298 REPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 THE SKINS OF FUR-SEALS. 

 DESCRIPTION OF THE SKINS. 



There are two distinct g-roups of marine mammals commonly called 

 seals. The members of one family, the Otaridse^ provide the fash- 

 ionable fur, and are known generally as fur-seals; while the PhocUlee 

 supply seal leather and oil, and are called seals or hair-seals. 



The northern fur-seal pelts on the market are of three sorts, viz: 

 Alaska skins. Copper skins or Copper Island skins, and Northwest 

 Coast skins. Of the southern pelts the principal varieties are the 

 Lobos, the South Shetland, the Cape Horn, and the Cape of Good 

 Hope skins; but the present yield of these is quite small compared 

 with that of the northern skins. These several classes of pelts are 

 distinguishable from each other and sell at different prices. The 

 Shetland Island skins are the choicest, but they are now very scarce 

 and are rarely on the market. Of those obtainable in marketable 

 quantities, the most valuable are the Alaska skins; next are the Copper 

 skins; and the Lobos and Cape of Good Hope skins are of least value. 



The pelage of the Alaskan fur-seal consists of a nearly uniform 

 coating of dense, soft fur overtopped by coarse rigid hair of varying 

 length. The coriaceous membrane is thin, pliable, and of light weight. 

 The fur increases uniformly in thickness and fineness all over the body 

 until the third or fourth year, when it is about three-eighths of an 

 inch in length and is in its greatest perfection. ■ After the fourth year 

 it grows longer and thicker on the neck and shoulders and becomes 

 thinner on the posterior parts, thus deteriorating in value. The hair 

 overtopping the coating of fur is longest on the back of the neck, where 

 in case of -A-}' ear-old males it reaches a length of 2 inches or more; on 

 the posterior parts it is shorter, and near the hind flippers it is usually 

 less than an inch in length; on the limbs it is much shorter and less 

 dense, and in some places quite absent. It is shed annually in August 

 and September, new hair appearing as the old is cast. The process 

 occupies about six weeks, and while in that condition the skins are 

 known as "stagy," and are of inferior value owing to the amount of 

 labor required in the process of dressing. 



The Alaskan skins have constituted the greater part of those on 

 the market since fur-seal has been fashionable in Europe and America. 

 The Priljilof Islands, whence they are obtained, have probabh^ yielded 

 one-third of the total pi'oduct of fur-seals of the last two centuries, 

 and 80 per cent of those secured in the last seventy-five 3'ears.. From 

 the reports of the United States Treasury Department, it appears that 

 from 1870 to 15)00, inclusive, 1,837,563 marketable fur-seal skins have 

 been .shipped from the Pri])ilof Islands, and the revenue to the United 

 States Treasury has amounted to $7,812,03(5. 



The fur of Copper skins, from the Connnander Islands, is coarser 

 and less dense than that of the Alaska skins, and commands a lower 



