‘CULTURE OF FUR-BEARERS = 247 
New, in Labrador, or Florida, or Mexico, on 
the Yukon as on the Hudson, is substantially 
the same,—a keen, agile, relentless, indomitable 
hunter, within. his powers a being of the high- 
est type of. effectiveness. 
“The weasel ’s head is small and trim, 
An’ he is little an’ long an’ slim, 
An’ quick of motion an’ nimble of limb. 
An’ ef you’ll be advised by me, 
Keep wide awake when you’re catchin’ him.”’ 
The weasel turns white in winter in all cold, 
snowy latitudes—that is, when the brown sum- 
mer-coat is shed in the fall it is replaced by a 
white one, which in turn is lost in the spring 
and replaced by the soft brown again: The 
tip of the tail, however, always remains black. 
In this white winter dress with the black- 
tipped.tail every weasel is an ‘‘ermine’’; and 
it is only in this coat that his fur becomes valu- 
able in the market. It comes to market from 
Alaska; northern Canada and sub-arctic Rus- 
sia, and is used mainly for trimmings of 
garments. In old times it was reserved exclu- 
sively for the wearing of royalty, and of cer- 
tain officers of high rank. It was especially 
