SELBORNIANA 
23 
Rabbit Traps. — The Rev. E. T. Daubeny writes : — “ When 
walking in a village near Bury St. Edmunds I saw two 
warreners staggering home under a load of steel traps they 
used in catching rabbits on a large neighbouring estate. What 
untold suffering have each of these instruments of torture 
caused ! ! And this in enlightened England ! ! There are many 
effective and comparatively painless ways in which rabbits can 
be taken without their being subjected to the cruel teeth of a 
trap for hours and hours. It seems wonderful that owners of 
property are not more thoughtful for the creatures on their 
estates than to allow such barbarous implements to be used.” 
Breitschwantz. — This fur resembles extremely fine and 
beautiful caracul, and it is to be known by its remarkable light- 
ness, the skin being as thin as fine cloth. It is impossible here 
to describe, the peculiar method of its manufacture ; perhaps it 
will be sufficient to say that each skin costs the death, not only 
of a lamb, but very probably of a sheep, and in any case entails 
revolting cruelty to the latter. An English fashion paper, after 
feebly condemning the method of obtaining the fur, goes on with 
freshly-awakened ardour to say — “ We shall not only see 
entire costumes of this delightful (!) fabric ; it also lends itself 
admirably for those delightful ‘ fanfreluches ’ garnitures which 
run round the undulations of jackets and mantles, reaching 
more than half way down the skirt. In pure white, this will 
make a furore.'’ \\e hope it will make a furore — of another 
kind than that anticipated by the manufacturers. Not only the 
women for whose use this cruelly-obtained fur is designed, but 
also their husbands, brothers, and friends should join in a 
crusade against it. It is an unfortunate truth that the efforts 
of humanely- minded women cannot stem the current of a cruel 
fashion, patronised by heedless sisters. If all masters of house- 
holds, however, refused to pay bills for any garment that in- 
cluded the objectionable fur, and all men who met lady acquain- 
tances wearing “entire costumes” of “breitschwantz” would 
make a point of remonstrating with them, the fashion might be 
scotched at its commencement. Even the osprey never came 
up to this last horror. — Dublin Independent. 
Cage Birds. — The National British Bird and Mule Club 
have excluded from their list of birds eligible to compete for 
the club’s cups and medals the swallow, house martin, sand 
martin, night-jar, and cuckoo. This is a step in the right 
direction, and will very much discourage the keeping of such 
birds. 
One for the V.andals.— S. L. P. writes: “ If any paper 
knows which way the wind of public opinion is blowing 
certainly it is Punch, and the ‘Almanack for i8gg’ strikes a 
blow for the feathered defenceless ones, an honest, straight- 
