58 



KNOWLEDGE 



[Mabch 2, 1890. 



Of the smaller pppciea of tbe genus by far tbo most 

 valnalile commfrciallv is 'he ermine, or stoat {M. cnnivea), 

 ■which in tbe more iHirtb(rn portion of its habitat turns 

 v.holly white in winter, with the (xeeption of the black 

 tip of" the tail. And it is only these white winter skins 

 that h:ive any commercial value. Like the weasel, which 

 also turns white in winter in the colder part of its 

 habitat — even to the tip of its tail — the ermine is an 

 inhabitant of both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres ; 

 and in the former the finest skins are the produce of 

 Siberia. Ermine is chiefly used for the lining of state 

 robes, the black-tipped tails forming an essential part of 

 the fur. " It was once regarded," writes Mr. Poland, 

 " as a princely fur, and only to be devoted to the use of 

 royalty ; but it has now become very much neglected, and 

 a few years ago it was practically unsaleable. . . . The 

 skins are very neatly tied up with bass in bundles of 

 ten, twenty, or fifty. They are sold by the timber (forty 

 skins). The present market value is twenty to thirty 

 shillings per timber, and a few years ago it was even less. 

 The highest price recorded for good skins is rne hundred 

 and eighty shillings per timber ; two hundred and 

 sixty-four thousand, six hundred and six skins were 

 imported into London in 1836." Miniver is the fur of 

 the ermine marked with black spots, instead of having the 

 whole tail afSxed. '' Greybacks " are skins taken from 

 animals at the time they were commencing to turn white 

 for the winter. 



With regard to the change of colour of the ermine at the 

 commencement of winter, it was at one time considered 

 that this was coincident with the autumnal shedding and 

 renewal of the coat ; that is to say, that the brown summer 

 dress was shed, and replaced by the white one of winter, 

 without any actual bleaching of the hairs themselves. 

 That this is very generally the case has been conclusively 

 proved by actual experiments. It has, however, also been 

 shown that if an ermine that has assumed its winter dress 

 in a temperate climate — when it will be of the dark 

 summer hue — be subjected to a sudden or gradual lowering 

 of temperature, its brown coat will soon turn pure white, 

 thus showing that the individual hairs are capable of 

 changing their colour. 



The ermine closes the list of Miistelida; important as 

 fur producers, and we accordingly pass on to the much 

 smaller group of the raccoons, or Procyonida. With the 

 exception of a single Himalayan species, representing a 

 genus by itself, the whole of these carnivores are American, 

 the majority inhabiting Central and South America. 

 From the weasel tribe they may be distinguished by 

 possessing two pairs of upper molar teeth ; and very 

 generally the tail is marked by alternating dark and light 

 rings, which is never the case in the former group. 



The only species of any importance in the fur trade is 

 the common North American raccoon (Procyon lotor), which 

 extends over the whole of the United States, ranging 

 towards the north-west into Alaska, and southwards into 

 Central America. The southern examples are larger than 

 the northern race. In size, the raccoon may be compared 

 to an ordinary badger. It is a somewhat clumsily-built 

 animal, with a sharp nose, small ears, plantigrade feet, 

 and a short bushy tail, marked with narrow rings of black 

 and white and generally having the tip black. The fur 

 of the body, which is long, thick, and soft, is of a general 

 greyish brown colour ; but fawn - coloured or white 

 examples are occasionally met with. Raccoon fur is an 

 item of considerable importance in the trade ; the best 

 pelts coming from Wisconsin and Illinois, those from the 

 southern portions of the animals' range having coarse and 

 short fur. About half a million skins, ranging in price 



from sixpence to ten shillings, are sold yearly in the London 

 markets; but unusually darkrolruicd specimens may 

 fetch as much as thirty shillings. Pale-coloured pelts are 

 generally dyed black or brown, and when "pulled" the 

 fur is often used to imitate beaver. Raccoon-fur is much 

 used for coat- linings, but the better descriptions are em- 

 ployed for trimmings and capos ; and, when clipped, it 

 ia sometimes manufactured into glove-tops. The prettily 

 marked heads are not uncommonly seen mounted to 

 ornament fur foot-warmers, and the tails are employed in 

 rugs and boas. 



Raccoons have less powerful teeth than the majority of 

 the Carnivora, indicating that they are less addicted to a 

 flesh diet ; and, as a matter of fact, they are almost 

 omnivorous creatures, feeding on nearly everything eatable 

 that they may come across. They are good climbers, and 

 are most generally found in the neighbourhood of water. 

 Raccoon-hunting is generally undertaken with the aid of 

 dogs ; the animal being first treed, and then shot. 



Were it not for the scarcity of the animal, the fur of 

 the panda, or Himalayan raccoon (yKlunis fidyrns), would 

 form an important item in the trade ; but since very few 

 pelts come into the market it is necessarily but little used. 

 The fur of the upper-parts is of a beautiful rich reddish 

 brown, but is considerably darker on the lower surface of 

 the body, the long tail being marked with broad reddish 

 rings separated by narrower ones of black. The few skins 

 that come into the market sell at from seven shillings to a 

 guinea each. 



♦ 



PHOTOGRAPH OF THE "CRAB" NEBULA, 

 MESSIER 1 TAURI. 



By Is.\.\c Roberts, D.Sc, F.R.S. 

 R.A. 5h. 28m., Decl. N. 21° 57'. 



THE photograph covers a region of the sky equal to 

 nineteen minutes of arc in diameter. 

 Scale, one millimetre to six seconds of arc. 

 The photograph was taken with the 20-inch 

 reflector on .January 25th, 1895, between sidereal 

 time 4h. 30m. and 5h. 80m,, with an exposure of the plate 

 during sixty minutes. 



i\iEFERENCES 



The nebula is N. G. C, No. 1952 ; G. C, No. 1157 ; h 357. 

 Rosse, Observations of Nebula and Clusters of Stars, p. 47. 

 It is figured in the Phil. Trans, of the Royal Society, 1883, 

 PI. XVI., Fig. 81, and in 1844, PI. XVIIL, Fig. 81 ; and 

 also by Lassell, Mem. of the Royal Astronomical Society, 

 Vol. XXIII., PI. II., Fig. 1. 



The drawings and the descriptive matter, referred to 

 above, do not convey to us the same ideas as we gather 

 from the photograph. 



The photograph shows the nebula to be elongated in 

 south follou-ing to north preccdiny directions ; irregular in 

 outline, and somewhat resembling an island with deep 

 embayments at intervals round its margin. 



More clearly than it is practicable to reproduce in a 

 print, the negative shows mottling and rifts in the nebula. 

 One rift curves round the north follou-ing margin, another 

 extends across from the north foUnwimi to the south pre- 

 ceding side, with a star of about the 14th magnitude at 

 its centre. There are also some star-like condensations 

 involved in the nebulosity. 



A photograph of this nebula, taken on the 25th January, 

 1890, is given in the volume of Photoyraphs of Stars, Star- 

 Chtsters, and Xrhulw, PI. XIV., which shows the nebula 

 and the surrounding region of the sky on the scale of 

 one millimetre to twenty -four seconds of arc. 



