514 



FUR 



Edible Mushrooms. 



4. Do not change colour when cut, by 



action of air. 



5. Juice watery. 



6. Odour agreeable. 



7. Taste not bitter, acrid, salt, or pun- 



gent. 



Poisonous Mushrooms. 



Acquire a brown, green, or blue tint, when 

 cut and exposed to the air. 



Juice often milky. 



Odour commonly powerful, and dis- 

 agreeable. 



Have an acrid, astringent, acid, salt, or 

 bitter taste. 



Further, all fungi should be avoided if insects will not touch them ; if the fungi 

 have scales or spots on their surfaces ; or if they exhibit any signs of decomposition. 

 It is said that some poisonous fungi are rendered innocuous by being cut in slices, 

 macerated in vinegar and water for an hour, and then washed in boiling water before 

 being dressed. 



FUR. (Fourrure, Fr. ; Pclz, Gor.) Fur may be strictly defined as the short 

 fine soft hair of certain animals, growing thick on the skin, and distinguished from the 

 hair, which is longer and coarser. The term is, however, used sometimes very loosely, 

 and includes those skins which are covered with hair. Fur is one of the most perfect 

 non-conductors of heat, and consequently we find the animals of the colder regions of 

 the earth clothed with this substance, and hence man has adopted it as the warmest 

 of clothing. 



To the admirable report made by Messrs. J. A. Nicholay and James B. Bevington, 

 on the Furs of the Great Exhibition, we are mainly indebted for the following par- 

 ticulars. 



THE RUSSIAN SABLE (Mustela zibcllina). In the reign of Henry VIII., by a law 

 to regulate the expenses of different classes, and to distinguish them by peculiarity of 

 costume, the use of sable was confined to the nobility above the rank of viscount. It 

 is stated that 25,000 skins are annually collected in the Russian territories. The 

 fur is brown, with some grey spots on the head ; the darker varieties are the most 

 valuable, a single skin of a fine dark colour being sold for as much as nine pounds, 

 though the average value does not exceed two or three. The Russian sable is some- 

 times confounded with the Hudson's Bay sable, but to the furrier the former is 

 easily distinguishable from the length and fullness, as well as the darker colour, of 

 the fur. 



HUDSON'S BAY SABLE (Mustela Canadensis). As the natural colour of this skin is 

 much lighter than the prevailing taste, it is the practice to dye many of them a 

 darker colour, and the furs thus treated are scarcely inferior to the Russian or true 

 sable. Not less than 120,000 skins are annually imported into this country. 



PINE MARTEN or BAUM (Mustela abictum). The animals producing this skin are 

 found in extensive forests in the north of Europe. The skins are distinguished from 

 the stone marten by the yellow colour of the throne. These skins are dyed to imitate 

 real sable. 



STONE MARTEN (Mustela saxorwri). This is frequently called French sable, from 

 the fact that the French furriers excel in dyeing this skin. The stone marten is dis- 

 tributed through most European countries. The under fur is a bluish white, with the 

 top Chairs a dark brown, the throat being generally a pure white, by which it is 

 distinguished. 



FISHER. These skins are larger than the sables, and the fur is longer and fuller; 

 about 11,000 of these skins arc annually brought from America. The tail, which is 

 long, round, and gradually tapering to a point, was formerly used as the common 

 ornament to a national cap worn by the Jew merchants of Pol and. 



MINK (Mustela vison).. There were 245,000 skins of this little animal brought to 

 this country in 1850. The fur resembles sable in colour, but is considerably shorter 

 and more glossy. 



ERMINE (Mustela erminea}. This animal is similar in form and habit to tho 

 common weasel of this country ; but in Siberia, Russia, and Norway, from whence the 

 skins are imported, the little animal during winter becomes as white as the snowy 

 regions it inhabits, and is esteemed the whitest fur known, though in summer its 

 dress is a dingy brown. The tail of tho skin, of which the lower half is j t Mack, is 

 usually introduced as an ornament to tho purely white fur. In Edward Ill.'s n-ign, 

 the use of ermine was restricted to tho royal family. 



FITCH or POLECAT (Mustela putorhtfi), produced throughout Europe and in our 

 own country. This animal has a soft M;u-k fur, witli a rich yellow ground. Tho 

 natural smell of this fur is unpleasant and difficult to overcome. 



NORTH AMERICAN SKUNK (Mephitis Americana'). These skins are imported by tho 

 Hudson's Bay Company. The animal from which it is obtained is allied to the 



