318 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



ing the pelt moist. The overhairs are removed principally by hand, 

 the workman pulling them out b}^ grasping them between a dull knife 

 of soft metal and his thumb, protected by a rubber cot. Practically 

 all nutria skins are plucked, it being difficult to find a single dressed 

 unplucked skin in New York. 



If convenient, the pelts are soaked again overnight in cold water, 

 and then fleshed by drawing each one successively across the edge of a 

 large vertical knife (see p. 292). After fleshing, the skin is brushed 

 on the pelt side with strong salt water, and after remaining in that 

 condition over night, it is treated in much the same manner as a beaver 

 skin. It is moistened on the flesh side with some animal grease, pref- 

 erably butter, worked in the tramping machine or the tramping tub, 

 the grease removed by revolving in a drum with sawdust, and the 

 skin freed from sawdust in a cleaning drum. It then goes to the 

 picker, who places it upon a beam and skims over the surface of the 

 fur with a large fiat-bladed knife having a razor-like edge, removing 

 the remaining hairs, thus completing the process. 



Nutria fur, natural, plucked, or plucked and d3'ed, is used for all 

 the purposes of beaver fur, and the choicest can be distinguished from 

 the latter only by experts, being nearly as fine and durable. It is 

 used principally as a dressed fur, the overhairs being removed and the 

 fur dyed dark brown, affording one of the best imitations of fur-seal 

 for small articles. It is also dyed various other shades of brown, and 

 occasionall}^ is silvered with acid as in case of beaver furs. 



OTTER FURS. 

 CHARACTERISTICS OF PELAGE. 



The fur of the otter is short, abundant, and of fine quality. It is 

 slightly waved and silky and is similar in appearance to that of the 

 beaver, but is somewhat shorter and more delicate and glossj^ The fur 

 on the stout tail is of the same character as that on the bod}^, but not 

 so long. That on the body is of a whitish-gray color for two-thirds 

 of its length from the base, rich brown at the tips, and is interspersed 

 with stiff, thick overhairs similarl}' colored. The general color of the 

 overhairs is brown above and a little whiter beneath, with chin and 

 throat whitish. The shade of brown varies according to the locality 

 in which the animal lives; in eastern Maine this is almost black; in 

 Canada, Nova Scotia, and Labrador it is dark brown; in Alaska and 

 British Columbia the animal is light brown. The fur on the throat, 

 under parts, and inner surface of the legs is usually of various shades of 

 brown. White or albino skins are occasionallj^ secured, and silvery, 

 grizzly, mottled, and slate-colored are met with at times. 



TRADE IN OTTER SKINS. 



The earl}' trade in otter skins in America, although never so exten- 

 sive, was almost contemporaneous in its development with the trade 

 in beaver furs. In the operations of the earl>' fur-traders in the pros- 



