HAIR is a substance which, from its various properties, and differences in stoutness, length, and strength, enters into a considerable variety of manufactures. Bristles are the stout elastic hairs obtained from the backs of certain breeds of pigs. The finest qualities, and the greatest quantities as well, are obtained from Russia, where a variety of pig is reared principally on account of its bristles. The best and most costly bristles are used by shoemakers, secondary qualities being employed for toilet and clothes-brushes, while inferior qualities are worked tip into the commoner kinds of brushes used by painters and for many mechanical purposes. For artists' use and for decorative painting, brushes or pencils of hair from the sable, camel, badger, polecat, &c., are prepared. The hair of various animals which is too short for spinning into yarn is utilized for the manufacture of felt. For this use the hair of rabbits, hares, beavers, and of several other rodents is largely employed, especially in France, in making the finer qualities of felt hats. Cow hair, obtained from tanneries, is used in the preparation of roofing felts, and felt for covering boilers or steam-pipes, and fur other similar purposes. It is also largely used by plasterers for binding the mortar of the walls and roofs of houses ; and of late years it has to some extent been woven up into coarse friezes, horse•cloths, railway rugs, and inferior blankets. The tail hair of oxen is also of value for stuffing cushions and other upholstery work, for which purpose, as well as for making the official wigs of law officers, barristers, &c., the tail and body hair of the yak or Thibet ox is also sometimes imported into Europe. The tail and mane hair of horses is in great demand for various purposes. The long tail hair is especially valuable for weaving into bair-cloth, mane hair and the short tail hair being, on the other hand, principally prepared and curled for stuffing the chairs, sofas, and couches which are covered with the cloth manufactured from the long hair. The horse hair used in Great Britain is principally obtained from South America, Germany, and Russia, and its sorting, cleaning, and working up into the various manufactures dependent on the material are industries of some importance. In addition to the purposes already alluded to, horse hair is woven into crinoline for ladies' bonnets, plaited into fishing lines, woven into bags for oil and cider pressers, and into straining cloths for brewers, &c., and for numerous other minor uses. The manufactures which arise in connexion with human hair are more peculiar than important, although occasionally fashions arise which cause a large demand for human hair. The fluctuations of such fashions determine the value of hair ; but at all times long tresses are of considerable value. Grey, light., pale, and auburn hair are distinguished as extra colours, and command much higher prices than the common shades. The value of hair also increases very rapidly with increase in length. Thus while 8-inch hair sells at about ls. per oz., 36-inch hair will command a price as high as 30s. per oz. Lengths beyond 36 inches are exceptional and command fancy prices, the standard length in the hair trade being 18 inches. The light-coloured hair is chiefly obtained in Germany and Austria, and the south of France is the principal source of the darker shades. In the south of France the cultivation and sale of heads of hair by peasant girls is a common practice; and hawkers attend fairs for the special purpose of engaging in this traffic. Hair 5 and even 6 feet long is sometimes obtained. Scarcely any of the "raw material" is obtained in the United Kingdom except in the form of ladies' "combings." Bleaching of hair by means of peroxide of hydrogen is now extensively practised, with the view of obtaining a supply of golden locks, or of preparing white hair for mixing to match grey shades ; but in neither case is the result very successful. Human hair is worked up into a great variety of wigs, scalps, artificial fronts, frizzets, and curls, all for supplementing the scanty or failing resources of nature. The plaiting of human hair into articles of jewellery, watch guards, &c., forms a distinct branch of trade. For structure, properties, &c., of the human hair see ANATOMY, vol i. p. 898.