ERMINE, OR STOAT. 125 



coast. The best skins from this part are collected as 

 tribute to the Crown. 



Yiatka in Eussia produces skins of small size. 



The Ermine is from 5 to 12 inches long, not including 

 the tail, which is about 4 inches ; the fur is short, and 

 is i:^ure white in winter, with a black tip to its tail ; the 

 whiskers and the nose are black. 



An Albino Ermine, with whitish coat in summer, and 

 with no l)lack tip to the tail, has recently been chronicled 

 in the Field. 



This fur is worn by the Queen, some of the judges 

 and high officers of state, and is used for the state robes 

 of the peers. It was once regarded as a princely fur, 

 and only to be devoted to the use of royalty, but it has 

 now become very much neglected, and a few years ago 

 it was practically unsaleable. It still seems to be bought 

 by the Chinese at the great fur-market of Kiatka. 



The skins are very neatly tied up with bass in bundles 

 of 10, 20, or 50. They are sold by the timber (40 skins). 

 The present market value is 20s. to 30s. per timber, and 

 a few years ago it was even less. The highest price 

 recorded for good skins is 180s. per timber. 2G4,606 

 skins were imported into London in 1836 ; these were 

 sent in the well-known bark-boxes, but on account of 

 theft on the water, they were afterwards sometimes 

 imported in large iron-bound cases, with peculiar 

 Eussian locks, which gave a musical sound on being 

 opened. 



The fur of the Ermine is the emblem of purity. 



This fur is used for robes, mantle-linings, muffs, 

 glove-linings, etc. It is one of the furs of heraldry. 



The fur of the Ermine, with black spots instead of tails, 

 is called Minever. 



There are a good many skins called Greyback ; they 



