From Fox's Earth 



in question. It is always safe to doubt when this 

 craze is on, and to hint that the very doubt shows 

 that it is time for such dear friends of the wild 

 animals to cease gathering trophies. It has come 

 to this stage as between the naturalist and the 

 wild cat. In any case the supply cannot be very 

 large. It should be plain to the meanest under- 

 standing that where so many are being turned 

 into skins for the benefit of the lovers of life, 

 who are so nervous lest they should be left with- 

 out if not extinct now, they soon will be. 



One would like to believe in these specimens, 

 not for the benefit of the collectors, but for the 

 sake of the faint hope that they represent the 

 untrapped which may yet be saved. Happily, 

 their minds are made up, and one has less hesita- 

 tion in hinting at a possible delusion. 



For eager antiquarians is always a market in 

 relics. So in natural history. The supply will 

 be as perennial as the ignorance of the trapper, 

 the credulity of the collector, the infallibility of 

 the expert. Were it true, the traffic should be 

 sharply stopped. As it is we can only wish the 

 purchasers joy of their bargain. It will not be 

 the first time a stuffed goose has passed for a 

 swan. 



There are no domestic martens to wander out 

 to the woods of a night, there to meet and mate 

 and raise a half-wild progeny under the shelter 

 of the cottage roof. No crosses, therefore, to 



38 



