XVI INTRODUCTION. 



This is not, however, always the case, for in a very 

 rigorous winter, if food be not abundant, the animals 

 suffer from exposure and want ; their coats become thin, 

 and many of them die. 



The quality depends also on altitude, the fur becoming 

 thicker and finer as a greater height (and consequently 

 lower temperature) is attained. The Snow Leopard, 

 which is found at a height of 8,000 feet, is a good illus- 

 tration of this. 



Open water, such as lakes and seas, render the fur 

 thicker. When on an exposed sea-coast the sea-air 

 renders the fur coarse, as in the fauna of Nova Scotia, 

 Kamschatka, and Kadiak Island. 



Exposed steppes have the same effect as the sea-air, 

 rendering the fur coarse, but to a lesser degree, as in the 

 Turkestan Leopard. 



Woods and forests render the fur finer ; for instance, 

 the Timber or Forest Wolves have finer fur than those 

 living on the exposed prairie. 



The density of pine or fir forests is a good protection 

 from the northern blasts, making the country warm 

 and inliabitable, and tends to increase animal life in 

 high latitudes. Siberia, when densely covered with 

 forests, was much warmer than it is at the present 

 time. 



Half-seasoned skins are usually blue-pelted ; that is, 

 with a dark-bluish stripe down the back or sides. The 

 third quality are generally quite dark, of a deep greenish- 

 blue hue. In the pelt of the Eacoon there is sometimes 

 a peculiar bluish mark, shaped like a horn. This is 

 probably owing to the skins not having been quite 

 seasoned. 



Veiny skins are usually poor in quality. The young 

 have usually a thicker, although sometimes a coarser 



