SOME NEW BOOKS 



Fur-Bearing Animals, in Nature and in Commerce. By H. Poland. 8vo. 

 Pp. Ivi. and 392. With 16 illustrations. London : Gurney & Jackson, 1892. 



With the exception of the "Fur-bearing Animals" of Dr. Elliott 

 Coues, which deals only with the Mustelines of North America, and 

 was published as far back as 1872, and Mr. H. W. Elliott's various 

 works on the seal-fisheries of Alaska, the latest of which dates from 

 1882, we have scarcely any books devoted to wild animals considered 

 chiefly from a commercial point of view. Consequently, the scientific 

 naturalist is not unfrequently at a loss to know where to turn in order 

 to obtain reliable information as to the number of any particular 

 species of mammal yearly slaughtered for the sake of its pelt. We 

 are, therefore, glad to welcome Mr. Poland's work, which appears to 

 give all available information relating to the fur trade. The author 

 gives a very long list of mammals of which the hides or pelts are 

 more or less used in commerce ; but as varieties or local races are 

 placed under distinct headings, the total number of animals appears 

 greater than it would be if they were arranged strictly under specific 

 headings. 



In the Introduction Mr. Poland gives us a valuable series of 

 tables of the numbers of furs imported into Europe and North 

 America and Canada, as well as those passing through the hands of 

 the Hudson Bay Company. The European returns, owing to the 

 abolition of duty, cease with the year 1844 ; but the other two sets of 

 tables commence with the middle of last century and are continued 

 down to iSgo or 1891. In the text further details are given as to the 

 number of pelts of the various species which come into the market. 

 These tables enable the naturalist to gain some idea of the appalling 

 destruction of animal life which is continually going on for the 

 purposes of commerce ; while they likewise serve as an indication of 

 the relative degree of abundance of any particular species, and also 

 as to whether its numbers are being perceptibly diminished. In 

 regard to the number of pelts furnished by certain animals, we may 

 mention that in 1844 the common squirrel yielded no less than 

 2,289,838 skins ; while in 1883 the Hudson Bay Company exported 

 upwards of 1,082,999 skins of the Musquash, the total annual 

 number of the pelts of that animal being estimated on page 261 at 

 between two and three millions. Then, again, in 1889 the number 

 of skins of the Australian Phalanger (Opossum) imported into the 

 United States reached the enormous total of 3,169,571. 



So far as we are able to judge, Mr. Poland has succeeded admi- 

 rably in his task of collecting and correlating the returns of the number 

 of skins of the various animals of which he treats ; and from this point 

 of view his book will always have a considerable value. Unfor- 

 tunately, however, for his reputation, the author has thought it 

 necessary to favour his readers with certain observations as to the 



