ing of these animals has been carried on amidst the greatest perils. The Siberian in his search for sables has brought to light new lands in Northeastern Asia, and the enterprising seaman has discovered new islands while seeking for seals in the South Pacific. The manufacture of the products of their toil employs many thousands of men and capital. From the long shaggy robe of the bison, with which the North American Indian defends himself from the cold, to the splendid ermine which adorns royalty, furs are employed in many ways for elegance and comfort. Thousands are annually consumed for hats, great quantities to ornament winter dresses, and the various other purposes to which they are applied, has rendered the fur trade one of vast extent and importance.-For the substance of the following remarks, we are indebted to an article in the American Journal of Science and Arts, "On the Fur trade, and Fur-bearing Animals;" Godman's Natural History, and McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary, have also furnished some facts on these topics.

The richest and most valuable furs are porcured from the weasel family. The ermine (Mustela erminea), called by way of preeminence, the precious ermine,' is found of the best quality only in the cold regions of Europe and Asia; yet it is by no means limited to arctic regions, for it occurs throughout a vast extent of country, from the parallel of 40° N. to the highest northern latitudes. In the southern part of this region, where the cold is not sufficiently severe to cause its coat to change, the animal is known by the name of weasel ; farther north, it is called stoat in summer, and ermine in its winter pelage of pure white. The fur in summer is soft, silky, and short, except on the tail and feet, where it is long; and of a light ferruginous or chestnut brown color. Its winter dress is white, except the tip of the tail, which during the whole year is of a shining black. With these black tips tacked on the skins, they are beautifully spotted, producing an effect often imitated, but never equaled, by any other furs. The pelage is so white, that when the snow covers the ground, no part of the animal, except the end of the tail, can be seen. That of the oldest animals is thought to be the best. The ermine, or as it is called by Godman, the ermine weasel, is from fourteen to sixteen inches long, including the tail. It lives in hollow trees, river banks, and other retreats near its prey, which consists of mice, birds, and other small animals. When pursued, it emits a musky odor, and is caught in traps, or sometimes shot with blunt arrows.

The sable (Mustela zibellina) can scarcely be called inferior to the ermine. It is a native of Siberia and the countries which border on the Arctic ocean; it is found also in the Aleutian isles, and is probably an inhabitant of Northern America, but the hunters have not been so far north as to find it in abundance. Pallas says that the skins are found among the furs in which the Americans traffic with the inhabitants of Eastern Siberia. It resides in the most desolate situations, and is hunted in the winter, amidst barren tracts, and impenetrable forests covered with snow. The fur is then of an obscure fulvous or tawny hue, and peculiarly rich and flowing. The

sable is about twenty inches in length, including the tail; and in its general habits resembles the ermine, sleeping during the day, and seeking its prey by night. The Russians carry on nearly all the trade in sable skins, and large profits are annually realized. "The rich, dark shades of the sable, and the snowy whiteness of the ermine, the great depth, and the peculiar, flowing softness of their furs, have combined to give them a preference in all countries and ages of the world. At the present time, they maintain the same relative estimate in regard to other furs, as when they marked the rank of the proud knight, and were emblazoned in heraldry."

The skins of the pine marten (Mustela martes) at the present time are brought in great quantites to the dépôts of furs in North America. According to Godman, more than 45,000 were sent from America to Europe in the year 1743, besides those which were consumed by the inhabitants. The pine marten is found in North America, and the northern parts of Asia and Europe. The animal is about eighteen inches in length, and lives mostly in the tops of trees, particularly pines, from which circumstance it derives its name. The fur is of a brilliant fulvous brown color, except on the throat, where it is of a yellowish hue, from whence the animal has been called the ' yellow breasted marten.' The peculiar color of the pelage is owing to the intermixture of two sorts of hair. In summer, the color becomes paler, and loses it brilliancy and silky fineness. The skins are extensively used in the manufacture of hats, and for ornamenting and increasing the warmth of winter dresses. The skin of Pennant's marten (Mustela Pennanti), commonly called the fisher, resembles that of the pine marten, except in the size; being from twenty-four to thirty inches in length, without the tail, which is about sixteen inches. It inhabits the northern parts of America, and its modes of living are very similar to the pine marten. The fur is of a dusky hue, dark at the base, yellowish above, then tipped with black, and with the hair increasing in length towards the tail, which is bushy and black. The skins are applied to the same purposes as those of the pine marten.

The mink (Mustela lutreola) is found on the American continent from Carolina to Hudson's Bay; and in its residence, food, and habits much resembles the musk-rat. From its aquatic mode of life and webbed feet, it has been called the lesser otter. The animal is about two feet long, including the tail. The hair is of two colors, which combined give the fur a brownish hue, more or less dark as either shade preponderates. The fur is principally used by the hatters.

The beaver (Castor fiber) is too well known to need description here, and the curious instinct it displays in building its winter habitation has long been celebrated. It is about two feet in length, having a thick and heavy body. The pelage is composed of two sorts of fur, one of which is long, stiff, elastic, and of a reddish brown color at the tips the other, on which the value of the skin chiefly depends, is short, very fine and soft and of a light lead color. The beaver is at present found only in the wilds of Northwestern America; and in any considerable numbers only in the country west of the

Rocky Mountains, and north of the Columbia river; and even in those desolate regions, it is rapidly diminishing, owing to the exterminating policy of the hunters. It was formerly found in Siberia, Lapland, and in the United States east of the Mississippi, but is now nearly or quite extinct.

Nutria skins are brought from South America, chiefly from the countries of Buenos Ayres, Chili and Bolivia. They are so called from their resemblance to the otter, the Spanish name for which is nutria. The animal (Myopotamus Bonariensis) is called coypou or quoiya by the inhabitants, and resembles the beaver in many respects, but is not so large as that animal. The tail, unlike that of the beaver, is long and round, and thinly covered with hairs, bnt not enough to hide the scaly texture of the skin. The back is of a brownish red, which becomes redder on the flanks; the belly is of a dirty red. The edges of the lips, and extremity of the muzzle are white. Like the beaver, the coypou is furnished with two kinds of fur; the one, a long ruddy hair which gives the tone of color; and the other, a brownish, ash colored fur near the skin, which is the cause of the animal's commercial importance. Both nutria and beaver skins are almost wholly employed in hat making. The supply brought from South America fluctuates very much. In the year 1823, there were carried to England 1,570,103 skins, but in 1826, there were only 60,971; in 1831 and 1832, the number imported into that country. was on an average each year, 358,280 skins.

The several kinds of foxes all furnish furs of more or less beauty and value. Some of them, as the black or silver fox and the fiery fox, are reckoned nearly as valuable as the sable and ermine. The latter is much esteemed for its splendid red, and the fineness of the fur. It is found in the central and northern parts of Asia, and is the standard of value on the northeastern coast of that continent. The black or silver fox (Canis argentatus) affords one of the richest and most valuable of furs. There is a small quantity of white hairs mingled with the black in different proportions in various parts of the body, by their contrast adding much to the intensity and brilliancy of the black. The coat of this animal varies very much at different seasons of the year; some have no white, except at the extremity of the tail; in others the whole mass of black hair is tipped with white, forming a most beautiful silver gray. There is a grayish silken hair that constitutes the immediate covering of the skin. It occurs throughout the northern parts of America and Asia, but in its native country, the black fox is a rare animal. The skins of the gray, the cross, and the dun colored fox, are used for various purposes, but they are all inferior to the two first varieties. The arctic fox (Cains lagopus) is a native of all the northern parts of Asia and America, and great numbers of their skins are annually exported by the Hudson's Bay Company. When the young are brought forth, they are nearly black, but in two or three months, as autumn advances, the belly and sides become of a light ash, and the back and head of a lead color; and as winter commences, they change to a perfect white. The neck and feet are

covered with long hair. black fox in fineness and winter is of little value.

The fur is thick, but inferior to the red or lustre, and if not taken in the early part of

There are several other animals which produce furs of different degrees of value, but most of them are inferior to those we have already enumerated. The wolverene, or glutton, is about thirty inches long; the fur is variously marked, but the general color is a fine chestnut or brownish black, and is highly esteemed by the native of the northern parts of Asia for ornamenting their robes. It is a native of the countries bordering on the Arctic ocean. The raccoon is found in most parts of the temperate regions of North America, and the fur is employed to a considerable extent in the manufacture of hats, but it is not held in much esteem being rather coarse. The full grown animal is about two feet long. The pelage is of a blackish gray color, pale on the under part of the body; the hair on the tail is thick and long, and marked by five or six black rings on a yellowish white ground. The badger is sometimes hunted for its skin by the trappers in Western America, but its value seldom repays the trouble of capture. It is about twenty-nine inches in length, including the tail. The hair is of a grayish color, very long on the lower part of the body, and intermixed with it is a coarse, pale reddish-yellow fur. The muskrat or musquash (Fiber Zibethicus) is a native of North America, found from Virginia to Hudson's Bay; and is well known for its depredations in the banks of rivers where it burrows. The body is about twelve, and the tail nine, inches in length. The fur is soft and fine, of a reddish brown color on the back, and paler on the breast and belly. From its nocturnal and aquatic habits, the musk-rat bids fair to survive most of the other animals which afford fine furs. Immense numbers of the peltries are carried to Europe from America. The various kinds of squirrels afford furs of some value on account of the markings. The hare, rabbit, marmot, fitch or gennet, and several species of mice, also produce skins which are used for many purposes. The silver tipped rabbit is peculiar to England. The skins of the chinchilla mouse are brought from South America. The lamb skins produced in the countries between the Baltic and Caspian seas and in Central Asia, are an important article of commerce. The hair is short, and curled and knotted in such a variety of ways, that the skins appear as if they were from different animals. Black and gray are the common colors. They form a part of the winter dresses of the lower classes of those countries from whence they are brought, and are largely employed by other natious for ornamenting winter garments.

The coats of some animals of a greater size than those mentioned above are employed for many purposes of comfort and elegance. The skins of the various kinds of wolves and bears are covered with a coarse, thick hair, well fitted for linings of carriages and robes, cavalry-caps, housing, and other military equipments. The skin of the polar bear, dressed with the hair upon it, forms very substantial mats for carriages and floors. The Greenlanders sometimes flay the ani

mal without ripping the skin, and inverting it, thus form a warm sack which serves the purposes of a bed. The bison, found in such immense numbers on the prairies west of the Mississippi river, furnishes a large robe, covered with a thick, long, coarse hair, which is well fitted for the linings of sleighs. The argali, elk, various species ot deer, the lynx, wild cat, and some other animals inhabiting the northern parts of Asia and America, are included among those whose skins are brought to the several dépôts of furs.

The ocean produces two animals whose fur is held in high esteem on account of their lustre and fineness The sea otter (Lutra marina) is about the size of a large mastiff, nearly five feet long, including the tail, and weighs from seventy to eighty pounds. The fur is fine, soft, very close when in season, and of a jet black color and silken lustre ; that of the young is of a beautiful brown. It is captured in nets placed near the shore, or tired down and killed with clubs. This animal has hitherto been found only between the parallels of lat 49° and 60° N., and long. 150° E. and 126° W.; on the northwestern coasts of North America, the opposite shores of Kamtschatka, and the islands lying between. Allied to the sea otter, and much resembling it in habits, is the American otter (Lutra Brasiliensis); it is a native of both North and South America, and is nearly the size of the sea otter. The fur is dense and fine, and of a glossy brown; and, like its congener, is much valued by the hatters. It burrows near the banks of streams, and is caught in traps, or killed by clubs.

The fur seal affords a fine, dense pelage which is esteemed for making caps. Most of the sea-coasts throughout the world are frequented by the seal, but it is in high latitudes that they are most abundant. Many of the islands in the Pacific Ocean south of the parallel of 40° produce the fur seal; but on those where they were formerly common, but very few are found at present, owing to the exterminating policy of the hunters They are still taken, however, in such large quantities that they form a very important article of commerce. It is said that the Russians restrict the killing of the fur seal on the islands in the North Pacific Ocean lying to the eastward of Kamtschatka to one season of the year, and thus insure an annual return of the animals; the same is also practiced on the Lobos Islands by the government of Monte Video. But if the present policy is pursued, the fur seal will soon become a rare animal,

Our remarks on the progress of the fur trade shall be brief. The skins of animals were first used for clothing by our great progenitors, while they were yet in the garden of Eden. As the human race grew numerous, the demand increased. But as men advanced in civilization, ingenuity and taste devised various fabrics of silk, wool, linen, &c. The inhabitants of the northern parts of Europe and Asia were, however, habitually clothed in the skins of animals for many centuries. But among those nations who lived on the borders of the Mediterranean, the desire for furs was lost, and the products of the loom gradually superseded the shaggy skin of the bear and the tawny coat of the lion. The people of Babylonia and Persia, however, ex