364 Fur-bearing Foxes. 



other descriptions of apparel usually worn by Continentalists 

 during the winter months. 



There yet remain two foxes that demand a passing notice, 

 as being of some considerable importance to the furrier : 

 the arctic fox (Ganis lagopus), known commercially as the 

 white fox, and the " blue - " arctic fox. 



It is very difficult to discover the actual number of white 

 fox skins annually imported into this country from the 

 arctic regions, but if we assume nine thousand as being some- 

 where about the average number, we shall not be very wide of 

 the mark. I find, on referring to the catalogue of the collection 

 of animal products in the South Kensington Museum, that the 

 number of undressed fox skins imported in the year 1856 was 

 as follows : — 



From Hanse Towns 1,588 



United States 44,126 



British North America .... 35,598 

 Other parts 175 



81,487 

 From out of this heavy supply, 79,063 fox skins are re-exported 

 to various cold countries. The chief demand for furs of this 

 description is among the nations of Tartar and Slavonian ex- 

 traction. I may instance the Russians, Poles, Chinese, Turks, 

 and Persians. Then, again, we have another market amongst 

 the people of Gothic origin, who occupy portions of the middle 

 and western parts of Europe. 



White fox skins are deservedly celebrated for their beauty, 

 and the extreme fineness of their fur ; neither have they the 

 pungent, disagreeable odour that characterizes the skins of the 

 other species of foxes. The price for white fox ranged, at the 

 March sales of last year (1866). from 4s. the lowest price, up 

 to 19s. 6d. the highest, which gives an average of lis. 6d. per 

 skin. As there were 7591 skins sold, the sum returned for 

 white fox-skins would equal £4364 16s. 6d. 



The arctic fox is pi-incipally found in the countries bor- 

 dering the Frozen Ocean in both continents. It hardly needs 

 any detailed description, because there are a great many 

 specimens of this curious little animal in the Zoological Gardens 

 in the Regent's Park, where five minutes' observation will 

 do more to familiarize any person with its peculiarities than 

 whole pages of description. As the cold and snows of winter 

 approach, the coat of the arctic fox becomes exceedingly thick 

 and ragged, and changes from blackish-brown, which is the 

 summer colouration, to pure white. The winter jacket is there- 

 fore a most admirable protection; in the first place its thick- 

 ness defies the extreme cold which prevails in high northern 



