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Microstructure of Defective Mink Guard Hair¹

Oregon State University, Corvallis 97331

Abstract

Guard hairs from normal mink and from normal and defective areas of mink pelts with "singe" or "red hip" abnormalities were studied with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The surface or cuticle of normal guard hair consists of scales overlapping each other. These cuticle cells show regional variation in shape and size in a single fiber and display several distinct patterns. The region near the tip of guard hairs from areas of pelts with "red hip" defect is often split and appears to be devoid of cuticle cells. A high incidence of split tips has also been observed in hairs with the "singe" abnormality, but has not been seen in normal mink hair. The cross sections of normal guard hairs are mostly oval, while those of the hairs from the "singe" regions of the pelt are frequently angular in profile. The partial lack of cuticle cells and the angular cross sectional view of the hair with "singe" defect may be partly responsible for an alteration of light reflection from the defective hair surface and give the undesirable characteristic areas of metallic sheen in the affected mink pelts.

¹ Technical Paper No. 4279, Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.