34 



UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 



in the Canadian fur- trade. Those of the Russian Mink (P. 

 lutreola) are less valuable. 



Passing over Bears, Foxes, Leopards, &c., mention must be 

 made of Sea-Otters and Fur- Seals, of which the latter in par- 

 ticular are of great economic importance. 



The Sea-Otter (Latax lutris), native to the coastal waters of 

 the North Pacific, has been so persistently hunted down that its 

 numbers have rapidly diminished during the last twenty years, and 

 it is probably doomed to speedy extinction. Spearing, clubbing, 



Fig. 1221. Northern Fur-Seals (Otaria ursina] on the Pribyloff 



and netting are the chief modes of capture. The fur of the adult 

 is very dense, and of a beautiful dark colour. Owing to their 

 rarity skins are now of great value, a single one being worth at 

 least ;ioo, or, in exceptional cases, double that amount or even 

 still more. 



Certain species of Sea-Lions or Eared Seals (Otaridae) are the 

 " fur seals " of commerce, which furnish the valuable skins with 

 which most of us are familiar. Some of them are native to the 

 Southern seas, but the most notable kind is the Northern Fur- 

 Seal (Otaria ursina, figs. 1221 and 1222), or Sea-Bear of the Pacific. 

 The Pribyloff Islands of the Behring Sea have long been famous 

 as one of the most important centres of the industry to which this 



