330 



opossums, 200 to 300, quite plentiful at present; skunks, 2,000, 

 and they are about the same at present. 



"The above figures are, to the best of my recollection, the 

 number of furs I handled. At the same time there were sev- 

 eral others buying furs through this section." 



MR. LEWIS, OF JEFFERSON COUNTY. 



Mr. E. C. Lewis, of Reynoldsville, -leffoison county, 

 states that the numbei- of skins he annually handk'S 

 is about as follows: 



"Twenty beai's: 125 minks; 150 skunks; 25 red foxes; 10 gray 

 foxes; 200 raccoons; 250 muskrats; S otters; 15 wildcats." 



Mr. Le\\is also adds the following lines: 



"I consider foxes, weasels, wildcats and the mink detrimental 

 to both farmers and sportsmen; am earnestly in favor of a 

 bounty on these last-named animals. I have seen where wild- 

 cats killed deer from one to two years old." 



MESSRS. JORDAN & SON, OF LUZERNE COUNTY. 



Messrs. N, P. Jordan «& Son, extensive hatters and 

 furriers, of 40 West Market street, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 

 in a letter of April 21, 1896, say: 



"In reply to your letter of the 15th inst., we beg to state that 

 during the past few years we have obtained from, hunters and 

 trappers, in this region, pelts as follows: 1 otter, 61 minks, 25 

 red foxes, 4 gray foxes, 373 skunks, 29 'coons, 6 opossums. 4S6 

 muskrats. This represents a very small portion of the animals 

 captured in this vicinity, as a large majority of the hunters 

 send the pelts direct to the market or sell them to representa- 

 tives of different firms, who have men out continually during 

 the fur season, scouring the country to buy up raw furs. We 

 have no record of our purchases during previous year, but the 

 above is about the average annually. Our books show about 

 the same amount each year for several years in the purchase 

 of skins, which, of course, indicates an equal number of pelts." 



MESSRS. WEIL. OF CHESTER COUNTY. 



The Zoologist is indebted to Messrs. Morris and 

 Moses Weil, fur dealers of West Chester, Pa., for the 



