from the softest and flattest of skins, but usually they are made into
settee covers, floor rugs and foot muffs. Value 2s. to 40s.
Lion.—Size 5 to 6 ft. long. These skins are found in Africa, Arabia and part of India, and are every year becoming scarcer. They are only used for floor rugs, and the males are more highly esteemed on account of the set-off of the mane. Value, lions’ £10 to £100; lionesses’ £5 to £25.
Lynx.—Size 45 × 20 in. The underwool is thinner than fox, but the top hair is fine, silky and flowing, 4 in. long, of a pale grey, slightly mottled with fine streaks and dark spots. The fur upon the flanks is longer and white with very pronounced markings of dark spots, and this part of the skin is generally worked separately from the rest and is very effective for gown trimmings. Where the colour is of a sandy and reddish hue the value is far less than where it is of a bluish tone. They inhabit North America as far south as California, also Norway and Sweden. Those from the Hudson Bay district and Sweden are the best and are very similar. Those taken in Central Asia are mostly used locally. For attire the skins manufactured in Europe are generally dyed black or brown, in which state it has a similar appearance to dyed fox, but having less thick underwool and finer hair flows freely. The finest skins when dyed black are used very largely in America in place of the dyed black fox so fashionable for mourning wear in Great Britain and France. The British Hussar busbies are made of the dark brown lynx, and it is the free silky easy movement of the fur with the least disturbance in the atmosphere that gives it such a pleasing effect. It is used for rugs in its natural state and also in Turkey as trimmings for garments. Value 13s. 6d. to 56s.
Lynx Cat or Bay Lynx.—Is about half the size and depth of fur of a lynx proper, and inhabits the central United States. It is a flat and reddish fur compared to the lynx and is suitable for cheap carriage aprons. A few come from Canada and are of better quality. Value 5s. to 15s.
Marmot.—Size 18 × 12 in. Is a rodent and is found in considerable numbers in the south of Prussia. The fur is a yellowish brown and rather harsh and brittle and has no underwool. Since, however, the value of all good furs has advanced, dyers and manufacturers have made very successful efforts with this fur. The Viennese have been particularly successful, and their method has been to dye the skins a good brown and then not put in the dark stripes, which exist in sable and mink, until the garment or article is finished, thus obtaining as perfectly symmetrical effects as if the articles were made of small skins instead of large ones. Marmots are also found in North America, Canada and China; the best, however, come from Russia. It should always be a cheap fur, having so few good qualities to recommend it. Value 9d. to 2s. 6d.
Marten, American.—See Sable, below.
Marten, Baum.—Size 16 × 5 in. Is sometimes called the pine marten, and is found in quantity in the wooded and mountainous districts of Russia, Norway, Germany and Switzerland. It possesses a thick underwool with strong top hair, and ranges from a pale to a dark bluish brown. The best, from Norway, are very durable and of good appearance and an excellent substitute for American sable. The tails when split into two or three, with small strips of narrow tape so as to separate the otherwise dense fur, formerly made very handsome sets of trimmings, ties and muffs, and the probabilities are, as with other fashions, such use will have its period of revival. Value 6s. to 85s.
Marten, Black.—See Skunk, below.
Marten, Japanese.—Size 16 × 5 in. Is of a woolly nature with rather coarse top hair and quite yellow in colour. It is dyed for the cheap trade for boas and muffs, but it is not an attractive fur at the best of times. It lacks a silky, bright and fresh appearance, and therefore is unlikely to be in great demand, except where economy is an object. Value 6s. 6d. to 18s. 6d.
Marten, Stone.—Size and quality similar to the baum; the colour, however, of the underwool is a stony white and the top hair is very dark, almost black. They live in rocky and stony districts. Skins of a pale bluish tone are generally used in their natural state for stoles, boas and muffs, but the less clear coloured skins are dyed in beautiful shades similar in density to the dark and valuable sables from Russia, and are the most effective skins that can be purchased at a reasonable price. The tails have also been worked, in the manner explained with regard to the baum marten, as sets of trimmings and in other forms. Stone martens are found in Russia, Bosnia, Turkey, Greece, Germany, the Alps and France. The Bosnian and the French are the best in colour. The Asiatic sorts are less woolly, but being silky are useful when dyed. There are many from Afghanistan and India which are too poor to interest the European markets. Value 7s. 6d. to 26s.
Mink.—Size 16 × 5 in. Is of the amphibious class and is found throughout North America and in Russia, China and Japan. The underwool is short, close and even, as is also the top hair, which is very strong. The best skins are very dark and are obtained from Nova Scotia. In the central states of America the colour is a good brown, but in the north-west and south-west the fur is coarse and generally pale. It is very durable for linings, and is an economical substitute for sable for coats, capes, boas and trimmings. Values have greatly increased, and the fur possessing good qualities as to colour and durability will doubtless always be in good request. The Russian species is dark but flat and poor in quality, and the Chinese and Japanese are so pale that they are invariably dyed. These, however, are of very inferior nature. Value of American 3s. 3d. to 40s., Japanese 3d. to 2s. 3d.
Mole.—Size 312 × 212 in. Moles are plentiful in the British Isles and Europe, and owing to their lovely velvety coats of exquisite blue shade and to the dearness of other furs are much in demand. Though the fur is cheap in itself, the expense of dressing and working up these little skins is considerable, and they possess the unique charm of an exceptional colour with little weight of pelt; the quality of resistance to friction is, however, so slight as to make them expensive in wear. The best are the dark blue from the Fen district of Cambridgeshire in England. Value 12d. to 2d.
Mongolian Lambs.—See Lambs, above.
Monkey, Black.—Size 18 × 10 in. Among the species of monkeys only one interests to any extent the fur trade, and that is the black monkey taken on the west coast of Africa (Colobus satanas). The hair is very long, very black and bright with no underwool, and the white pelt of the base of the hair, by reason of the great contrast of colour, is very noticeable. The skins were in 1850 very fashionable in England for stoles, muffs and trimmings, and in America also as recently as 1890. They are now mostly bought for Germany and the continent. Value 6d. to 1s. 6d.
Mouflon.—Size 30 × 15 in. Is a sheep found in Russia and Corsica and now very little in demand, and but few are imported into Great Britain. Many Mongolian goats with the long hairs pulled out are sold as mouflon. Value 4s. to 10s. 6d.
Musk-Ox.—Size 6 × 3 ft. These animals have a dense coat of fine, long brown wool, with very long dark brown hair on the head, flanks and tail, and, in the centre, a peculiar pale oval marking. There is no other fur that is so thick, and it is eminently suitable for sleighing rugs, for which purpose it is highly prized in Canada. The musk-ox inhabits the north part of Greenland and part of Canada, but in very limited numbers. Value 10s. to 130s.
Musquash or Musk-Rat, Brown and Black Russian.—Size 12 × 8 in. A very prolific rodent of the amphibious class obtained from Canada and the United States, similar in habit to the English vole, with a fairly thick and even brown underwool and rather strong top dark hair of medium density. It is a very useful fur for men’s coat linings and ladies’ driving or motoring coats, being warm, durable and not too heavy. If the colour were less motley and the joins between the skins could be made less noticeable, it would be largely in demand for stoles, ties and muffs. As it is, this fur is only used for these smaller articles for the cheaper trade. It has, however, of later years been “unhaired,” the underwool clipped very even and then dyed seal colour, in which way very useful and attractive garments are supplied at less than half the cost of the cheaper sealskins. They do not wear as well, however, as the pelt and the wool are not of a strength comparable to those of sealskin. With care, however, such a garment lasts sufficiently long to warrant the present outlay. Value 512d. to 1s. 9d.
There is a so-called black variety found in Delaware and New Jersey, but the number is very small compared to the brown species. They are excellent for men’s coat linings and the outside of ladies’ coats, for stoles, muffs, collars and cuffs. Value 10d. to 3s. 7d.
The Russian musquash is very small, 7 × 4 in., and is limited in numbers compared to the brown. Only a few thousands are imported to London. It is of a very pretty silvery-blue shade of even wool with very little silky top hair, having silvery-white sides and altogether a very marked effect. The odour, however, even after dressing is rather pungent of musk, which is generally an objection. Value 4s. to 6s. 6d.
Nutria.—Size 20 × 12 in. Is a rodent known in natural history as the coypu, about half the size of a beaver, and when unhaired has not more than half, generally less, the depth of fur, which is also not so close. Formerly the fur was only used for hatters’ felt, but with the rise in prices of furs these skins have been more carefully removed and—with improved dressing, unhairing and silvering processes—the best provides a very effective and suitable fur for ladies’ coats, capes, stoles, muffs, hats and gloves, while the lower qualities make very useful, light-weighted and inexpensive linings for men’s or women’s driving coats. It is also dyed sealskin colour, but its woolly nature renders it less effective than the more silky musquash. They are obtained from the northern part of South America. Value is. 6d. to 6s. 6d.
Ocelot.—Size 36 × 13 in. Is of the nature of a leopard and prettily marked with stripes and oblong spots. Only a few are now imported from South America for carriage aprons or mats. The numbers are very limited. Value 1s. to 2s. 6d.
Opossum, American.—Size 18 × 10 in. Is a marsupial, a class with this exception not met with out of Australia. The underwool is of a very close frizzy nature, and nearly white, with long bluish grey mixed with some black top hair. It is only found in the central sections of the United States. About 1870 in England it was dyed dark brown or black and used for boas, muffs and trimmings, but until recently has been neglected on the continent. With, however, recent experiments in brown and skunk coloured dyes, it bids fair to become a popular fur. Value 212d. to 5s. 6d.
Opossum, Australian.—Size 16 × 8 in. Is a totally different
nature of fur to the American. Although it has wool and top hair,