ii6 



NA TURE 



[December i, 1904 



Another handsome fur now in considerable demand is 

 that of the glutton or wolverine {Gulo luscus), of which 

 47,139 skins were sold last year by one firm, the catalogue 

 price ranging this' autumn from i6s. to 34s. for good 

 samples. The sales of Russian sable {Mustela zibellina) by 

 the same firm last year reached the enormous total of 

 29,547, which compares with a total of 9247 for the whole 

 of London in 1891, an increase which seems to imply either 

 the tapping of a fresh source of supply or an undue drain 

 on the normal stock. The catalogue prices range from los. 

 to 15/. per skin, but specially fine skins will fetch from 50!. 

 to 7oi. each. As its trade name implies, all the best sable 

 comes through Russia. " Kolinsky " or Siberian sable 

 (M. sibirica) is the trade name of an allied species of 

 which enormous numbers of skins come into the market, 

 Messrs. Lampson quoting 472,796 for last year; the price 

 is, however, low, usually less than two shillings, and now 

 declining. 



Ermine (M. er)nii>ca), of which the returns for 1903 are 

 not given in the list before us, has recently risen 30 per 

 cent, in value; 1379 skins were sold in January, 1903, and 

 461 this October. From 205. to i8os. per " timber " of 

 40 skins was the price some years ago. Ermine is imported 

 both from Russia and .\merica. When made up with 

 specks of black fur instead of with the black-tipped tails, 

 it is called minever. Japanese sable, of which only 179 

 skins were sold by Messrs. Lampson in 1903, is represented 

 by 12 1 1 this autumn, a circumstance which may indicate 

 that our allies are endeavouring to make as much as possible 

 out of their exports. 



A similar increase is noticeable in the case of Japanese 

 mink (a species it is a little diflicult to identify zoologically, 

 but w-hich would appear to be allied to M. sibirica), of which 

 13,728 skins were disposed of at the sales in 1903, while 7228 

 were offered this autumn, against 3543 at the correspond- 

 ing sale of last year. Of .American mink (.1/. vison) the 

 imports are always heavy, and for 1903 Messrs. Lampson 

 record 253,001 skins, this being about 100.000 less than the 

 total number sold in London in 1901. Prices range from 

 IS. to 13s., but are on the decline. The various kinds of real 

 marten, such as M. martes and M. americaiia, with 55,106, 

 and the inferior sorts known in the trade as " baum " and 

 " stone " {M. foina), with 10,940 and S323 in the past 

 year, bulk less large, although prices range higher, fine 

 pelts of the pine or American marten realising from 30s. to 

 40S. 



Leaving certain others of the marten group, we pass on 

 to otters {Lutra vulgaris. L. canadensis, &c.), of which 

 14,757 pelts were disposed of in sales last year, the cata- 

 logue prices in January ranging to as much as from 50s. 

 to 60s. With modern methods of curing, the handsome 

 black and white fur of the various species of skunk 

 (Mephitis and Conepatus) has come into extensive and 

 fashionable use, no less than 948,447 skins having been 

 sold last year, the price ranging from about is. to 7s. each. 

 Of badger skins {Meles taxus) the number sold by the same 

 firm was 13,543; formerly the price w'as from is. to 2s. 

 per skin, but the range in the list varies now from ^d. to 13s. 

 Of the larger land Carnivora, the skins of which are 

 used for fur rather than for floor rugs, we may mention 

 the sale last year by Messrs. Lampson of 47,139 wolf skins 

 and 12,834 bear skins. Of the former the catalogue price 

 ranges from is. or less to 30s., while for the latter, which 

 include the brown, black, grizzly, and white species, prices 

 up to 4!. are quoted. Reference has already been made 

 to the silver, white, and blue foxes ; in addition to these 

 are quoted 62,052 skins of red fox (C. vulpes, &c.), 2957 of 

 the cross-fo.x (C. v. pemisylvanicus), 64,431 of the American 

 grey fo.x (C. cinereo-argentatus), and 2186 of the kit-fo.x 

 (C. velox). Raccoon skins number 268,190 in the list under 

 consideration, while 9650 civet skins are quoted in the 

 January list. 



Among rodents, beaver skins total 16,504 in the list before 

 us, while the Hudson Bay Company sold in January last 

 34,806, the latter number comparing badly with the 63,419 

 sold by the same company in January, 1891, which was 

 greatly inferior to the sales of half a century or so earlier. In 

 1891 the price varied from 5s. to 69s. per skin ; in .Messrs. 

 Lampson 's list quotations range up to 30s., but there had 

 been a fall of 122 per cent, from the previous year. The 

 next largest fur-bearing rodent is the South American 

 NO. 1 83 I, VOL. 71] 



coypu (Myopotamus coypu), known in the trade as nutria, 

 of which 80,269 skins appear in last year's sale-list. Far 

 more valuable are, however, the much smaller beautiful 

 silver-grey pelts of " real " chinchilla, of which 23,587 

 were sold last year by Messrs. Lampson, 60s. to 240s. per 

 dozen being the price quoted by -Mr. Poland in 1891, but 

 a maximum of 310s. appearing in the list before us. 1 

 take it that by " real " chinchilla is meant the typical 

 Chincliilla lanigera, although the latter name is applied by 

 -Mr. Poland's book to the " bastard chinchilla " of the 

 trade, w-hich one would have thought meant one of the 

 species of Lagidium. Be this as it may, " bastard chin- 

 chilla " is represented by no less than 132,996 pelts in 

 -Messrs. Lampson 's 1903 sales, the maximum price being 

 145s. per dozen. 



Of the smaller and less valuable rodent furs briefer notice 

 must suffice, the chief interest connected with these being 

 the enormous numbers in which they are imported. Thus- 

 musquash {Fiber zibethicns) is represented by no less than 

 2.979,460 pelts of the normal, and by 117,412 of the black 

 phase, while 1,678,667 skins of the former were disposed 

 of at the January sale this year. Squirrel (of various kinds), 

 on the other hand, totalled only 142,501. Rabbit and hare 

 skins are not of sufficient value to find a place in these sale- 

 lists. Among marsupials, skins of the so-called Australian 

 opossums, that is to say, various species of phalangers, 

 press hard on musquash skins in point of numbers, 2,455,765 

 being the quotation in last year's list. True, or .American, 

 opossum (Didelphys), on the other hand, totals only 

 168,396. Of kangaroo skins the number in the same list 

 is 21,963, while wallaby skins (that is to say, those of the 

 smaller kinds of kangaroos) reach 520,087, and w-ombat 

 skins 255,332. 



-An item of considerable interest in the sale-list of January, 

 1904, is 343,996 mole skins, ranging in price from is. to- 

 7s. 3ii. per hundred, such prices being stated to be ex- 

 ceptionally low, and not, one would think, paying for the 

 trouble of collecting. Xo year's total for mole skins is 

 given, but since Mr. Poland mentions " several thousands " 

 as being the annual collection in 1891, it would seem that 

 the demand — perhaps for motoring coats — has vastly in- 

 creased of late years. .Another item evidently connected 

 with motoring is that of 403 musk-ox skins at the March 

 sale of last year. The trade in these skins has only lately 

 been developed, and it cannot but be looked upon with 

 suspicion by naturalists, as the musk-ox might easily be 

 exterminated. 



-Although the total numbers of skins offered at sales in 

 Januarv last compared well with those of the preceding 

 year, prices ruled lower, which may be accounted for by 

 the general commercial depression. 



In addition to Messrs. Lampson's sales, it should be 

 mentioned that there are the Hudson Bay Company's sales, 

 as well as several smaller fur sales in London. In January 

 of the present year (after the loss of a valuable cargo of 

 furs at sea) the Hudson Bav Companv sold 34,806 beaver 

 -skins, as already mentioned (against 47,777 the preceding 

 year), and 923,053 musquash pelts (against 1,482,670 in 

 1903). The skins disposed of at the smaller sales we have 

 not space to quote. We may refer, however, to the follow- 

 ing items in Messrs. Culverwell, Brooks, and t'o.'s sale 

 catalogue of this October. These are 9280 .Australian 

 opossum, 3214 " wallarine " (smaller kangaroos). (173 chin- 

 chilla, 934 fox, 2772 wolf, and 2313 .African monkey skins. 



The latter probably belong in great part to the West 

 African guereza (Colobtis vellerosiis), the species already 

 referred to as, according to consular reports, being in danger 

 of extermination on account of excessive pursuit. 



-As regards the prospects of the trade in fur-seal pelts 

 for the current season, Messrs. Lampson, after referring to 

 the loss by shipwreck of the Kamchatka Commercial Co. 's 

 vessel already mentioned, and adding that in consequence 

 they may have no Copper Island fur-seals to offer, write as 

 follows : — 



" The Alaska seal-catch this year amounts to 13,134 skins, 

 as against 19,378 last year. . . . The North-west catch is 

 not yet completed, but our receipts to date are about the 

 same as at this time last year. With regard to the Lobos 

 Island seals, no news has been received so far. . . . The 

 total supply of seals this season is likely to fall consider- 

 ably short of last year's quantity." 



