204 THE ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF ANIMALS 



get out the dirt and grease. This wool fat or lanoline is used in 

 making soap and ointments. The wool is next " carded," the 

 fibers being interwoven by the fine teeth of the carding machine 

 or " combed/' the fibers here being pulled out parallel to each 

 other. Carded wool becomes woolen goods; combed wool, 

 worsted goods. The wastes are also utilized, being mixed with 



" shoddy " (wool from 

 cloth cuttings or rags) 

 to make woolen goods 

 of a cheap grade. 



Goat hair, especially 

 that of the Angora and 

 the Cashmere goat, has 

 much use in the cloth- 

 ing industries. Camel's 

 liair and alpaca are 

 also used. 



Fur. — The furs of 

 many domesticated and 

 wild animals are of im- 

 portance. The Carniv- 

 ora as a group are of 

 much economic importance as the source of most of our fur. The 

 fur seal fisheries alone amount to many millions of dollars annu- 

 ally. Otters, skunks, sables, weasels, foxes, and minks are of 

 considerable importance as fur producers. Even cats are now 

 used for fur, usually masquerading under some other name. The 

 fur of the beaver, one of the largest of the rodents or gnawing 

 mammals, is of considerable value, as are the coats of the 

 chinchilla, muskrats, squirrels, and other rodents. The fur of the 

 rabbit and nutria are used in the manufacture of felt hats. The 

 quills of the porcupines (greatly developed and stiffened hairs) 

 have a slight commercial value. 



Conservation of Fur-bearing Animals Needed. — As time goes 

 on and the furs of wild animals become scarcer and scarcer through 

 overkilling, we find the need for protection and conservation of 

 many of these fast-vanishing wild forms more and more impera- 



Polar bear, a fur-bearing mammal which is rapidly 

 being exterminated. "Why? 



