Abstract
This paper presents new scientific results of experimental studies that refute the generally accepted fact that the coat solely protects animals from the effects of solar energy. The purpose of this study was to confirm the fact of the spread of optical radiation energy under the animal’s skin along individual hairs, as light guides. The authors of this study experimentally determined the optically conductive structure of an individual wool hair, the components of the transmission parameter of an individual wool hair, namely the coefficient of light transmission inside the wool hair, the coefficient of attenuation of internal light transmission by the substance of the wool hair, the coefficient of losses in the middle of the cylinder of the wool hair due to the beam scattered in the internal structure and the refractive index of its outer shell. Based on the use of methods of photometry and geometric optics, theoretically substantiated and experimentally obtained results regarding the establishment of a mathematical dependence of the total amount of optical radiation energy entering the hair cylinder on the value of the angle of incidence of the beam on the surface of the hair, the cleanliness of the inner core of the cylinder structure, the length of the light-conducting section to the surface of the skin, as well as the refractive index of its outer shell. Based on the results of experimental studies, mathematical dependencies were obtained that describe the spectral light-conducting properties of an individual hair, as well as the distribution of energy emitted in the thickness of the skin along the entire length from the point of penetration into the hair and to the follicle – the place of use of optical energy in photobiological processes. The obtained results of experimental studies of the passage of optical radiation energy along the length of a single hair into the body of an animal are of practical importance for photobiologists investigating the effect of optical radiation from the Sun on biological objects of animal origin.