X-Ray studies of the structure of hair, wool, and related fibres. II.- the molecular structure and elastic properties of hair keratin

Abstract

In a previous communication* an account was given of a preliminary exploration, chiefly by X-ray methods, of the problem of the molecular structure of animal hairs. The present paper is a natural continuation of the record, in which earlier tentative suggestions are either confirmed or rejected, and an attempt is made to lay bare the general structural principles underlying the properties of the protein, keratin . It will be unnecessary here to outline once more the historical development of the subject; we shall proceed at once to the main point of this introductory section, which is to give what appears to be the solution of the problem before setting out in detail the experimental facts and arguments leading up to it. Such a procedure is advisable because of the complex nature of the properties under discussion ; such a long series of experiments have been involved in their elucidation, that without some sort of preliminary statement of the chief conclusions, the issue is apt to grow confused.