FUR-BEARING MAMMALS 



303 



shoe partly sewn on, partly laced over the foot." The Esquimaux 

 dress is spoken of elsewhere (see p. 227). 



That we ourselves have not altogether abandoned the dress- 

 materials of our remote prehistoric ancestors is sufficiently attested 

 by the fact that in 1902 over 97,000,000 skins and furs, worth 

 ,5,578,452, were imported into this country, though of course 

 only a part of these were destined for personal wear. 



The list of fur-bearing Mammals is a very long one, but the 

 most important orders in this connection are the Flesh- Eaters 

 (Carnivora) and the Gnawers (Rodentia), and the purpose of the 

 present section will be sufficiently attained by dealing with a few 

 species belonging to these. It may be noted that we look to the 

 colder parts of the world, especially Canada and Russia, for our 

 chief supply, for the growth of a dense under-coat of fur is an 

 adaptation to rigorous climatal conditions. And it is the pelts 

 obtained in winter that are valuable. In 1902 Canada exported 

 furs to the value of ,98,000. 



FUR- YIELDING FLESH -ATERS (CARNIVORA). Some of the 

 most important furs of commerce are derived from the members 

 of the Weasel and Marten Family (Mustelidae). Pre-eminent 

 among these is the Russian Sable (Must e la zibellina), which 

 formerly abounded throughout the forest regions of Siberia, but is 

 now mostly to be found in the eastern part of that country, includ- 

 ing Kamschatka, where the seaport of Petropavlosk is an impor- 

 tant dep6t for the pelts. A single skin may be worth as much as 

 ,30 in this country. The chief method of hunting is by means of 

 dogs, which force the sables to take refuge in trees, from which 

 they are shaken or knocked down into suitably disposed nets. 

 The closely allied American Sable (M. Americana], largely 

 trapped in Canada, is also of considerable importance. 



The white skins (with black tails) known as " ermine ", which 

 custom leads us to associate with the "great ones of the earth", 

 are no other than the winter coats of the Stoat (Putorius erminea), 

 one of our native " vermin". It is widely distributed through the 

 arctic and temperate regions of both Old and New Worlds, but 

 only assumes full winter livery in the colder parts of its area of 

 distribution. 



The Minks or Visons are comparatively large aquatic animals 

 of the weasel kind, with brown fur. The pelts of the American 

 Mink (Putorius vison) are most esteemed, and are of importance 



