December 



LXXXIV 



A GOOD deal has appeared in the public journals 



lately (1895) about the approaching ex- 

 Why not 

 tinction of noble or interesting animals a Fur 



before the advance of civilisation. Cor- 

 respondents of the Times 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 23d, 

 entitled " The Rarer Furs," which contains a remark- 

 able 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 elsewhere. 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 



279 



