UTILIZATION OV TIIK SKINS OF AQUATK^ ANIMALS. 801 



for the covcrinj;' of tmiiks tiud l)oxcs. Another use to which Ihey 

 were put when unusually cheap in the European market was to clip 

 the fur from the skin and tan the latter for the general purpose of 

 leather, while the cut fur was either discarded or manufactured into 

 nai)ping for "beaver hats." But few hats were made of this material 

 after the adoption of silk felt. 



About 1825 the unhairinu- and dyeing- of fur-seal was introduced, and 

 although the article was very poor compared with the choice product 

 of the present time, it was a decided advance over the former methods 

 of dressing. Between 1855 and 1870, through experiments on the 

 part of Messrs. Oppenheim &Co., and of Messrs. Martin &Teichman, 

 in London, and of Mr. George C. Treadwell, in Albany, the methods of 

 dressing and d3'eing fur-seal were greatl}" improved, resulting in an 

 exquisitely soft and downy texture and rich dark-brown color, which 

 was quickly adopted by the fashionable world for cloaks, jackets, 

 mutfs, triimnings, etc. So popular did the fur become that the 

 demand quickly ran up from 10,000 skins in 1860 to 20,000 in 1865, to 

 150,000 during the seventies, and 200,000 during the eighties at 

 greatly increased prices. The high prices resulted in excessive drains 

 on the rookeries and unwise methods of slaughter at sea, so that the 

 quantity of skins obtainable now is very much less than ten or fifteen 

 3^ears ago, onh^ 95,485 being handled in 1900, and the price is much in 

 excess of what it ever was before. 



Previous to 1871 fur-seal pelts were comparatively cheap, the un- 

 dressed Alaskan skin rarely selling for more than $1 or $5; but since 

 that time the market price has greatly increased. In 1875 Alaskan 

 skins averaged about $13 each; in 1880, $20; in 1885, owing to the 

 large number received from the pelagic fisherj-, the price fell to about 

 $16 each, but in 1890 it increased to $35, and in 1900 to $10. 



Since 1870 practically the entire world's product of fur-seal skins 

 has been sold in London. Most of them are handled by Messrs. C. M. 

 Lampson & Co., who receive consignments from the North American 

 Commercial Compan}', the lessees of the right to take skins on the 

 Pribilof Islands; from the Russian Sealskin Company, the lessees 

 from the Russian Government of the rights on Commander Island and 

 Robben Reef, and a large portion of the Northwest skins. Other 

 prominent firms in London handling skins are the Pludson's Bay 

 Company, Messrs. Boulcher, Mortimer & Co., the consignees forLobos 

 skins, and Messrs. Culvervvell & Brooks, who receive many of the 

 Northwest skins. 



The skms are duly catalogued, and public-auction sales are held at 

 stated times during the year, usually in March, October, and Decem- 

 ber, when all the leading furriers of Europe and America are repre- 

 sented, the number averaging about 50. Generally the entire stock 

 on hand is sold at each occasion. 



