ANIMAL PRODUCTS USED FOR DECORATIVE PURPOSES 395 



Many of the trophies of sport are decidedly ornamental, such 

 as the skins of beasts of prey, the antlers of deer, the heads of 

 fox or wolf, the prepared feet of the elephant, &c. &c. Among 

 primitive races such things as necklaces of tigers' or lions' claws 

 are greatly esteemed. 



Decorative Products of Birds (Aves).— The beautiful 

 plumage of many birds seems always to have appealed to the 

 human colour - sense or 

 appreciation of form, and 

 much slaughter of certain 

 members of the feathered 

 race has resulted on the 

 part of savage races, often 

 to minister to the vanity 

 of other races sometimes 

 supposed to be fully civil- 

 ized. The trade in os- 

 trich-feathers (see p. 251) 

 is a legitimate branch of 

 the plume -industry, and 

 nothing can be said 

 against the use of the 

 cast feathers of beautiful 

 forms like the different 

 species of Peacock. But, 

 on the other hand, the 

 wholesale massacre that 

 takes place every year of 

 many exquisitely lovely 

 species, purely to satisfy 

 the love of finery which 

 has been inherited by civilized nations from barbarian ancestors, 

 deserves the most unsparing censure. Birds of Paradise, Sun- 

 Birds, Humming-Birds, and Egrets are prominent in the long 

 list of victims. 



Decorative Products of Reptiles (Reptilia). — The skins 

 of Crocodiles and various lizards are used for ornamental purposes, 

 but the most important reptilian product is tortoise-shell, which 

 consists of the horny epidermic shields of the widely-distributed 

 Hawksbill Turtle (Chelone imbricata, fig. 1278). When softened 



Fig. 1277, — Tusks of African Elephant 



