142 THE FUR TRADE OF AMERICA 



Viscachas and Chinchillas 



In Viscachas and Chinchillas are two of the rarest, finest furs 

 produced in South America. 



The demand for Chinchilla runs from 50,000 to 80,000 a year, 

 though in several of the South American countries to-day, chin- 

 chillas are so scarce there is a closed season for some years. 



The Chinchilla is a mouse that burrows. He has short squirrel- 

 like front legs and long hind legs that give him an absurd miniature 

 kangaroo look. He is 8 to 15 inches long with a long tail and 

 feeds on his hind legs like a squirrel. His fur is a grayish or dark 

 blue slate or pearl. It is soft as down or the face of a pansy and 

 almost as fragile. In Chile, Bolivia and Peru are three species. 



The Viscacha comes from the same habitat. He has an ab- 

 surdly large head for his size, a round-ball shaped body, thick short 

 hind legs, a long tail. His body is 15 to 20 inches, his tail 8; and 

 his gray black fur is the ermine of South America. He is known 

 under the ugly name of Bastard Chinchilla ; and the trade uses 

 8000 of his velvet pelts a year. 



Prices for both these furs are subject to wildest variation ac- 

 cording to quality. In New York in 1920, 1269 Chinchillas sold 

 for from #2, $37, and $41 to #106. The Chinchilla sold in St. Louis 

 spring sales exceeded 12,000; in London 13,200. 



The Mole 



Allied to the Chinchilla in the fur world is the mole, whose 

 fur is described in another section, of which more than 4,000,000 a 

 year are used in European trade ; but as each mole has 8 to 10 wives 

 and a numerous progeny, even that demand has not exhausted the 

 supply. As the world catch of mole is rated at 6,000,000 I suppose 

 2,000,000 may be ascribed to American trade ; but I do not vouch 

 for these figures. They seem to me far too small. It takes 600 

 mole skins for a short evening wrap, 1000 for a long wrap, which 

 would give barely 2000 moleskin wraps a year for America, with- 



