December 



LXXXIV 



A GOOD deal has appeared in the public journals lately 

 (1895) about the approaching extinction of noble or 

 interesting animals before the advance of 

 civilisation. Correspondents of the Times a Fur 

 have concerned themselves about the rapid 

 diminution of the African elephant, but the most 

 suggestive paper I have seen on this subject is one in 

 the Spectator for November 23rd, entitled ' The Rarer 

 Furs,' which contains a remarkable and attractive 

 proposal. The increasing scarcity and costliness of 

 sables, ermines, martens, chinchillas, and other small 

 animals with superior fur, suggests the inquiry why 

 these should not be bred on farms in Siberia and else- 

 where. The sable is not less prolific than the common 

 ferret ; its fur is literally matchless, and the enormous 

 price it fetches makes the idea of a sable farm not less 

 a practical one than what has been carried out already 

 with complete success namely, the profitable breeding 

 of ostriches for their plumes. Sables are now (1895) 

 30 per cent, above the exorbitant price of last year, a 

 single skin of the best Russian quality commanding as 

 much as 45. As for silver foxes, the value of a litter 



