Page:EB1911 - Volume 11.djvu/363

Rh hide any such variation. Those skins in which the underwool is quite white are rare and much more expensive. In summer specimens of this species, as with other white furred animals, have slightly discoloured coats. The skins that are not perfectly white are dyed jet black, dark or light smoke, violet-blue, blue-grey, and also in imitation of the drab shades of the natural blue. Value 18s. to 66s.

—Size 10 × 4 in. The genet proper is a small white spotted cat found in Europe, but the quantity is too small to be of commercial interest. The name has been adopted for the black cats used so much in the trade. (See Cats, above.) Value 1s. to 6s. 6d.

—Size varies greatly. The European, Arabian and East Indian kinds are seldom used for rugs, the skins are chiefly dressed as leather for books and furniture, and the kids for boots and gloves, and the finer wool and hair are woven into various materials. Many from Russia are dyed black for floor and carriage rugs; the hair is brittle, with poor underwool and not very durable; the cost, however, is small. The Chinese export thousands of similar skins in black, grey and white, usually ready dressed and made into rugs of two skins each. A great many are dyed black and brown, in imitation of bear, and are used largely in the western parts of the United States and Canada for sleigh and carriage rugs. Many are used for their leather. Thousands of the kids are also dyed black and worked into cross-shaped pieces, in which shape they are largely exported to Germany, France, Great Britain and America, and sold by the retail as caracal, kid or caracul. The grey ones are in good demand for motor coats. The word caracul has been adopted from the Turkish and signifies black-eared. See also Lambs, caracul. Value of Chinese white 3s. 6d. to 6s. 6d.: grey, 4s. to 6s. 9d.

The Angora from the heights of central Asia Minor has curly, fleecy, silky, white wool, 4 to 7 in. long. The fur is not used in Great Britain, as formerly, and the greater quantity, known as mohair, is now imported for purposes of weaving. This species of goat was some years since introduced into Cape Colony, but its wool is not so good as the Asiatic breed. Good business, however, is done with the product, but chiefly for leather. Value 4s. to 12s. 6d.

The Mongolian goat has a very soft silk underwool, and after the long top hair is removed it is dressed and imported and erroneously named mouflon. The colour is a light fawn, but it is so pale that it lends itself to be dyed any colour. It was popular some years since in the cheaper trade, but it is not now much seen in England. Value 2s. to 6s.

The Tibet goat is similar to the Angora in the fineness of its wool, and many are used in the making of cashmere shawls. The Tibet lamb so largely imported and used for children’s wear is often miscalled Tibet goat. Value 3s. to 7s. 6d.

—Size 30 × 15 in. Is a species of goat found in Patagonia and other parts of South America. It has a very long neck and exceedingly soft woolly fur of a light reddish-fawn colour with very white flanks. It is usually imported in small quantities, native dressed, and ready made into rugs. The dressing is hard and brittle. If the skins are dressed in Europe they afford a very comfortable rug, though a very marked one in effect. They have a similar wool to the vicuna, but coarser and redder; both are largely used in South America. Value 1s. to 4s. 6d.

—Size 8 × 3 in. A destructive rodent, is found in great numbers in Russia and Germany. The fur is very flat and poor, of a yellowish pale brown with a little marking of black. Being of a light weight it is used for linings. Value 3d. to 1s.

—Size 24 × 9 in. The common hare of Europe does not much interest the furrier, the fur being chiefly used by makers of hatters’ felt. The white hares, however, of Russia, Siberia and other regions in the Arctic circle are very largely used in the cheaper trade of Europe, America and the British colonies. The fur is of the whitest when killed in winter, and that upon the flanks of the animal is very much longer than that upon its back. The flanks are usually cut off and made into muffs and stoles. The hair is, however, brittle and is not at all durable. This fur is dyed jet black and various shades of brown and grey, and manufactured into articles for the small drapers and for exportation. The North American hares are also dyed black and brown and used in the same way. Value of white 2d. to 5d.

—Size 2 to 3 ft. long. Is found in India and north and south Africa. Indian are light brown and reddish, those from the Cape are dark grey and rather silvery. Few are imported. Fur generally poor and harsh, only suitable for carriage rugs. Value 1s. to 3s. 6d.

—Size 7 to 10 ft. long. Is found in Mexico and British Honduras. The markings are an irregular ring formation with a spot in the centre. Leopards have rings only and cheetahs solid spots. Suitable only for hearth-rugs. Supply very limited. Value 5s. to 45s.

—See Souslik, below.

—The sizes vary considerably, some being huge, others quite small. The larger varieties, viz. the red and the great, do not usually interest furriers, the fur being harsh and poor without underwool. They are tanned for the leather trade. The sorts used for carriage aprons, coat linings and the outside of motor coats include: blue kangaroo, bush kangaroo, bridled kangaroo, wallaroo, yellow kangaroo, rock wallaby, swamp wallaby and short-tailed wallaby. Many of the swamp sort are dyed to imitate skunk and look well. Generally the colours are yellowish or brown. Some are dark brown as in the swamp, which being strong are suitable for motor coats. The rock wallabies are soft and woolly and often of a pretty bluish tone, and make moderately useful carriage rugs and perambulator aprons. The redder and browner sorts are also good for rugs as they are thick in the pelt. On the European continent many of these are dyed. The best of the lighter weights are frequently insufficiently strong in the hair to stand the friction of wear in a coat lining. Value, kangaroo 9d. to 3s., wallaby 1 d. to 5s. 3d., wallaroo 1s. to 5s. 6d.

—See Goats, above.

—Size 12 × 2 in. Is one of the marten tribe. The underwool is short and rather weak, but regular, as is also the top hair; the colour is usually yellow. They have been successfully dyed and used as a substitute for sable. They are found in Siberia, Amoor, China and Japan, but the best are from Siberia. They are light in weight and therefore suitable for linings of coats. The tails are used for artists’ “sable” brushes. The fur has often been designated as red or Tatar sable. Value 1s. 6d. to 4s. 6d.

—The sorts that primarily interest the fur trade in Europe and America are those from south Russia, Persia and Afghanistan, which are included under the following wholesale or retail commercial terms: Persian lamb, broadtail, astrachan, Shiraz, Bokharan and caracul lamb. With the public the general term astrachan is an old one, embracing all the above curly sorts; the flatter kinds, as broadtail and caracul lamb, have always been named separately. The Persian lambs, size 18 × 9 in., are the finest and the best of them. When dressed and dyed they should have regular, close and bright curl, varying from a small to a very large one, and if of equal size, regularity, tightness and brightness, the value is comparatively a matter of fancy. Those that are dull and loose, or very coarse and flat in the curl, are of far less market value.

All the above enumerated lambs are naturally a rusty black or brown, and with very few exceptions are dyed a jet black. Lustre, however, cannot be imparted unless the wool was originally of a silky nature. Broadtails, size 10 × 5 in., are the very young of the Persian sheep, and are killed before the wool has time to develop beyond the flat wavy state which can be best compared to a piece of moiré silk. They are naturally exceedingly light in weight, and those that are of an even pattern, possessing a lustrous sheen, are costly. There is, notwithstanding, a great demand for these from the fashionable world, as not only are they very effective, but being so flat in the wool the figure of the wearer can be shown as perfectly as in a garment made of silk. It cannot be regarded as an economical fur, as the pelt is too delicate to resist hard wear. Astrachan, Shiraz and Bokharan lambs, size 22 by 9 in., are of a coarser, looser curl, and chiefly used for coat linings, while the Persians are used for outside of garments, collars, cuffs, stoles, muffs, hats and trimmings and gloves. The so-called caracul lambs, size 12 × 6 in., are the very young of the astrachan sheep, and the pick of them are almost as effective as broadtails, although less fine in the texture. See also remarks as to caracul kid under Goats, above. Grey lambs, size 24 × 10 in., are obtained from the Crimea and known in the trade as “crimmers.” They are of a similar nature to the caracul lambs, but looser in curl, ranging from a very light to a dark grey. The best are the pale bluish greys, and are chiefly used for ladies’ coats, stoles, muffs and hats. Price 2s. to 6s. Mongolian lambs, size 24 × 15 in., are of a short wavy loose curl, creamy white colour, and are usually exported from China dressed, the majority being ready-made into cross-shaped coats or linings. They are used principally for linings of good evening wraps for ladies. Price 1s. to 2s. 6d. Slink lambs come from South America and China. The former are very small and generally those that are stillborn. They have a particularly thin pelt with very close wool of minute curl. The China sorts are much larger. The smallest are used for glove linings and the others for opera cloak linings. Price 1s. to 6s. 6d.

—Size 3 to 6 ft. long. There are several kinds, the chief being the snow or ounce, Chinese, Bengal, Persian, East Indian and African. The first variety inhabit the Himalayas and are beautifully covered with a deep soft fur quite long compared to the flat harsh hair of the Bengal sort. The colours are pale orange and white with very dark markings, a strong contrast making a fine effect. Most artists prize these skins above all others. The Chinese are of a medium orange brown colour, but full in fur. The East Indian are less full and not so dark. The Bengal are dark and medium in colour, short and hard hair, but useful for floor rugs, as they do not hold the dust like the fuller and softer hair of the kinds previously named. They are also used for drummers’ aprons and saddle cloths in the Indian army. The African are small with pale lemon colour grounds very closely marked with black spots on the skin, the strong contrast making a pleasing effect. Occasionally, where something very marked is wanted, skating jackets and carriage aprons are made