106 



KNOWLEDGE 



[May 1, 1896. 



silvery grey, and the bright tawny of the flanks, head, and 

 limbs, forms a striking and pleasing contrast. Only a few 

 skins appear to be imported, which average about three 

 shilHngs in price, and are chielly employed for fur wraps. 

 We cannot liud that the pelt of the side-streaked jackal 

 (C. adiistii.'i), which is likewise an African species, is ever 

 used at all. 



Of more importance are the wolves, of which some of the 

 skins are very handsome, and command a considerable 

 price in the fur market. As in the case of the common 

 fox, we here again once more meet with the ditViculty of 

 deciding what degree of dilference constitutes a species, 

 and what ought to be reckoned as a mere variety. It is, 

 however, now generally conceded that the North American 

 wolf is not specifically distinct from its European and 

 Asiatic cousin {Ccmk lupus), and that the dark-coloured 

 woolly wolf (' '. hini(ii'r) of the highlands of Tibet is like- 

 wise only a local race of the same. Probably also the 

 so-called blue wolf (>'. lto</ojilti/la.r) of Japan comes under 

 the same category ; but there is some difference of opinion 

 with regard to the Indian wolf (C\ palliprs). Including 

 all these, save the last, under the head of the common 

 species, we may have grey, brown, black, white, yellow, and 

 " blue '' wolves ; long-haired and short-haired wolves ; and 

 wolves with a thick woolly under-fur, as well as others in 

 which there is scarcely any under-fur at all. The greater 

 portion of the European supply of wolf pelts comes from 

 Siberia, whence several thousand annually find their way 

 to the markets of the South ; a few hundred also coming 

 from China. From America less than a thousand skins 

 come yearly to England ; the grey samples, according to 

 Mr. Poland, selling at from four to twenty-four shillings, 

 the white at from seven and sixpence to four pounds ten 

 shillings, and the blue at from two pounds ten shillings to 

 six pounds each. There appear to be no quotations for 

 black Tibetan wolf skins — doubtless on account of their 

 rarity — but Chinese pelts average about sixteen shillings. 

 Wolf skins are especially used for wrappers and carriage 

 and sleigh rugs ; while, when dyed black or brown, they 

 are made up into boas, for wliich purpose they are specially 

 suited on account of the unusual lightness of the skin. 

 The skin of the Indian wolf would probably be valueless, 

 on account of the absence of under-fur. 



Whatever question there may be as to the right of the 

 latter to specific separation from the ordinary wolf, there 

 can be none with regard to the so-called prairie wolf or 

 coyote I Conis latrans) of the United States and Canada. 

 It is a considerably smaller animal, with the fur generally 

 grey or grizzled, and the taO-tip usually black. Although 

 the long and thick fur is somewhat harsh, skins of the 

 coyote form an article of some importance in the trade, but 

 we have been unable to ascertain their price. Probably 

 from four thousand to six thousand pelts come annually 

 into the market, which are used both for rugs and boas, in 

 the latter case being generally dyed black or brown. From 

 its extreme wariness the coyote is one of the most difficult 

 of North American fur-bearing animals to trap. Of the 

 small Falkland Island wolf f C. antarcticus) — the sole South 

 American representative of the wolves — it is stated that 

 from fifty to a hundred skins are imported annually into 

 this country. The fur is dark brindled, and is said to be 

 sometimes used to imitate that of the grey fox. 



Before leaving the Canidce mention must be made of 

 certain large Chinese and Siberian dogs, of which the 

 skins appear to form a very important item in the fur trade. 

 The Chinese dog is described as being about the size of a 

 retriever, with a long but not bushy tail ; while the Siberian 

 dog IS larger, and its black coat of a still finer texture. Of 

 the Chinese dog, Mr. Poland states that from fifty thousand 



to one hundred thousand skins yearly reach the London 

 market ; but in addition to this the value of the yearly 

 collection in Manchuria amounts to between £40,000 and 

 i'GO.OOO in value. Of those exported from China the bulk 

 are made into robes of eight skins (sometimes four), and 

 sent from Shanghai to London and New York. They vary 

 in colour ; black, white, and fawn being the predominant 

 tints, while a few are brindled. 



The amount of space taken up by the foregoing account 

 of the foxes and wolves leaves but little room for the 

 bears. Among these latter by far the most valuable pelts 

 are those of the white Polar bear (I'r.tus inaritiuiun), of 

 which from thirty to a hundred are annually imported 

 from (ireenland to Copenhagen by a Danish company. 

 The best of these reali/.e from ten pounds to thirty pounds 

 apiece ; but of those imported by the Hudson I'ay Com- 

 pany the price is much lower, owing to their bad condition. 

 Less than a hundred is the usual annual import. The fur, 

 which is occasionally dyed black, is made up into rugs and 

 wraps. Naturalists are now pretty well agreed that the 

 grizzly and black bears of North America, as well as the 

 Isabelline bear of the Himalaya, are nothing more than 

 local races of the European brown bear {I'rsus mrtux). 

 Including such varieties, bear skins range in colour from 

 pale cinnamon to black. We have been unable to come 

 across any account of the annual number or value of 

 European skins, but of grizzly pelts about three thousand 

 five hundred were sold in 1891 at prices ranging to as 

 much as seven pounds ten shillings for fine specimens. 

 Many bears are also killed in Kamschatka, some of 

 their skins being of enormous dimensions, as also are 

 those obtained from Alaska. More valuable is the 

 American black bear, of which fine skins realize as much 

 as twelve pounds ; upwards of seventeen thousand being 

 sold in 1891. Still more precious are the pelts of the 

 cinnamon bear of the same country, which now fetch 

 about thirteen pounds, although they formerly sold for as 

 much as thu-ty pounds. About three thousand skins came 

 into the market in 1891. Bear skin is used for trimmings, 

 wrappers, rugs, and boas ; that of the black bear (dyed) 

 being employed for the headpieces of the Foot Guards. 

 The fur of the cubs of the same variety is valued for coat- 

 collars. The Himalayan black bear ( U. lorquatu.s) and the 

 Indian sloth bear {Melursux ursimts) have such short or 

 coarse hair that their pelts are practically valueless. 



Science Notes. 



Kemaekable results have been obtained in France by 

 M. le Bon, who has been continuing: his researches for 

 some years. He finds that the light of an ordinary 

 petroleum lamp will print a photographic positive on a dry 

 plate through a sheet of iron, especially if the dry plate 

 be arranged with a sheet of lead behind it, the lead being 

 folded over round the ed.^es of the iron. Other metals, 

 and also cardboard, act in the same way, and it seems only 

 to be a question of time. The name of dark or ifivisiblf 

 liijht has been given to the agent concerned in these 

 phenomena. It does not pass through black paper, and 

 differs in this respect from the X rays of Eontgen. 



In a further description of his work, Le Bon mentions 

 experiments in which photographic effects were obtained 

 from ordinary sources of light, the plate being screened by 

 optically opaque bodies. It is suggested that " dark light " 

 is a form of energy intermediate between light and 

 electricity. It is possible that it does not act directly, but 

 by means of phosphorescence. 



