Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 51.djvu/850

832 the man-of-war bird; and tobacco pouches from that of the pelican. In heathen China the beautiful little quail is used by noble ladies to warm the hands in winter, and in civilized America live pigeons are used as a target by our so-called sportsmen. Many birds are becoming extinct, due to the demand for them by exacting fashion. Every hummingbird, bluebird, heron, or curlew in California and Florida has a price upon its head.

A value which birds have to man should not be omitted, namely, their work in distributing seeds, thus aiding in rendering islands habitable for mankind. This can be illustrated by the work of pigeons at the Moluccas. The Dutch destroyed all the nutmeg trees except those on the island of Great Banda, but were obliged to send a yearly commission to cut down the trees which grew from seeds transported to the island in the crops of the fruit pigeons. Coffee and other seeds are transported in the same way.

Among the higher or milk-giving animals there is hardly one that is not of some distinct value to man. The fur-bearers are well known, from the fast-disappearing fur seal to the common cat, over a million skins of which are used every year in the trade and sold as Alaska sable; six million squirrel skins are used by furriers every year, while thousands of common ratskins are employed in the manufacture of kid-glove thumbs. Muskrats contribute three million skins annually to the trade, and musk as well. The skunk, kangaroo, and other little suspected animals are all important factors in trade. Among the singular leather producers are the raccoon, peccary, cat, dog, for drumheads; white whale, which is dressed as kid, velvet, or plush; porpoise, and hippopotamus.

Every portion of almost every animal is available for the requirements of man: parchment from the viscera of seals and bears, gold-beater's skin from those of the ox, and catgut from those of the sheep. The hair of many animals is used in an infinite number of ways, from that of the skunk in fine brushes to that of the badger, dog, camel, hog, and others for coarse kinds. From the hoofs, bones, and horns of animals comes gelatin, used in the manufacture of court-plaster, jelly, and artificial flowers.

The oils of the milk-givers represent a vast interest. Some of the most singular are porpoise-jaw oil, used in lubricating fine watch machinery; manatee and dugong oil and dog oil in the manufacture of kid gloves. From many of these fine soaps are made. Some of our perfumes are obtained from certain animals—as the muskrat, musk ox, civet cat, musk deer, and beaver.

The artist looks to various animals for fine colorings. Ivory black, used in the manufacture of bank-note ink and in fine paintings, comes from bones; while Prussian blue is made from hoofs and refuse hair. The gall produces a dye, and from blood comes