Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 9.djvu/874

 838 FUR Found only in the Hudson s Bay territory. Used for muffs and garniture. Value of best prime, 15. Quantity very small. Bear, Grizzly. Larger than the black ; coarse hair; thick heavy pelt. Only found in western part of United States. Used as robes. Value, 1 to 2. Bear, White. Largest of the bear family ; hair short and rigid; iielt thick. Found only in the Arctic regions. The best pure white are used for robes. Value from 10 to 20. Beaver. Size, 2 by 3 feet ; overhair 3 inches long, coarse and brown in colour ; fur thick, fine, and dark grey. Best are from Labrador and Moose Fort. Used in every form and fashion in all northern countries ; highly prized in Russia and China. Value from 4s. to 12s. per pound in the raw parchment state. Buffalo. Size, 8 to 12 feet long; hair coarse, colour dun brown. Only found on the western and northern American prairies. Best are from the region of the Saskatchewan river. Prime are used as robes; coarse and unprime as leather for moccasins. Value 12s. to 2. Chinchilla. Two kinds, real and bastard. Size of real, 8 by 12 inches ; overhair and fur of equal length about H inches long, veiy fine, and like wool may be spun and woven ; colour silver grey and dark. Best are from Peru. Used for muffs, boas, and borders on garments; value from 4s. to 12s. The bastard are from Chili (chinchilla means the Chilian skin), short in fur, small in size, weak in pelt, and are worth from 5d. to lOd. Cat, Wild. Overhair and fur thin and coarse; colour grey; value and uses very limited. Civet eats are sometimes admired for their singular marks, but are in poor demand. House cats are too well known to require a description. Their colours are black, grey, red, and mottled. Best come from Holland; the poorest from Russia. Used very generally for fur work. Price of best black 4s. to 8s. ; other sorts nominal. Ermine. Size, 4 by 10 inches ; overhair and fur fine, soft, and close ; pelt thin and tough ; colour pure white, the tip of the tail black. Best are from Barabinsk and Ischim, in Siberia. Used for muffs, garments, and linings. Value variable ; the best have been as high as 6s. , and as low as 7d. Fisher. Size, 15 by 30 inches; overhair very fine, glossy, dark, and durable, 2 inches long ; fur close ; tail 12 inches long, bushy, and dark. A right noble skin. Best from British America. Value from 2 to 4. Fitch. Size about that of the American mink; overhair fine, 1 inches long, with dark points; fur a golden yellow. Best from Germany, Holland, and Denmark; smallest from Russia. Used for ladies furs according to the prevalent fashion. Value from 2s. to 6s. Fox, Silver. Size, 2 by 4 feet; overhair thick and fine, 3 inches long, varied in colour from pale silver to a brilliant blue black ; fur fine and curly; its beauty places it at the head of all fancy furs ; the tail is a royal brush. The choicest are from Labrador and Moose Fort; those -of Russia are more woolly and less valuable. Used for muffs, boas, and linings of robes. Price from 10 to 40. Fox, Cross. Not quite so large as the silver, with fine overhair, but a shade of red at the points, and from the paleness of the fur making a distinct dark cross at the shoulders. Best are from the Hudson s Bay territory, and valued from 2 to 8. Fox, Blue. Size the same as the cross, with grey-blue overhair, and a woolly fur. The finest are from Archangel on the White Sea, and from Greenland. Value from 2 to 4. Pox, White. Size the same as the cross, with pure white over- hair and fur. The best are from Labrador, the poorest from Asia. Value from 4s. to 12s. Pox, lied. Well known to all northern nations; abundant in Europe, but in size and beauty inferior to the American family. The former fetch 4s., while those from Labrador are valued at 16s. Fox, Grey. Only found in the United States, Overhair is grey, sprinkled with silver on the back, the sides are yellow, and the tail an ashen grey. Value from 4s. to 8s. Fox, KM. Found in north-west America and in Tartary. Over- hair fine; the back is a pure grey, the sides yellow, and the belly white. In size_it is the smallest of the foxes. Price from Is. to 3s. Hamster. Size, 3 by 5 inches; hair short and close, back grey and the sides yellow. A great trouble to the farmers in Germany, who spare no pains to exterminate them. The pelt is made into linings for cloaks. Hare. Overhair fine; fur very long, fine, abundant, and strong; pelt weak; colour grey and white. Best are from Russia. This skin is largely used by furriers, but its fur is among the best for hatters purposes. Value from 5d. to Is. Kolinsky. Found only in Asia, and attains the size of the American mink; overhair a golden red, 1| inches Ion&quot;-. The tails make excellent pencils for painters. Value from 2s. to 4s. Lamb. The finest, dark, close curled skins come from Persia; the next grade from the Crimea, and are grey in colour; inferior kiiis from Astrakhan. All these are used by furriers for caps borders, and garments. The finest Persian are worth 12s. to 1, the new 6s., and the Astraklian from Is. to 2s. The lamb- )f western Europe are used for lining gloves. Angora sheep are sometimes in demand, and are coloured red, blue, grey, and orange to suit the fashion for fringes and borders. Their value is from 12s. to 2. Lion. The finest from Asia. Specimens are rare, and price variable. Lynx. Size, 2 by 3| feet ; overhair fine and flowing, of a clear silver blue shade, sprinkled with black ; length of overhair 3 to 4 inches. Best are from Sweden and Labrador. Value from 8s. to 1 . Marten, American. Size from 5 by 15 inches to 8 by 20 inches; overhair fine and flowing, 1 to 2 inches long ; fur close and thick ; colour of best a dark coffee brown, of poorest a pale yellow. The finest are from the Great Whale River and Labrador. Always a choice and valued pelt. Price of best 5, of poorest 2s. The tips of the tails are highly prized for artists brushes. Marten, Stone. Found in Europe; the best from Hungary and Turkey. Colour a dull grey, overhair coarse, and fur woolly. Value of best prime, 8s. to 12s. Marten, Baum. Found in Europe and Asia, of fine overhair, but woolly fur, of a brownish colour, approaching that of the American marten, and furnished with a long and bushy tail. Value from 1 to 2. Marten, Russian Sable. These skins are in the highest estima tion with furriers. Size about the same as the American marten, but the overhair is much more fine and flowing, of a rich bluish dark shade, and from 1^ to 2-^ inches long ; the pelt is very soft, tough, and durable. The best are from Yakutsk in Siberia, the next from the Lena river, and the poorest from the lower Amoor. Very choice grades, but of a browner shade, are furnished by Kamchatka. Value of the poor Sagh alien from 4s. to 8s. ; while the darkest from Okhotsk will command 30. Mink, American. This valuable skin has nearly the size of the size of the marten, with an overhair that is shorter and slightly more rigid, but vies with the marten in elegance of lustre, the choicest having a dark blue shade that is always admired in furs. The best are from Nova Scotia, the State of Maine, and the Labrador coast. It is most abundant in the middle and north- western States. Value of the best, from 12s. to 2. Mink, Russian. Of smaller size than the American, and inferior in all other respects, but still a valuable pelt. Price of prime, from 2s. to 6s. Monkey. From the west coast of Africa; has a long, thin, flowing hair ; of various colours, chiefly black and dun grey. Has a limited use with furriers, fetching from 2s. to 6s. Musk-Rat. A well-known fur in North America. Size 8 by 1 -2 inches; overhair coarse and light brown; fur fine, thick, and silky; in general favour with furriers, and available for a great variety of purposes. Best are from New England and New York ; very prolific in cultivated regions. The price is very fluctuating, and as the annual collection varies from three to five millions of skins, it is difficult to forecast the market value. Price for prime, from 6d. to 3s. A variety of black coloured musk-rat from Delaware and Maryland fetches double these prices. Nutria. From the La Plata, South America; in size and value between the beaver and the musk-rat ; overhair coarse and rigid; fur short and fine; pelts too often unsound, and hence the value of the fur is chiefly for hats. Price of dry skins from Is. to 2s per pound. Opossum. Chiefly from the United States, but some also from Australia. Overhair long, coarse and whitish grey; fur woolly. Best from Ohio ; Value from 5d. to 2s. Otter. Comes from all northern countries. Size of best, 2 by 5 feet; overhair thick and close; colour brown black. Best are from Labrador and Canada. The skin is in high reputation and general use with furriers. Value of best, 1, 10s. to 3. Otter, Sea. Found only in the North Pacific Ocean, on the coasts of Alaska, Kamchatka, and Japan. Size, 2 by 6 feet ; overhair exceedingly fine, and extending but little beyond the fur, which itself is very thick, close, fine, and silky; colour dark brown, occasionally with silver points regularly interspersed; pelt pliable and firm. The poorest skins are not more valuable than those of the beaver; but the fine choice specimens command from 20 to 100. They are in high repute with the Russians and Chinese. Rabbit. Size, 10 by 16 inches; fur thick and fine; pelt weak ; colour all shades from black to white. Best are found in England, but the purest come from Poland. The best coloured skins are used by furriers, but much the larger portion is cut for hatters fur. The animal is largelv bred in warrens, and its flesh used as food; the pelts thus become of secondary importance, and, being abundant, supply a cheap fur, Raccoon. One of the peculiar and valuable pelts of the United States, and flourishing best in cultivated regions. Size, 1 by 2 feet ; overhair not fine, but bright in colour, 3 inches long, thick, and flowing; fur resembling that of the beaver; colour from silver blue to grey brown and coffee brown. Best are from Michigan and Ohio. Average value of prime, 4s. Some specimens vie with the fisher in its peculiar shade, and some even with the silver fox, and such rare skins bring from 1 to 4.