PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 385 



many other skins for felting- purposes. And this branch of the manufacture 

 of furs is a very interesting one. 



The introduction of silk plush hats as a substitute for beaver, has brought 

 about some curious changes in the fur market; for example, in 1827, 1828, 

 and 1829, mink skins were worth in New York from 3*Ic. to 40c. each. Now 

 these skins are worth from $S to $d. Muskrat skins were then worth 50c. 

 each, and are now worth about the same. 



The first process in dressing furs for use belongs to the hunter, who, on 

 capturing the animal, strips ofi' the skin and hangs it up to dry in the open 

 air without a fire. If it is well dried and carefully packed, it reaches its 

 destination, however distant, in good condition; but if any moisture be left, 

 or if it be packed with otiiers imperfectly dried, so that the slightest putre- 

 faction takes place, then the far is unfit for use, so far as the furrier is 

 concerned. A minute examination of the skin is therefore his first business. 

 The next step is to cleanse them from greasiness. This is accomplished by 

 the use of water, bran, alum and salt. 



A kind of oil which is found in the fur itself is not wholly removed by the 

 first treatment, so that it is necessary to afterwards wash it with a solution 

 of soda and soap. Finally the skin is well washed in clear water and dried; 

 the previous treatment having converted the skin into a kind of leather. 



The cutting up of the skins requires much judgment to avoid waste. The 

 refuse cuttings, if not cut to waste, are available for making articles of the 

 less costly description. And it has been remarked that many a lady, on 

 having her furs fresh-lined under her own superintendence, has viewed 

 with surprise approaching to dismay, the elaborate patchwork which the 

 skins present on their inner side. 



Skins to be used in felting undergo a longer process; and by means of 

 ingenious machinery the fur and hair is not only separated from the skin 

 perfectly, but the hairs are separated from the lighter fur; and even the fur 

 itself is assorted into quantities of like specific gravity. 



The. use of fur in an economical and sanitary point of view, is a subject 

 on which there would probably be a great diversit}' of opinion. 



It is remarkable that in some countries the custom respecting clothing 

 differs materially from ours. We. dress warmer when we go out than when 

 we sit in doors; the Turks, who seldom have fires in their apartments, use 

 warmer clothing than when they go out, considering the exercise of moving 

 about as a source of warmth. The Chinese are said to practice the same 

 custom. 



The Chairman stated that the leading man in the fur trade in the country 

 fur many years was the late John Jacob Astor. lie commenced the busi- 

 ness in 1784. lie had many stations for the purchase of furs on this side of 

 the Rocky Mountains; on the other side the principal station was at Astoria, 

 the history of which was given by Washington Irving, in a work bearing 

 that tith?. Soon after the commencement of the war with Great Britain, 

 in 1813, the interest of Mr. Astor, at that station, was sold to the North- 

 west Fur Company. Among those with whom Mr. Astor had business 

 relations was Peter Smith, then of Schenectady, the father of Garret Smith 

 of Peterboro. These two men invested a considerable portion of their sur- 

 [Am. In-st.] Y 



