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Abstract
The equatorial scatter of X-rays by Lincoln wool fibres stretched in water at room temperature by extensions up to 60% has been recorded using a Hilger counter dijfractometer. The results agree wilh those of Bendit1 in establishing that there is an important change in the scattering at extensions less than 20%. The changes have been analysed on the assumption that they are the result of a single phase transformation from crystalline α-keratin to crystalline β-keratin, and the rate of change of each component has been derived. It is found that there is a deficit in the total amount of crystalline keratin except in the unstretched and fully stretched conditions, indicating that an intermediate state exists in which the keratin is not sufficiently well-ordered to contribute to the lOÅ or 4 65Å equatorial peaks. The difficulty of transforming the Pauling and Corey AB6 cable is recalled, and the possibility of packing of coiled-coil α-helices without their forming twisted cables is pointed out.