THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF ANIMALS. 833 



the turkey red of printers. The chemist depends upon animals 

 to a large extent. Portions of the dog are used in tanning hides ; 

 albumin of the blood in refining sugar and various secretions in 

 printing calico ; while the chemist finds pepsin in the stomach of 

 hogs and calves. Phosphorus for matches is taken from bones ; 

 the physician obtains his vaccine lymph from cows, by this 

 mean's saving thousands of lives ; while ammonia and lime are 

 common products from bones and horn. 



Among the special animals that are of great value to man is 

 the whale. In 1884 a single animal sold for over fifteen thousand 

 dollars, the oil bringing $3,490, the bone $12,230. Besides these 

 products there is the ambergris, a secretion in the intestine ; the 

 valuable ivory of the teeth used by the Japanese in their carving ; 

 the skin as leather ; the bones for knife handles and for various 

 purposes. 



The delicate mole is a valuable aid to the agriculturist. An 

 individual will eat twenty thousand grubs in a year, while the 

 fur is highly esteemed. The fur dealers use nearly ten million 

 skins of rabbits and hares a year. Twenty thousand bears are 

 sacrificed yearly, the hides being employed as leather, and even 

 teeth for Indian chisels, knives, and ornaments. In 1880 the 

 trade absorbed seven hundred tons of elephant ivory, one hun- 

 dred thousand of these noble animals being killed that we might 

 have billiard balls, chessmen, carved figures, and countless other 

 objects for use and ornament. 



The furs of animals keep us warm in winter, while the wool 

 of our under- garments comes from another group representing 

 vast industries giving support to thousands of persons. 



Statistics in which this paper abounds are dry and uninterest- 

 ing, but they alone tell the story of man's dependence upon the 

 lower animals. One hundred thousand Persian lambskins are 

 used annually by the trade ; six hundred thousand Astrakhans 

 and two hundred English skins suggestive of an array of 

 workers. 



From the goat come mohair, cashmere ; while the interesting 

 Angora goat, which has been introduced into California, pro- 

 duces fifteen million pounds of wool per annum; every hoof, 

 hide, and horn has its value in the great world of trade. The 

 camels and their allies produce the hair for shawls and other 

 valuable articles of wear. 



The demand for objects of luxury is tending to the extinction 

 of some of our most valuable animals. The buffalo has been 

 almost wiped from the face of the earth, that we might have 

 sport, robes, and buffalo tongue. The five hundred lion skins 

 which the trade uses annually for rugs and leather have marked 

 the royal cat for early extinction ; while the rhinoceros, giraffe, 



VOL. LI. 61 



