longer than for any other fur, but when finished, it has a fine, rich effect, and is very durable.

Seal, Hair.—This is chiefly used for its oil and leather, and not for its fur. It has coarse, rigid hair, and no under-hair.

Skunk, or “Black Marten.”—15 × 8 inches. The under-hair is full, and fairly close, with glossy, flowing top-hair about 2¹⁄₂ inches long. The majority of the skins have two stripes of white hair extending the whole length of the skin. These were formerly cut out, but more recently are dyed the same color as the rest of the skin. They are widely found in North and South America. The best are from Ohio and New York. The skunk is naturally the blackest fur, is silky and very durable.

Squirrel.—10 × 5 inches. This size refers to the Russian and Siberian types, which are practically the only kind imported for fur, other species having too poor a fur to be of great commercial interest. The back of the Russian squirrel has an even, close fur, varying from a clear bluish-grey to a reddish-brown, the bellies in the former being of a flat quality and white, in the latter, yellowish. The backs are worked up separately from the bellies. The pelts, though light in weight, are tough and durable. The tails are dark and very small, and considerably used.

Tiger.—The size varies, the largest measuring about 10 feet from the nose to the root of the tail. It is found throughout India, Turkestan, China, Mongolia, and the East Indies. Coats of the Bengal variety are short and of a dark orange-brown with black stripes. Those from other parts of India are similar-colored, but longer in hair, while those from the north and China are not only large in size, but have very long soft hair of a delicate orange-brown, with very white flanks, and marked generally, with the blackest of stripes.

Wolf.—50 × 25 inches. Is closely allied to the dog family, and very widely distributed over the world. The best are the full-furred skins of a very pale bluish-grey with fine, flowing black top-hair, from the Hudson Bay district. Those from the United States and Asia are harsher and browner. The Siberian is smaller than the North American, and the Russian still smaller. A large number of prairie-dogs, or dog-wolves, is also used for cheaper furs.

Wolverine.—16 × 18 inches. Is a native of America, Siberia, Russia, and Scandinavia, and is of the general nature of the bear. The under-hair is full and thick, with strong, bright top-hair about 2¹⁄₂ inches long. The color is of two or three different shades of brown on one skin, the center being dark, and presenting the general appearance of an oval saddle, bordered with a rather pale shade of brown, and merging to a darker shade towards the flanks. This peculiar character stamps it as a distinguished fur. It is expensive, and quite valuable on account of its excellent qualities.

Wombat, Koala or Australian Bear.—20 × 12 inches. It has a light grey or brown, close, thick under-hair ¹⁄₂ inch deep, and no top-hair, with a rather thick, spongy pelt. It is cheap, and well suited for rough wear.

CHAPTER II
STRUCTURE OF FUR

Fur is made up of two main components, the hair and the skin, and each of these has a very complex structure.

In the living animal the skin serves as a protective covering, and also constitutes an organ of secretion and of feeling; consequently it is of a highly complicated nature. The skin of all fur-bearing animals is essentially the same in structure, although varying considerably as to thickness and texture. It consists of two principal layers, which are entirely different in structure and purpose, and correspondingly different in both physical and chemical respects: the epidermis, epithelium or cuticle, which is the outer layer, and the dermis or corium, which is the true skin. (Fig. 1A).

The epidermis is very thin as compared with the corium. Its outer layer consists of a tissue of cells, somewhat analogous to the horny matter of nails and hair. The inner surface, called the ‘rete malpighi,’ rests on the true skin, and is a soft, mucous layer of cells. These cells are spherical when first formed, but as they approach the surface become flattened, and dry up, forming the horny outer layer of the epidermis, which is constantly throwing off the dead scales, and which is constantly being renewed from below. It is from this inner layer of the epidermis that the hair, the sweat-glands, and the fat-glands are developed.

The corium, or true skin, consists essentially of white, interlacing fibres of the kind known as connective tissue. These fibres are themselves made up of extremely fine smaller fibres, or fibrils, cemented together by a substance of a somewhat different nature from the fibres, the coriin. Towards the center of the skin, the texture of the interweaving fibres is looser, becoming much more compact at the surface just beneath the inner layer of the epidermis. This part of the corium is so exceedingly close that the fibrils are scarcely recognizable. It is in this part that the fat-glands are situated, while the hair-roots and sweat-glands pass through it into the looser texture of the corium. The surface next to the flesh is also closer in structure than the middle portions of the skin, and has somewhat of a membranous character due to the fibres running almost parallel to the surface of the skin. The skin is joined to the body proper by a network of connective tissue, frequently full of fat-cells. This layer, together with portions of the flesh which may adhere to it, is removed by the process called ‘fleshing,’ and this side of the skin is known as the flesh side. The corium also contains a small proportion of yellow fibres, known as ‘elastic fibres,’ which differ physically and chemically from the rest of the skin substance.

During the course of the development of the embryo animal, a small group of cells forms like a bulb on the inner side of the epidermis, above a knot of very fine blood-vessels in the corium. This group of cells grows downward into the true skin, and the hair-root which is formed within it, surrounds the capillary blood-vessels, drawing nourishment from them, and thus forming the papilla. (Fig. 1A). Smaller projections also form on the bulb, and the fat-glands are gradually developed. The sweat-glands are formed in a manner similar to the development of hair.

The individual hair fibre is quite as complicated in structure as the skin, and is made up of four distinct parts. (Fig. 1B).[2]

The medulla, or pith, is the innermost portion of the hair, and is composed of many shrunken cells, often connected by a network which may fill the medullary column partially or wholly.

Surrounding the medulla is the cortex, which is made up of spindle-shaped cells fused into a horny, almost homogeneous, transparent mass, and forming a large