Ovis aries - Syrian lamb skin
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English: Sheep
German: Hausschaf
French: Mouton
Spanish: Ovejas
The sheep is one of the oldest domes-
ticated animals and, today, many varieties
are bred in all the inhabited continents.
The species can be classified into three
groups according to the wool quality: the
fine wool type, the semi-fine wool type and
the coarse wool type. Zoologically, the
sheep could be classified into four groups.
In the first group are the fatty-tailed Longitudinal section
sheep, yielding high quality Persian furs, of a guard hair, 400x
for example Kara-kul, Balcanian, Moldavian,
Bagdad type and others. In the second group are the wide- backed sheep, with
semi-Persian wool, for example, the Astrakhan, Tibetian, Indian, Pakistan and
Afghanistan breeds. The third group covers the short-tailed breeds with coarse
wool. These sheep are the older and, today industrially less important types
and, for fur purposes, only lamb skins are used. The last group are the
thin-tailed sheep, with a fine wool coat, which are the most important in the
wool industry. The main representatives of this group are the merino species
and similar fine wool-coated types.
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Ovis aries - Syrian lamb skin
-----------------------------
English: Sheep
German: Hausschaf
French: Mouton
Spanish: Ovejas
Distribution areas
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The Syrian lamb skins belong to the
sheep species originating in the Middle
East which are midway between the
half-Persian and coarse-wool types.
Description of the fur
---------------------- A group of hairs of the fine
The skins are from 25 to 55 cm long and and guard type, 200x
from 25 to 40 cm wide. The wool coat is
black, grey or brown in colour. The undercoat layer is not distinguishable.
The thickness of the coat is between 25 and 45 mm.
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Ovis aries - Syrian lamb skin
-----------------------------
English: Sheep
German: Hausschaf
French: Mouton
Spanish: Ovejas
Structure of the hair
---------------------
The microscopic structure of the skin
surface is furrowed. The hair follicles are
narrow and the edges are straight. The
average follicle contains only one hair
shaft.
The fine fur fibres are small in number The cuticular structure
and the diameter is from 7 to 15 µm. The of the fine fibres, 2000x
cross-section is circular and the cuticular
scales are cornet-like with a smooth, sometimes grooved, scale surface and
straight scale margins. The fine fibres are non-medullated.
The intermediate fibres have a diameter of 20 to 40 µm and the cross
-section is either circular or ellipsoidal in outline.
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Ovis aries - Syrian lamb skin
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English: Sheep
German: Hausschaf
French: Mouton
Spanish: Ovejas
The cuticular scales are even tile-like
or rounded tile-like in shape and the
cuticular surface is smooth or non-regular
grooved. The scale margins are usually
straight. The medullar column is wide,
unbroken and central symmetrical-shaped in
cross-section. The overall medullar
structure belongs to the lattice type with
a needle-sheet-like infilling substance. Longitudinal section
of a guard hair, 400x
The guard hairs have a circular and, in the upper part of the shaft,
ellipsoidal cross-sectional outline; the diameter is in the range of 40 to 70
µm. The cuticular scales are either even tile-like or rounded tile-like and
their surface is smooth and sometimes also non-regular grooved. The scale
margins are usually straight. The medulla is wide, longitudinally unbroken
and central symmetrical-shaped in cross-section. The medullar structure is of
the lattice-like type, with a needle-sheet-like infilling substance.
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Ovis aries - Syrian lamb skin
-----------------------------
English: Sheep
German: Hausschaf
French: Mouton
Spanish: Ovejas
The cuticular structure
of an intermediate hair, 600x
Numerical code for Syrian lamb skin structure
---------------------------------------------
Surface of the skin: 3-4-1
Fine fur fibres: 1-5-1.3-1-4-0-0-0-0-7.15-6.25
Intermediate fibres: 2.1-2.3-1.3-1-2-1-1-8-3-20.41-20.35
Guard hairs: 2.1-2.3-1.3-1-2-1-1-8-3-40.71-30.65
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