410 ANIMAL STUDIES 



coldest regions are most valued, because their hairs are 

 longer and more closely set than in similar animals living 

 with less need of protection from the cold. Coarser furs 

 are taken from the various bears, wolves, and other carnivo- 

 rous animals, from wild goats and other animals of north- 

 ern or mountainous regions. The skins of tigers, leopards, 

 and other large members of the cat family, with short, 

 close-set, glossy fur, often beautifully colored, are also 

 highly valued. The long, coarse hair of the buffalo caused 

 the " buffalo-robe " to be highly appreciated by our fathers 

 before the species was exterminated. The skins of animals 

 with indifferent fur, as squirrels and prairie-dogs, are often 

 stitched together to form blankets. 



The skins of many animals, as the ox, sheep, goat, hair- 

 seal, etc., have been tanned as leather. Leather is used for 

 shoes for the feet of men. In more primitive times it 

 formed a large part of the clothing of men. In Alaska, the 

 stomach and intestines of the sea-lion are used for water- 

 proof rain-coats. It forms a light and serviceable garment. 

 In Japan, slippers are made from the skin of the long- 

 haired native monkey. 



The feathers of many birds are used in pillows. Most 

 valuable is the down of the breast of the eider-duck. The 

 most common feathers for pillows come from the hen and 

 the goose. The downy breasts of young eagles are in 

 Alaska stitched together to form mantles. The close-set 

 feathers of the grebe, a diving water-bird, form a kind of 

 fur when the skin is tanned. In Hawaii royal cloaks of 

 great cost have been made, the texture filled and colored 

 with the scarlet and golden feathers of native song-birds. 



322. Animals as ornaments. The most valuable ornament 

 derived from any animal is the pearl, the product of a large 

 bivalve mollusk, the pearl-oyster in tropical seas. The 

 pearl is a fine secretion from the mantle of the animal sur- 

 rounding a grain of sand or other source of irritation. In 

 the museum of Harvard University there is a small fish in- 



