50 JOURNAL OF THE [October, 



Fur fibres appear to grow in groups, that is, from a pocket in 

 the skin. A number of fibres are projected (usually an uneven 

 number, seven, nine, eleven or thirteen) from each pocket, and 

 the individual fibres do not appear to possess the mechanism for 

 growth, common in the case of a human hair. 



How they grow is yet a mystery. Do new fibres project 

 themselves each year ? Do the animals that change color be- 

 tween Summer and Winter get a new growth of fur, or is the old 

 fur in the wet season charged with new pigment cells, and in 

 the dry season deprived of pigment cells ? In the first 

 place, the wet season would call for a more thorough greas- 

 ing of the fibres, so that the water could be easily shed ; while 

 in the second case there would not exist this necessity, but to 

 resist dry cold, the maximum air space would be required in 

 each fibre, and then the pigment cells could be discarded to 

 advantage, for the purpose of obtaining an enlarged air space in 

 each fibre. 



No one worker with the microscope can hope to answer these 

 questions. The answer must be found in the observations made 

 by widely separated students, who each have an opportunity to 

 observe fur bearing animals under different climatic conditions.. 



The writer having accomplished the practical results he de- 

 sired by his observations, and with the assistance of others, the 

 interesting scientific questions referred to must be left to those, 

 whose devotion to the microscope will induce them day after 

 day to work with powers not below }i, and who are willing to 

 search long and faithfully to find out some of nature's secrets, 

 the discovery of which may not repay the students in other coin 

 than the satisfaction of an increased knowledge, but which 

 probably may come back to them in the shape of a substantial 

 recompense for their time and labor. 



Many other questions could be asked, but if the writer is not 

 mistaken, to give correct answers to these propounded, with the 

 proof of their correctness, will require a great deal of study and 

 observation. 



