one time, when the import duty, which has since been greatly reduced, amounted to 80 per cent. on the value, as
much as 600 guineas has been demanded for a single shawl.
Various attempts have been made to natu ralise the Cashmere shawl goat in this and other European countries ; but, as the pecu liarities of its wool appear to be dependent upon climate, the perfect success of any such attempt is problematical. The wool itself has also been imported as a raw material. In 1830, at which time the weaving of shawls from Cashmere yarn imported from France, had become an important branch of manufac ture, a premium of 3001. was offered by the Board of Trustees for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures in Scotland, to the person who should first establish the spinning of Cashmere wool upon the French principle. In consequence of this offer, Captain C. S. Cochrane devoted himself to the subject, and having succeeded, after some difficulty, in ob taining a knowledge of the secret, he patented the plan, and subsequently sold his patent to the Messrs. Holdsworth, of Glasgow, who es tablished the manufacture successfully, and obtained the offered reward in 1832.