FUR BEARING MAMMALS. 51 



voracious. The fur is long, thick and soft, and of a pretty brown 

 colour. The glutton, as it is more often called, is not found in China, 

 but occurs in Manchuria and Northern Mongolia. 



Lastly there is the otter (Lutra sp. incon.), which is found in 

 Kansu, South Shensi and Manchuria. The fur of this animal is very 

 valuable, and compares favourably with those from other countries. 

 The otter is too well known to need description. 



The cat tribe is not well represented in North China, though the 

 few species that do occur all yield good furs. The best of these is the 

 isabelline lynx {Felis isabellina), which is found on the Thibetan 

 frontier. The fur of this animal is of a fine fawn-grey or grey-brown 

 colour, and is thick and soft. A good lynx skin fetches Tls. 9.00 in 

 Lan-chow Fu, but it is worth much more in the European market. 

 The Ij'nx is a savage cat-like animal, characterized by having 

 tufts of hair at the tips of the ears, and long hair depending from 

 either cheek like side-whiskers. It has a short tail, from which fact 

 it gets its American name of bob-cat. It has enormous soft paws, 

 and rather long hind legs, which makes it stand high in the stern. 

 The lynx is also found in Northern Mocgolia and on the Siberian 

 border. 



The spotted cat (Felis chinensis) is another animal which yields 

 a good pelt. The fur of this cat is soft and silky and of a favtTi-grey 

 colour. It is covered all over with dark brown spots, giving it the 

 appearance of a miniature leopard's skin. The tail is thick and an- 

 nulated with black. 



A cat, closely related to this species is the manul (Felis manvl) 

 from Mongolia. It differs in having hardly any spots. It occurs in 

 North Chihli and North Shansi. 



The common wild cat (Felis caitiiii) is also found in China. Its 

 pelt is exactly like that of a good grey tabby, which animal it most 

 resembles. It is slightly larger, however, and has a considerably 

 shorter tail. 



The next species is sO' important that a complete paper might be 

 devoted to it. I refer to the common fox (Vulpes vidpcn), which 

 ranges from the west of Europe to the East of Asia. Probably more 

 fox skins arc sent out of Tientsin than of any other wild animal. The 

 Chinese also value them highly, for, as every one knows, they make 

 excellent fur coats. There is no pjart of North China where foxes are 

 not found. A fox with a much darker fur is found in Manchuria, 

 while a small species (Ganis corsac) with soft yellow-grey fur comes 

 from Outer jMongolia and Chinese Turkestan. StiU further north occurs 



