168 



CARNIVORA. 



by army contractors for the bear-caps of the Grenadier 

 regiments of the British Army. These, although of a 

 good natm-al black, are dyed to make them miiform. 

 Two caps are usually made out of one skin. The 

 Belgian and old French Imperial Guards had skins of a 

 less fine quality, and the Bavarian regiments used this 

 fur to make the tufts or " Piaupen " on their busbies. 

 Many of the longer-furred skins are made into trim- 

 mings, capes, muffs, and boas. 



The fur of the cubs is extremely soft, and is highly 

 prized by Eussians for the manufacture of coat-collars. 

 Many of the lo\Yer grades are made into sleigh-robes, 

 and the fourth quality skins with no under fur are made 

 into brushes in Germany. When tanned by the North 

 American Indians, the skin makes extremely durable 

 mocassins and hunting shirts. 



The Black Bear is fairly numerous, but will probably 

 decrease in number with the advance of the settlers. 

 Eight thousand nine hundred and sixty skins were sold 

 by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1891, and 8,049 by 

 the Alaska Commercial Company and other traders. 



Br. Piichardson, in the " Fauna Boreali- Americana " 

 (page 17), relates that : — " The females bring forth about 

 the beginning of January, and it is probable that the 

 period of their gestation is about fifteen or sixteen weeks, 

 but I believe it has not been precisely ascertained. The 

 number of cubs varies from one to five, probably with 

 the age of the mother, and they begin to bear long 

 before they attain their full size." 



Dr. Merriam says the young are not more than G 

 inches long at birth, are not covered with hair, and do 

 not open their eyes for forty days. 



An old work named " America," describing New 

 Amsterdam or New York, thus reads, page 172 :— " There 



