SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM
SCIENCE HANDBOOKS
BRANCH MUSEUM, BETRAYAL GREEN
ANIMAL PRODUCTS
THEIR PREPARATION, COMMERCIAL USES
AND VALUE.
P. L. SIMMONDS,
li!>:TOR Ol THE "JOIRN.U, Ol' APlLIiCf) SCIENCl
Prepared at the request of the Lords of the Committee of
Council on Education, and published for them
BY
CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.
1877.
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SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM SCIENCE HANDBOOKS.
[BRANCH MUSEUM, BETHNAL GREEN.]
ANIMAL PRODUCTS.
This work, prepared by order of the Lords of the Committee
of Council on Education, is intended to serve, in the first instance,
as a descriptive guide to the Collection of Animal Products at the
Bethnal Green Branch of the South Kensington Museum ; and,
secondly, as a practical treatise on Economic Zoology for the use of
the Public generally.
While there are very many treatises on Natural History,
scientifically arranged, there are few works in which the uses of
Animals to Man, and the important Commercial Products they
furnish, have received prominent attention. The author has long
had this extensive subject before him in cataloguing, labelling, and
describing the large and increasing Collection of Animal Products in
the Bethnal Green Museum, and believes that a detailed description
of the various useful substances furnished by the Animal Kingdom
may be retidered both instructive and i?iteresting.
ANIMAL PRODUCTS
THEIR PREPARATION, COMMERCIAL USES,
AND VALUE.
BY
P. L. SIMMONDS,
t-i
EDITOR OF THE "JOURNAL OF APPLIED SCIENCE.'
Published for the Committee of Council on Education,
BY
CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193, PICCADILLY
1877.
LONDON :
BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.
CONTENTS.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
ORIGIN OF THE ANIMAL PRODUCTS COLLECTION, AND STATISTICS
OF THE PRODUCTION AND TRADE ix ANIMAL PRODUCTS . . xiii
INTRODUCTION.
CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALS
CHAPTER I. ^
THE WOOL-PRODUCING ANIMALS AND THEIR USES
TO MAN.
Statistics of Sheep in various countries Wool produce of the world
British imports of Wool Breeds of Sheep Number of Sheep in the
United Kingdom and her colonies Characteristics of Wool Our
Imports of Wool Exports of Wool and Woollen manufactures
Classifications of Wool
CHAPTER II. ^
PRODUCTS OF WOOL-BEARING ANIMALS.
Sheep skins Woollen manufacture and sub-divisions of the trade
Shoddy Worsted, Carpets, etc. The Goat tribe Cowhair Shawl
wool and other goat hair Statistics of Croats in various countries
Varieties of Goats Glove manufacture Commerce in goat skins,
and their uses Leather bottles The Llama tribe Alpaca wool
Guanaco and Vicuna, and their uses The Camel and its products
Pack camels and racing camels Statistics of camels Camels'
hair 44
'b
340995
vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.
PRODUCTS OF THE BOVINE TRIBE.
PAGE
Cattle as food producers Statistics of Cattle in various countries Oxen
Bisons Buffaloes Continental breeds of Cattle The Yak The
Musk ox Meat supply from Cattle Salted meat Dried meat^-
Dairy products Milk, Butter, and Cheese Rennet . . . 77
CHAPTER IV.
OTHER ECONOMIC PRODUCTS OF CATTLE.
Horns and hoofs Horn comb manufacture Horn buttons Bones and
their uses The trade in Tallow Soap The trade in Hides Leather
manufacture Tanning substances Bookbinding and miscellaneous
applications of Leather Uses of offal, blood, $w- Cowhair Boiling
down Cattle 133
CHAPTER V.
THE DEER AND ANTELOPE TRIBES.
Deer horns, their growth and uses Commerce in them Deer skins
Deer hair Varieties of deer The Moose or Elk The Reindeer
Numbers killed The Stag The Musk deer and its perfume
Varieties of Antelopes The Eland The Springbok Karosses or
skin cloaks The Gnu The Giraffe Various species of Antelopes . 177
CHAPTER VI.
FURS AND THE FUR TRADE.
Early use of Furs The chase of fur-bearing animals No decrease in their
numbers Dying and preparing Furs The Hudson's Bay Company's
depots Statistics of Furs imported Commerce in Furs in the United
States and Canada Russia and France Fur trade of Europe and
the United Kingdom 206
CHAPTER VII.
CARNIVOROUS MAMMALS.
Uses of the Camivora Commerce in wild beasts The Felines or Cat
tribe, and their products Lion, puma, tiger, panther, leopard,
jaguar, ocelot, wild and common cat Trade in their skins Chetah
or hunting leopard Lynxes Civet cats Furs and economic pro-
ducts of these animals ... 222
CONTENTS. vii
CHAPTER VIII.
CARNIVOROUS MAMMALS (continued].
PAGE
The Dog tribe Varieties of dogs Esquimaux dogs and dog-sledges
Statistics of dogs Wolves and their depredations Wolf Skins
imported Foxes Varieties of Skins imported by the Hudson's Bay
Company Racoons, Bears, and Bear skins Various species of Bears 236
CHAPTER IX.
CARNIVOROUS MAMMALS (concluded}.
The American and European Badgers The Polecats Martens Sables
Land and sea Otters Statistics of imports Seals and the Seal fishery
Statistics of seal-oil and seal skins The Fur Seals of commerce
Sea lions Sea elephant Walrus 256
CHAPTER X.
MAMMALS OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE, THEIR
ECONOMIC PRODUCTS.
Monkeys Bats Insectivorous and toothless animals Hedgehog Tatoo
Rodents Porcupine Agouti Cavy Chinchilla Beaver
Statistics of Beaver skins imported Castoreum Musquash
Hamster, Marmots Rabbits and Hares Statistics Use^of their
skins and flesh 288
CHAPTER XI.
SOLIDUNGULA AND PACHYDERMS AND THEIR USES.
Horses, Asses, and Mules Dray and waggon horses The Arab horse
Statistics of Horses in various countries Horses in Russia Austra-
lia South America Demand for Horses for military purposes
Products of the Horse Flesh, hide, horse hair and its manufacture
Mules and Asses, numbers in different countries The Quagga and
Zebra African and Asiatic Elephants The trade in recent and
fossil Ivory Statistics of commerce in Ivory 307
b 2
viii CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
PACHYDERMS, OR THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS, AND THEIR
PRODUCTS.
I'AGE
Swine Great value of the Pig Various breeds Our foreign imports of
pigs, bacon, hams, and pork Extent of pig breeding in the United
States Vast export of products Immense slaughter-houses Pigs in
Russia Pork as food Trade in Lard and lard-oil Hogskins
Bristles Our import trade Russia the chief source of supply
Statistics of Swine in various countries Peccaries or wild hogs
Tapir Rhinoceros Use of its hide and horn Hippopotamus Its
hide, flesh and teeth 348
CHAPTER XIII.
AQUATIC MAMMALS AND THEIR PRODUCTS.
Sirenia Dugongs Manatee Whales and products of the Whale fishery
Changes in the trade Its great decline Whalebone Spermaceti
Ambergris Whale-oil The Narwhal or sea unicorn The
common Dolphin Porpoise White whale Porpoise-oil Porpoise-
leather 373
CHAPTER XIV.
MARSUPIALS AND THEIR USES.
The W r ombat Opossums, Australian and American Various species of
Kangaroos, wallabies and wallaroos, hunted for their skins and flesh
Kangaroo-leather Fur cloaks Smaller Marsupials Bandicoots
Koala or native bear, native cat, kangaroo-rat, &c. . . . 397
I.NDKX 409
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Southdown Sheep . . . 9
Dorset ram 10
Cotswold ram ! 10
Shropshire ram 13
Diagram of rabbit fur and human hair . . . . . . 15
Wool compared with vegetable fibres . . . . . . 16
Spanish Merino wool . . . . . . . . .18
Rambouillet-Negretti ram 20
African fat-tailed Sheep 21
Flock of sheep in Australia . 23
Different qualities of wool found on the Sheep 26
Crimps of the fibre of Merino wool . . 28
" Blumen " or flower in Merino fleece . 29
Representations of good and bad "stubble" in Wool . . . . 30
Negretti Merino ram . .32
Representation of East Indian wool . . . ^ . . 34
Varieties of Wool as seen under the microscope . . . 35
Sheep-shearing operations in Australia . . . . . . . 39
Sheep- washing in Australia 41
Mohair or goat's wool . 51
Angora Goats .53
Llama of South America . . . 65
Alpaca of Pern 67
The Mehari or racing Camel . . . . . . . . . 71
Group of African Cattle 83
x LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Shorthorn cow 85
African bullock waggon ......... 86
Hereford bull , 87
Thelemark cows of Norway . . . 89
Cow of the Swedish Herrgards or Nobles' race . . . . ^ 91
Podolian cow, Galicia 92
Murzthal cow, Styria 93
Montafun cow, Vorarlberg Tyrolese race 94
Brahmin bull 96
Bison (Bos Americamis) 99
European buffalo bull 101
The yak or grunting ox (Poephagns grunniens) 105
Egerland cow, Bohemia 107
Pinzgau cow, Salzberg race 109
Mode of cutting up a carcase for meat . no
Mariahofcow, Styria . .112
Group of cattle . . . 113
Kuhland cow, Moravia -H7
Devon yearling heifer . . . 119
Jersey bull 121
Group of Hereford cattle 127
Head of Argali (Ovis poll) 137
Mode of cutting horn combs 141
Bony skeleton of hippopotamus .146
Diagram of a " crop " or full hide 157
Herd of mixed Cattle, Australia . 1 73
Head and antlers of Arctic Reindeer 1 78
Stages of growth of stag horn 179
Deformed horns of deer ..181
i
Antlers of Elk or Moose '. . . 183
Deer hair magnified 185
Indian Deer in the jungle 187
Reindeer ( Tarandus arcticus) 191
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xi
PAGE
Esquimaux Dogs killing a Reindeer 192
Musk deer 197
Hunting the Musk deer in China 198
Musk pod natural size . . . 199
White-eared Antelope head (Antilope leucotes} ..... 200
Bastard Gemsbok (Antilope leucophcca) ....... 203
Waterbok (Anlilope ellipsyprymna) 205
Arctic fur-bearing animals . . . . . . . ..213
Skull of Bear, showing the dentition 222
Natives killing a Lion in Africa . . . . ; . . . 224
Fight with a Leopard 228
European Lynx (Felis lynx) 231
Animals yielding Civet and Musk 233
Civet cat 234
Dog 237
Arctic Dog sledge 238
Esquimaux Dog 239
Hungry Wolves 243
Racoon (Procyon lotor} 248
A Polar Bear hunt with Esquimaux dogs . 249
Polar Bear killing Walrus . . . 251
Killing a Polar Bear . . . . . . . . . . 253
American Badger (Mcles Labradoria) 256
Pine Marten (Mustda leucoptis) . 260
Group of Seals 268
Esquimaux Dogs capturing a Seal . 271
Northern fur Seal. The Sea bear or Sea lion of Alaska . . . 279
Antarctic fur Seal (Otaria Falklandica) 283
Walrus (Trichccus rosmarus) 284
Walrus' skull, showing the powerful canine teeth 285
Walrus on the ice 286
Heads of Aye Aye of Madagascar, white-necked Marmoset, and East
Indian red Monkey 289
xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
I'AGE
Chinchilla lanigera . . . 293
Beaver (Castor Fiber) 295
Musk rat (Fiber Zibethicus} 297
Quebec Marmot (Arctomys empftra) . . * . . . . 299
Dead horse ; 317
Native carried off by a Quagga 327
Section of skull of Elephant, showing the dentition . . . . . 329
Upper molar tooth of Indian elephant 331
Upper molar tooth of African elephant 331
African Elephants . 333
Molars of Elephant . . 334
Indian Elephant employed in a timber yard 338
Siamese war Elephant . . 341
Head of Indian Elephant 343
Ornamental application of scrivelloes or small tusks 347
Old English breed of hogs 350
The Berkshire pig . . . 350
Small white breed of pigs . . 351
Carved Rhinoceros horn, Siam. . 368
Hippopotamus amphibius 370
Dugong (Halicore Dugong] . . . . . . . '-375
Manatee (Manatus Americanus) . . . . . . . 378
West Indian Manatee 379
Right or Greenland Whale 381
Cachalot, or Sperm Whale 381
In pursuit of Whales 383
Skull of whalebone Whale and plate of baleen 385
Narwhal and Polar Bear 392
Polar Bear and white Whale 395
The woolly Kangaroo (Macropus lanigera) 399
Opossum (Didelphys ornata) 399
ANIMAL PRODUCTS.
ORIGIN OF THE ANIMAL PRODUCTS
COLLECTION.
AT the close of the Great Exhibition of 1851, many of the
articles there displayed were presented to Her Majesty's Com-
missioners by various Foreign Governments, and numerous
individual exhibitors, to form the nucleus of a permanent Trade
Collection. It was considered that such a Collection would not
only be interesting as constituting a lasting memorial of the
Exhibition and a record of the state of Industry in 1851, but that
it might be rendered of great practical benefit to the Manufac-
turing and Mercantile communities if systematically arranged for
purposes of reference, with a view both to technical instruction
and to the ever-changing and increasing wants of trade in this
great commercial country. The Collection thus presented to the
Commissioners contained many and valuable specimens in the
three great kingdoms of Animal, Vegetable, and Mineral products.
Great progress had been made in the development of two
important National Collections illustrative of the Vegetable and
Mineral kingdoms respectively, viz., the Museum of Economic
Botany at Kew, and the Museum of Practical Geology in Jermyn
Street, and to these the vegetable and mineral products were
respectively consigned.
No corresponding Collection for the Animal Kingdom had,
however, previously existed. The Royal Commissioners, there-
fore, thought it desirable to endeavour to supply this deficiency
xiv ITS LOCALITY AND DEVELOPMENT.
by the formation of a Collection of Animal Products, the articles
of that class, presented to them in 1851, serving as an appropriate
nucleus for such a Collection. The Society of Arts, being
equally impressed with the importance of this object, co-operated
with the Commissioners towards its attainment, and joined in
securing the services of Professor Solly for a period of two years,
ending in 1855, to superintend the formation of the Collection;
Dr. Lyon Playfair, M.P., the then scientific referee of the Depart-
ment of Science and Art, giving valuable assistance in the develop-
ment and arrangement of the articles, a work in which the author
of these pages also took a not inconsiderable part. The Collection
was first exhibited to the public in 1857 ; and in 1858 the whole
of the Collection of Animal Products, as it then existed, was
presented by Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Exhibition of
1851 to the Science and Art Department of the Committee of
Council on Education. It was then exhibited as part of the
South Kensington Museum, where it remained for several years,
but was subsequently removed to the Branch Museum of the
Department at Bethnal Green, where it is now arranged in the
Lower Gallery on the South Side of the Building.
As the Food Products from Animals, and the Economic
relations of Insects to man, are dealt with in separate Handbooks
or Guides to those Collections by other writers, the various
products of the Mammalia alone are proposed to be touched
upon in this Manual, which will be devoted chiefly to those used
for Manufactures, without following in strict order the natural
history classification; but tracing the Collection as nearly as
possible in the methodical manner in which it has been arranged,
and adding to the text such illustrations of animals and their
products, as may serve to render it interesting and useful, and
help to make it more generally understood.
THE CLASSIFICATION (beginning at the East end of the Gallery)
adopted originally in the arrangement of the COLLECTION of
ANIMAL PRODUCTS is as follows :
CLASSIFICATION OF THE COLLECTION, xv
CLASS I. Animal Substances employed for Textile Manufactures and Clothing.
Division I. Wool, Mohair, and Alpaca.
,, II. Hair, Bristles, and Whalebone.
III. Silk.
IV. Furs.
,, V. Feathers, Down, and Quills.
,, VI. Gelatin, Skins, and Leathers.
CLASS II. Animal Substances tisedfor Domestic and Ornamental Purposes.
Division I. Bone and Ivory.
,, II. Horns and Hoofs.
,, III. Tortoise-shell.
,, IV. Shells and Marine Animal Products for Manufacture,
Ornament, &c.
V. Animal Oils and Fats.
CLASS III. Pigments and Dyes yielded by Animals.
Division I. Cochineal and Kermes.
,, II. Lac and its applications.
III. Nut Galls, Gall Dyes, Blood, &c.
,, IV. Sepia, Tyrian Purple, Purree, &c.
CLASS IV. Animal Substances used in Pharmacy and in Perjiimery.
Division I. Musk, Civet, Castoreum, Hyraceum, and Ambergris.
,, II. Cantharides, Leeches, &c.
CLASS V. Application of Waste Matters.
Division I. Guts and Bladders.
,, II. Albumen, Casein, &c.
,, III. Prussiates of Potash and Chemical Products of Bone, c.
,, IV. Animal Manures. Guano, Coprolites, Animal Carcases,
Bones, Fish Manures, c.
The special object of this Collection is not merely the forma-
tion of a Museum showing the various Animal Products entering
into British and Foreign Commerce, but, at the same time, to
instruct and inform the visitor as to the magnitude of the trade,
the varieties, peculiar characteristics and suitability for various
purposes, of different substances. While, therefore, the mere
visitor for pleasure will be gratified by a passing glance at such a
general collection of useful and ornamental products, the more
thoughtful and inquiring will here find ample opportunities pre-
sented to them of studying quietly, systematically, and in pro-
xvi IMPORTANCE OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS.
gressive detail, the principal Arts and Manufactures arising out
of Animal substances which result in such individual benefit,
and contribute so greatly to our national wealth and extensive
commerce.
The objects exhibited are arranged into classes, groups, and sub-
divisions, which proceed step by step from the raw material, through
the various stages of manufacture, up to the finished product.
' The Food Products of Animal origin are illustrated in the Food
Collection arranged in the opposite gallery.
Descriptive general, and special, framed labels are hung about
the galleries ; every case, article, and particular manufacture is
fully described, and cheap catalogues are also on sale, so that
the visitor will have little difficulty in gleaning useful information
as he proceeds.
The extent and importance of the trade in Animal Products
generally is probably little understood. It would be indeed diffi-
cult to form a precise estimate of its magnitude even as regards
the trade, industry, and money value for the United Kingdom
alone, but there are some few data from which an approximate
account of the raw materials and manufactures derived from the
Animal Kingdom may be formed. We have tolerably correct
agricultural statistics of our domestic Live Stock, and also official
records made annually by the Board of Trade, of the value
of the Imports and Exports. If we take, therefore, the data from
these for the year 1875 (which, it may be incidentally remarked, was
not a very prosperous trade year), we shall arrive at some idea of
the enormous figures and the large interests involved.
Value of the Imports of Animal origin brought into the United
Kingdom in 1875.
Live Animals .8,466,226
Food Products :
Bacon and Hams 6,982,470
Pork, salted and fresh . . . . . . 590,356
Beef, salted 35 7, 201
,, fresh or preserved . ..... 97,136
VALUE OF OUR IMPORTS. xvii
Butter . . 8,502,084
Cheese . . 4,709,508
Eggs 2,559,860
Fish, fresh 218,031
,, cured or salted ....... 1,048,546
Poultry and Game, including Rabbits . . . 328,044
Articles chiefly for Manufactures :
Bones for manufacturing ' .74,059
Bristles 419,203
Cochineal 492,976
Feathers for beds 126,177
,, for ornament 7!3>I99
Galls . . . 63,359
Lac resin and lac dyes 806,117
Hair of various kinds ...... 1,483,984
,, manufactures 68,323
Hats of felt . 51,498
Hides, wet and dry . 4,203,371
,, tanned or otherwise prepared . . . 2,814,042
Horns and Hoofs . . 172,966
Isinglass . . . . . . . . 86,443
Lard 1,634,769
Leather manufactures 308,290
,, Boots and Shoes 240,000
Gloves 2,430,876
Manures: Bones of Animals . . . . . 630,656
,, Guano . 1,293,436
Oils : Train or Blubber 489,817
,, Spermaceti or head matter .... 427,884
Animal 37,433
Rags, Woollen, for re-working .... 599,402
Silk, raw and thrown 3,546,456
waste 4I5, 85
,, manufactures of all kinds 12,264,532
Skins of various kinds (not furs) .... 2,494,979
Furs, Pelts, and manufactures of Furs . . . . 1,375,512
Specimens of Natural History 22,785
Tallow .....'.... 2,045,863
Ivory '. 772,371
Wax 118,549
Whale-fins . ..'.-. . . . . . 42,240
Wool of various kinds ...... 23,451,887
Woollen yarn ... . . . . 1,491,117
,, manufactures 4,3 8 >357
105,577,155
xviii VALUE OF OUR EXPORTS.
These are only the principal articles ; sponges, mother-of-pearl,
cowries, and other shells, tortoise-shell, leeches, cantharides, and
many other products, are not included, being aggregately grouped
by the Board of Trade under "Miscellaneous Articles."
There are also certain vegetable substances imported, which
are chiefly used in the preparation and manufacture of Animal
Products, such as all the tanning materials, which should be taken
into consideration ; these include the following values :
Barks and Extracts for tanning .... ,395,3 1 8
Cutch 140,150
Gambier 601,105
Sumach 246,343
Valonia . . 622,019
Myrobalans . 100,000
,2,104,935
Value of the Animals and Animal Substances, the produce of the
United Kingdom, exported in. 1875.
Food substances :
Butter ,240,281
Cheese 88, 143
Fish 1,192,481
Provisions ........ 693,294
Horses . . . 241,106
Manufactures and materials, &c. :
Hats of all sorts 1,045,440
Leather manufactures . ...... 3,881,168
Silk, Thrown, Twist and Yarn .... 880,923
Silk manufactures 1,734,519
Skins and Furs of all sorts 946,694
Soap 310,511
Umbrellas and Parasols ...... 356,467
Wool . . % 928,264
Woollen and Worsted Yarn 5>99>37
Woollen manufactures 21,659,325
^39,297,923
This is exclusive of a number of minor articles not enumerated
or specified in the Board of Trade Returns.
VALUE OF OUR LIVE STOCK. xix
Taking the latest Agricultural Returns as our guide for numbers,
and assuming a very moderate value for each animal, we get at the
following approximate estimate of the value of our domestic stock.
Live Stock in Great Britain and Channel Islands, 1875 :
Horses* . . . . 1,349,691 at 16 o ,21,587,056
Cattle .... 6,050,797 ,, 10 o 60,507,970
Sheep .... 29,243,790 i 10 43,865,685
Swine .... 2,245,932 I 5 2,807,415
128,768,126
There are no returns of asses and mules, goats and poultry, for
Great Britain.
Number and value of Live Stock in Ireland in 1875 : f
Horses and
Mules . . 547,675 at 10 o
5,476,750
Asses .
179,742 , r o
179,742
Cattle
. . 4,111,990
, 10
41,119,900
Sheep .
. 4,248,158
, I 10
6,372,237
Goats
. . 268,894
, 10
134,447
Pigs .
. 1,249,235
l 5
i>56i,544
Poultry .
. . 12,055,768
I
602,788
55,447,408
When we find that the figures we have quoted give an estimated
money value exceeding ^331,000,000 sterling, and that to this
has to be added all the dairy produce, the poultry and their
products for Great Britain ; the annual clip of British wool, which
maybe estimated at 160,000,000 Ibs., worth at least ^"8,000,000;
the hides and skins, tallow, horns, bones, and other offal, horse
and cow hair, woollen rags collected, the game and rabbits, the
sea and river fisheries; besides the products of our woollen,
leather, glove, silk, soap and comb manufactures retained for
home consumption, furs, brushes, and many other articles, we
ought to add a great many millions more to the aggregate value
or total.
* Returned by occupiers of land alone, and quite exclusive of horses kept in
towns, racehorses, &c., of the numbers of which there are no complete returns.
t These values are the old official prices, and many are much below the
present value for horses, &c.
xx AGGREGATE VALUE OF ANIMAL PRODUCTS.
These collective figures of the value of our Live Stock and of
the Animal Products imported and exported, will at least show
what a large amount of capital is invested in them, and that
they must necessarily give busy and remunerative occupation to
a great number of persons in the raising, collection, distribution
and after preparation of most of the articles, to fit them for various
uses, whilst the amount of shipping tonnage employed, and the
inland transport by road and rail from place to place, of the raw
materials and the finished manufactures, are other great sources
of active industry, in which numbers of our population are specially
interested.
INTRODUCTION.
CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALS.
NATURALISTS" have described more than 2,000 species of
Mammals, or animals which suckle their young. They are
characterised by warm red blood, and breathe by means of lungs.
They have been grouped into different Orders, each divided into
Genera, which usually include several individual Species.
Amongst them are the cattle of our fields, beasts of burden,
and domesticated animals of many kinds. Most of these are
familiar to all ; but a more perfect knowledge of their nature
contributes to the improvement of agricultural stock, affords
indications of rational methods of treating the diseases to which
they are subject, and makes us acquainted with the sources of
supply of many Animal Products largely used for food or in the
various arts and manufactures.
The following, although it may not satisfy all as a classification
of Mammals, is yet sufficiently clear for the purposes of this work,
which is intended as a description of the Economic uses of the
Animals, and their Commercial products, rather than a treatise
on Systematic Zoology.
I. QUADRUMANA, or four handed.* Examples Ape, Baboon,
Monkey.
There are about 100 species belonging to this order at present known.
In some countries the flesh of monkeys is eaten. The skins and skele-
tons form articles of commerce, and live animals are purchased for
zoological gardens.
* The order Bimana Man has been passed over, the only products of any
commercial value derived from the human race being the hair of females, in
which some considerable trade is carried on, and skulls and skeletons for
museums. In the Waste Products Collection will be found illustrations of the
use of human hair, and in Case 87 is a piece of cloth made with human hair ;
ladies' muffs have also been made of it.
2 ' - '* * CLASS! JtfCATf ON OF MAMMALS.
II. CHEIROPTERA. Example Bats.
Some of these are fruit eaters, others insect eaters. The flesh of a
few bats is eaten.
III. INSECTIVORA. Insect eaters. Examples The Hedgehog and
Mole.
This order is not of much commercial importance.
IV. CARNIVORA. Flesh eaters beasts of prey. Examples Lion,
Cat, Fox, Bear, Seal.
This is the most important order of animals for the supply of skins
and furs to commerce. The flesh of some carnivorous animals is
eaten in certain districts.
V. RODENTIA. Gnawing animals. Examples Rat, Hare, Rabbit,
Beaver, Squirrel.
Many furnish furs to commerce, and their flesh serves for food.
380 species are known to naturalists.
The great incisor teeth being separated widely from the molars is
the characteristic of this order, and enables the animals to gnaw hard
substances, such as wood, with facility.
VI. EDENTATA. Animals wholly or partially without teeth. To
this order are added the Monotremes. Examples Armadillo, Sloth.
This order is commercially unimportant.
VII. RUMINANTIA. Ruminants, or cud chewer", who remasticate
their food, which, after it is brought into the first stomach and imper-
fectly digested, comes again to the mouth.
They are cloven-hoofed, and with but few exceptions have horns.
The horns are either solid, deciduous, as in the deer, persistent, with
a core, as in the antelope and goat, or round and smooth as in the ox
and buffalo : some of the buffaloes, however, have them wrinkled.
Examples Ox, Sheep, Goat, Camel, Alpaca.
This is the most valuable order of any for the commercial products
it supplies, in animal food, skins, wool, tallow, &c.
VIII. SOLIDUNGULA, or solid hoofed, on each foot only one toe or
hoof. Examples Horse, Ass.
These are exceedingly useful to man as draught animals and for
r products, hair, skins, flesh, &c.
CLASSIFICATION OF MAMMALS. 3
IX. PACHYDERM ATA. Thick-skinned animals. Examples Ele-
phant, Hippopotamus, Hog.
By s"ome naturalists the Pachydermata are made to include the
Solidungula.*
Some of the animals of this order, as the hog and the elephant, are
of high commercial importance.
X. AQUATIC MAMMALS. Examples Manatee, Dugong, Beluga,
Whale.
By naturalists the manatees are grouped in a separate order termed
Sirenia, the seals and otters belong to the Carnivorous order, and the
whales to the Cetacea.
The aquatic mammals are commercially valuable for their flesh as
food, for their skins, and the oil obtained from their blubber.
XL MARSUPIALIA. Pouched animals. Examples Kangaroo,
Opossum, Wombat.
The animals of this order are sought for their flesh and skins ;
some are herbivorous, others carnivorous.
* One of the most recent classifications is that establishing the order
UNGULATA, hoofed mammals, which combines the three divisions, Pachy-
dermata, Solidungula, and Ruminantia, which have been thrown into three
new sections or sub-orders, and stand classified thus, according to Mr. Wilson.
(Elements of Zoology) :
A. ARTIODACTYLA. B. PERISSODACTYLA. C. PKOBOSCIDEA.
i. Omnivora. i. Solidungula. Elephants.
2. Ruminantia. 2. Multungula.
Mr. ANDREW MURRAY classifies the UNGULATA in the following manner :
A. MONODACTYLA (The Solidungula}. Horses, &c.
B. ARTIODACTYLA.
1. Ruminants, including camels, oxen, sheep, antelopes, camelopard,
deer, musk deer and chevrolins (Tragulidae).
2. Anoplotheridae (extinct).
3. Non Ruminants, including the peccary, swine, hippopotamus.
C. MULTUNGULA.
Tapiridae tapirs.
Nasicornia rhinoceros.
B 2
CHAPTER I.
THE WOOL-PRODUCING ANIMALS AND THEIR USES TO MAN.
The Collection commences at the east end of the raised floor gallery r
immediately facing the main entrance. It starts with the woolly
coverings of animals in all their variety, and illustrates the
economic uses to which these are applied for clothing for the
hitman race, for fabrics of different kinds, carpets, felts, &c.
This preliminary Chapter is specially devoted to a description
of the varieties of the Sheep; the different breeds or races which
careful culture has produced; the characteristics of the kinds
oj wool obtained from special breeds in various countries. The
average weights of the clip of wool from the fleeces of different
sheep are given, official statistics of the number of sheep in different
countries, the wool produce of the world, and the sources of O7ir
foreign supply of wool. The classifications adopted in sorting
out fleeces, the special distinctive characters of wool, fur, and hair
are pointed out, and their chemical composition; the processes of
shearing, wool-washing, scouring, and dyeing, are then touched
iip on.
THE SHEEP. Of the domesticated animals the Ruminants
among the Mammals are the most serviceable to man, and have
multiplied and been diffused more generally over the face of the
globe than any others. Their commercial products are also of the
greatest importance, and as the Ovine race stand, perhaps, the
highest in estimation for their direct use, we commence with a
description of those of the Sheep, as the principal wool-producing
animal.
Of the original breed of this invaluable animal, nothing certain
is known. Several varieties of wild sheep have by naturalists
been considered entitled to the distinction of being the parent
stock, and the marked differences between the wild and domestic
species are readily accounted for by the known variability of the
WOOL-PRODUCING ANIMALS THE SHEEP. 5
animal. No other animal seems to yield so submissively to the <
manipulations of culture.
The sheep gives immediate employment to thousands, who in
their several spheres utilise different parts of it for the various uses
of the great human family. Among these we have the breeder,
the butcher, the skinner, the tanner, shoemaker, tallow chandler,
etc. Then the " fleece," which we call wool, gives occupation to
the wool-brokers, wool-staplers, spinners, manufacturers, clothiers,
and many subordinate branches of trade to which these give rise.
On account of its numerous useful properties, the sheep has
deservedly become an object of national consideration in almost
all temperate countries.
It is of the most extensive utility to man. We are clothed by ^
its fleece ; the flesh is a delicate and wholesome food ; the skin
dressed forms different parts of our apparel, and is used for
various economic purposes. The entrails, properly prepared and
twisted, serve as strings for musical instruments. The calcined
bones have industrial uses. Sheep's milk is thicker than that of t~~
cows, and consequently yields a greater quantity of butter and
cheese. From the Larsac race of sheep in France, the celebrated
Roquefort cheese is made to the extent of about 6 or 7 mil-
lion pounds annually. There is no manure so fertilising as that
of the sheep, and it does not so readily waste by exposure as that
of other animals. A German agriculturist has calculated that the
droppings from 1000 sheep during a single night would manure
an acre of land sufficiently.
If we look next at sheep as a source of our animal food supply,
having regard only to the United Kingdom, we find that the
agricultural returns of 1874 gave the number of sheep and lambs
at 34,800,000. Now it is estimated by good authorities that half <
of our stock of sheep are slaughtered annually, and as these
17,400,000 animals will average 56 Ibs. per head, we have thus
an annual supply of 8,700,000 cwts. of meat per annum, besides
1,000,000 imported animals, which will give about 450,000 cwts.
6 WOOL-PRODUCING ANIMALS THE SHEEP.
more of mutton. The average wholesale price of mutton per stone
of 8 Ibs. in the Metropolitan market is now 6s. $d. against 4^. 5^
a quarter of a century ago. When we consider their value, also,
for food, on the Continent, in America and the Colonies, and
the quantity of tallow they yield, as well as skins for the tanner
and glove maker, we shall begin to understand how immense is
the value of the Ovine race to man, both for sustenance and
clothing. In many foreign countries, the flesh of the sheep is
disliked, or at least rarely eaten, and the animal is tended solely
for its fleece. In Spain, except by the poorest, mutton is con-
sidered unfit for food. <-~
The following figures give the number of sheep in various
countries according to the latest official returns :
EUROPE. ! AMERICA.
Russia . . .
1870,
48,132,000
United States . . 1875,
33,783,600
Sweden
1873,
1 5695, 434 British America . 1871,
3>337,763
Norway . . .
1865,
1,710,000
Uruguay . . 1872,
20,000,000
Denmark .
1871,
1,842,481
Argentine Con-
Iceland . . .
1866,
800,000
federation . . 1875,
70,000,000-
German Empire .
1873,
24,999,406
Falkland Islands 1875,
6o,ooo>
Holland .
1873,
901^15
Belgium . . .
1866,
586,097
France
1872,
24,589,647
ASIA.
Portugal . .
1870,
2,706,777
Ceylon . . 1874,
61,455
Spain .
1865,
22,054,967
Mauritius . . 1875,
*
28,036.
Italy . . .
1874,
6,977,104
Austria Proper .
1871,
5,026,398
Hungary , . .
1870,
14,289,130
AUSTRALASIA.
Switzerland
1866,
447,001
New South Wales 1875,
22,872,882-
Greece . . .
1867,
2,539,538
Queensland . . 1874,
7,268,946
Turkey . .
1870,
16,000,000 Victoria . . 1875,
11,221,036
Moldavia and
i South Australia . 1875,
6,120,211
Wallachia
1873,
4,786,294
Western Australia 1875,
748,536-
Great Britain . .
1876,
28,178,950
Tasmania . . 1875,
1,714,168
Ireland
1875,
4,248,158
New Zealand . 1874,
11,674,863,
AFRICA.
Egypt . . .
1871,
184,899
WEST INDIES.
Algeria
1866,
10,000,000
Jamaica . . 1869,
21,761
Cape Colony . .
1875,
11,008,339
Martinique and
Natal .
1873,
343.763
Guadaloupe . 1865,
23,607
WOOL-PRODUCING ANIMALS THE SHEEP. 7
Although upwards of 160,000,000 pounds of wool are produced
annually in the United Kingdom, yet it may almost be said that
sheep are kept in this country, not so much for their fleece as for
the meat their carcases furnish, and for the great benefit they
confer on agriculture. They have indeed been aptly designated
"the sheet anchor of British agriculture," so indispensable are
they to the scientific farmers of the present day. But in im-
proving the carcase of these valuable animals, great care has
been bestowed upon their wool-producing capabilities, in order to
preserve and increase as much as possible the quantity and quality
of this important article. The wools of this country are therefore
abundant in quantity, and of good, strong, and very useful quali-
ties ; although not of such fine description as the Saxony, Spanish,
and other Merinoes.
The Animal Products Collection of the Bethnal Green Branch
Museum is particularly rich in fine samples of fleeces, various kinds
of wools, and stuffed heads of the principal breeds of sheep.
On the east wall will be noticed
No. 1. A fine skin and head of a Hampshire Down ram, with a
fleece of two years' growth.
Nos. 2, 3, 4. Stuffed specimens of small sheep from the Shet-
land Islands.
Nos. 7 and 8. Two framed lithographs of South Down and
Highland sheep.
No. 9. An oil painting of one of the earliest improved Merino
rams, known as the First Consul.
In two large glazed cases against the east wall are sixty fleeces,
with displayed locks, of all the choicest wools, British and
foreign.
A breed of sheep : to produce fine wool is distinct from a breed
to produce mutton and wool. Of fine-woolled sheep the pure
Merino takes the first place, producing a heavier fleece and of
equal quality. It has also another great advantage over the Saxon
Merino, in being much larger, hardier, and less liable to disease.
8
WOOL PRODUCE OF THE WORLD.
The Saxon Merino is found by farmers, even in Saxony, to be
so unprofitable, that the numbers kept are being gradually di-
minished.
WOOL PRODUCE OF THE WORLD. The following table, com-
piled from the most reliable information obtainable, furnishes an
approximate estimate of the production of sheep's wool in the
principal countries of the world in 1874.
South America ....
Asia, including Russia in Asia .
Australia
United Kingdom
United States ....
France
European Russia ....
Turkey, European and Asiatic .
Spain
Austria
Germany, Netherlands, and Belgium
Hungary . . .
North Africa ....
South Africa ....
Italy . . ' .
Persia
Portugal
Canadian Dominion .
Sweden and Norway
Denmark .....
Greece
Mexico
Total
POUNDS.
350,CKX),000
32O,OOO,OOO
250,000,000
2OO,OOO,OOO
2OO,OOO,OOO
150,000,000
150,000,000
140,000,000
62,000,000
60,000,000
60,000,000
45,000,000
50,000,000
50,000,000
40,000,000
40,000,000
12,000,000
12,000,000
I2,JOO,OOO
10,000,000
10,000,000
500,000
2,223,500,000
STATISTICS OF OUR WOOL IMPORTS. The demands of our
Woollen Manufactures require a large and increasing supply of
the raw material ; of this only a small proportion, estimated at
160,000,000 to 200,000,000 Ibs. annually, is produced in the
United Kingdom, and hence we are largely dependent on foreign-
supplies. Fortunately, the British possessions are increasing their
wool production year by year, and rendering us more indepen-
WOOL IMPORTSBRITISH BREEDS OF SHEEP. 9
dent of supplies from foreign countries, as the following figures
of our imports will show :
Year.
From Australia.
South Africa.
India.
Total Imports from
all Countries.
Ibs.
Ibs.
Ibs.
Ibs.
1831
2,493,000
48,000
31,652,000
1841
12,399,000
1,080,000
3,009,000
56,180,000
1851
41,800,000
5,817,000
4,550,000
83,311,000
1861
68,506,000
18,676,000
I9,l6l,OOO
144,067,000
1871
182,710,000
32,972,000
18,153,000
319,385,000
1875
238,631,716
44,112,213
22,680,126
360,903,270
BRITISH BREEDS. England has for a long period been cele-
TWO-YEAR OLD SOUTHDOWN, SHOWN AT TAUNTON, 1875.
brated for her sheep. The leading and most improved short-
woolled breed is the small brown-faced Southdown, chiefly
10
BRITISH BREEDS OF SHEEP.
occupying the hills of Sussex, but also now diffused over other
counties. Its fleece, short and fine, weighs from three to fou
DORSET RAM, SHOWN AT CROYDON, 1875.
pounds; and its mutton, fine in flavour and grain, weighs, in
two-year-old wethers, about eighteen pounds the quarter.
COTSWOLD, SHOWN AT CROYDON AND TAUNTON, 1875.
AVERAGE WEIGHT OF FLEECES. n
The Dorset is another short-woolled sheep, see preceding page.
The only other breed now looked upon as pure stock are the
white-faced, long-woolled sheep, which are known as Leicesters-
from their home being the great midland grass district, of which-
Leicester is the centre.* The numerous other breeds are
generally traceable to some amalgamation by crossing and re-"
crossing.
The breeds of sheep in the British Islands may be divided
into two principal groups : i. Those of the plains, grass lands,,
and arable districts, which vary greatly in size, quality of mutton,
and the weight of wool they produce ; and, 2. The hill or moun-
tain sheep, which are less variable in general character, although
they are greatly altered by the quality of their native ground and
the altitude at which they generally range. The bulk of the
mutton and wool of the country is now produced by the flocks
kept on the old pastures and such lands as are worth cultivation
by the means applied to modern agriculture.
It is not necessary to enumerate and describe the numerous
varieties and sub-varieties of breeds of sheep common in different
parts of England and other countries. Sheep of the Cotswold
long-wool breed have been known to reach the enormous weight
of eighty-four pounds per quarter, or 336 Ibs. the carcase ; and
fleeces weighing above twenty pounds are not uncommon.t
AVERAGE WEIGHT OF FLEECES. In 1851 Mr. Thomas Southey,
after extensive inquiries, took the average weight for the United
Kingdom at 5. Ibs. Considerable changes have taken place in
the actual weights of fleeces, owing to improved breeding; and
even during the last quarter of a century this has been the case
with sheep bred in agricultural districts, though not so much
with those bred on pasture lands. The weights, moreover, are
* Frame No. 29 shows the characteristics of this wool, and in Case 46 are
samples and locks of long wool from Earl Fitzwilliam's flocks.
f For these four representations of prize sheep of special English breeds
we are indebted to the courtesy of the proprietor of the Agricultural Gazette.
12 SHEEP IN GREAT BRITAIN 6- HER COLONIES.
considered to vary from year to year as much as from a quarter
to half a pound per fleece, according to the seasons and breed.
The average weight of the clip of half-breds is from 5$ to 7 Ibs.,
of Leicesters 7 to 8 Ibs. Some of the large breeds in Gloucester
and Somerset will weigh 7 Ibs., and in Devon and Cornwall, un-
washed fleeces 7^ Ibs. In the East Riding of Yorkshire a large
breed with deep staple and bright hair weighs 8 J Ibs. The average
weight for Wales and Scotland is 4^ Ibs. The Irish fleece ranges
from 6 to 6J Ibs.
Allowance should be made, in all wools unwashed or in the
grease, of one third in weight for clean wool. The quantity as
well as the quality of the wool yielded by the sheep varies much
with the breed, the climate, the food, and consequently with the
soil on which the food is grown. The Hereford sheep, which are
kept lean, and give the finest wool, yield only \\ to 2 Ibs. of
washed wool, while a Merino will often give a fleece weighing
three times that amount.
The following figures give the number of sheep officially re-
turned in the United Kingdom and principal British Colonies for
the year 1874.
Great Britain 3,3 1 3>94i
Ireland 4,411,698
Total for the United Kingdom . 34,725,639
New South Wales ..... 22,872,882
Victoria 11,221,036
South Australia 6,12,0,211
Western Australia 7 7 7, 86 1
Queensland 7,268,946
Tasmania . . . . . . . 1,714,168
New Zealand 11,674,863
Canadian Dominion ..... 3, 155,509
Prince Edward Island .... 147,364
Cape of Good Hope 12,000,000
Natal 343,763
Total for the principal British Colonies . 77,296,603
CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL. 13
As regards the number of sheep, Russia exceeds the United
Kingdom proper, having 48,000,000 head ; the United States
approximate closely to Great Britain in the number ; whilst
the other principal European pastoral countries stand as follows,
in round figures: France, 24,600,000; Spain, 22,000,000;
Prussia, 19,600,000; Hungary, 14,000,000; and Italy 7,000,000.
LORD CIIESHAM'S SHROPSHIRE, SHOWN AT CROYDON, 1875.
CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL. Wool resembles hair in many
of its peculiarities ; the chief point of difference being, that
while the surface of the latter is smooth, that of the former is
imbricated, a quality upon which the felting power of wool
depends. This difference is not, however, perceptible to the
naked eye or touch ; indeed it would be very difficult to point
out any perceptible qualities distinctive of the two substances.
The bristles of the hog and the fine wool of the lamb can readily
be distinguished from one another, for these are the extreme
examples of the two substances ; but in many cases hair and
wool pass so completely into each other, that it is often im-
possible to mark the line of demarcation ; and they have the
same chemical composition.
4 CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL.
The importance of the industrial employments of wool can
scarcely be overrated. The pelage of mammiferous animals is
composed of various kinds of hair, the most important of which
are silky hairs and woolly hairs, and according to various cir-
cumstances the one or the other of these varieties predominates.
The physiological conditions of age, sex, food, and climate serve
to vary the quality of the fleeces. It is therefore well to study
the characters of the hairs employed in manufactures, especially
the woolly ones, by ascertaining their length, diameter, elasticity,
etc., under the microscope. Thus examined we shall find that
wool presents fine transverse or oblique lines (an inch containing
from 2,000 to 4,000), which indicate an imbricated scaly surface.
This characteristic, and the twisted form of fine wool, are the
qualities which make it valuable for manufactures.
It has been well observed by Dr. Crisp that the coverings of
animals are wonderfully adapted to the climates and elements
which they inhabit. Thus we have a warm thick fur in the ex-
treme northern zone, a woolly coat for the sheep in the temperate
regions, a thin hairy covering in the tropics in the air the light
and beautiful feather in the water the crust or scale. What
armourer could make a coat of mail to equal that in which the
armadillo is invested ? how well it protects the animal from the
weapons of its assailants.
The common impression is that wool is confined to the sheep,
but experience shows that a great variety of other animals pro-
duce it also, and that under the long hair of the goat, for example,
there will generally be found a certain amount of true wool ; and
we might go even further, and consider that, with very few
exceptions, the external covering of all mammalian animals is a
variable mixture of hair and wool.
Of the two extreme contrasts of hair produced on domesticated
animals, one is rigid, shining, coarse, well fixed. It is the " jarre "
which exists nearly alone in the ordinary conditions of the horse
and the ox. The other hair or down, hidden under the first, is
CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL. 15
dfctinguished by being more curled and tangled, and more dull
than the jarre, and also much finer. It is the "wool" which
exists nearly alone in the Merino sheep and in the Cashmere
goats. Wool is greatly preferred to the jarre by the manufac-
turer, because it is much finer, curls more readily, and is found
bristling with little scaly asperities (due to its mode of develop-
ment) which render it more adapted for felting and the manu-
facture of tissues. From the coats of sheep, goats, rabbits, etc.,
the coarse and rigid hair is carefully removed.
HUMAN HAIR.
RABBIT FUR.
Wool, we find, is not then peculiar to the sheep, but forms an un-
dercoat beneath the long hair in very many animals. Articles for
clothing have been made from the wool of the musk-ox of North
America, and from the wool of the ibex of Little Thibet ; but in
these and other such instances, they have been produced as objects
of curiosity rather than for any commercial purpose.
In the sheep, judicious management has in the course of years
increased the growth of wool, and rendered the occurrence of hair
unusual. Wherever attention has been paid to sheep-breeding,
there a marked improvement has been manifested in the particular
direction in which the improvement has been sought, whether in
the carcase or in the fleece. The sheep produces the finest
quality of wool in the warmer temperate and sub-tropical zones
only.
i6
CHARACTERISTICS OF WOOL.
FIBRES OF FLAX, HEMP, JUTE, COTTON, AND WOOL MAGNIFIED.
Wool seems to be the only substance provided by Nature to
satisfy all conditions required for beauty and utility in clothing
the inhabitants of climates where extremes of heat and cold
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 0* WOOL. 17
prevail. There is not a single property desirable in a fabric for
human use that is not found in wool.
The engraving on the opposite page shows the contrast between
vegetable and animal fibres as seen under the microscope.
Figures i, 2, 3, 4 represent flax, jute, hemp, and cotton, and
figures 5 to 10 magnified representations of coarse long, fine Saxony,
and fine English wool, illustrating the difference of appearance.
The chemical composition of wool is as follows :
Carbon ...... 50*65
Hydrogen 7*03
Nitrogen ...... 1771
Oxygen and sulphur . . . . 24*61
M. Chevreul, after analysing Merino wool heated to dryness
above 100, found it to consist of
Earthy matter left in water with which it was washed . . 26*06
" Suint" or fat, soluble in cold water ..... 3274
Other kinds of fats 8*57
Earthy matters collected with the fat I -40
Pure wool . . .. 31*23
100*000
Sulphur is a very important element in the composition of wool,
and some close statistical calculations made, show that in the
United Kingdom as much as five millions of pounds of sulphur
are annually abstracted from the soil by the sheep. It is evident,
therefore, that in order to have healthy animals and a full produce
of wool, there must be in the soil a good supply of sulphur,
nitrogen, potash, and phosphorus, or the pasture, combined with
atmospheric influences, will not enable the animal to secrete wool
in perfection.
FOREIGN BREEDS OF SHEEP. Attention to the cultivation of
fine wool has long been paid in many countries, and has produced
the highly valued Merino breed. It has been supposed that the
female has more influence than the male on the bodily form of an
c
1 8 FOREIGN BREEDS THE MERINOES.
animal ; but the male, in sheep particularly, has been found to
give the peculiar character to the fleece. The produce of a breed
from a coarse-woolled ewe and fine-woolled ram will yield a fleece
differing only one-fourth from that of the sire. By proceeding in
the opposite direction, the wool would rapidly degenerate into its
primitive coarseness. Great care must therefore be taken to
exclude from a breeding flock any accidental varieties of coarse-
woolled rams.
Immense services were rendered by the introduction -ot the
Spanish sheep into England,* and in former times the sheep of
Northern Africa into Spain. This excellence of the Merino con-
sists in the unexampled fineness and felting property of its wool,
which in fineness and in the number of imbrications and curves
exceeds that of any other sheep the world produces.
SPANISH MERINO WOOL.
The thorough bred Negretti sheep takes a high and important
position among the Merino breed. It has a deep built barrel-like
body, powerful short legs, and compactly grown wool on the body
and legs.
As wool is the principal object in Germany, the wethers are
kept to ten and even thirteen years old, and they are then turned
into inferior mutton. The sheep are housed in stables every
* In Case 61 are samples of the early products of Merino wool and yarn in
this country in 1812 and 1829.
FOREIGN BREEDS THE MERINOES. 19
night, and carefully guarded in the daytime from the rain. Shear-
Ing takes place in May, and is done by women, who shear in a
shearing house with strong scissors. Washing is very carefully
.attended to, and is done in cold or in hot water. In cold washing
they are dipped two or three times, and then allowed to stand and
sweat to soften the dirt. They are then rubbed with the hand
and passed through clean water. In hot washing they are first
'dipped two or three times in cold water to soften the dirt, then
washed in a large tub in warm water with soap, and lastly, douched
in cold water.
The Merinoes are a highly cultivated variety. The true Merino
is of a fair size, and derives its distinguishing characteristics
from the head, horns, fleece, and general contour. The head is
very handsome, and horned in both sexes. It is Roman ; short
and broad across the poll or crown, and covered with wool over
the ears and nose. The ears are short, and the horns must
be open and wide between, well turned and marked with fine
transverse wrinkles. The nose is often pink, but is better dark.
The neck is short but full, and gains much character from the
heavy folds or wrinkles of skin which adorn both males and
females. The shoulders are very broad over the tops, and some
are apt to be high or pointed in the withers. The body is
'long, the ribs deep and well sprung; the hind quarters apt to
sink. The legs are short, and the hocks are sometimes narrow
or cat-hammed. There are also folds of skin gathered together
over the tail, giving the puckered appearance known as the
" rose."
The Hungarian Merino wool ranges from one inch to one and a
half inch in length, is of marvellous fineness, and mostly of rich
orange colour, from the grease. The colour occurs in deep bands,
which shade into a light yellow, and the samples have a rich
candied appearance, as though they had been immersed in sugary-
syrup.
The Saxon Merino sheep have been divided into Rambouillet,
C 2
20
FOREIGN BREEDS OF SHEEP.
Negretti, and Electoral, but crossing has produced many varieties.
Saxon Merino rams clip from seven and a half to fifteen pounds,
and ewes five and a half to six and three-quarter pounds of
wool/"*
The Electoral Merino is well and strongly built : the head is of
middle length and pretty broad, the neck short and fleshy, the
shoulder and rump wide, back straight, and the body round ; the
feet are firmly placed and well set. The animals have thickly set
RAMBOUILLET-NEGRETTI RAM, POMERANIA.
wool, and are remarkably well covered, especially upon the belly r
feet, and head. The wool is usually soft, of middle length, with
mild and not too rich grease.
The Zackel sheep are distributed over the mountainous regions
* In a framed case, with 24 compartments (No. 10), will be found a good
collection of Saxony wools, and another in No. 25. Case 52 contains 18
samples of fine German wools, and No. 54 samples of fine French wools and
rovings. Cases 53, 55, and 56 contain fine samples of Hungarian wools,
washed and in the grease, with locks mounted to show the staple.
AFRICAN FAT-TAILED SHEEP.
21
of Transylvania and Galicia. They represent the division of long-
woolled sheep (Ovis strepsiceros), are of various colours, and not
fixed in their character even with regard to horns ; some rams
having long horns, while others, from Galicia, are hornless. They
yield from six to eight and a half pounds of coarse unwashed
wool. It is reckoned that each season the lamb brings four
shillings, the wool four shillings, and about "fifteen pounds of
cheese gives four shillings more, making in all twelve shillings
profit.
AFRICAN FAT-TAILED SHEEP.
There is a peculiar broad-tailed sheep met with in Asia Minor
and Africa, which deserves to be incidentally noticed. In some
parts of these countries, for example, in Cappadocia or Caramania,
they have innumerable troops of sheep, which differ from those of
Europe, by having a tail which is a mass of fat, and has often to
be supported by a species of carriage. This variety has been
22 FOREIGN BREEDS OF SHEEP.
known from the time of Herodotus. From Constantinople to
Smyrna, and in all the adjacent districts, these sheep are eaten
and the tail is reckoned a peculiar delicacy. The wool, however,.
is coarse. This sheep is less common in Egypt, but is found
in many parts of South Africa, among the Dutch. In the East,.
where pork is abhorred, this tail-fat is used, instead of lard and
butter.
The sheep of the Kokan territory in Central Asia are of this,
large description, with heavy tails, which weigh, according to Mr.
Michel, from 20 to 40 Ibs. ! They require little or no tending, are
satisfied with the scantiest food, support thirst for a long time,,
and follow without fatigue the trails of their wandering proprie-
tors. Their flesh is the favourite food of rich and poor, their
milk and the cheese made from it takes the place of bread with a
large portion of the population, and their skins form the winter
garments of the people.
Our colonists in Australia and South Africa have proved the
truth of the remark of an old writer on agriculture, Fitzherbert,.
that " sheepe is the most profytablest cattell a man can have."
Previous to the year 1833 the only sheep, with few exceptions,
found in South Africa, were the broad-tailed, coarse-woolled
animal. But in that year a few Merino sheep were brought over
from Australia by a trading vessel, and were found much superior
to the fat tails, and admirably suited to the country. Now the
pure Merino, Cheviot, Escurial, and other esteemed breeds, are
commonly to be seen in all parts of the South African colonies.
The proportion of improved sheep to coarse-woolled in the Cape
Colony in 1875 was as follows : 10,064,289 fme-woolled to-
944,050 common or coarse-woolled.
THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. Wool is the second great
textile industry of this country. There are more than a quarter of
a million operatives engaged upon it in 2,500 factories ; while the
total number of persons directly dependent upon the trade may
be set down (including the factory hands) at fully 1,000,000, there
THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE.
being a larger number of dependent workers in auxiliary trades than
in connection with any other British manufacture.
We imported of Foreign Wool in 1874
Of Alpaca and Mohair .
Woollen rags to be used as Wool.
Woollen Yarn for Weaving
Our home supply of Wool is estimated at
The Skin Wool from imported sheep at .
Ibs.
338,800,481
12,200,087
57,361,920
13,114,130
160,000,000
2,400,000
Making a total of . . 583,876,618
For the wool imported we paid more than ^24,000,000 sterling.
As we re-exported only 55,300,000 Ibs. of wool and woollen
yarn, nearly 530,000,000 Ibs. of wool were worked up. It is
estimated that we use at home three-fourths of the whole manu-
factures ; therefore, as our exports of woollen and worsted manu-
factures and yarn in 1874 were of the value of over ^28,000,000,
this would bring up the aggregate value of the woollen manufac-
ture to over ; 100,000,000, but even if we assume it at ; 7 5, 000,000
it shows the importance of this great industry. The consumption
of woollen goods for personal wear cannot certainly be less than
j i per head of the population, exclusive of the many other uses
for woollen fabrics.
VALUE OF THE EXPORTS OF WOOL AND WOOLLENS FROM THE UNITED
KINGDOM IN QUINQUENNIAL PERIODS.
Year.
British Wool.
Yarn.
Woollen Manufactures.
1840
330,246
452,957
5,327,853
1845
556,339
1,066,925
7,693,117
1850 | 623,915
1,451,642
8,588,690
1855 i 986,523
2,026,095
7,718,374
1860 ! 877,082
3,578,088
12,158,710
1865
901,660
5,no,474
20,141,415
1870
575,583
4,994,249
21,664,953
1875*
928,264
5,099,307
19,406,336
* The value of our exports of woollen manufactures and yarn in 1875 was
nearly 4,000,000 less than in 1874, owing to the dulness of trade generally.
QUALITIES OF SHEEP'S WOOL. 25
SHEEP'S WOOL. There are two broadly distinguished classes
of wools that enter into commerce, fleece wools and skin wools.
The first are obtained by the annual shearing of the sheep, the
last are those cut or pulled from slaughtered animals, which,
having been subjected to lime, are characterised by their harsh-
ness, weakness, and incapacity of taking a good dye, especially
if the animal has perished from any malignant disease.
A knowledge of the qualities of wool is very essential to those
engaged in the wool trade, which now forms an enormous busi-
ness, nearly all concentrated in London.*
The fineness of wool is in direct relation to the thickness of
the skin ; the less thick the skin the finer is the wool which it
secretes. But it is extremely difficult to obtain this product at
the same time in large quantity, and also equally difficult in the
Merino race of large size and great weight, to find the skin as fine
as in smaller sheep. In increasing by an abundance of food the
-size of a given race, we increase at .the same time the dimensions
-of the skin, as much as we thicken the surface.
The several qualities of wool are estimated with consider-
able accuracy by the cloth manufacturer, the wool sorter, and
wool broker, who, by multiplied trials, have become experienced
* The collection of raw wools in the Museum is very large and extensive in
its range. Attention may be specially drawn to the following among numerous
-other samples :
11. A series, in 330 bottles, of European, Asiatic, Australasian, African,
and American wools, obtained from time to time at the various International
"Exhibitions, and from other sources.
On the east wall
12 to 24. Thirteen frames of sheep's and goat's wool from North America.
30. Samples of fine sheep's and Angora goat's wool from the Cape Colony.
31. Frame with fine wools from South Australia, accompanied with photo-
graphs of the sheep.
Case 49. Samples of wool from Iceland and Madeira.
Case 51. Eighteen samples of fine wool.
Case 57. Illustrations of Smith's chemical process for cleansing burry, or foul
wools.
26
QUALITIES OF SHEEP'S WOOL.
in discovering, by the touch, minute differences quite imperceptible
to common observers, and not even appreciable under the
microscope.
The finest quality of wool is found upon the spine, from the
neck to within six inches of the tail, including one-third of the
breadth of the back or saddle. The second quality covers the
flanks, and extends from the thighs to the shoulders. The third
covers the neck and rump ; and the fourth lies upon the lower
part of the neck and the breast down to the feet, also upon a
DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF WOOL FOUND ON THE SHEEP.
part of the shoulders and the thighs to the bottom of the hind
quarters. This is the Spanish and German classification, and is
shown by the figures on the sheep above. Case 48 in the Col-
lection may also be consulted.
A broad distinction is made in wools, which are divided by
the trade into long or combing wools, applicable for stuffs and
worsted goods, and short or clothing wools for cloth manufacture.
The former are, however, again sub-divided into wools of from,
CLASSIFICATION OF SHEEP'S WOOL. 27
four to seven inches in length, used for hosiery and some other
purposes, and those above that length used principally for coarse
worsted goods. Specimens of the spinning processes of worsted
yarns are well worth notice, showing that 89,000 yards may be
spun to the pound weight, which is a great effort for worsted
yarn.
In Germany the sheep are sorted and classed according to the
fineness, length, and thick growth of the wool, and the following
points are considered important :
Strength of Fibre. This is indicated by the amount of grease
in the wool plenty of grease indicating strength. This exists in
three forms : soft or liquid, which again may be a rich yellow or
white ; middle fat, yellow and white and, lastly, brown stiff fat,
yellow and white. Of these, the oily or liquid grease is considered
best in Germany, while in Hungary the middle fat is more suitable
to the climate.
Fineness. The wool should be equally fine over the whole
body, but a coarser quality may be expected on the top of the
shoulders and rump, and a weaker quality on the belly. It is.
with regard to fineness that the usual continental classification of
Prima, Elector, Super, &c., is made. The finest samples of wool
are usually not more than two finger-breadths in length ; but the
length of wool varies from one to about four finger-breadths. The
Prussian and French Rambouillet are longer woolle'd than the
Hungarian Merino.*
Curl. This is important, and refers to the minute bends or
crimps which are seen in each hair ; a long, straight, plain wave
in the fibre, as in B. (illustration page 28), is not liked, neither is
an abrupt close wave which folds back upon itself, as in C. The
best and most approved curl, that which gives spring and elasticity,.
as well as preserves the strength of the wool, may be described
as a minute and regular serration, and is shown by the line
marked A.
* Report upon the Vienna International Exhibition, 1873.
28 QUALITIES OF SHEEP S WOOL.
Thickness. This quality refers to the thickness of the wool
upon the skin, and is closely connected with the presence of
those wrinkles so characteristic of the Merino sheep. Large folds
of skin appear about the neck, and just above the tail in the true
Merino, and especially in the rams. Young lambs, however, show
the same peculiarity ; and while, the wool is short, similar but
smaller wrinkles over the entire body. The whole skin is com-
pletely furrowed with these wrinkles, and, consequently, the wool-
bearing surface is rendered very large. It is considered in Austria
a point of excellence when these wrinkles are numerous, but in
Saxony a different taste prevails. The wool on the summit ot
ABC
CRIMPS OF THE FIBRE OF MERINO WOOL.
folds seen about the neck is a little coarse, but as the area is small,
this is not allowed to be a fault, only a character. A pure
Merino sheep will carry from 40,000 to 48,000 wool fibres on a
single square inch of skin.
The closure of the stubble, or outer surface of the fleece, is
very important, for, if the fleece is loose and open, dust and
dirt find their way into the wool. The closure is effected by
the abundance of the fat, which rises to the surface of the fleece,
and then mats the ends of the wool-fibres together, forming
-a] compact protection to the fine wool beneath. This is further
SKILFUL EXAMINATION OF WOOL.
29
added to by dust, which adheres to the grease, and makes
that firm black limit to the fleece always observable in the
Merino. The hand passes over the stubble as over a sort of
scale armour, and when pressed the springiness of the wool is.
at once perceived.
Opening a fleece for purposes of inspection is to be done with,
BLUMEN, OR FLOWER, IN MERINO FLEECE.
knowledge, and indicates at once whether the operator is at home
with his subject. Grasping the points of the fibres with both
hands, the inspector parts the wool and discloses the beautiful
white or rich yellow, or orange : coloured wool below, and then
closes up the fleece again without allowing any of the stubble
ends to find their way down into the clean wool. The accom-
panying sketches illustrate the effect, which is very striking, when-
30 APPEARANCE OF GOOD AND BAD WOOL.
a fleece is opened, and also what is called the " Blumen " or
"(lower (see p. 29), when the wool is made to open like a cup and
exhibit its rich yellow and white colouring right down to the skin,
reminding the observer of a fine lily.
SECTION OF STUBBLE.
WELL CLOSED STUBBLE.
BADLY CLOSED STUBBLE.
A well closed stubble has the ends of the wool gathered into
large masses, and has as few openings or crevices into the fleeces
as possible. It is called a bad stubble when only a few fibres are
caked together, giving the appearance of small dots instead of
large bold blotches.
Growth. The wool must be equally grown over the carcase.
It must be equal in length on back and sides and belly.
BRITISH CLASSIFICATION OF WOOL. 31
The head must be woolled down to the nose and over the
entire ears, and the legs must be clothed with wool down to
the hoofs. Fine wrinkles on the horns are looked for in select-
ing rams.
On British sheep-runs there is some little difference in the
classification, as the following remarks will show. The qualities
considered most valuable in regard to the fleece are fineness,
fulness, freeness, soundness, length, and softness.
1. Fineness of the fibre of the wool can be judged of by
practice, when a lock of it is laid on the cuff of a coat of a dark
colour. A deficiency in this quality will show itself by an abrupt
falling off in fineness, either in the neck or breech of the animal, or
in both. The difference in fineness between these parts and the
rest of the fleece should be so gradual as to be almost imper-
ceptible. No hair must be anywhere visible on the animal,
especially under the forelegs.
2. Fulness means the closeness with which the staples or locks
of wool grow together on the skin. Upon opening the wool of a
sheep possessing this quality in perfection, only a thin line of
skin, as fine as a pencil stroke, will appear round each staple, but
if deficient, a space almost bare. Some of the German sheep, as
shown in the illustration of the Negretti Merino ram (p. 32), have
great rolls or puckers of skin under their necks or on other parts,
which give them a singular appearance, but the extent of wool-
bearing surface is thereby increased.
3. Freeness means that the separate fibres of each staple are
distinct, and by no means entangled together, or what is called
" smushy," like cotton wool. A deficiency in this quality shows
itself most plainly along the ridge of the back. In a well-bred
sheep the wool on being opened should fall apart under the hands
as clear and broken as the leaves of a book.
4. Soundness or strength of fibre. Along the ridge of the back
there is a sort of division between the wool of each side. Tender-
ness, that is, deficiency in soundness, invariably shows itself there.
32 BRITISH CLASSIFICATION OF WOOL.
Take out a staple from this part, and give it a strong steady pull,
holding one end in each hand. If this proves sound, depend
upon it that the whole fleece is so too. This is an indispensable
quality in a combing wool, as there should be an absence of
breaches or withered portions.
5. Length of fibre must be carefully regulated by the nature of
the pasture and climate ; for any the least excess, will cause a.
NEGRETTI MERI.NO RAM.
proportionate deficiency in soundness, by which the wool will be
depreciated for clothing, and rendered useless for combing. To
judge of the length of the staple in a fleece, the best part to
examine is the division along the ridge of the back, as it is there
usually somewhat shorter than in other parts.
6. Softness sufficiently explains itself. A want of this quality is
most conspicuous between the points of the shoulders and up the
neck. Harsh wiry wool is more brittle, and suffers greater injury
than soft wool in the various operations.
The way then to judge wool on a sheep's bar.k, if it is really a
BRITISH CLASSIFICATION Of WOOL. 33
fine wool, is, first to examine the shoulders as the part where the
finest and best wool is usually found. This we take as the
standard, and compare it with the wool from the rib, the thigh, the
rump, and the shoulder parts, and the nearer the wool from the
various portions of the animal approaches the standard, the
better.
First, we scrutinise the fineness, and if the result is satisfactory,
we pronounce the fleece in respect to fineness very " even." Next,
we inquire into the length of the staple, and if we find that the
wool on the ribs and back approximates reasonably in length to
that of our standard, we again declare the sheep, as regards
length of staple, true and even. We next desire to satisfy our-
selves of the density of the fleece, and we do this by closing the
hand upon a portion of the rump and of the loin wool ^the fleece
at these points being usually the thinnest and most faulty and
if this again gives satisfaction, we signify the fact by designating
the wool " even " as respects density.
Now to summarise these separate examinations : If you find
the fleece of nearly equal fineness from the shoulder to the thigh,
of nearly equal length on shoulder, rib, thigh, and back, and of like
density on shoulder and across the loins, you may conclude that
you have a perfect sheep for producing valuable wool. A com-
parison of these two lists of desiderata, British and Continental,
will enable a fair judgment to be formed of the quality of wool.
In the examination of wool the following points have also to be
considered : the degree of imbrication of the surface as shown by
the microscope ; the quantity of fibre developed in a given space
of fleece; the freedom of the. fleece from burrs and other foreign
matters ; the skill and care employed in the scouring and other
processes of preparation.
"Kempy" wool is objectionable, and the term means the pre-
sence of short white hairs at the roots of the staple, which
never take the dye, and disfigure all goods into which they are
introduced. The hairy East Indian wool that is usually grown
34 KEMPY OR HAIRY WOOLS.
near the tropics, has a tendency to be burry and scurfy, with a
slight mixture of grey hairs.
EAST liNDIAN WOOL.
There is, perhaps, no defect which renders wool, and otherwise
good wool too, so absolutely useless for manufacturing, and
especially for combing purposes, as tenderness and breechiness.
This fault, which causes the staple to be tender, arises from the
destructive effects of drought, cold, or other climatic causes, which
check the growth of the grasses and deprive the sheep of their
necessary regular supply of food. But nothing is so sure to cause
a break in wool, and in many sheep a perfect stripping or shedding
of the entire fleece, as want of water.
It is not only important that wools should be free from the
defects above described, but it is desirable that the whole of the
various parts of the fleece should have, as nearly as possible, a
uniformity of character, that is, as regards fineness, length of
staple, density, and softness.
The illustration on the opposite page represents the different
characters of the wools chiefly utilised : No. i being Cape sheep's
wool, No. 2 Spanish Merino, No. 3 Southdown, No. 4 Camel's
hair, No. 5 Mohair, or fine goat's wool, No. 6 Alpaca, No. 7
Llama, No. 8 that of the Yak.
In sorting wool for market, the fleeces should not be broken,
but merely divested of the breech and stained locks, and assorted
VARIETIES OF WOOL.
35
or arranged so that each bale or package may contain fleeces of
the same character as to colour, length of staple, fineness of wool,
and general quality.
VARIETIES OF WOOL AS SEEN UNDER THE MICROSCOPE.
The wool from different parts of the same fleece is of various
qualities, yet so sensitive by use do the fingers of the expe-
rienced stapler become, that it is with surprising rapidity he sepa-
rates the masses before him into ten, twelve, or more kinds, taking
due cognisance of the strength, cleanliness, regularity, colour, and
softness of each. The fleece is sorted into combing and clothing
wools, and broken fleece, or " pieces and locks."
In dividing and stapling, the fleece is spread by the fellmonger
and laid on the sorting board, sheared side down. To the un-
accustomed eye it looks a fleece of wool, all of one colour and
quality, but to the sorter the different qualities are widely distinct.
He breaks the skirts for one sort, the flank for another, the middle
of the back and fore shoulders for another; and when the sheep
D 2
36 TECHNICAL NAMES OF WOOL.
has been crossed too broadly between coarse and fine, takes out
the coarse piece which remains on the upper part of the neck,
running up between the ears.
The classification terms and names for these several kinds of
wool vary in different localities.
The following are the Yorkshire terms for " clothing " sorts, the
first four being the choicest.
1. Finest picklocks.
2. Prime and pick.
3. Choice.
4. Super.
5. Headwool.
6. Downrights.
7. Seconds, from the throat and
breast.
8. Abb, or an inferior sort.
9. Long livery, coarse belly
wool.
10. Livery.
11. Grey.
12. Short coarse, from the
breech.
The classification of the woolstapler is, to a certain extent,
founded upon the difference of quality of wool arising from the
parts of the body whence it is obtained; for example, that
on the sides of the neck and shoulders, the ribs and back, is, as
has been already stated, the finest part of the fleece ; and next to
this comes that which covers the thighs. But difference of race
has also to do with the classification, for the wool on the breast
of one sheep may be equal to that on the back of another ; hence
it is often not so much the object to separate the wools of the
different parts of the body, as to put all the wool which may be
adapted for one particular purpose by itself. A good fleece would
generally come under the first four divisions, although portions
might even belong to the sixth or seventh.
The deep " combing" sorts of wool are thus classed :
Long coarse.
Say cast.
Lusty.
Long Neate.
Long Drawing.
Fine Drawing.
Country Long Drawing.
Country Fine Drawing.
The following is the subdivision of a Southdown " tegg " fleece
SHEEP SHEARING. 37
(that is the first shearing) weighing 6 Ib. 12 oz., separated into
eight qualities.
I. Super wool, I oz. ; used for flannels, blankets, hats, tweeds, and coarse
cloths.
. 2. Livery wool, I oz. ; for low cloths, as prison, army, navy, and workhouse
cloths.
3. Grey wool, 2\ oz. ; used for the same purposes, and hat making.
4. Prime white wool, 5f oz. ; used for cloth of all kinds, the best blankets,
flannels, tweeds, shawls, Cobourgs, &c.
5. Choice wool, 2 oz. ; used for flannels, cloths, blankets, tweeds, and
shawls.
6. Pick tegg wool, I Ib. 7 oz. ; used for tweeds, shawls, and blankets.
7. Super tegg, 6j oz. ; for fringe and hosiery, yarns, and coach lace.
8. Lbng wool, 3 Ib. 8 oz. ; used in yarns, fringes, shawls, blankets, &c.
The skin wools, or those from the slaughter-houses, have other
curious terms, as lusty, kindly, ordinary, broad head, pick-lock
head.
The wool of the lamb is generally softer than that of the sheep
from the same flock, and as it has the felting quality in a high
degree, is much used in the hat manufacture for the foundation
or conical cap. The wool of lambs that have died a natural
death possesses less of this felting property, and is employed for
flannels and lambs'-wool hosiery. Young sheep's wool, and all
long-grown staple wools, are bought by those who comb them
for bombazines, camlets, etc. The short-stapled and weak-grown
old sheep's wool can only be used by manufacturers of broad-
cloths and fancy goods.
The great thing for promoting the growth of good sound wool is
regular and generous feeding of the sheep, which insures a good
supply of yolk, without which the wool would not possess elas-
ticity, strength, softness, etc.
SHEEP SHEARING. In our pastoral colonies, and in countries
where large flocks of sheep are kept, the task of shearing is an
important one. For instance, in the single colony of New South
Wales, it was stated that in 1875, 25,000,000 sheep had to be
sheared, yielding approximatively 125,000,000 Ibs. of wool, and
38 WOOL WASHING.
valuing this at is. per lb., it would amount to six and a quarter mil-
lions of pounds sterling. The cost of shearing this vast lot of sheep
at 2 os. per hundred about the average price would be ^250,000,
and that of transmitting the wool to the seaport for exportation
may be set down at about the same figure. Without going into
more minute details, if we estimate the value of the wool clip of
New South Wales for 1876 at six and a quarter millions sterling,
and assign 25 per cent, of that amount as expenses incurred
by the wool-grower from the time the sheep enters the wool shed
to be shorn (this is the estimated cost in the working of a wool
station) until the net proceeds are in the wool-grower's bank, there
will be disbursed^ i, 5 6 2, 500. That sum would go in shearing,
carriage to seaport and to London, commission, brokerage, &c.
Every year Australian wool is increasing in quantity and rising in
quality, so that at the close of 1880, New South Wales ought to
have at least 30,000,000 of sheep, which, with horned cattle and
horses, would approximately represent in money value upwards of
^50,000,000 sterling.
WOOL WASHING. Wool is sent to market in two forms, either
in the grease or scoured ; some manufacturers prefer to buy the
former kind and wash or scour it themselves.
The great object to be obtained in washing wool is not only to
make it white, but to render it bright. After washing the sheep
with soft soap and warm water, avoiding all alkalies, which destroy
the fibre (make it harsh and dry, " work unkindly," as the manu-
facturers term it), the fleece when squeezed by the hand should
puff out again, not feeling sticky, and should glisten in the sun
with a peculiar brilliancy ; if too little yolk, or natural grease, is
left in the wool, it will be wanting in softness ; if too much, it will
become sticky, and after a time turn yellow. The desirableness
of this brilliancy in the wool is, that French manufacturers of
merinoes, de laines, and other light textile fabrics, will give ex-
treme prices for it, for only this bright wool will take delicate dyes.
Machinery is now applied for washing fleece and skin wool.
4o SHEEP WASHING.
The ordinary process of washing wool is pretty familiar to most
persons interested in that branch of industry, but the introduction
of simple and effective mechanical appliances has thrown the
former primitive method into the background.
The centrifugal pump of Messrs. Easton and Anderson (p. 41)
is now much used in the Australian colonies for spout washing.
The apparatus is extremely simple, and consists of an iron tank
mounted on a framing about eight feet from the ground, kept
supplied with clean water by a centrifugal pump, driven by a
portable engine. The tank is fitted with mouth-pieces, which are
under control, and supply a torrent of water as required.
Another tank of wood, or any convenient material, about three
feet deep, built in the ground, partly filled with water, is the
" soaking " tank. The water in this tank is kept at about 69 deg,
of temperature, and this is regulated by a steam pipe from the
portable engine. The plan of proceeding is as follows :
The sheep are placed in the soaking tank and rubbed over.
The warm water softens all the dirt in the wool. The sheep are
then handled under one of the " torrents " from the upper tank,
and the loose dirt is effectually washed away.
So speedy is the process that three sheep may be washed in
two minutes, and so effectually that the value of the wool in the
London market is very much increased. The waste in the soak-
ing tank is about one gallon for each sheep.
It should be observed that the cost of the apparatus is the only
outlay, no expensive material being used in the washing.
By a new chemical process, the sheep-skins in the tanyards are
now stripped of their wool in an astonishingly rapid and effective
manner, and the whole process, from the introduction of the raw
skin into the place, to the dispatch of the well pressed bale, is
interesting, from the clean, regular system in force.
A most ingenious pulling machine has been invented for clear-
ing the wool off the skins. It is composed of a large revolving
drum, driven by a belt, the motive power being steam. The
42 FELTING PROPERTY OF WOOL.
drum takes two skins at a time, and presses them under a nicely
adjusted knife, which does its work most efficiently at the rate of
300 per day, or as much as six men could do in the same time.
Moreover, the pelt is in no way damaged, and the appliance
requires only the attention of two boys, who can stop the move-
ment in an instant.
Wool and hair can be felted, that is, made into a dense and
compact cloth, without the intervention of the processes of
spinning or weaving. So great is this tendency that in a flock
bed the carded wool, of which it is made, is constantly felting
itself into lumps, and from time to time the bed requires to be
taken to pieces, that the wool may be carded afresh. This
felting property of wool and certain kinds of hairs, is caused by
the peculiarity in the structure already mentioned ; the filaments
are notched or jagged at the edges, the teeth or imbrications
invariably pointing upward, that is from the root to the point, so
that the fibres, when subjected to gentle friction, move in one
direction only, and consequently mat together and form the kind
of cloth called felt. This felting property of wool is greatly
assisted by the peculiar crimp in the fibre, which it retains with
great pertinacity, so that if drawn out straight it immediately con-
tracts again on being released; thus the forward motion of the fibre
under friction is partly counteracted or converted into a circular
or zigzag movement, which is precisely that which most com-
pletely effects the matting together of the various fibres.
Wool in the yolk, that is with the natural grease adhering to it,
cannot be felted, the roughness of the fibre being in that case
smoothed over by the oil ; were it otherwise the wool would felt
on the sheep's back and be comparatively useless.
For manufacturing, it is necessary to remove all the animal oil
in order that the wool may take colour in dyeing; whilst a Cotswold
fleece will lose in scouring but 1 8 or 20 per cent, some Merinoes
will shrink 70 per cent. One great reason why the English and
German woollen manufacturers beat the Americans in the bright-
GREASE IN WOOL. 43
ness of colour and beauty of finish of their goods is, because they
use more washed wool and less of the greasy wool.
The fleece of the Merino is so compact on the animal that the
grease or yolk does not escape, but is condensed in the wool and
produces a gum which is impervious to moisture, and while it
protects the carcase from rain, its compactness causes all the
more perspiration, which is produced at the expense of the food
consumed.
The quantity of suint or yolk varies in different wools according
to their fineness, in about the following ratio per cent. :
Fine Saxon Electoral wool 80
French fine wools of Brie . . . . .. 60 to 75
Merino wool ........ 66
Common wools, rarely less than ..... 20
CHAPTER II.
Treats of the several uses of Sheep skins, describes the woollen, worsted,
shoddy, carpet, felt, and other British manufactures of wool, and
gives the latest official statistics ; proceeds on to the Goat tribe,
from which we obtain skins, the materials for the principal glove
manufacture, mohair, Cashmere shawls, and other useful pro-
ducts j and then follows on with details of the Alpaca, Llama, and
Camel, and their various uses to Man, for their hair, flesh, and as
beasts of burden y with full statistical information relating to the
animals, and their manufactiired products.
SHEEP-SKINS. There is an extensive use of sheep and lamb-
skins for different purposes. About 17,000,000 are obtained
annually from home-slaughtered animals, and 10,000,000 more
imported from abroad. They are usually split into two portions,
known respectively as " skivers " and " fleshes," the former being
the grain side ; the unsplit skins are termed " roans." *
Sheep-skins form a large item in the commerce of the Cape Colony.
The shipments there now reach about 1,500,000 skins annually.
It is chiefly, however, the indigenous or half-bred sheep that
are killed, the Merinoes being more valuable to keep for their
wool.
The manufacturers of boots and shoes consume large quantities
of sheep-skins for linings, toppings, etc. Roans are also finished to
* In frames hung on the raised divisional partitions will be found a series
of samples, furnished by Messrs. Bevington and Sons, of some of the uses of
sheep skins tanned, for coloured roans, furniture morocco, hard and cross-
grained morocco, hand-grained skivers, hatters' skivers, coloured calf, grained
sheep, hard and cross-grained sheep, glazed sheep, cross-grained sheep, cross-
grained and glazed sheep. The whole process of preparing and tanning
sheep skins is also shown in a series of large photographs of the various
departments in the Bermondsey tannery of that firm.
SHEEP SKINS. 45
imitate goat-skin morocco to a considerable extent. Bookbinders
use very much imitation morocco made from skivers, and so closely
does this resemble the real article that, when on the book, it takes
a good judge to detect the difference ; " fleshes " are employed
in the manufacture of blank books, and for other purposes, where
strength rather than superior finish is desirable. Sheepskins are
also used by trunk and bag makers, saddlers, pocket-book manu-
facturers, jewel-case makers, hatters, organ and other musical
instrument makers, upholsterers, glovers, suspender manufac-
turers, druggists and perfumers, etc. In England quantities of
fleshes are manufactured and sold as "chamois skins." The glove
manufacturers are also large consumers of fleshes, having them
dressed in oil and finished to imitate buck or deerskins.
Sheep-skin mats are prepared by stretching the fresh skin, well
furnished with a coat of wool, with the wool side down, by means
of tacks at the edges, and then rubbing the skin over with a pow-
dered mixture of equal parts of common salt and alum repeating
the operation twice afterwards on the two following days. It
should remain exposed to the air, but not to the sun, till well
dried. When skins are " tawed " with the wool on, as for mats
and rugs, they are doubled with their wool side inward, so as to
expose only the flesh side to the alum mixture.
"Slink" lamb-skins are called in Persia Karpak. They are
greatly prized, and fetch as much as seven pounds for ten or a
dozen skins. These skins are obtained by causing the ewes to
bring forth prematurely, which is managed as follows : The ewes,
when within a month of lambing, are driven out two miles or so
on a cold night, and are brought back suddenly into a very warm
stable. The violent change of temperature causes the ewes to
bring forth, and the skins of the lambs thus born are those which
are so highly prized. A hat made from these skins will sell for < r -
n early .10, and in such a hat only the prime parts of the
choicest skins will be used.
In some northern countries the ewe is killed purposely to
46 THE WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE.
obtain this fine skin wool from the unborn lamb, in order to be
made into glove linings and for saddle covers, &c.
The Russian, Astracan, Hungarian, and Spanish lamb skins
are remarkably fine.* The grey and black Russian lamb-skins are
mostly used for cloak and coat linings, collars, caps, &c. The
Astracan lamb has a rich, glossy, black skin, with short fur, having
the appearance of watered silk. The Astracan lamb-skins used
to be much in demand in China, as many as 1,750,000 having
been shipped via Kiachta in some years ; now scarcely 100,000
are sent yearly. The Hungarian lamb-skin is used in that
country in immense numbers ; of it is made the national coat.
In summer the woolly part is worn outside, in winter inside.
They are often highly decorated. The Spanish lambs furnish
the well-known short jackets of the country. <
WOOLLEN MANUFACTURE. The Woollen Manufacture begins
with the stapler, who buys the wool of the farmer or wool-broker,
and ends with the merchant. It is divided into three principal
processes, which are again subdivided. t
First there is what is called the Manufacturer ;
Secondly, the Finisher ; and
Thirdly, the Rag Grinder.
The first manufactures the raw material into cloth.
The second finishes it, and gives it its appearance as it is ordi-
narily worn.
The third takes the manufacture of the two former processes,
when thrown aside by the wearer, cuts it into patches, which he
forcibly tears asunder into woolly fibres, and then remodels this
again into the raw material known as shoddy, to be once more
used by the manufacturer.
And of so much consequence is this last process to the trader,
* Samples of these will be found in Case 97.
+ The whole stages of progress of the woollen manufacture, the various kinds
of woollen goods, and the shoddies, are all shown in the Animal Products
Collection cf the Bethnal Green Museum.
SHODDY WOOL. 47
that there are machines in Yorkshire capable in full work of pro-
ducing 50,000,000 Ibs. of raw material per annum, or (upon the
average of 61bs. to the fleece) of adding to the annual stock of wool
the fleeces of more than 8,000,000 sheep. Besides tearing up the
old worn garments at home, we also import annually 57,000,000 Ibs.
of foreign woollen rags to be thus torn up and reworked.
The object of the shoddy manufacture is to supply cheap and
economical clothing to all, especially to the working and poorer
classes. This is effected by utilising materials which previously
were considered almost valueless. Shoddy cloth is generally used
for winter wear. The raw material employed in its production is
shoddy or mungo, in combination with wool, noils, or waste.
Rarely is any cloth made of shoddy alone. The chief seat of this
important and flourishing business is Batley. It is also extensively
carried on at Dewsbury, and prevails in the district generally.
Shoddy is " rag wool," or wool produced from rags. The rags are
ground or torn up into " wool " or " flock " by a cylinder set with
sharp iron teeth, and revolving at a rapid rate. Shoddy is the
produce of what are termed " soft rags," such as cast-off woollen
stockings, flannels, shawls, carpets, stuffs, &c. ; mungo, that of
cloth of a finer texture, such as dress coats, tailors' clippings, &c.
These are ground up in the same way as the old stockings and
flannels, but they require a finer set cylinder and a little different
treatment. The rags are obtained from everywhere, being col-
lected by bagmen, marine store dealers, &c., and thus heaps are
accumulated. The leading provincial towns furnish considerable
quantities, but London is the great depot. Rags are received, too,
from foreign parts, especially from the Continent. A very large
quantity was formerly imported from Germany ; but they are now
mostly ground up there, reaching this country in the form of
shoddy and mungo. Shoddy varies largely in value ; some
varieties are sold at under \d. per lb., others at 9^. or lod.
per lb., according to colour, quantity, and staple. Mungo varies
still more, namely, from id. or i \d. per lb. to 2od. and upwards.
48 DIVISIONS OF THE WOOLLEN TRADE.
The average price of shoddy is probably about 4^. per Ib. ; that
of mungo about 6d. The sheep's wool required in the manufacture
differs greatly in price ; ranging from shearlings at 4^. and coarse
Scotch at 6d. per Ib., to fine Australian at 2s. 6d. and upwards.
Noils and waste are obtained principally from Bradford, where
spinning and power-loom waste are produced in considerable
quantities, and though a refuse in the Bradford trade, serves a
useful purpose in the shoddy manufactures. The price of shoddy
cloths vary in price according to weight and width, from is. to 12.$-.
per yard. There is a collection of shoddy and mungo ranged in
1 02 bottles near the wools, and they are also shown with the cloth
made from them in the Waste Products Collection.
Another use for waste wool is to grind up very fine, and, when
dyed of various brilliant colours, it is sifted or powdered over
fresh-varnished paper-hangings, to which it adheres, forming the
elegant velvet or flock papers imitating figured tapestries and
stuffs. A collection of bottles of these " flocks " is placed on
shelves near the shoddies on the south side of the gallery.
Three great divisions of the trade are commonly recognised
the manufacture of Woollen cloth, of Worsted or stuff fabrics, and
of Hosiery. The chief districts in which they are carried on are as
follows : Woollen cloth in Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset,
and Wilts ; stuffs or worsted at Bradford, Halifax, York, Leeds,
Worcester, and Norfolk ; hosiery in Leicestershire ; woollen yarn
in Lancashire, Derby, and Yorkshire. Besides which carpets are
made at Kidderminster, Wilton, and Axminster, and tweeds,
plaids, and woollen shawls in Scotland.*
* In Cases 50, 58, 59, and 60 will be found an instructive series of samples,
showing the several stages of preparation from the raw material to the yarn
dyed and undyed, and the finished cloth. In Cases 62 to 67 are samples of
broad cloth, livery, and other woollen fabrics, and the various fancy woollen
goods made in different foreign countries. Case 75 is devoted to flannels,
machine blankets, and roller cloths, which are exported to the value of about
; i, 500,000. Case 47 shows the wool sorted into classes for this purpose.
Case 77 contains ruggings, coverlets, and wrappers, which we ship to the
THE WORSTED AND CARPET MANUFACTURES. 49
WORSTED MANUFACTURE. The term "Worsted Stuffs" is
applied to those manufactures into the composition of which
wool enters that has undergone the processes of combing, and
includes those fabrics in which cotton and silk are combined with
combed wool. The name " Worsted " is derived from a village
in Norfolk where these goods were first produced. These fabrics
are carefully to be distinguished from woollen cloths, the chief
characteristic being, that they undergo the well-known process of
" felting " or " fulling." Though for some centuries the worsted
manufacture had its chief seat in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex, it has
now obtained a remarkable concentration in the West Riding of
Yorkshire, the town of Bradford being the principal centre.
The latest official returns give 630 factories engaged on the
worsted trade in the kingdom. These employ 111,000 opera-
tives, and have 2,160,000 spindles and 65,000 power looms.
Of the total yearly value of the worsted manufactures produced
it is impossible to form anything more than an approximate
estimate. The export of worsted goods, mixed and unmixed, has
in some late years reached a value of nearly ^2 1,000,000, and the
exports may be roughly taken at from one-half to three-fourths
of the whole production. When we compare the value of the
exports of worsted stuffs in 1855, the sum being then under
^4, ooo, ooo, the enormous advance made in the worsted industry
of the country is evident.
CARPET MANUFACTURE. Another branch of the woollen trade
value of 250, ooo. Case 68, mixed tweeds and ribbed cloths, and Case 76,
Scotch Tartans. Case 80, woollen mantillas, sashes, scarfs, &c., made in Spain.
Case 91, fine woollen and mixed fabrics for ladies' dresses. Case 81 contains
Barege and other woollen shawls, made for the Great Exhibition of 1851,
which are characterised by their elegance of design, variety of patterns, and
excellence of manufacture, for which the town of Paisley is noted. Case 82
contains white and grey woollen yarn, and specimens of under-clothing and
hosiery. Case 79, illustrations of the process of combing wool and yarn of
different degrees of fineness. Case 81, a lady's boa made of fleecy wool from
Thanet. No. 69 is a large embroidery picture representing the Lord's Supper,
showing the use of Berlin wool.
E
50 THE GOAT TRIBE.
may be studied, that of carpets, of which there are numerous
illustrations of the stages of progress and the varieties of fabrics
in Cases 71, 72, and 73. The more general use of carpets at
home and abroad has given a great impetus to the carpet trade ;
the demand both for home use and export having greatly increased.
Twenty years ago we only exported carpets of the value of less
than ^500,000, now the shipments of carpets reach a value of
; i, 500,000, and those used at home must be fully double tha t
value or more. The long combed wool is principally used for
Brussels and the finer kinds of carpeting; while carded wool
is employed for Scotch, Kidderminster, or common carpets.
Brussels carpeting has for its basis a warp and woof of strong
linen thread. Tapestry and other common carpets have a back-
ing of yarn made of cotton waste.
There are several other varieties of carpets made ; Kidderminster
is the chief seat of the manufacture, but Halifax, Durham, with
Kilmarnock, Dundee, and other towns in Scotland now compete.
Druggets or felt and jute carpets have become an important
item in the trade.
The manufacture of carpets is now principally effected by
means of machinery : hand-loom Jacquard weaving having been
almost entirely superseded by steam-power weaving.
Leaving now the consideration of the Sheep, we pass on to notice
some other wool-bearing animals and their commercial products.
THE GOAT TRIBE.
ANGORA GOATS. An important wool-bearing animal of com-
merce is the Asiatic goat, which, unlike the common goat, has a
long and silky white fleece, that is in great demand both locally
and for export, and passes here under the name of " Mohair."
Twenty years ago there was a fine flock of 200 Angora goats
in Spain, kept in the mountains of the Escurial, belonging to the
State, and there are now many hundreds owned by private indi-
viduals there.
MOHAIR, OR GOATS' WOOL. 51
When some bales of this goat's wool were first shipped to
England from Turkey in 1820, the article was so little appre-
ciated that it brought only tenpence per pound, but the demand
has been annually increasing, and it now fetches 35. 6d. per pound.
'Our yearly imports of goat's wool average 7,000,000 pounds, of
the value of about ^1,000,000.*
Its chief value depends on the length and fineness of the
staple, its bright and silky appearance, and its softness. It is
extensively spun into yarns in Yorkshire, and the finer sorts are
^ised in great quantities at Lyons in the manufacture of lace, and
an the German States for dress goods and shawls.
MOHAIR, OR GOAT'S WOOL.
The Cashmere, Persian, Angora, and Circassian goats are one
and the same animal, changed in some respects by altitude,
though but little by latitude. They abound in the inaccessible
regions of those countries, and are the flesh, milk, cheese and
butter-yielding and wool-furnishing animal of the whole country.
They are finely developed for the table, much disposed to fatten,
with very white and beautiful long fine wool or curly hair, the
fleece weighing, in different districts, from two to three and a half
pounds. The larger Kurdish goat with black wool has a more
extensive range than the white goat, which is better known by the
name of the town which is the centre of its range Angora.
* Cases 89 and 90 contain samples of Cashmere and Angora wool, and other
kinds of goats' hair ; and Cases 88, 91, 92, and 93, fabrics made of it.
E 2
52 ANGORA GOATS.
The Angora goat, although originally confined to a limited
district, has now been transported to and reared successfully in
many other countries. The fleece is locally called "tiftek." After
the goats have completed their second year, they are clipped
annually in April or May, and yield progressively until they attain
full growth, from one to three pounds. The process is perfectly
simple, the fleece being of pretty uniform quality, and, unlike the
Thibet or Cashmere goats, which have a downy covering on the
pelt, with long coarse hairs at the top, the separation of which is
both tedious and expensive, the Angora goat's wool is packed
and shipped as it comes from the animal.
A serious drawback to the development of the trade in goats*
hair is the determined dishonesty of the native graziers and
dealers, who persist in drenching the fleeces with water, and mix-
ing in all sorts of rubbish in order to increase the weight, and so
realize an extra profit, although by so doing they destroy the lustre
of the hair, which is its principal recommendation to spinners,
as it enables them to use it as a substitute for silk. The English
agents in Angora have made repeated efforts tq, have the practice
forbidden, and have even induced the Central Government to
interfere to prohibit it, but the active opposition or passive
resistance of the local authorities have hitherto frustrated their
wishes.
The Kirghiz of Kokan keep large flocks of goats, which in cha-
racter are not unlike those of Thibet, with reddish grey hair of
great length, under which is a beautiful white hair of the finest
description, from which the inhabitants of Urutupa manufac-
ture shawls and scarfs as fine and as highly prized as those of
Cashmere.
Fine goats' hair is produced in the Kirghiz steppes, and sells in
Khiva and Bokhara at 2%s. the cwt. Thirty years ago about So
tons of goats' down, and about half that quantity of goats' hair, used
to be annually shipped from Russia. Now only about 12 tons of
it are imported annually across the Orenburg frontier. Russia
STATISTICS OF ANGOLA GOATS.
53
exports the great mass to Europe ; but a portion of it is manu-
factured in Eastern Russia into socks, gloves, girdles, and shawls
of great variety and surprising brightness.
The Angora goat is now successfully reared in South Africa,
South Australia, Victoria, and other of the Australian colonies.
Tii*re are nearly 1,000,000 in the Cape Colony, where they
ANGORA. GOATS.
were only introduced about ten or twelve years ago. As early as
1848 they were imported into South Carolina, and have since
spread over many of the States of the Union, the original stock
being surpassed in beauty and amount of hair or wool produced,
which is partly due to the extreme care taken in breeding, and
partly to the colder winters on the North American Continent,
which tends to increase the woolly covering of quadrupeds.
54 THE SHAWL-WOOL GOAT.
Since 1870 a large number of pure bloods have been imported
into California, and they are now quite common throughout the
States and territories of the Pacific, where their number is esti-
mated at about two millions, and it is doubling every year. They
thrive much better in the Pacific States than in the Northern and
Southern States. These animals are very prolific, and if well kept
have kids when only one year old. It is also said that the flesh
of the Angora goat is far superior to that of the common goat,.
and even better than mutton, veal, or venison, according to the
testimony of some who have lived on it in California.
The southern slopes of the Himalaya Mountains afford the most
congenial locality for the famous shawl-wool goat. The northern
face of these mountains is as remarkable for its dryness as the
southern is for its moisture ; the cold is excessive, and the
animals which are pastured there are covered with shaggy hair, or
with long wool and a fine down. Few are aware of the tedious
protracted labour attending the manufacture of a fine Cashmere
shawl. When the hairs have been separated, the residue is care-
fully washed in rice-water and hand-spun by women, who do not
earn more than equal to about half-a-crown per month. There
necessarily is, in the manufacture of these shawls, a great division
of labour. One artizan designs the pattern, another determines
the quantity and quality of the thread required, while a third
arranges the warp and woof. Three weavers are usually employed
on a shawl, of only an ordinary pattern, for three months ; but a
pair of rich ones not unfrequently occupies a shop, or a family,.
for a year and a half. They are dyed in the yarn, and carefully
washed after the weaving is completed. The Cashmerian dyers,
of eminence profess to produce sixty-four tints, some by extracting.
colours from European woollens. The embroidered borders of
the finest shawls are invariably made separate, and afterwards,
skilfully sewed on to the main piece. The immense labour required
to produce a first-rate Cashmere shawl, will account for the fact,
that a shawl will sometimes cost ^600 or ^700 before it passes
PASHUM OR KOORK. 55
the rocky portals of the valley of Cashmere. These shawls
always form part of the presents made to distinguished persons
who visit the courts of Eastern princes.
The Pashum, or shawl wool, properly so called, is a downy
substance found next the skin and below the thick hair of the
Thibetan goat. It is of three colours, white, drab, and dark
lavender. The best kind is produced in the semi-Chinese pro-
vince of Turfan Kechar, and exported via Yarkand to Cashmere.
All the finest shawls are made of this wool ; but as the Maharajah
of Cashmere keeps a strict monopoly of the article, the Punjab
shawl weavers cannot procure it, and have to be content with an
inferior kind of pashum, produced at Chathan, and exported via
Leh to Umritsur, Nurpur, Loodianah, Jelapur, and other shawl-
producing towns of the Punjab. The price of white pashum in
Cashmere is, for uncleaned, 3^. to 4*. per Ib. ; cleaned, 6s. to yj. ;
of the Tusha, or dark lavender wool, 2s. to 3^. per Ib., uncleaned ;
and 5-r. to js. cleaned.
The shawls of Kerman, in Persia, are not much inferior to
those of Cashmere. They are woven by hand, similarly to the
carpets. The material called " koork," of which the shawls are
made, is the under wool of the white goat, numerous flocks of
which animal are in the neighbourhood. These flocks migrate
annually, according to the season. Major Smith tells us that he
made inquiries at Kerman why the "koork" producing goats
were only to be found in that neighbourhood, and was informed
that in that district the rapid descent from the high plateau of
Persia to the plains near the sea, afforded the means of keeping
the flocks throughout the year in an almost even temperature and
in abundant pastures, with a much shorter distance between the
summer and winter quarters than in other parts of Persia, and
that such an even climate, without long distances to traverse in the
course of migration, was necessary to the delicate constitution of
the animal, or rather to the softness of its wool. The whole of
the " koork" is not made use of in the looms of Kerman, a large
56 THE COMMON GOAT.
quantity being annually exported to Umritsur, in Upper India,
where it is manufactured into false Cashmere shawls.
THE COMMON GOAT AND ITS COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS.
Being the natural inhabitant of mountainous regions, and injurious
to trees and shrubs, it is in wild, rocky countries that the goat is
mostly reared. In Europe, the goat is chiefly found in Spain, which
has about 4,500,000 ; Portugal and Austria 1,000,000 each ; Ger-
many nearly 1,700,000 ; France 1,800,000; and Russia 1,400,000,
besides some in Asia. The United Kingdom has about 1,000,000 ;
Sweden and Norway 500,000, and smaller numbers are found in
Italy and Switzerland. Asia maintains a large number, for in the
Peninsula of India alone there are about 6,000,000.
Statistics of GOATS in various countries according to the latest
official returns.
Russia . . .
1871,
1,330,000
Greece . . 1867,
2,289,123
Sweden
1873,
121,840
Turkey . . . 1874,
1,500,000
Norway . . .
i875,
357,102
United Kingdom (estimate)
1,000,000
German Empire .
1873,
1,709,521
Morocco, 1875 (estimate)
12,000,0:0
Saxony
1867,
93,003
Egypt . . 1871,
23,907
Holland . .
1873,
146,169
Algeria . . .1861,
3,500,000
Belgium
1866,
197,138
Cape Colony . 1875,
3,095,541
France . . .
1872,
1,791,725
British India (estimate)
6,000,000
Portugal
1852,
1,014,742 Ceylon . . 1872,
88,197
Spain . . .
1865,
4,531,228 ! Reunion. . . 1866,
.11,822
Italy .
1874,
1,688,478 Martinique . . 1865,
4,054
Austria Proper .
1871,
979, 104
Guadaloupe . . 1866,
9,836
Hungary
1870,
459,810
United States . 1875,
2,500,000
Switzerland . .
1866,
375,482
Argentine Re-
Moldavia and
public . . 1874,
1,300,000
Wallachia
1873,
305,316
Uruguay . . 1871,
60,000
The wool-bearing goats of Eastern Asia and their products
have been already alluded to, but it may be mentioned here that
there are about 1000 pure Angoras in Cordova, South America,
introduced from the Cape Colony in 1864, and 2000 to 3000 of
various crosses, besides a million or more of native goats, which
can be bought there for about $s. each.
Between Kangra and Ladakh, goats and sheep are much used
VARIETIES OF THE GOAT. 57
for light burdens, especially in the rice trade between Kooloo and
Ladakh. Flocks of these hardy little animals are daily to be met
skipping over the rough and rocky roads, and up and down their
precipitous sides, with loads of 24 to 32 Ib. on their backs, and
they travel 12 and even 15 miles a day without any apparent
labour or fatigue.
Passing now to Africa, in the countries bordering on the Medi-
terranean, Morocco, Tunis, Algeria, &c., there are many millions
of goats, and at the southern extremity of the continent, the goats
number about 2,500,000. Although goats are numerous in
Morocco, especially in the southern part, the skins exported
annually, only average about one million and a quarter, a large
number being used up locally. The tanners of Europe have,
however, learned to excel the Moors themselves in the art of
preparing this kind of leather. In Morocco it is made only in four
colours ; bright yellow, which is largely used for men's slippers,
white and red for women's slippers, and brownish-red, which is
employed for other purposes. From 250,000 to 300,000 pairs of
these Moorish slippers are annually exported.
In Northern Africa, three races of goats are chiefly met with, the
Bedouin, or true Arab goat, the Maltese, which has long been
introduced, and the Spanish goat, which is met with in some parts
of Algeria.
The Bedouin goat is of medium height, well formed and hardy.
The hair is generally black and long, and is used for various
purposes ; mixed with sheep's wool or camels' hair to make cords
or fabrics for tents, and alone to stuff cushions. The chief value
of the goat to the Arab is, in common with the sheep, to furnish
milk, as drinkable water is often difficult to obtain, especially in
the south. The goat is also used as a beast of burden in some
districts to transport water in goat skins.
Smaller than the Arab goat, the Maltese goat is a much better
niilch animal, frequently yielding five or six quarts of excellent
milk per day. The colour of its hair, like that of most domesti-
58 TRADE IN GOAT SKINS.
cated animals, varies considerably. Unlike the Arab goats, which
are mixed with the sheep, the Maltese goats are kept in separate
flocks on the hill slopes in the neighbourhood of towns, and are
valued at about ^3 or ^4 each.
The Spanish goat is larger and stronger built than either of the
preceding, and is a good milker, but not equal to the Maltese
variety. Its hair is black or brown.
The goat is also spread over many parts of America, especially
in the Northern and Southern regions.
The mountain goat (Aplocenis montanus) is found throughout
all the mountain ranges of North- West America, to within a short
distance of the Polar Sea, if indeed it does not reach it. It is a
larger animal than the domestic goat (Capra hircus}, which it only
resembles in name, and in having a beard. It is covered with
long and rather brittle white hair, beneath which a coat of very
fine white curly wool lies close to the skin. The flesh, though rank,
is fat and tender, and is much relished by the mountain Indians,
who also make robes, clothing, and leather from the skin.
In mountainous countries goats render considerable service
to mankind, the flesh of the old ones being salted as winter
provisions ; they are the cow of the poor, and their milk is used
in many places for the making of cheese, as in Portugal, where
four or five million pounds are made. The flesh of the kid is
highly palatable, being equal in flavour to the most delicate
lamb. But it is for the kid skins for glove making that the
animals are most valued. The importance of the glove trade
may be estimated by the French manufacture, which is said to
exceed 30,000,000 pairs, of the value of between ^3,000.000 and
^4,000,000 sterling, giving employment to nearly 90,000 persons.
Although many of these gloves are made of lamb and other skins,
the best are always of kid.
GLOVE MANUFACTURE. Independent of the elastic quality of
the skin, a good glove is distinguished, first, by its being neatly
sewed, secondly, by the thumb seam not extending too far into
THE GLOVE MANUFACTURE. 59,
the palm, and lastly, by the colour of the exterior not having,
soiled the inside. Most of the lower priced English gloves offered
as kid, are in reality made of lamb skin. Beaver, though the
quality is various, forms the commonest description of leather
gloves. The Woodstock is a very superior beaver, to which much
attention is paid both to the shape and sewing. Doeskin is a.
more thick, durable, and soft leather. Buckskin is the closest,
grained, and consequently the stoutest leather of which gloves are-
made. Its elasticity, though trifling, is sufficient. It also bears
cleaning better than any other kind. It may be had in white,,
drab, or buff. Sheep skin is generally white, and most usually
made by contract for the army. Tan is of three qualities, and is.
a very serviceable and cheap glove for gardening, riding, or
driving. The home production of gloves was valued at upwards
of ; i, 000,000 sterling a quarter of a century ago; but there are
no reliable details to guide us as to the value of the manufacture
at present, although it has been stated at ^ 2, 000,000. Austria has
of late years made great strides in glove-making, for the exports,
of gloves are now valued at 4, 500,000. Our foreign imports of
gloves are large. In 1850 we imported 3,250.000 pairs of gloves.
In 1860 the duty was removed, and the quantity of foreign gloves
received has since largely increased. In 1874 we imported 13 J
million pairs, valued at i^ million sterling. The manufacture is
principally carried on in the towns of Worcester, London, Yeovil,
Stoke, and Milborne Port. Woodstock and Witney are known for
the so-called " beaver," made of buck and doe leather for military
and hunting purposes. In Hexham and Nantwich a trade still
lingers for tanned gloves. What are called " dog-skin" gloves
are an English speciality made of Cape sheep skin. Limerick
is very famous for its gloves, which are so soft and light, that
a pair are frequently packed in a walnut shell as a present.
The French glove manufacture is an important and celebrated
one. Nearly 2,000,000 dozen pairs are annually made, valued at
about ^3,000,000, of which three-fourths are exported. The
60 LEGENDS ATTACHED TO GLOVES.
principal towns where the trade is carried on are Paris, Grenoble,
Chaumont, Milhau, Nancy, and Blois.
It was only in the reign of Louis XIV. that leather gloves began
to be made in France.
Gloves play a conspicuous part in many national customs which
originated in the days of chivalry, such as throwing down the glove
as a challenge of combat, hanging out the glove at licensed fairs,
-&c. The origin of the custom which prevails at a maiden assizes,
when a pair of gloves is presented to the presiding judge, is not
generally known. In former times the judges of the land were
prohibited from wearing gloves on the bench, and hence the
custom, when there is no judicial business to discharge, of pre-
senting a pair of gloves.
As the delivery of gloves was once a part of the ceremony used
in giving possession, so the depriving of them was a mark of
divesting a person of office, and degradation. Challenging by the
glove was continued down to the reign of Queen Elizabeth in this
country, and is still in use in some parts of the world. One
ceremony yet remains with us, in which the challenge is given by
a glove, at the coronation of the sovereign, when the champion,
completely armed and mounted, enters Westminster Hall, and
professes his readiness to meet in single combat, any one who
disputes the title of the successor to the crown, and thereupon
throws down his glove or gauntlet, as a token of defiance.
As the leather for gloves requires to be very soft, it is prepared
by a process called tawing. Two kinds of skin are employed for
conversion into the better qualities of kid leather, one of these,
the most expensive, being the skins of young goats, fed solely
with milk, the other lamb skin. Each of these skins yields on an
average two pairs of gloves. After being soaked in water to soften
them, scraped on the " beam," buried for a fortnight, and soaked
in a fermenting mixture of bran and water, the skins are steeped
for a few minutes in a mixture of alum and salt dissolved in water,
or in this solution with flour and yolk of egg; they are then
TRADE IN GOATS' SKINS. 61
washed and dried. The yolks of eggs are added only in the pre-
paration of the finest kid leather. The yolk of egg acts by the oil
it naturally contains in the state of emulsion, this oil giving to the
kid leather that suppleness and softness which is so much esteemed
in gloves. One hundred skins require from six to eight pounds of
alum and as much salt, and one egg for each skin. The dyes are
applied either by immersion or by brushing over the leather ; the
latter, or English method of dyeing skins, is more ordinarily
practised. Sheep skins are split into two sections, and the flesh
side serves for military gloves. Lamb skins are too thin to be
split, but are made into what are called beaver gloves. Very good
white kid leather is obtained by tawing the epidermis from lamb
or goat skins in a saturated solution of stearic acid in alcohol.
The leather thus obtained is very soft, has a whiter colour than
ordinary glace' leather, and a beautiful gloss.
The use of gloves has become so general an article of dress
among all classes of society, that besides the very large import of
foreign made gloves, our home trade supports a vast number of
men, women, and children, who are employed in their manufac-
ture ; the cutting out, sewing, binding, setting on the buttons,
lining, and trimming in large manufactories, affording as many
different branches of occupation.
In Case 139 will be found collections of gloves, and lamb and
kid skins prepared, showing the mode of cutting out gloves, also
dressed goat and sheep skins, cat skins, and gloves made from rat
skins.
Goat skins are tanned and made into various kinds of leather,
for ornamental purposes.
The importance of goat skins is shown even by the British
commerce in them. We imported in 1874 about 7 millions of
goat and kid skins, of the value of ^"850,000 ; of those imported
5^ millions were prepared in some way, either tanned, tawed, or
dyed. The enormous progress that has been made in the trade is
evidenced by comparing the number imported in 1855, which was
62 GOATS' SKINS AND GOATS' HAIR.
only 1,200,000 skins. We draw our supplies mainly from two
quarters : 5! millions of goat skins reach us from India, chiefly
from the Madras presidency ; and i million from South Africa,
where there are now about 3,000,000 goats of all kinds.
Twenty years ago we scarcely received a quarter of a million
from South Africa. Goat skins are received brined or salted.
The largest and best of the latter kind average 52 to 56 pounds
weight per dozen ; seconds, 42 to 45lb. the dozen ; and small, 28
to 34lb. the dozen. East Indian tanned skins ranging from 9 to
i2lb. weight are worth 13^. to 15^. per dozen. Best grain goat
skins 4os. to 80^., and seconds iSs. to 48^. per dozen.
The hair of the goat makes good linseys, and that of the Welsh
he-goat is in request for forensic wigs. Ropes are sometimes
made from goat's hair, and are said to last longer, when used in
water, than those of hemp. Coloured goats' hair from the tan-
neries sells at about z\d. per lb., and white fetches 6d. per Ib. It
is used for making yarn, coarse blankets, mops, &c. Candles are
made with goats' tallow, which, for whiteness and quality, are said
to be superior to those of wax. The horns of the goat afford
excellent handles for knives and forks.
Skin bottles, which were used before the discovery of glass and
cask-making, are still much employed as a means of transport in
Southern Europe, parts of Asia, and Africa. In Spain a wine
skin made of goats' hide or hog skin, pitched or rosined, is found
more convenient for carrying on the back of a mule, and is
cheaper than a cask. The Arabs always use leather bottles made
of goat skins for their water, milk, wine, c. Some of these are
shown at the Bethnal Green Museum, hung under the stairs lead-
ing to the Picture Gallery.*
When the goat is killed, the head and lower portions of the
legs are cut off; then without cutting the skin, except a little at
the neck, it is drawn off the body. It is then cleaned and
* There are water skins, butter bottles from Egypt, and many large leather
tobacco pouches shown.
SKIN BOTTLES. 63
tarred ; if it should be used without tarring, an unpleasant
taste would be imparted to the liquid. When thoroughly pre-
pared, the skin at the leg ends is tied up, and the neck, which
is the mouth of the bottle, is also furnished with a string for
tying.
Leather bottles containing fifty or sixty gallons are also made of
the skins of oxen. One of these, filled with liquid, is a load for a
camel. The camels, in returning, can carry back other articles of
merchandise, while the merchants, taking their empty skin bottles
and filling them with air, tie a great number of them together in
the form of a raft. Then laying a few boards on the top of these,
they have a vessel with which they can navigate the stream, and
placing on it some of their attendants, with such goods as they
wish to send home in this way, they dismiss them. Thus we see
-the leather bottles are sometimes put to a double use.
Here is another account of the mode in which the leathern
bottle was, and is still, made in France, Spain, and the East,
according as it is sewn or not sewn. To make a bottle which
is not sewn, a buck is taken and bled to death, then inflated
with the traditional bellows to detach the skin from the flesh.
The head is then cut off above the neck, and the fore-legs
at the knee joints, after which the carcase is hung up by the
hind legs, and the whole body is got piecemeal out of the
opening at the neck. This done, the hind legs are cut off, and
the skin is turned inside out ; the latter is then cleaned in
various ways, but especially with pounded salt, which has the
property of preserving it. It is then placed under a stone, and
left there for several days, fifteen at least. When it is calculated
that this summary preparation has succeeded, the skin is again
turned and shorn more or less closely according to the quality.
Lastly, with catgut or simple twine, the openings of the legs and
neck are sewn up, unless the latter opening is preserved for the
purpose of closing it eventually with a bung surrounded with
linen, and in which a hole is made of the diameter of the cork or
64 LEATHERN BOTTLES.
other stopper intended for it. As for the opening of the anus
this must perforce be sewn up.
The sewn leathern bottle is generally made of cow hide ; skins,
without folds are chosen, and these are soaked in lime water
which has already been used. As soon as they are sufficiently
softened, they are put into a bath of fresh whitewash ; then they
are peeled, washed in running water, then dried, at first in the
sun, and afterwards in the shade on dry ground. The skins are
then put again into water, and, lastly, cut into shape and sewn by
the aid of a cobbler's awl, the flesh side inwards. It is curious to
see with what rapidity in certain countries the workmen will cut
out and sew up these leathern bottles.
There are several ways of preserving them for a very long time,
and of preventing them from wearing into holes ; the most preva-
lent method, especially in the case of those made of buck skin, is.
to treat them with honey-water, in which has been dissolved some
rye-flour carefully sifted.
There is a large trade done in leathern bottles in the Levant,
especially in towns where caravans and armies are provisioned.
In the Turkish army, a certain number of soldiers, in regular
companies, have to carry these bottles filled with water, to serve
out to their officers and comrades in the field. The leathern
bottle held its ground in France for a long time against clay and
wooden vessels, and even barrels; as late as the time of
Philippe of Valois leathern bottles wfere seen on the king's table.
By reason of the difficulty of gauging their contents, however,
they could never be used as measures ; but when a bottle of any
liquid was mentioned, the precaution was always taken to specify
the quantity it should contain. The Arabs, however, make these
bottles of a stated capacity, and they contain as near as possible
the quantity of liquid which it is declared they can and ought to
hold. They are often made double ; this, however, does not
prevent the scorching winds of the deserts from drying them up
completely in a few hours.
SPECIES OF THE LLAMA TRIBE. 65
THE LLAMA TRIBE.
Of the animals of the Llama tribe of South America every
part is turned to use. Their wool is made into cords, fabrics,
and sacks. Their skin is tanned, their bones are used to
make weaver's utensils, &c., and their dung is employed for
fuel.
LLAMA.
There are four distinct species of this family common to
South America, the Llama (Auchenia Lama}, the Alpaca (Auchenia
Paca), the Guanaco (Auchenia Guanaco\ and the Vicugna (Au-
chenia Vicugna].
The llama is the largest and least valued of the domesticated
66 ALPACA WOOL.
animals, and, like the camel, is used as a beast of burden in Peru,
but it is more useful than the camel, inasmuch as its flesh serves
more generally for food, when young it is savoury and nutritious,
and its wool for clothing and other useful purposes. The number
of these animals employed as beasts of burden, in conveying
produce, &c., from the interior to the coast, and between town
and town, the mines, &c., has been estimated at nearly 2,000,000.
Their load is from 60 to 150 Ibs., and they travel about nine or
ten miles a day ; they are frequently thus driven in flocks of
from 500 to 1000. Very little llama wool is exported, the
demand being great for local consumption, the quantity used
up for sacking, cordage, carpets, and fabrics being estimated
at 5,000,000 or 6,000,000 Ibs. The llamas used as beasts of
burden are never shorn, their wool serving the purposes of a
pack.
The most useful of these animals for its wool is the Alpaca. Its
fleece is superior to that of the sheep in length and softness,
averaging 7 to 9 inches, and sometimes it is procured of an extra-
ordinary length. The fleeces, when annually shorn, range from
7 to 12 Ibs. Contrary to experience in other descriptions of
wool, the fibre of the alpaca acquires strength without coarse-
ness, besides each filament appears straight, well formed, and free
from crispness, and the quality is more uniform throughout the
fleece. There is also a transparency, a glittering brightness which
is enhanced on its passing through the dye vat. It is distin-
guished by softness and elasticity, essential properties in the
manufacture of fine goods, being exempt from spiral, curly, and
shaggy defects j and it spins easily when treated properly accord-
ing to the present improved method, and yields an even, strong,
and true thread. Notwithstanding the remarkable quality and
beauty of the alpaca wool, it was long before its value was appre-
ciated in Europe. Now the imports of this wool into the United
Kingdom are from 4,000,000 to 4,500,000 Ibs. annually, of the
aggregate value of ,550,000, the ruling price being, in 1876, about
DESCRIPTION OF THE ALPACA.
67
2S. Afd. per Ib. There is a good collection of alpaca wool and
fabrics at the Bethnal Green Museum.*
To Sir Titus Salt, of Bradford, must, undoubtedly, be awarded
the high praise of finally overcoming the difficulties of preparing
THE ALPACA OF PERU.
and spinning alpaca wool, so as to produce an even and true
thread, and by combining it with cotton warps, which had then
* Cases 83 and 84 contain 16 samples of alpaca and vicuna wool of different
colours from Peru ; 86, alpaca wool from South Australia and Victoria ; 87,
alpaca wool and yarn ; and 85, three llama fleeces grey, brown, and black
from animals raised in this country, and presented by Baroness Burdett Coutts.
Case 88 has a progressive series, illustrating the stages of the alpaca manu-
facture presented by Sir Titus Salt and Sons : and 91, 92, and 93, are cases
of fine woollen mixed fabrics, alpaca, mohair, &c., for ladies' dresses.
68 THE GUANA CO AND VICUNA.
(1836) been introduced into the trade of Bradford, improving the
manufacture, so as to make it one of the staple industries of the
kingdom. By an admirable adaptation of machinery the material
is now worked up with the ease of ordinary wool.
Distinguished at first, when the Spaniards discovered Peru, by
the name of " Peruvian sheep," on account of its woolly fleece,,
a better acquaintance with the Alpaca has proved that it is a
widely different animal. Its size is somewhat above that of a
large goat. It is reared for its wool, which is of much higher
value than that of the sheep, and for its flesh, but little inferior
to mutton, and of which it yields perhaps three or four times the
weight that a sheep does.
The Peruvians long guarded the Alpaca with scrupulous,
jealousy, and endeavoured to restrict it to their own country by
the most stringent prohibitions and penalties against its shipment.
A few, however, are now scattered over Europe. In 1858 Mr.
Charles Ledger succeeded in taking a flock of Alpacas through
the interior of South America, and shipping them at a Chilian port
for Australia, landing 276 at Sydney. Although the Colonial
Government bought these, and paid great attention to them, they
have not progressed so rapidly and so well as was at first antici-
pated. Like the Merino sheep in Australia, thev may, however,
form the nucleus of future prosperity, when we consider that in
1 80 1 there were under 7,000 sheep in Australia, while the numbers
in all the Australian settlements in 1875 were over 62,000,000.
So valuable are their services considered, that in the interior
provinces of Peru there is scarcely a cottager who does not keep
a dozen llamas and as many alpacas. The first serve to carry
his corn, his potatoes, and his fruit to market, while the wool of
the latter clothes his family, and the flesh of both, fresh or dried,
affords a wholesome meal. Their skins also serve him for a bed.
The Guanaco is the largest of these animals, and ranges over a
greater extent of country, being found on the immense tracts, of
table-land as far south as Terra del Fuego, and north to the slopes
THE CAMEL AND ITS PRODUCTS. 69
of the towering Chimborazo. Dr. Darwin mentions having met
with herds of 500 in Patagonia. The wool, which is of a dark
brown colour, is much shorter, coarser, and intermingled with hair.
The Patagonians and Auracanian Indians of Chili work it up into
blankets, ponchos, &c., while its skin is used as a quilt. We do
not receive any large quantity of guanaco or vicuna wool. The
flesh of this animal is the best of the class and is highly esteemed.
The Vicuna is the smallest but most graceful animal of any of
the species, and its wool, of a pale reddish brown, more of the
beaver caste, is finer and even more valued than that of the
alpaca, but its yield is small, seldom exceeding a pound a year.
The flesh salted, and dried under the name of " charqui," is eaten,
but is not considered so good as that of the Guanaco or Alpaca.
Opinions on this point seem however to differ, some considering
the flesh of the vicuna equal to venison.
THE CAMEL AND ITS PRODUCTS.
There are two distinct species of Camel, the one-humped and
the two-humped.
The common two-humped camel {Camelus Bacirianus} is the
largest, and is spread over Central Asia, between the Sea of Aral
to Siberia, Thibet, and China. It is bred far to the north by the
Kirghiz and Cossacks. In Mongolia the traffic is transferred from
the backs of this camel to those of reindeer from the Arctic regions.
The two-humped camel has been known from ancient historic
times. It is said to be still found in a wild state in Turkistan and
Thibet, and is distributed among most of the tribes of Asia.
Throughout Turan the two-humped camel is in general use,
from its being better able to support the cold than the drome-
dary, which is employed on the southern slopes of the Hindu-
Kush. In Khiva, however, a large single-humped camel, called
" Nar," is in great request. About 6000 camels are engaged in
the caravan trade from Bokhara to Russia, conveying Asiatic goods.
Laden camels travel the road between Yarkand and Kokand.
70 PECULIARITIES OF THE CAMEL.
The camels employed in the caravans that cross the Siberian steppe
to Russia carry loads varying from 640 to 720 Ibs. In Persia there
are a great many dromedaries, and there is an artillery corps of
some 200, trained to carry a gun, gunner, and ammunition.
Turkey also has a regiment of six squadrons of camels for military^
service.
The Arabian or single-humped camel ( Camdus Dromcdarius) is
met with in Persia, Syria, Arabia, Egypt, Northern Africa, and
Senegal.
The ordinary Arabian camel is not, properly speaking, the
" dromedary," which name, of Greek origin, denotes a light and
highly cultivated breed of racer proportions, celebrated for its-
fleetness, the Mehari or Ashari of Barbary, and known as the
Sindairi in India, which is a very different race from the heavy-
baggage camel of the same countries. A fleet or dromedary race
is said to exist in China.
Although the dromedary is a native of Arabia, it is in Africa,,
where the conquering Arabs have carried it, that it is the most
multiplied, and its characters have been brought to the greatest
perfection. The " mehari," or saddle dromedary, of the best
breed and the fleetest pace, can exceptionally cover a distance of
1 20 miles in a day, and has done 200 in 24 hours without drink-
ing or eating. According to the Arab saying, the mehari is to the
djemel or pack dromedary what the noble is to the peasant.
Dr. Leared, in his recent work, " Morocco and the Moors," says
that the burden camel, " Jimmel," is there the most important of
the domesticated animals. By its means the products of distant
provinces are interchanged, and commerce is carried on with places
like Timbuctoo, in the heart of Africa. The strength and en-
during qualities of the camel alone make such journeys possible.
Day after day, from sunrise to sunset, this patient animal will
plod through a desert at the rate of about two miles an hour, while
carrying a load of four hundredweight or even more. To sustain
all this patient toil, a small meal of grain, or even of straw, with
THE MEHARI, OR RACING CAMEL. 71
water at intervals of days, will suffice. In the north, where the
camel is larger, and food can be procured on a journey, tba
THE MEHARI, OR RACING CAMEL.
animal will carry as much as six hundredweight. The ordinary
price of one is about ^10.
72 CAMELS IN ASIA.
The fast camel, or " Mehari," bears the same relation to the
burden camel as our thoroughbred horse does to a cart-horse.
The form of the fast camel is more slender and elegant, and his
special characteristic lies in his speed. The statements made in
respect to this, as also of his endurance, seem almost fabulous.
This breed of camels varies greatly in excellence, and one of first-
rate quality is valued at a very large sum of money.
Camels have adaptations of structure to the peculiar mode of
life, and to the climate and conditions of existence, in the localities
in which they are appointed to dwell, the callosities enabling them
to kneel or lie down on the burning sand without inconvenience,
and the hump containing a supply of nutriment against a time of
scarcity, analogous to the internal provision for storing up water
which the camels have in common with the llamas. After a long
and wearisome journey, the humps of the Bactrian camel more
especially, are described by several observers to hang over like
empty bags.
The provision for storing water is of two kinds, the " honey-
comb-bag " of other ruminants being converted into a receptacle
for water, to contain any excess of fluid obtained by drinking,
while a large cellular apparatus connected with the paunch retains
the excess of moisture derived by secretion from over succulent
food. The structure of a camel's foot a broad convex cushion
underneath is especially adapted for treading on soft yielding
sand, while the joints are so articulated that the foot is necessarily
lifted high at every step, without wearisome effort to the animal.
Again, the long pliable neck, the hard palate, and the powerful teeth,
are obviously suited to seize and tear away and masticate the tough
prickly vegetation of the desert ; and the eyes, nostrils, and ears
are beautifully guarded against the intrusion of particles of sand !
The one-humped camel of Turkestan is a very different animal
from the Arab or Indian camel, and is even considered a distinct
species by Professor Eversmann in his notice of the camels of
Bokhara.
CARAVANS OF CAMELS. 73
The Lohani merchants, who are called Povindahs or runners,
and carry on the trade communication between India and Central
Asia, have an immense number of camels. They number some
12,000 fighting men and 60,000 camels, and every year they lose
.a hundred or more men and at least two per cent, of their camels,
besides some hundred loads of merchandise at the hands of
IVaziri and Sulairiman Khyl tribes. A direct trade was first
opened up about thirty years ago between Troitsk, on the
Orenburg frontier, and Chuguchak, across the Kirghiz steppe, by
the enterprise of the Tartars, with a caravan consisting of 70
camels, each carrying a load of 560 Ibs.
Camels' hair is produced in Bar and Thai, or waste tracts in
-Shakpur, Rohtak, Shang, and Gugaira, which are camel-feeding
districts. The soft underdown, which is of a light brown colour,
is used in the manufacture of cloth for "chogas" of a common
kind. In former years a good deal of camels' hair used to be
shipped from Russia, occasionally exceeding 27,000 pounds.
As for colour, the Indian camels vary from black to white, with
-every intermediate shade of cream, drab, and mouse colour ; but
the extreme colours are rare. In Arabia it is said that a lady of
Nedj considers it a degradation to mount any other than a black
camel ; while an Ozanian beauty prefers one that is grey or white.
In the continuation of Clapperton's journey, by Lander, we are
told of the arrival of 500 camels laden with salt from the borders
of the Great Desert, which " were preceded by a party of Tuarick
merchants, whose appearance was grand and imposing. They all
entered full trot, riding on handsome camels, some of them red
-and white, and others black and white."
A caravan in Africa may consist of a thousand camels, nay,
sometimes four or five thousand collected together, and a single
individual will be the master of four or five hundred. The Dey
of Tunis singly owns thirty thousand. It is difficult to form an
estimate of the number of camels, as precise data are wanting.
Twenty years ago there were 60,000 in the Russian Empire,
74 ECONOMIC USES OF THE CAMEL.
nearly all in Europe and the Caucasus ; Spain has 3000 or 4000,
chiefly in the Canaries ; in Tunis there are probably 50,000, but
in Africa and Asia there must be very large numbers. The camels
in Algeria are estimated to number 180,000; in the single pro-
vince of Oran there are more than 60,000. The camel arrives at
maturity in about five years, and the duration of its life is from
forty to fifty years, but it varies, in India seldom living longer than
twenty-five years, and in Algeria and Egypt thirty.
The camel is an important adjunct to trade and commerce in
tropical sandy regions as a beast of burden. Small camels will
carry a load of from 600 to 800 pounds ; while the largest and
strongest will bear a burden of 1000 pounds or upwards at a rate
of thirty to thirty-five miles a day. Camels used for speed alone
will, however, travel more than double that distance.
The camel is of great service to the Chinese in the northern
provinces, and to the Mongols, as a beast of burden ; they eat its
flesh and make ropes of its hair. Its fat, called " the oil of
bunches," is used in rheumatic affections.
The natives of Africa esteem camel's flesh more than that of
any other animal, but in other quarters it is not held in equal
favour, being hard and unsavory, and little esteemed even by the
Tartars. They use, however, the hump cut into slices, which,
dissolved in tea, serves the purpose of butter. The camel was
eaten both by the Greeks and Persians. Heliogabalus had
camel's flesh and camel's fat served up at his banquets, and the
flesh of the young dromedary is considered, by the Arabs, equal
to veal.
Camels were introduced into Peru and Caraccas from the
Canaries, at a cost of about ^1400, in the middle of the i6th
century, but did not thrive, and were superseded by mules and
llamas. Camels have also been carried to Australia and Brazil at
great expense, but have not succeeded well.
The two-humped camel may be classed among the wool-pro-
ducing animals. The most expensive of the articles the Bokharians
CAMELS' HAIR. 75
bring are the shawls, said to be fabricated of the soft downy hair
of the dromedary's belly. They are made of strips about eight
inches wide, sewed together so neatly, that in coloured goods it is
impossible to discover the junction. The white shawls have a
variegated border made of the fibrous cuticle of a plant of the
nettle tribe. These are so highly valued, that the sum of 1200
roubles (probably paper roubles), ;i8o, is sometimes paid for
one.
Camel's hair, or more properly wool, for the hairs are in small
proportion, is of great value in the countries where the animal is
employed, but our imports are very small, only from 200,000 to
300,000 pounds annually ; its principal use being for making fine
brushes or pencils for water-colour painting.*
The quality of the hair of the dromedary varies on different
parts of the body, the finest and best is on the shoulders and the
hump. In the young animal the hair is fine and smooth, but
becomes curly and crisp with age. The camel is shorn in the
spring after the second year.
The following description shows the admirable processes of
nature in adjusting the growth of the wool so as to suit the climate
and the season of the year : " The wool is so thickly disposed
that the skin of the animal can with difficulty be discerned beneath
it, even when the wool is turned back for that purpose. In the
spring, as the temperature grows milder, the whole of this wool
detaches itself from the skin, being pushed off in masses and
flakes by the hair, which springs up beneath it, and which forms
the summer clothing of the animal. It is at this season pulled
or cut off, and after being cleaned, is either manufactured into
woollens, of different textures, for home consumption, or exported
in a raw state to Russia. This wool is called koork, or down, and
appears to be little inferior in fineness to that procured from some
* In Case 86 will be found samples of camel's hair of various colours, and
in Case 78 velvet cloth made of it, and fine French cashmere shawls made of
it, mixed with the silky Mauchamp wool.
76 CAMELS' HAIR, AND ITS USES.
breeds of shawl goats, while it possesses a decided advantage over
them all, in being both of a much longer fibre and far more easily
freed from hair."
The quantity obtained from an ordinary camel weighs about
10 Ibs., but its colour and abundance depend entirely upon the
particular species of camel, and the climate which it inhabits.
The hair is prized according to colour, the black is the dearest,
the red the second quality, and the grey is only worth half the
value of the red. When spun it serves for wrappers for mer-
chandise, and for making the tents, shawls, and carpets of the
Arabs. In Persia more valuable manufactures are produced in
cloths of different colours and fine stockings. The Tartar women
of the plains make a kind of warm, soft, and light narrow cloth
from the hair of the Bactrian camel, preserving the natural
colours. The flesh and milk of the camel are a means of sus-
tenance to man. Its skin is worked into leather, its manure is
used for fuel, and it has been termed " the ship of the desert,'*
carrying heavy burdens patiently.
The camel has long been acclimatised in Spain, and breeds there.
There are many belonging to the government as well as to pri-
vate individuals, and they are sold at from ^15 to ,20. They
have not only been used there as beasts of burden and draught,
but to plough and turn oil-mills. They are fed like other domestic
animals, on straw, hay, oats, &c.
A good dromedary costs at Cairo about 8, and the price of
the best kind of fast camels does not excee
CHAPTER III.
PRODUCTS OF THE BOVINE TRIBE.
Having noticed the Sheep, Goats, and other wool-producing animals^
iv e are next led to co7isider the Bovines and their economic rela-
tions to man, as furnishing food, hides, tallow, horns, bones, and
other products. In this chapter estimates are given of the cattle
in the principal pastoral countries. The races of oxen, bison, and
buffaloes, of different regions, are next described; their importance >
doth in the wild and domesticated state; the improvement made in
tJic breeds in Britain and Europe; our meat supply from cattle;
tJie comparative consumption of meat in different countries ; modes
of drying meat ; the dairy products, milk, butter, and cheese, are-
briefly described, and statistics of production furnished.
CATTLE AS FOOD PRODUCERS. Having dealt with the rumi-
nating mammals which are of the highest utility as wool-bearing
animals (chiefly those of the Ovine race), we come now to speak
of the Bovines, which are primarily useful to man as food-pro-
ducers, although furnishing at the same time many other com
mercial products of considerable value, in hides, tallow, horns and
bones, &c. To civilised nations and many semi-civilised tribes,
the possession of herds of cattle is of great importance. The
pastoral wealth in some countries is indeed greater than can be-
profitably utilised locally, and the difficulty is, in such vast areas
as Russia, parts of South America and Australia, to prepare the
various flesh products in a form to be transported and profitably
saleable in the densely populated States of Europe, where the
demand for animal food and the raw materials for manufactures-
outstrip the supply.
The greater part of our domestic animals having been
transported to America, have multiplied there prodigiously. The
78 STATISTICS OF CATTLE.
cow, the bull, the horse, the sheep, and the pig, are all species of
the Old World, which were quite unknown in the New, and yet
they may now be counted there by millions. So in the Australian
colonies, where all these were only introduced less than a century
ago, the pastoral wealth or live stock is still the leading charac-
teristic of the various settlements.
Whilst the sheep will live and even fatten upon the poorest
vegetation, the ox needs a richer and more nutritious diet to
make flesh and fat for the butchers and the feast. In England,
Holland, and many other parts of Europe, the ox feeds upon fat
meadows where water is at hand.
Cattle are of value on more accounts than their flesh. The
hide is an article of marketable price. Even the hoof and the
hair have their uses, and hence are in demand in the great work-
shops of the world, where science and skill fashion into forms,
available for some one or other of a thousand purposes, the
material which, but for the thrift of modern industry, would be
-cast aside as waste.
The number of neat cattle belonging to the principal countries
of Europe, according to the latest returns, is about 100,000,000.
The States owning the largest number are, Russia, 23,000,000 ;
France, 11,300,000; Austria and Hungary, 12,000,000; and the
German empire nearly 16,000,000, of which Prussia has 8,600,000
The United States have 27,220,000 cattle, and the Dominion of
-Canada, 2,700,000. The River Plate States have about 22,000,000
head, of which Uruguay has 7,000,000, and Venezuela. Costa
Rica, Chili, Brazil, and other American States a great many cattle.
It is by thousands that the Tartars of Mongolia count their
flocks and herds, and there are chiefs who own more than
15,000, distributed over various points of the immense steppes,
and guarded and directed to fresh pastures on horseback. From
Africa and the Eastern countries we have less specific details of
numbers. But we know that both in Central and Southern Africa
there are large herds of cattle.
CATTLE IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
79
CATTLE in various countries according to the latest official
returns.
EUROPE.
Great Britain . .
1876,
5,848,214
Ireland
1875,
4,111,990
Russia . . .
1870,
22,770,000
Sweden
1873,
2,183,394
^Norway . . .
1865,
950,000
Denmark
1871,
1,238,898
German Empire .
1873,
15,776,702
Saxony . . .
1867,
625,260
Holland .
1873,
1,432,091
Belgium . . .
1866,
1,242,445
France
1872,
11,284,414
Portugal
1870,
520,474
Spain .
1865,
2,904,598
Italy . . .
1874,
3,489,125
Austria Proper .
1871,
7,425,212
Hungary
1871,
5,279,193
Switzerland . .
1866,
993,241
Greece
1867,
109,904
Moldavia and
Wallachia . .
i873,
1,886,990
Great Britain .
1876,
5,848,214
Ireland
1875,
4,111,990
AMERICA.
United States . . 1875, 27,220,200
Canadian Domi-
nion, and other
British Colonies 1871, 2,724,760
Uruguay . .1872, 7,200,000
Argentine Con-
federation . . 1875, 15,000,000
Falkland Islands 1873, 25,000
West Indies,
British and Fo-
reign (estimate) 500,000
There are no reliable data for
Brazil, Venezuela, and the other
South and Central American States,
but they possess a large number of
cattle.
AFRICA.
Egypt . . 1871, 132,666
Algeria . . . 1861, 1,053,086
Cape Colony . 1875, 1,097,506
Dutch Republics
and Kafirs (estimate) 1,000,000
Natal . . . 1874, 501,154
ASIA.
Mauritius . . 1875, 29,545
Java . . . 1873, 4,358,105
British India (estimate) 30,000,000
Reunion. . . 1866, 6,000
Ceylon . . 1873, 826,690
AUSTRALASIA.
New South Wales 1875, 2,856,699
Victoria . . 1875, 958,658
South Australia . 1875, 185,342
Western Australia 1875, 46,748
Queensland . . 1874, 1,343,093
Tasmania . . 1875, 110,450
New Zealand . . 1874, 494,113
Hawaiian Isles . 1866,
60,000
We have no reliable returns of the entire live stock of British
India, but the number of horned cattle in the Ganges Valley must
be enormous, judging simply from the export of hides from Cal-
cutta, which occasionally exceeds six millions annually. When it
is remembered that this quantity represents only the surplus stock
that is left over from the Bengal Presidency after the wants of the
entire native community have been supplied, we may safely assume
8o STATISTICS OF CATTLE.
that the total number of cattle equals, if it does not exceed, that
of human beings in that part of India.
There are probably, according to a well-informed Indian paper,.
(the Delhi Gazette,} one hundred millions of horned beasts to be
found between the Sutlej and Calcutta, a number which perhaps
does not exist anywhere else on the globe, except in the pampas
and prairies of North and South America. A more striking proof
of the fertility of the Ganges Valley could not be given than the
fact that, with a population per square mile greater than that of
most European countries, it nevertheless supports a number of cattle
only about a third less than is to be found in the whole of Europe.
There are now nearly twice as many cattle in the several British
Colonies as there are in the mother country, for Australia and
New Zealand possess 6,000,000 ; our African settlements and
Indian Islands, 2,500,000 ; British North America and the islands
of the west, 3,000,000; making a total of 11,500,000. In 1850-
Australia only possessed 2,000,000 head of cattle, so that the
number has trebled in a quarter of a century.
The Basutos, Kafirs, Fingoes, and other native tribes clustering
about the eastern borderland of the Cape, own more than two mil-
lion head of domestic animals, valued at ^3,500,000, comprising
more than half a million of horned cattle and 1,000,000 sheep. In
the Dutch Free States and in Natal, there are also a large number.
There are four distinct kinds of horned cattle met with in
Southern Africa. i. A coarse-boned, long-legged breed, with
enormous horns. This is best calculated for the yoke or " trek-
ing " work, on account of its activity, and is known as the
"Africander" breed. 2. A more fleshy and thick-set animal,
with smaller horns and softer hoofs. This was originally imported
from Holland, and is in high esteem for milking it is known as
the " Fatherland " breed. 3. A diminutive active, and somewhat,
humped animal, which is found chiefly among the natives, and
which seems to have, with its masters, an inbred detestation of
all kinds of artificial restraints. This ox is, in all probability, a
AFRICAN CATTLE. 81
cross between an Asiatic quadruped and a Spanish beast from
the Portuguese South American provinces ; the tendency to rise
in the back, being derived from the eastern side of the parentage.
This is known as the Zulu breed. 4. A long-legged animal, with
remarkably poor quarters, and with horns even bigger than the
Africanders. This belongs to the Basuto or " Macatees" breed.
This animal is not often seen, and is of very low value
indeed.
In the neighbourhood of Lake Tchad, and in the kingdom of
Bornou, cattle are kept in great abundance. They perform all
the laborious business at home of carriage and tillage, the camel
only being used for war and extensive journeys. They are the
bearers of all grain to and from the markets.
Major Denham in his Travels tells us that a small saddle of
plaited rushes is laid on him, when sacks made of goat skins, and
filled with corn, are lashed on his broad and able back. A leather
thong is passed through the cartilage of his nose, and serves as
a bridle, while on the top of the load is mounted the owner, his
wife, or his slave.
The long inherited habit of the South African native is a delight
in horned cattle. The habit has grown up from many motives.
The natives are great milk drinkers. It is with cattle they buy
their wives. And they have a gentlemanly liking for a fine
animal, and especially for a swift racing ox. Then again a large,
herd is a sign of wealth and respectability. It has not been the
custom of the native to take a commercial view of horned cattle,
unless in relation to wife-buying. But within the last few years a
preference for sheep has shown itself, and on the sole ground of
the profitableness of wool. The Kafir is actually beginning to
barter away his beloved and cherished cattle for an animal which
promises to be remunerative.
The ox-hide is of indispensable utility for many purposes, both
in South America and in Africa. In the former it is the principal
material for the packages called " serons," in which Paraguay tea,
82 GRAZING REGIONS OF THE WORLD.
barks, medicinal roots, and various descriptions of produce, are
transported.
In South Africa, raw hide is used by the Boers as a substitute for
all kinds of cordage. It is made into drag ropes for the waggons,
head-stalls for the oxen, bridles for the horses, cordage for thatching"
the hut, slips for bottoming the beds, chairs, and stools, pickling
tubs for his beef, and " feldt schoon" for himself and family.
There are five great grazing regions in the world. First, the
interior of Asia, which has furnished rich pasturage, summer and
winter, since the time of Abel, who was a keeper of sheep. The
second great pasture-ground is South Africa. That immense
region from 10 south lat. to the Cape Colony in 35 S. feeds
immense herds of graminivorous animals the year round, and has
done so for ages. The interior of South America is the third
great pastoral region ; the fourth is Australia ; and the fifth is the
trans-Missouri and Mississippi country of North America, as yet
imperfectly developed, but which perhaps surpasses in every
natural advantage any part of the known world.
The number of oxen returned in the United States in 1873 was
1 6,41 3, 800, valued at ^65, 860,000, and of milch cows 10,575,000,
valued at ^63,000,000. The beef product is given there at
2 >9 2 6,57i tons, of which 2,866,365 tons are consumed, leaving a
surplus of 60,206 tons of beef. Of this quantity, about 11,898
tons are shipped, and the remainder, 48,308, unutilised.
The business of stock-raising in the United States is a growing
one, particularly in Texas, where extensive experiments are being
made with a view to the improvement of cattle by imported stock,
and it is believed that ere long, the wild long-horned cattle will
be much changed for the better. Illinois ranks second in order,,
possessing 1,269,000 oxen and 710,900 cows.
The live stock trade of the South-western States has become a
matter of millions of cattle. The number in Texas is over
3,500,000, with half as many more upon the western plains. From
350,000 to 500,000 head are annually driven into Kansas,
G 2
84 CLASSIFICATION OF THE BO VINES.
Colorado, and Wyoming, to supply the eastern trade. Yearlings
are bought at about 2is. each, two-year- olds 32^. to 40 j., cows at
28.$". to 36.?., and oxen at ^3 ; but large herds are often bought
much below these prices. A herd of two or three thousand upon
the trail presents a fine sight, tramping along in Indian file, ex-
tending a distance of a mile or more over the prairie, and feeding
upon the spring grasses as they go. At Los Animas, a junction
railway station, there are three large slaughter-houses, where 80 or
90 men kill and dress from 700 to 800 oxen a day. They are
packed into refrigerator cars, which each hold from 40 to 50
carcases.
Cattle in immense herds are raised in the pastures of Central
America. In the plains of Honduras, and on the eastern districts
of Nicaragua, there are cattle farms on which are herds of from
10,000 to 40,000 oxen, bulls and cows.
There are four well-marked and distinct genera of the Bovines.
i. Bos. 2. BISON. 3. BUFFALO (Bttbalus), of which there are
three small groups : the Buffaloes properly so called, the Arnees,
and the Brachycheres ; and 4. OVIBOS, or Musk Ox.
i. Bos TAURUS. The common Ox, or Domestic Cattle.
The breeds of these are almost innumerable, caused by the
endless crossings of one breed with another; but a? the object here
is to treat of their economic uses, rather than the agricultural
specialities, it will not be necessary to point out the distinctions
into which the different races now recognised have been divided.
In Great Britain they are grouped by farmers into "breeds,"
characterised and named, from various peculiarities, as long-
horns, short-horns, polled, &c.
The domestic ox is perhaps the only large animal of whose
carcase but one seventh is without some important use.
In many countries, such as India, Africa, and some of the Euro-
pean States, the ox is still yoked to the plough.
In the River Plate district, goods and produce are transported
by bullock-carts, which travel about 20 miles a day.
86 DRAUGHT OXEN.
Cattle are much used for draught by the Dutch farmers of South
Africa. Besides the continual transport of produce long distances
to market, an instance of the great demand for carriage is afforded
in the fact that at the quarterly "nacht maal" or religious
gathering of the Dutch at Graham's Town, from 300 to 400
waggons are usually present, each bringing its freight of seven or
eight persons, mostly from long distances. A colonial waggon
and span of oxen costs from ^150 to 2 50.
Mr. H. Hall says the ox or bullock may be considered, in the
absence of railways, as the staple animal for transport purposes
all over South Africa. It is used in the vehicles so well known
as Cape waggons, in spans of twelve, fourteen, or sixteen, according
to the nature of the roads, and will draw from 25 to 40 cwt,
although often much more. The rearing and training of oxen
forms an important part of Cape farming, and within the last few
years the price of a trained ox has risen from 2 los. to 12 or
^14. They are generally sold in spans., There are in the Cape
Colony above 400,000 draught oxen, besides those in Natal and
the Dutch Free States. The pace of an ox waggon averages four
miles an hour.
Beyond the frontiers, especially in Namaqua and Damara land,
both pack and riding oxen are trained, and very useful animals
AFRICAN BULLOCK-WAGGON.
they are. Oxen depend on a long journey entirely upon what
they can pick up in the field.
In Ceylon there are also about 20,000 bullock carts employed.
88 BRITISH BREEDS OF CATTLE.
By some naturalists the Cape ox (Bos Coffer, Sparrm.) is made
a separate species of buffalo (JBubahts Coffer, Smith). It has very
massive horns, which cannot easily be removed from the core,
bending downward and outward, the points swoop upward and
inward, their length is about thirty-four inches, span thirty-seven
to forty inches.
BRITISH BREEDS. The crosses and varieties of English cattle
are generally so well known to those who take an interest in stock,
that it will only be necessary to enumerate and figure a few of the
prominent varieties, giving more attention to descriptions of some
of the continental breeds, which are less common.
The Short-horns are an improved breed, now very generally
distributed and much esteemed, in favour both with the dairyman
and grazier. The colour is red or white, or a mixture of both.
All the points of the animal combine to form a symmetrical
harmony, which is not surpassed in beauty and sweetness by any
other species of the domesticated ox. (See p. 85.)
The Devon is a medium-sized breed, generally of a bright red
colour, peculiar to the south of England. They fatten faster, and
with less food than most other cattle, and their flesh is excellent.
(See Devon Yearling Heifer, p. 119.)
The Hereford oxen are much larger than the Devon, and of a
darker red ; some are dark yellow, and a few brindled ; they
generally have white faces, bellies, and throats ; they fatten to a
much greater weight than the Devons. (See p. 87.)
The Jersey or Alderney is a small delicate breed common in
the Channel Islands ; they are in general fine boned, and of a
light red or yellowish colour. Their milk is very rich, but is
rather more yellow or high-coloured than that of other sorts ; they
are much inclined to fatten, and their beef has a very fine grain,.
and is well tasted.* (See Jersey Bull, p. 121.)
On the west wall in the Food Gallery there are fine stuffed
* For the illustrations of prize British cattle we are indebted to the
Agricultural Gazette.
<)o CONTINENTAL BREEDS OF CATTLE.
heads of the principal breeds of cattle, such as Shorthorns, Long-
horns, polled Angus, Galloway, Hereford, and Scotch neat.
CONTINENTAL BREEDS.
SCANDINAVIAN CATTLE. The Thelemark race is one of the
few constant races of cattle, perhaps the only one, which Norway
possesses. It is a well-defined mountain race. The animal is of
diminutive size, as is well indicated in the illustration (p. 89) by the
stature and attitude of the servant. Full-grown cows rarely attain
a greater weight than 660 to 770 Ibs. The most remarkable
points in the Thelemark breed are the slender form, small head,
with long well-shaped horns (on which buttons are usually placed,),
the sprightly movement, and the bright colouring. This last varies
very much, from quite white to tolerably dark, but usually the
variations are those of red, spotted, and brindled. More than
sixty per cent, of the cattle of Sweden, and more than seventy per
cent, of those in Norway, are milch cows. The price of good
animals ranges from $ us. to 6 13^. and some few remark-
able animals have sold for i i and upwards.
Most of the country cattle of Sweden are some shade of red,
with a certain amount of white, especially about the face, but
not so constantly as with our Herefords ; the colour also varies
from nearly yellow to a deep red. The production of milk and
not of meat is the great object of the Scandinavian farmer.
The best type is known as the Herrgards or nobles' race (see
p. 91), a name which formerly distinguished it from the less-culti-
vated type that was bred by the peasants. Mr. Jenkins, in his
report on the Agriculture of Sweden and Norway, mentions the
fact that one cow of this race gave as much as 920 gallons of
milk per annum, and others yielding from 575 to 690 gallons
have not been uncommon on the royal estates. Peasants' cows
do not, however, yield anything like this quantity, from 200 to
300 gallons being a high average.
AUSTRIAN CATTLE. 91
AUSTRIAN CATTLE. Naturalists agree in considering the
Hungarian ox as the best living representative of one at least of
the original progenitors of our domestic cattle.
These it is believed owe their origin to three distinct types, viz. :
Bos primigenius , B. longifrons, and B. frontosus. The two last
are extinct as wild races, and are solely represented by certain
COW OF THE SWEDISH HERRGARDS, OR NOBLES* RACE.
types of domesticated cattle. Bosprimigenius still exists in a semi-
wild state in Chillingham Park, and is closely allied to both the
Pembroke cattle of South Wales, and the beautiful Devons. The
Hungarian and Podolian oxen are also considered to be more or
less pure representatives of the primigenius type.
The Hungarians are justly proud of their oxen, which are
used as working cattle over the whole empire. Professor Wright-
son states that it is no uncommon sight to see a team of oxen
92 HUNGARIAN CATTLE.
yoked to a plough, and driven by the ploughman entirely by the
voice, without any assistance either from reins or driver.
The Hungarian ox becomes the best and most durable draught
ox in the world, remaining useful throughout a long series of years,
to be sent at last to slaughter.
The young ox is broken-in in his fourth year, and experience
has shown that there is hardly a breed of horses in the world that
can compete with the Hungarian ox as a means to agriculture.
PODOLIAN COW, GALICIA.
The Podolian is an aboriginal race of cattle descended from the
wild Urus (Bos primigenius, Bojanus). Their colour is generally
white or silver grey, with variations passing into dark grey, which
shade is particularly seen in the bulls. Podolian oxen are much
sought after for fattening purposes. Nearly seventy-five per cent,
of the oxen slaughtered at Vienna belong to this race. The meat
is very much esteemed, and is distinguished for its tenderness and
agreeable flavour. It is as working"oxen that these cattle are most
valued. They will travel two-and-a-quarter miles per hour when
HUNGARIAN CATTLE.
93
yoked to an empty waggon, and one-and-a-half mile per hour when
drawing a load. This race is distributed over the greater part of
Galicia. The Podolian draught oxen have valuable qualities which
render them exceedingly useful in the wide stretching plains which
constitute their home.
The Murzthal race is especially prized for its milk-giving pro-
perties, and its suitability for draught purposes. The cows have
been known to produce 775 gallons per annum, and 464 gallons is
MURZTHAL COW, STYRIA.
given as a usual average. These beautiful cattle are natives of
Austria they are considered to be closely allied to the Hungarian
cattle. The oxen work from three to eight years, after which they
are fatted. The colour of the hair is badger grey, with brighter
stripes round the muzzle ; colour rings round the eyes, and dark
coloured belly.
The white Norrisch race is known in Styria as the Mariahofer
breed. From these and the Murzthalers (another Styrian breed)
excellent fat oxen can be obtained. They are distinguished by
94 HUNGARIAN CA2TLE.
their small horns, small well-bred head, bright eyes, handsome
neck, broad hips, great depth of barrel, short legs, and fine skin.
The Murzthalers have the advantage over the Mariahofers in
having smaller horns, and being lighter in bone, but the latter are
more powerfully developed.
The Montafuner race is principally found in the Montafun
Valley, but also in the Bregenzer Forest, and in the Bavarian
Allgau.
MONTAFUN COW, VORARLBERG TYROLESE RACE.
The Mariahof cattle are natives of Western Styria, are noted
as milking cattle, and also fatten readily. They are a uniformly
coloured race, often white, but sometimes inclining to lighter and
darker degrees of fawn. They number nearly 300,000 head.
(See cut, p. 112.)
This tribe, which is connected with the Swiss cattle, belongs to
the heavy average group. The cows reach a live weight of from
8 to 9 cwt, being lighter than the Swiss and heavier than the
Allgauer.
The colour does not generally differ from that of the Swiss race
HUNGARIAN CATTLE. 95
brown and brownish grey colours are predominant. These
animals are highly distinguished for their good temper, and their
capabilities for draught and fattening purposes are satisfactory.
The Egerland cattle resemble the reddish brown Tyrolese race
in their general characters, and are said to be the result of the
crossing of the Bohemian native race with Zillerthal bulls. They
have small heads, and are of a nearly uniform dark reddish
brown colour. The average weight of a full-grown ox may reach
as much as 9^ cwt., and the animal will fetch from 20 to
22 IQS.
The Egerlander prides himself upon the beautiful and regularly
formed horns of his oxen, and he assists to develop them
whenever their growth is not naturally uniform. This is done by
weights, which are connected by cords to rollers attached to the
roof of the stables ; these weights thus follow all the movements
of the heads of the cattle ; clamps are also used, by means of
which the horns, after having been softened with grease, are
pressed either forwards, backwards, or sideways, as may be
required. (See cut, p. 107.)
The animals of the Pinzgau breed are greatly valued, not only
for their milk-giving properties, but on account of their rapid
development. (See cut, p. 109.)
This race is the result of a cross of the Simmenthal breed with
the ancient domestic cattle of the country; it is distributed nearly
throughout the whole of the Salzburg region, and in certain parts
of the Tyrol adjacent, in Upper Austria, and parts of Bavaria.
It has a very symmetrical and pleasing appearance, and is of a
red colour, varying from light red to brownish red, with many
white patches. It is a very desirable butcher's race.
The so-called "Kuhland" district, which takes its name from
its suitability for cattle-breeding, is situated in north-western
Moravia, on the flanks of the Carpathians. The predominant
colour of these cattle is dappled red or cherry red, with large white
patches on the head, along the back, and on the belly ; they have
96 THE MYSORE OX AND BRAHMIN BULL.
also the finest, softest, silky hair, and the forehead bears a strong
tuft of crisped or curled hair. (See cut, p. 117.)
Although of middle height the Kuhland cattle must be classed
with the heavier races. The live weight of a cow may be taken at
from 6 to 10 cwt; the cows yield ij to 3 gallons of milk per day.*
The Mysore ox is deep in the chest, roomy in barrel, fine in the
legs, straight-horned, and sleek of coat. The prevailing hue is a
light cream colour. It is the carriage ox in India, the Arab among
bullocks.
The Indian or Brahmin bull, often called the zebu {Bos indicus),
extends over Southern Asia and the Eastern Islands, and is found
BRAHMIN BULL.
also in Eastern Africa. It is common in the north-west Himalayas,
but rarely seen in the Nepaul mountains. They are venerated by
the Hindus, who object to slaughter them, but use them in harness,
and they will travel about thirty miles a day. These oxen have
pendulous ears, and are distinguished by a fatty elevated hump
* For the various illustrations of Continental breeds of cattle we are
indebted to the "Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England."
7SS OF THE BISON. 97
upon the withers, which sometimes weighs 50 Ibs., and, when
properly cooked, is said to be delicious. The flesh of the animal
is not, however, so palatable as that of the common ox.
On the west wall are five or six fine heads and horns of the
Gaur (Bos Gaurus), the head of an Indian cow, fine samples of
buffalo horns, and a curious horn curled by disease.
2. BISON. The Bisons (Bos Bison Bison Americanus) are
-easily distinguished by their highly developed hump, giving them
.an extraordinary height at the withers, and also by the long hair
which covers the anterior portions of their bodies.
In North America the name of buffalo has been universally,
but inaccurately, given to the bison, and we are hence constrained
to speak of it frequently under this misnomer. They bear about
.as much resemblance to an Eastern buffalo as they do to tte
.zebra or common ox. The general colour of this animal is a
uniform dark brownish dun. The Cape ox is also often spoken of
as the buffalo.
Imagination can scarcely realise the numbers of bison which
even now are found on the western plains. It is not uncommon
to see the prairies covered with them as far as the eye can reach,
and travellers have passed through them for days and days in
succession, with scarcely any apparent diminution in the mass.
Explorers have often given almost incredible accounts of the
numbers met with. The late Horace Greeley, writing from the
plains, says, " I know a million is a great many, but I am confident
we saw that number yesterday. Certainly all we saw could nol:
stand on ten square miles of ground. Often the country for
miles on cither hand seemed quite black with them * * *
Consider that we have traversed more than one hundred miles in
width since we first struck them, and that for most of this distance
the buffalo has been constantly in sight, and that they continue
for some twenty miles farther on this being the breadth of their
present range, which has a length of perhaps a thousand miles ;
and you have some approach to an idea of their countless millions.
98 USES OF THE BISON.
I doubt whether the domesticated horned cattle of the United
States equal the numbers, while they must fall considerably short
in weight of the wild ones."
The Exploring Expedition of Governor Stevens on the northern
route of the Pacific railroad, was frequently arrested for a con-
siderable time by herds of bison, amounting, in some instances,
to not less than half a million each. As the expedition rose over
the verge of some elevation in the prairie, before them, as far as
the eye could reach, stretched an apparently interminable sea of
flesh.
It would be supposed that the immense slaughter continuously
carried on would have decimated these animals ; but, according to
recent accounts given by Major Twining in the " Smithsonian Re-
ports," the immense herds are constantly increasing in the north-
western Montana ; they merely shift their grazing ground. Three
hundred thousand human beings depend for their very lives and
for everything according to their savage notions worth living
for, solely and entirely on the bison. Its flesh is their only
meat, and most of them will go a long time hungry rather than
eat small game or wildfowl. The skin serves them for coats,
beds, and boots, walls for their tents, and tiles for the roof for
saddles, bridles, and lassoes. The bones are converted into saddle-
trees, into war clubs, whistles, and other musical instruments.
Seven trains of railway cars, freighted with buffalo bones, recently
arrived in New York to be worked up into button moulds, knife
handles, and other uses. Of the horns are made ladles, and
spoons, and pins ; the sinews serve for strings to bows, arid for
the attachment to their persons of scalps and such other articles
of vertu as fall in the native's way. The hoofs and horns when
stewed yield a superior glue, which is largely used in the con-
struction of hunting spears and arrows. The hair of the mane
is twisted into ropes and horse halters ; the brains even are not
wasted, but used in the preparation of buffalo robes, leather
thongs, and other articles made from the hide.
BUFFALO ROBES.
99
The uses of the bison when dead are various. Powder flasks
are made of their horns, and they are used for mounting knives
and awls. The skin forms an excellent buff leather, and when
dressed with the hair on, serves the Indians for clothes and shoes.
" Buffalo robes " are generally the dried and prepared skins divided
into two parts. A strip is taken from each half on the back of
the skin where the hump was, and the two halves or sides are
sewed together with thread made of the sinews of the animal,
BOS AMERICANUS (POPULARLY MISNAMED THE BUFFALO IN AMERICA).
and, after much dressing, the robe is ready for market. The
number brought into commerce varies, according to the demand,
from 60,000 to 100,000, annually. They are much used by the
Indians themselves for blankets, clothing, and constructing their
lodges or tents. Not above a tenth of those slaughtered furnish
a sufficient furry coat to serve as a robe.
The buffalo robe has of late years been as much used in Europe
as it is in North America for a warm travelling wrapper ; it sells
at from ^3 to ;io, or even higher; and in the cold climates
ioo USES OF THE BUFFALO.
of Europe it is similarly employed for sleigh wrappers, cloak and
coat linings, &c.
The flesh is a considerable article of food, and the hunch on
the shoulders is esteemed a great delicacy. One of the most
useful applications of buffalo meat consists in the preparation of
pemmican, an article of food of the greatest importance in a
northern climate from its portability and nutritious qualities. This
is prepared by cutting the lean meat into thin slices, exposing it
to the heat of the sun or fire, and when dry pounding it to a
powder. It is then mixed with an equal weight of buffalo suet,
and stuffed into bladders. Each bison will produce from 50 to
70 Ibs. of tallow, but a bull bison, when fat, will frequently yield
150 Ibs. weight of tallow, which forms a considerable article of
commerce. The hair or wool is spun into gloves, stockings, and
gaiters, that are very strong, and look as well as those made of the
finest sheep's wool/"' The tail, mounted on a wooden stand,
ornamented with goose or porcupine quills, is used as a whisk or
fly-flapper.
An attempt is being made by a farmer of Massachusetts to
domesticate the bison, and having transported several of these
wild roamers of the prairies to his stock farm, he intends to try a
cross with Jersey, Ayrshire, or Durham cattle.
It is killed in immense numbers by the North American
Indians, solely for the tongue, the skin, and the bosses or humps.
They have a peculiar method of dressing the skin with the brains
of the animal, in which state it is always imported.
3. BUFFALO (Bubalus}. The name buffalo is scientifically
restricted to a species of ox found in various parts of India and
the Eastern islands, and to a more limited extent in some parts of
Europe and Africa. The buffalo is of Indian origin, and was only
brought into Italy a little before the sixth century, but has spread
over South-eastern Europe and the North of Africa.
* In Case 58 will be found black and grey worsted yarns, spun from the
wool of the bison.
USES OF THE BUFFALO. 101
In 1870 there were 73,153 head of buffalo in the Hungarian
dominion ; in Greece, Piedmont, Italy, and Spain, the buffalo is
also found and esteemed as an animal of draught. But he must
have water to revel in, and hence thrives only in fenny land.
The accompanying is a sketch of a European buffalo bull, thus
described by Prof. Wrightson : " The colour is completely black,
hair and skin, hoofs and horns, all partaking of this sable hue.
EUROPEAN BUFFALO BULL.
The limbs are short and thick, the body massive, the head large,
the forehead arched and narrow, the muzzle large and black t
horns low placed, triangular at base, furrowed across and directed
backwards and downwards, finally turning upwards towards
the point. The hair is scattered somewhat thinly over the
body of the full-grown animal, although the calves are well
covered."
Buffalo milk is an ingredient in the Transylvanian national
diet which cannot be dispensed with upon great occasions. It
is richer than that yielded by any other animal. In South
Hungary and Transylvania no gentleman considers his breakfast
02 !7SS OF THE BUFFALO.
complete without buffalo milk with his coffee. The largest
milkers give 6 quarts per day, but 2 or 3 quarts is a more ordinary
quantity. The flesh is " stringy," and gives off a musky odour
which spreads all over the house, and also affects the milk. For
this reason buffalo beef is seldom used, although the veal is
considered good. The skin makes good leather.
The European buffaloes which were shown at the Vienna
Exhibition in 1873, attracted interest from their peculiar smell, as
well as shape. The cows are remarkable for their breadth of hip
(crux) which is a peculiarity of the buffalo.
Of the number of these animals existing in Eastern countries
we have no certain data. According to a late census there
were, however, in British Burmah, 6oo ; ooo buffaloes, and 566,000
cows and oxen. In Java, in 1873, there were 2,750,000, besides
1,628,000 other cattle.
The Indian buffaloes (Bubalus buflus) are of large size, but low
in proportion to their bulk.
The buffalo is poorly fed, not generally cared for, and usually
killed when too old to breed or give milk. The hide of the male
buffalo is coarse, and it gets such bad treatment in the plough
or cart that it is generally full of sores and goad marks. In large
towns there is a market for buffalo beef for the ] ow caste and
poorer Mussulman population, and also for grease, and younger
and better cattle are slaughtered ; it is from these that the local
tanners select their hides for the finer uses of harness, saddlery,
and accoutrements.
A pigment known as "purree" or Indian yellow is produced in
Monghyr from the urine of horned cattle fed on decayed and
yellow mango leaves. It is used in the locality of production,
and also sent to Calcutta for export.*
The buffalo possesses two excellent qualities ; he is immensely
strong, and his wants are easily satisfied. The buffalo is the beast
of burden in the Indian archipelago and parts of Asia. Being
* A specimen of this will be found in the Case of Animal Dyes, No. 162.
THE YAK, OR GRUNTING OX. 103
thickset in form, with large members and powerful muscles, two
draught animals will draw as much as four ordinary horses or six
oxen. The flesh is not palatable, and the milk of the female is
less pleasant than that of the cow, having a musky flavour, but as
it is abundant, it is sometimes made into cheese.
From the great size of the buffaloes and most of the oxen in
Java, the hides and horns are peculiarly valuable. The immense
horns of the Java buffalo have long formed an article of European
trade, and the hides are sent to China in the hair and untanned.
Bali and Lombok supply a great number. The hides available
for export in Java, are greatly diminished by the singular practice
among the inhabitants of that island of using the fresh hide as an
article of food, nay even esteeming it a dainty beyond any other
part of the animal. The increased demand for hides as an
article of commerce has, however, somewhat tended to put an end
to this taste.
In Sumatra they dress their meat immediately after killing it,
while it is still warm, which is conformable with the practice of
the ancients, as recorded in Homer and elsewhere, and in this
state it is said to eat tenderer than when kept for a day; longer
the climate will not admit of, unless when it is preserved in that
mode called " dendeng." This is the flesh of the buffalo cut into
small thin steaks and exposed to the heat of the sun in fine
weather, generally on the thatch of their houses, till it has become
so dry and hard as to resist putrefaction without any assistance
from salt. It is seemingly strange, that heat which, in a certain
degree promotes putrefaction, should, when violently increased,
operate to prevent it. A large export trade is carried on in this
dried meat from the islands of the Eastern Archipelago to China
and Siam.
The Arnee buffalo (JBos Arnee, Shaw Bulalus Arnee, Smith)
has horns of a prodigious size and length, which are turned later-
ally, flattened in front and wrinkled on the concave surface.
The YAK or grunting ox (Poephagus grunniens), is often
104 USJSS OF THE YAK.
handsome and a true bison in appearance. It is met with wild
in Central Asia, and is the largest native animal of Thibet, in
various parts of which country it is found Domesticated the
yak is used as a beast of burden. It is invaluable to the moun-
taineers of Thibet and other parts of Central Asia from its strength
and hardiness, accomplishing, at a slow pace, twenty miles a day,
bearing either two bags of salt or rice, or four to six planks of pine
wood slung in pairs on either flank. It is ridden especially by
the fat Lamas, who find its shaggy coat warm, and its paces easy.
Under these circumstances it is always led. They have spreading
horns, long silky black hair and grand bushy tails ; black is their
prevailing colour, but red, dun, parti-coloured, and white are
common. The hair is spun into ropes, and woven into a covering 7
for their tents; the gauze shades for the eyes used in crossing
snowy passes are made from the same material/""
.The flesh of the young yak, according to Dr. Hooker, is de-
licious, much richer and more juicy than common veal; that of
the old yak is sliced and dried in the sun, forming jerked meat,
which is eaten raw, the scanty proportion of fat preventing its-
becoming very rancid. Opinions differ as to the quality of the
meat. Pallas says the flesh is hard and bad tasted; Hue, on
the contrary, asserts it to be v^ry good. Much of the wealth of
the people consists in its rich milk and curd, eaten either fresh
or dried, or powdered into a kind of meal. It forms an im-
portant article of commerce, and will keep fresh in skins a long
time.
The Lepchas eat the flesh and entrails, and singe and fry the
skin of the yak, and make soup of the bones, leaving nothing but
the horns and hoofs. They also prepare the flesh as jerked meat,
cutting it into strips, which they dry on the rocks. This, called
shat-chew (dried meat), is a very common and palatable food in
Thibet.
* The hair and tail of the vak are shown in Case 97.
USJSS OF THE YAK.
105
The yak inhabits the southern slope of the Himalayas between
the 2 )th and 28th degrees of N. lat., and extends from there tc
Little Thibet or Ladak, Grand Thibet, and the north of China 7
and becomes rare in Mongolia. It is found there, both in
the wild and domesticated state. The height of the animal
varies.
The yak is to the mountaineers of Thibet, what the horse, the
ass, the cow, and the sheep are to Europe. It furnishes food t
the inhabitants in its flesh and its milk, it carries heavy burdem
>--T ~
THE YAK, OR GRUNTING OX.
takes to the yoke easy, and serves for agricultural work. From
its long and abundant fleece is obtained a silky wool, which serves
to make warm and strong clothing. The furry coat of the young
animals is curly and woolly, resembling that known as Astracan,
obtained from a breed of sheep. Very fecund and hardy, they
resist the most rigorous cold and brave intemperate seasons.
The inhabitants of Thibet have the same respect for the yak
which the Brahmins have for the Zebu.
io6 CATTLE AS FOOD PROVIDERS.
The bushy tail of the yak, garnished with handsome hair, more
fine and soft than that of the horse, is much esteemed in the
plains of India as a chowree or fly-flapper, and by the Chinese,
who dye it bright red or blue for all sorts of ornaments. Among
the Persians, Turks, and some other Eastern nations, the yak's tail
is a standard or emblem of authority, and a distinctive mark of
certain military dignitaries.
The tail and long hair of the yak occasionally come into com-
merce in London.
4. The MUSK ox (Ovibos moschatus], is a small but powerful
animal inhabiting the northern regions of the American continent.
As it is very scarce and difficult of access, and the flesh is strongly
impregnated with the flavour of musk, it is not much looked after.
The calf-skins make excellent robes and caps, but the adult hides
are almost too hairy for any purpose of that sort ; its hair reaches
almost to the ground, so that it has rather the appearance of a
long-haired goat than of a true ox. The hair is matted, somewhat
curled and bushy, and in general of a sombre brown colour. The
tails are made into fly-flappers, similar to those obtained from the
bison and the yak.
When the animal is fat, its flesh is said to be excellent ; but at
certain periods, and especially early in the spring, the strong
musky odour renders it unsavoury. In winter the long woolly
hair is thick and dense, and enables the animal to withstand
with impunity the severe frosts. If this wool could be easily
obtained, and in sufficient quantity, it would be much in demand
for manufacturing uses from its silky character.
OUR MEAT SUPPLY FROM CATTLE. The enhanced consump-
tion of butchers' meat here, and the advance in price, have be-
come important considerations, and more especially .s to our
future adequate supply ; the graziers being unable to meet the
increasing demand. The larger consumption arises from two
causes, which, in all probability, will continue to operate, namely,
the increase of our population, at the rate of 1000 per day, and
OUR MEAT SUPPLY. 107
the improvement in the social condition of the operative classes,
consequent upon the enormous extension of commerce and manu-
factures, and the abundant employment created by railways,
building operations, and other public works.
For the daily supply of the metropolis about 4,500 live beasts
are sent to the London market; 300 tons of dead meat come by
railway from the North; and the amount sold daily in the Metro-
politan Dead Meat Market alone is 500 tons.
EGERLAND COW, BOHEMIA.
Official returns showed that the annual consumption of meat in
the kingdom in 1870 was about 96 Ibs. per head; this, at the
wholesale price of %d. per pound, amounted to 64^. for each person,
and for the entire population about ^99,000,000.
Mr. H. S. Thompson in the " Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society," 1 recently estimated the average consumption of meat by
each person in the United Kingdom at 103 Ibs. per annum; for
in 1871, 31,700,000 people consumed about 1,500,000 tons.
This is equal to a demand for 1,300 head of cattle, sheep, and
pigs every day. In 1872 the average consumption of meat had
joS
OUR MEAT SUPPLY.
risen to 108 Ibs. per head. Upwards of ; 2 2 0,000,000 is said to
be invested in live stock in Great Britain and Ireland.
The number of cattle and calves in the United Kingdom in
1875 was 10*162, 787. Of these, two-sevenths, or about 3,000,000,
are supposed to be annually slaughtered, the average weight per
head all round (for both cattle and calves) being taken at 560 Ibs.
To this has to be added the supply of mutton and pork and other
animal food, fresh or cured.
Our annual import of beef, salted or fresh, is about 250,000 cwts. :.
besides which there is a further quantity of undescribed meat
imported, as shown by the fQllowirig figures, in cwts. :
Meat Salted or fresh
Preserved ..
1860.
6,131
1870.
84,300
80,636
1875.
144,987
171,746
The foreign food- supplies, chiefly derived from horned cattle,,
received in 1875, were: salt beef, 181,504 cwts. ; beef fresh or
slightly salted, 35,000 cwts. ; butter, 1,467,000 cwts. ; and cheese,
1,626,413 cwts.
According to the experiments of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert,
the following is the assumed average per-centage composition of
the entire carcases of butchers' meat as fattened for slaughter,
determined by chemical analyses :
Mineral
Matters.
Dry Nitro-
genous
Substances.
Fat.
Total Dry
Substances.
Water.
Calf
d'<\
i6-c.
l6'
W!
62X
Bullock
TO
I TO
7O'O
C.O'O
WO
Lamb
V<
1 1 'O
2C *O
4Q *t
CQ'f
Sheep
2'C
I2'C
40 'o
c6'O
44. 'O
The actual weight and composition of the carcases in pounds is :
Total
Weight.
Mineral
Matters.
Dry Nitro-
genous
Substances.
Fat.
Total Dry
Substances.
Water.
Calf .
150
6|
242
241
56!
QT-T
Bullock
900
4C
IOC
27O
4.CO
4^O
Lamb
Sheep
45
90
3\
&
iSS
36
*o w
22\
50?
22]
391
COMPOSITION OF FLESH.
109
Later investigations by Messrs. Leyder and Pero show that
daring the process of fattening animals the quantity of dry
material is notably increased, for while in oxen in moderately
poor condition the water is about two-thirds of its total weight, in
a fat ox it is only a half. The more nutritious character and
superior taste of the flesh of a fat animal are due to this increase
PINZGAU COW, SALZBERG RACE.
of dry material, but of this increase two-thirds consist in fat :
the increase of proteids is only from 7 per cent, to 8 per cent,
and of inorganic materials -ij per cent. From a variety of
analyses the flesh of the fat animal is in every case found richer
in fixed material than that of the lean animal ; and though the
flesh of a lean animal possesses a more uniform quality than that
of a fat one, yet the poorest parts in the fat one possess a higher
nourishing value than the best in the lean animal.
no
DIVISION OF A CARCASE.
The wholesale price of prime beef per stone of 81b. in the
Metropolitan Market has been as follows :
s. a.
Average price for five years ending 1853 ... 4 2^
1863 ... 5 04
,, ,, 1873 ... 5 6i
,, Two years, 1874 and 1875 ... 5 $i
so that there has been an increase of i8d. in price, or an advance
of 35 J per cent., in 22 years.
The mode of cutting up meat varies in different towns and
countries. In the carcase of every animal, an ox, for instance,
there are various qualities of meat, and these are situated in
different parts of the carcase. All the best parts are in London
used for roasting and steaks, and the inferior for boiling, or
making soups, &c. The precision with which expert London
butchers divide the different qualities of meat from the same car-
case shows their thorough knowledge of the kinds, and the tastes
of the grades of customers they have to supply.
The carcase of an ox is in London cut up into the following
pieces, as may be seen on referring to the numbers on the
above cut.
PROPORTIONS OF A CARCASE. nr
LONDON MODE OF DIVIDING A CARCASE.
HIND QUARTER.
1. Loin.
2. Rump.
3. Itch, or adze-bone.
4. Buttock.
5. Hock.
6. Thick flank.
7. Thin flank.
FORE QUARTER.
8. Fore-rib.
9. Middle-rib.
10. Chuck-rib.
11. Brisket.
12. Leg of mutton piece.
13. Clod and sticking and neck..
14. Shin.
15. Leg.
In Paris the butchers estimate the proportion of flesh to the
weight of the live animal at about 58 per cent. The various-
parts of an animal weighing 600 kilogrammes (1320 Ibs.), according,
to their rule, would be as follows :*
KILOS.
Meat 350
Hide 50
Fat 40
Blood 25
Feet and hoofs ...... 10
Head (bones and brains) .... 5
Tongue ....... 3
Liver and milt . . . . . . 10
Lungs and heart 7
Intestines 30
Waste, evaporation, &c 70
600
Our importation of foreign live cattle is confined to a few
neighbouring States, owing to the danger and difficulty of longer
sea voyages, which involve a heavy per-centage of loss by deaths.
From those countries, too, whence we obtain the largest and
best supply of cattle and sheep, the exportation appears to have
reached its maximum. It was in 1842 that we commenced to
import live animals, when the number of cattle received from
abroad was but 4,264. In 1853 the number of cattle received
was 125,253, and of sheep 259,420. It then declined somewhat
until 1863, when the cattle imported numbered 150,898 animals,.
* " Des Halles et Marches," par J. R. De Massy. Paris, 1862.
a.i2 MEAT CONSUMED IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
and in the three following years averaged about 250,000 head.
.Since then there have been fluctuations owing to the restraints
.arising from examination for disease on landing. In 1875,
263,698 head of foreign cattle were imported.
MARIAHOF COW, STYRIA.
According to an official report published in 1862, the average
consumption of butcher's meat in Paris (exclusive of pork) was as
much as 140 Ibs. per head.
In New York the average consumption of meat per head is
said to be as high as half a pound per day, which would be at the
rate of 182 Ibs. per annum. But even this is exceeded by the
consumption in Buenos Ayres, Uruguay, &c., where it is stated
to average a pound of meat per day.
The meat production of Russia is not very definitely fixed, but
.an official publication* estimated in 1867 that 3,500,000 head of
large cattle were annually slaughtered, of which 2,200,000 were
oxen, and 1,300,000 cows. The number of calves killed was
* "Apercu Statistique des Forces Troductives de la Russia," par M. de
Buschen. Paris, 1867.
ii4 CHARQUI OR JERKED MEAl.
stated at 4,000,000, and of sheep 12,000,000. Allowing, from
authentic data, each head of cattle to average 450 Ibs. of meat and
60 Ibs. of tallow (an ox yields 550 Ibs. of meat and 100 Ibs. of
tallow, and a cow 250 to 300 Ibs. of meat and 150* Ibs. of tallow),
we have a total of about 703,000 tons of meat, and about 93,750
tons of tallow. The four million calves at 80 Ibs. each would give
142,850 tons of meat. Reckoning the sheep at 30 or 40 Ibs. of
mutton each, and 10 Ibs. of tallow, we have a further quantity of
168,700 tons of meat, and 53,570 tons of tallow.
The average consumption of meat per head in Russia therefore
cannot be estimated higher than 40 Ibs., exclusive of pork.
In Spain the meat consumption is only 50 Ibs. per head in the
large towns, and half that in the smaller towns; and yet the
country possesses large quantities of food-producing animals.
DRIED MEAT. There is a large trade carried on in Brazil and
the River Plate States in charqui or jerked beef. The exports
from Buenos Ayres alone average 600,000 to 700,000 cwts.
yearly. The labouring classes in nearly every part of South
America and the West Indies live almost exclusively upon this
jerked beef, which is prepared by cutting the meat into ribbon-
like pieces, and drying them in the sun with a small addition of
salt, or by steeping them in a strong pickle for twenty-four hours.
Most of the saladeros, or slaughter places, supply their wants
directly from the estancias or cattle farms, whence the animals
are driven distances varying from twenty to fifty leagues, and
often farther. The transit of the animals is by no means an
easy task, as they are generally very wild. In the camp, when
night comes on, they have to be rounded and watched by
several men, and it often occurs, particularly in wet weather,
accompanied by thunder and lightning, that a "stampede" takes
place, the animals breaking loose and giving no end of trouble
to be caught again. It therefore not unfrequently happens
that there are several animals missing before the troop arrives
* This must be a misprint in the official work for 50 Ibs.
SUN-DRIED MEATS. 115
;at its destination, for which risk and work the party who con-
tracts to deliver them is paid about %s. per animal. The first
cost ranges from 2 Ss. to $ 4^. per head, and the total ex-
penses on the beast from the time it is placed in the saladero
until its produce is shipped, including lighterage and export duty,
1 6s. per head.
On arrival at the saladero the animals are driven into
enclosures, called " corrales," and are slaughtered as soon as
possible.
In Brazil the heat of the climate precludes the salting of beef
in large pieces or joints. The province of Rio Grande do Sul,
which enjoys a most temperate climate, is the seat of the charque-
.adas or slaughtering establishments, and produces great quan-
tities of the "carnas do sertaon," or meats for the interior, suffi-
cient for home consumption, and even for exportation. Each
animal yields about one hundredweight and a half of dried beef ;
300,000 to 400,000 cwts. are sent annually to Cuba for the black
population. Chili ships about 4,000 to 5,000 cwts. of this
charqui or sun-dried beef.
This custom of drying meat in the sun is, as we have seen,
carried on in the East, and also practised in Africa, for Capt.
Burton, in his " Lake Regions of Central Africa/' states :
" The African preserves his meat by placing large lumps upon a
little platform of green reeds, erected upon uprights about 18
inches high, and by smoking it with a slow fire. Thus prepared,
-and with the addition of a little salt, the provision will last for
several days, and the porters will not object to increase their loads
by three or four pounds of the article, disposed upon a long stick
like gigantic kababs. They also jerk their stores by exposing the
meat upon a rope, or spread upon a flat stone, for two or three
days in the sun ; it loses a considerable portion of nutriment, but
it packs into a conveniently small compass. This jerked meat,
when dried, broken into small pieces, and stored in gourds, or
in pots full of clarified and melted butter, forms the celebrated
n6 DAIRY PRODUCTS FROM CATTLE.
travelling provision in the East called kavurmek : it is eaten as a
relish with rice and other boiled grains."
DAIRY PRODUCTS. Having dealt with the flesh of cattle used
as food, we come now to consider briefly the MILK, BUTTER, and
CHEESE, which are furnished by cows.
MILK. In various countries different animals have been used
to provide milk for the use of man ; in fact, it seems probable that
every domestic animal except those which are carnivorous has
been put to this service. Besides the cow, from which our principal
supplies are provided, the following animals are used in their re-
spective countries. The goat in most mountainous regions, to-
some extent in England, and in parts of Switzerland ; the sheep
in several pastoral countries, and in former times occasionally in.
England ; the reindeer in Lapland ; the camel by the Bedouins-
and others who use this animal ; the sow in China ; the mare by
many Central Asian tribes ; the ass commonly in various countries.
The Laplanders preserve the milk of the reindeer in frozen
pieces like cheese. When melted, after a lapse of several months,
it still tastes fresh and good. When a stranger enters their dwelling
whom they wish to welcome, the frozen piece of milk is imme-
diately set to the fire ; the guest receives a spoon, with which he
skims off the softened exterior as it melts; when he has had
enough the rest is preserved in the cold for other guests.
The milk of the buffalo is like that of the cow. Goats' milk
stands next to these in its qualities, and is much used in
Southern Europe. The milk of the ewe is richer than that of the
cow in fat, and contains rather more sugar than that of other
animals. The Calmucks, and most of the tribes of Central Asia,
prepare a beverage from camel's and mare's milk, which is also
fermented and distilled into an alcoholic beverage. This koumis,
as it is termed, has lately been recommended medicinally in this
country. The milk of the mare is inferior in oily matter to that
of the cow, but contains a fair proportion of sugar and other salts.
The milk of the ass approaches that of human milk in several of
MILK OF VARIOUS ANIMALS. 117
its qualities, and is recommended for invalids in pulmonary com-
plaints. Camel's milk is poor in every respect, but is employed
in countries where the animal flourishes. Every preparation of
milk, and every separate ingredient of it, is wholesome.
Milk, Captain Burton tells us, is held in high esteem -by all
the tribes of Central Africa. It is consumed in three forms
fresh ; converted into butter-milk ; and in the shape of curded
KUHLAND COW, MORAVIA.
milk. The latter is everywhere a favourite on account of its
thirst-quenching properties, and the people accustomed to it from
infancy have for it an excessive longing. It is procurable in
every village where cows are kept, whereas that newly drawn is
generally half soured from being at once stored in the earthen
pots used for curding it. Buttermilk is procurable only in those
parts of the country where the people have an abundance of
cattle.
The aggregate consumption of milk in the United Kingdom is
very large, and may be roughly estimated at a quart a week for
each person. At this rate 812,500 gallons would be required for
ii 8 CONSUMPTION OF BUTTER.
the weekly supply of London alone, with its population of
3,250,000. The average yield of milch kine is variously esti-
mated, ranging between 2 quarts and 20 quarts a day ; assume
8 quarts as a fair average, about 406,250 cows are required
to furnish the metropolitan supply alone, and the consumers
must pay more than 3 \ millions sterling per annum for milk in
London.
In Paris, even with its smaller population, the aggregate con-
sumption of milk is larger than in London. In 1860 it was
returned at over 300,000 quarts daily.
Milk, in the language of the dairyman, is composed of three
substances butter, cheese, and whey; and to separate the two
former from the latter is one of the chief occupations of the dairy.
A quart of milk of fair average quality should weigh 2 Ibs. 2\
ounces.
BUTTER. The usual allowance of butter to domestic servants is
half a pound per week, but if we assume a consumption of only 20 Ibs.
yearly, for each individual of two-thirds of the population, this would
require a total supply of 200,000 tons a year, and our home pro-
duction must be fully 130,000 tons. We import now about
80,000 tons of foreign butter, for which we pay more than
,8,500,000 sterling. In 1858 the consumption of foreign butter
was only 1-52 Ib. per head, now it is as much as 5-51 Ibs. per
head of the population. The quantity received from abroad has
not varied much of late years; the average imports are about
if million cwts. Foreign butters from Holland and France
are preferred to the Irish butter, because they are so fresh and
scrupulously clean; Irish butter often contains hair and dirt of
various kinds, as well as too much salt and brine. Irish butter is
sub-divided into six qualities or classes.
In Paris the consumption of butter in 1850 was only about
18,000,000 Ibs. ; in 1860 it had increased to 30,400,000 Ibs., being
an average of 25 Ibs. per head per annum for the population. In-
the first rank stands the butter of Isigny, which includes not only
120 IRISH BUTTER.
the butter made in the locality of the Department of La Manche,
from which it takes its name, but als"o the superior butters of
Normandy and Calvados. After this comes the Gournay butter,
made in the departments of Eure and Seine-Infe'rieure. The
salted butter comes from Brittany, especially Morlaix, Rennes,
Nantes, and Vannes.
The quality of butter, either as regards its keeping properties
or otherwise, is affected by the weather, by the condition of the
milk, the description of cattle, by the pasture, by the size, airiness
and convenience of the dairies, and very much by the sort of fuel
used in the district ; for where peat or turf is burned, the butter
generally takes a flavour from it. Butter intended for keeping
ought to be thoroughly freed from the milk in making, the cream
being in good condition, and not injured by heat, and the butter
should be made close in grain, firm, and not too rich. Such butter
does not require the great quantity of salt that is necessary for
butter not possessing those keeping properties.
Munster is the great butter-producing province of Ireland, Cork
being the seat and centre of the trade, especially the foreign,
which from many causes, it entirely monopolises. "Waterford is
a great butter shipping port, and Limerick and Belfast also
supply considerable and increasing quantities for the English
market. The butter of the above three towns is more adapted
than that of Cork for immediate consumption from its lighter
cure, less salt being used in its preparation ; whereas the Cork
butter, being more heavily salted, can be preserved much longer
than the others.
The receipts of butter in the chief Irish markets have steadily
increased of late years, at least one-third being destined for foreign
consumption. The principal foreign trade is with Brazil, Por-
tugal, the West Indies, and the Mediterranean, and large ship-
ments are also made to Melbourne. The great Irish foreign trade
in butter is now with Brazil.
The average amount of butter from milk in summer is rather
122 DUTCH B UTTER.
more than an ounce to a quart, or from 16 quarts of milk to 17 to
1 8 ozs. of butter.
The yield of butter from a good cow ought to be a pound per
day, and double this quantity has been produced for a limited
period. In Holland each cow, after being some time at grass,
yields about one Dutch pound (17^ ozs.) per day.
There are three distinct kinds of butter manufactured in
Holland. The butter made from the cream when the cows are
at the grass in summer, called grass butter ; the butter from the
whey of the sweet-milk cheese, called whey butter; and the butter
made in winter, when the cows are in the byre, called hay butter.
Grass butter is made in the following manner. The cows being
carefully milked to the last drop, the copper pitchers, lined with
brass, or pitchers entirely of brass, which contain the milk, are
put into an oblong water-tight pit, called a koelback, built of brick
or stone, about six feet in length, three in breadth, and two in
depth, into which cold water has been previously pumped, there
being generally a pump at one end. In this pit or cooler the
pitchers stand two hours, the milk being frequently stirred. This
cooling process is of great advantage in causing the cream to*
separate rapidly and abundantly from the milk. The milk is then
run through horse-hair searchers or strainers, and is put into flat
milk dishes of earthenware, copper, or wood. After remaining
in a cool milk-house or cellar for twenty-four hours, it is skimmed,
and the cream is collected in a tub or barrel. When soured, and
if there is a sufficient quantity from the number of cows, they
churn every twenty-four hours, the churn being half-filled with the
sour cream. A little warm water, near the boiling point, is added
in winter to give the whole the proper degree of heat, and in very
warm weather the cream is first cooled in the koelback, or cooler.
In many small farm houses, or when the cows give little milk, the
milk is not skimmed, but the whole when soured is put into the
churn ; the butter, immediately after being taken out, is put into a
shallow tub called a vloot, and then carefully washed with pure
ARTIFICIAL BUTTERS. 125
cold water. It is then worked with a light sprinkling of finely
ground salt, whether for immediate use or for the barrel ; there
being none made entirely fresh or without salt, as in Scotland and
England. If intended for barrelling, the butter is worked up,
twice or thrice a day, with soft fine salt, for three days in a flat
tub, there being about two pounds of this salt allowed to fourteen
pounds of butter ; the butter is then hard packed by thin layers
into the casks, which casks are previously carefully seasoned and
cleaned. They are always of oak, well-smoothed inside. Before
being used, they are allowed to stand three or four days filled with
sour whey, and afterwards carefully washed out and dried. Hay
butter undergoes the same process, being of course the butter
made in winter, but although inferior in flavour and colour, it has
none of the disagreeable taste which the turnip imparts to much of
the winter butter of this country. Whey butter is made from the
whey of the sweet-milk cheeses. The whey, being collected from
the curd and the pressed cheese, is allowed to stand three days or
a week according to the quantity ; the cream is either skimmed off
or churned, or the whey itself is put into churn, and the butter is
formed in about half an hour. In winter the butter obtained by
the process is about i Ib. per cow per week, and in summer about
i \ Ib. per cow per week.
Without giving credence to all the exaggerated statements of
the quantity of artificial butters foisted on the market, there is
too much reason to believe that melted tallow largely takes the
place of genuine butter in the retail trade. Very many factories
for preparing artificial butter have been started on the Continent
and in America. When people come to know that rancid butter
is as certainly poisonous as rancid tallow, they will be more
cautious about eating it.
If a mass of crude animal fat be heated to a temperature not
exceeding 120 Fah. the whole of it will melt, and the product
be perfectly odourless, and available for domestic and cooking
purposes. Microscopic examination with polarised light is the
RUDE MODES OF CHURNING BUTTER.
vmost reliable means of distinguishing pure butter from that which
^contains an admixture of other less palatable fats.
To render butter capable of being kept for any length of time
.in a fresh condition, that is, as a pure solid oil, all that is necessary
is to boil it in a pan till the water is removed, which is marked by
the cessation of violent ebullition. By allowing the liquid oil to
: stand for a little, the curd subsides, and the oil may then be
poured off, or it may be strained through calico or muslin into
a bottle and corked up. When it is to be used it may be gently
heated and poured out of the bottle, or cut out by means of a
-knife or cheese gouge. This is the usual method of preserving
butter on the Continent, and also ghee in India.
Ghee is the clarified butter of Hindostan. It is produced
generally from the milk of buffaloes, and is universally used in
native cookery. As an article of commerce ghee possesses some
claims to importance, many thousands of maunds (So Ibs.) being
.sent every season from some of the grazing districts to the more
cultivated parts, especially to the western provinces. It is gene-
rally conveyed in dubbers, or large bottles made of green hide.
In Brazil there are four native modes of making butter. The
first is, putting the milk in a common bowl, and beating it with
a spoon as you would an egg. The second, pouring tlie milk into
.a bottle, and shaking it until the butter appears, when it is extri-
cated by breaking off the top of the bottle, for bottles are valueless
in that part of South America, on account of the number imported
with fruits and liquids. The third, where the dairy is more exten-
sive, is performed by filling a hide with the milk, which is lustily
shaken by an athletic native at each end. The fourth by dragging
the hide on the ground, after a galloping horse, until it is supposed
that the butter is formed. The milk is never strained, and the butter
.never washed. The greater part of the butter used in the cities is
imported from Ireland, France, or Germany, and this, notwith-
standing that thousands of cows graze on the vast pampas in
South America.
FOREIGN SUPPLIES OF BUTTER. 125
In Chili the butter is packed in sheepskins with the wool out,.
and would be very good in spite of appearances, were it not so
much salted. The operation of churning is performed by a
donkey ; the cream is put into large gourds or dry skins, placed'
on its back, and then the animal is kept trotting round the yard-
till the butter is churned.
In Morocco the butter is churned by women in a bag of goat-
skin, which, when nearly filled with milk, is closed by tying the
mouth tightly. The bag is then rolled about and kneaded till'
butter is formed.
The principal countries in Europe which export butter are the
following, with the shipments made in 1873 :
Cwts.
Holland 332,691
Sweden 69,815
Denmark 227,308
In France the butter exported in 1874 was 726,825 cwt, valued
at more than ^3, 400,000. Canada exports annually about
140,000 cwts., and the United States a large quantity, of which
we have no specific details.
The receipts of foreign butter in the United Kingdom in 1874.
were larger than usual, and derived from the following countries :
Sweden
Denmark
Germany
Holland .
Belgium
France .
United States of America
British North America
Other countries .
1,619, 8o&
126 VARIETIES OF CHEESE.
CHEESE, as is well known, consists principally of the casein of
milk. The process of making it need not be described in detail
here. Suffice it to say that the milk, at a temperature of about
120 Fah., is curdled by rennet, when the curd and a certain pro-
portion of the fat separates, is strained from the whey, in which
the milk-sugar still remains, and reduced by pressure to the more
or less solid condition in which cheese is used. The chief differ-
ences in the various sorts of cheese are produced by the amount
of cream or fatty matter left in the milk.
There is of course far greater variety in cheese than in butter,
.as cheeses vary from the pure cream cheeses made of cream only,
which must be eaten fresh and will not keep, down to the skim-
milk cheeses, which contain only a small proportion of fatty
matter at all. Cheeses from skim-milk vary according to the num-
ber of skimmings ; such are Dutch, Leyden, and Suffolk cheeses.
Besides the differences caused by varying amounts of cream, are
those produced by special methods of manufacture, by mixing
cow's and goat's milk, etc.
The quality of cheese depends chiefly upon the milk of which
it is made ; the best containing a considerable portion of the
constituents of butter. The Stilton cheese of England and the
Brie cheese of France have a world-wide reputation, and are
made from fresh sweet milk mixed with cream skimmed from
milk of the preceding evening. The Cheshire, double Gloucester,
Cheddar, Wiltshire, and Dunlop cheeses of Great Britain, are
made of sweet unskimmed milk; as are also the best Dutch
and American. Skim milk yields nearly as much cheese as
sweet milk, as it contains all the casein. The ordinary Dutch,
the Leyden, and the hard cheese of Essex and Sussex counties,
are made of milk thrice skimmed.
Although the usual Dutch cheese is made of the skimmed milk,
there are finer kinds made for home consumption, with a portion of
the cream left in the milk. The most prized is the " schapekase,"
or ewe's milk cheese, which sells at a higher price. Gouda
128 PROPERTIES OF CHEESE.
cheese, the best sort made in Holland, owes its peculiar pungency
to the muriatic acid used instead of rennet for curdling the milk.
Swiss cheese is usually made from skim-milk, and flavoured with
herbs. There are, of course, richer cheeses, such as the Neuf-
chatel and Bondon, of the nature of cream cheese. In Westphalia
cheese the curd is allowed to become slightly soured before it is
compressed. The Italian cheese which is prepared for exportation
is kept in brine, and is consequently excessively salt. It is only
intended as a condiment for macaroni.
The poorer the cheese is, the longer it will keep, but every
variety, if well cleared from whey and sufficiently salted, may be
preserved for years.
Parmesan cheese owes its rich flavour to the fine sweet herbage
of the meadows along the Po, where the cows are pastured. Dutch
and Swiss cheeses contain, according to chemical analysis, from
twenty to forty per cent, of nitrogenised matter, considered the
most nutritive constituent of food. The best cheese is from
twenty-five to a hundred per cent, more nutritious than bread or
meat, which contains only about two per cent, of nitrogen.
The quantities of carbon and nitrogen in one pound of mode-
rately good cheese are (according to Dr. Smith " On Foods") 2660
grains of the former and 315 grains of the latter, showing how
rich this substance is in nitrogen.
To delicate stomachs cheese is objectionable on account of its
slow and difficult digestion ; but to individuals of great physical
strength, it is a healthful and agreeable article of consumption.
In combustible or heat-giving qualities, cheese is only exceeded
by oil, butter, and like unctuous substances.
Cheese as an animal food may with advantage be substituted
for butcher's meat at the current prices. There are good and
substantial reasons for regarding cheese as a wholesome and
valuable food, and it is worthy of even a more liberal consumption
than it now receives. English people probably consume more
cheese than any other nation on the globe, namely, in the pro-
IMPORTS OF FOREIGN CHEESE. 129
portion of about ten pounds yearly to each inhabitant. In the
United States the consumption is about half that quantity. Be-
sides being, when properly used, a wholesome and nutritious diet,
and richer in nutritious value than butcher's meat or any other
animal food, its peculiar ability to enhance the value and improve
the healthfulness of the food with which it is consumed ; the aid
it renders in digestion, its readiness for use at all times without
loss or trouble in cooking ; its convenient form for handling and
transporting ; the ease and certainty with which it may be pre-
served for many months without loss or injury that occurs to
other food from an excess .of salt : all these commend it to the
favour of the public. In the army and navy, especially, it would
be not only a luxury to soldiers and sailors, but a cheap, healthful,
and substantial substitute for the continued use of salt meat.
The imports of foreign made cheese have been largely on the
increase year by year, and have now reached about 81,300 tons
while the home production is probably 100,000 tons.
The following figures give the imports at decennial periods,
showing that our imports nearly double every ten years :
Cwts.
1855 . . . . . . 384,192
1865 853,277
1875 1,626,413
The countries from which we receive our supplies, are shown in
the return for 1874 :
Cwts.
Holland 398,888
France ...... 5,487
Germany 4,383
Belgium 1,625
Sweden ...... 3,132
United States of America . . 849,933
British North America . . . 221,043
Other countries 774
1,485,265
130 PRODUCTION & CONSUMPTION OF CHEESE.
The declared value of this quantity was close upon ^4,500,000.
Very little of this cheese was re-exported, nearly all being used in
this country.
In Paris the consumption of cheese of all kinds, fresh and dry,
in 1860 exceeded 8,000.000 pounds, which was an average of
about seven or eight pounds per head of the population.
The principal cheese-producing countries are the United States
and Canada, Holland, Switzerland, and Bavaria.
In the United States the production of cheese in 1850 was but
1,000,000 cwts., now it is more than double that amount; indeed
the combined production of Canada and the United States in 1875
exceeded 3,000,000 cwts. It takes there a little over a gallon of
milk to make a pound of cheese.
The exports of cheese from the United States in 1873 were
nearly 1,000,000 cwts., and from Canada 174,000 cwts. ; Holland
exports from 500,000 to 600,000 cwts. annually; Switzerland
shipped 392,153 cwts. in 1873.
The exports of cheese from France in 1874 were 182,353 cwt.,
valued at over ^5 5 0,000, but all this was not French cheese.
Bavaria holds a position of importance for its production of
cheese and butter. The cheese made is of a similar character to
that of Switzerland, and is generally sold as such in Austria,
France, and other countries. The production of cheese and
butter from each cow on the dairy* farms of the Allgars, the
pastoral district, is computed at about 184 pounds, and the
total production of cheese at 11,029 tons, and of butter 2,386
tons.
RENNET. In cheese-making, the milk may be coagulated or
curdled by the application of any sort of acid, but the substance
which is most commonly used is the maws or stomachs of young
calves, prepared for the purpose. These are generally denominated
" rennets," but they are also often provincially called " veils/' and
in Scotland, " yearnings." In France the rennet is known as
presure, or caillette de veau. Some people save the entire paunch,
RENNET AND ITS PREPARATION. 131
whereas it is only the fourth or true digesting stomach of the
young calf that properly makes a rennet. The calf must be per-
fectly healthy, must have suckled the cow for at least four or five
days, and to within a short time of killing. If it has been without
food for any length of time, the stomach becomes inflamed, and
especially so if the calf has been driven or carried a distance, and
then it is of no value for rennet. The stomach should be taken
out and well cleaned at once after the calf is killed, and, as soon
as cold, is to be salted and left to dry on a dish for a day or two,
then stretched on a hoop or crooked stick, and hung up to dry in
a place where the temperature is moderately warm. The Bavarian
method is to blow up the rennet like a bladder, and tie one end
to keep out air, first putting on it a little salt at the place where
tied. The skins being thus made very thin, will dry rapidly and
keep well. Sometimes they are suspended in paper bags.
Tru's prepared stomach, or rennet, when steeped in water,
produces a decoction which possesses the power of thickening
milk decomposing it, and separating the casein from the liquid
or whey. The most convenient way to prepare the rennet for use
is to place the stomach in a stoneware jar with two handfuls of
salt ; pour about three quarts of cold water over it, and allow the
whole to stand for five days ; then strain and put it into bottles,
or the rennet may be soaked over night in warm water, and next
morning the infusion is poured into the milk. In from fifteen to
sixty minutes the milk becomes coagulated, the casein separating
in a thick mass. The rennet possesses the chemical property of
producing lactic acid, by acting upon the sugar in the milk. The
acid unites with the soda in the milk, which holds the casein in
solution, when the casein, which is insoluble, separates, forming
the curd. If we take an ounce of this membrane and wash and
dry it thoroughly, and then put it into eighteen hundred
ounces of milk, heated to 120 Fah., we shall find that in a short
time coagulation of the milk is complete. If we remove the
membrane from the curd, again wash, dry, and weigh it, it will be
K 2
i 3 2 RENNET PEP SINE.
found that it has lost only about one seventeenth part of its weight.
It is thus proved that one part of the active matter of the stomach
has coagulated about thirty thousand parts of the milk. Hence
we obtain some idea of the small quantity of rennet required to
influence a large quantity of milk, and it would seem that com-
paratively little of the article would be required in the largest
cheese factories. But such is not the case. The traffic in
calves' rennets is immense in all cheese-producing countries,
and the supply in North America from the millions of calves
which are slaughtered is found wholly inadequate to meet the
demand. The home supply falls short of furnishing to their
cheese factories enough rennets by several millions annually ;
and consequently they are largely imported from Europe, but
from all sources a sufficient supply of good, sound, healthy
rennets is scarcely obtained. In France a good deal of rennet
is procured from Switzerland.
An animal product has of late years become utilised under the
name of Pepsine, which is the dried mucous membrane of calves'
or sheep's rennets, the stomach of pigs and other vertebrate
animals ; it contains the active principle of the gastric juice, and
is medicinally recommended to assist weak digestion.
CHAPTER IV.
OTHER ECONOMIC PRODUCTS OF CATTLE.
Having dealt with the food products of cattle, we come now to consider
the -various other substances of importance which they yield that
are extensively utilised for Manufactures. This chapter, therefore,
treats of Horns and hoofs and their commercial applications in the
comb manufacture, and for horn buttons ; we then pass on to
Bones and their multifarious uses, the trade in Tallow and other
animal oils and fats, and their application to the manufacture of
soap, candles, and other purposes; thence we are led to a survey of
the enormous commerce in Hides and the various stages of the
Leather manufacture generally, and the tanning substances used,
while parchment and vellum, bookbinding, and the miscellaneous
applications of leather, are incidentally noticed. Finally the uses of
offal, gut, and bladder, blood, cow-hair, and the glue manufacture
are touched upon.
THE raw materials for Manufactures derived from cattle, which
we import (exclusive of the large home production), consist of
about 1,300,000 cwts. of hides, either in the dried or salted state ;
6,000 tons of horns and hoofs ; 74,000 cwts. of cow hair ; 92,000
tons of bones; and 1,250,000 cwts. of tallow (some of which is
sheep's tallow). Of the raw hides (exclusive of leather prepared
in any way), the ratio in which the different countries contribute
is, in round numbers, as follows : the South American States,
408,000 cwts. ; India and the Straits Settlements, 320,000 cwts.;
Europe, 267,000 cwts. ; the United States, 126,000 cwts. ; South
Africa, 82,000 cwts. ; and Australia, 22,000 cwts.
HORNS AND HOOFS. The horns of animals, wild and do-
mestic, may seem of but secondary importance at a first glance,
and yet the trade in them rises to a very respectable figure in the
statistical returns.
i 3 4 USES OF HORNS AND HOOFS.
Our annual imports of horns, horn tips, and hoofs, average
now 6000 tons, valued at about ^173,000, besides the supply
from our domestic cattle. This is double the amount of our
imports a quarter of a century ago.
The study of the composition, formation, and growth of horn
is an interesting one and well deserving careful investigation,
in view of the manufacturing purposes to which this material may
be applied.*
In common parlance any hard body projecting from the head,
terminating in a free unopposed point, and serviceable as a weapon,
is called a " horn." But the composition of these differs materially.
Professor Owen well observes :
" The weapons to which the term ' horn ' is properly or techni-
cally applied, consist of very different substances, and belong to
two organic systems, as distinct from each other as both are from
the teeth. Thus the horns of deer consist of bone, and are
processes of the frontal bone ; those of the giraffe are independent
bones or ' epiphyses ' covered by hairy skin ; those of oxen, sheep,
and antelopes, are ' apophyses ' of the frontal bone, covered by
the corium, and by a sheath of true horny material ; those of the
prong-horned antelope consist at their basis of bony processes
covered by hairy skin, and are covered by horny sheaths in the
rest of their extent. They thus combine the character of those of
the giraffe and ordinary antelope, together with the expanded
and branched form of the antlers of deer. Only the horns of the
rhinoceros are composed wholly of horny matter, and this is
disposed in longitudinal fibres ; so that the horn seems rather to
consist of coarse bristles compactly matted together in the form of
a more or less elongated sub-compressed cone."
It is commonly believed that the horns of the ox acquire an
additional ring every year after the third, but the addition of
annuli is far from being regular in other species. Many rings are
* There is a very fine and extensive collection of horns and heads of all the
principal ruminants shown on the walls of the Bethnal Green Museum.
HORNS OF ANIMALS. 135
gained in one year's growth of the ram's horns, and in those of
sor.ie antelopes.
The length of the horn forms a distinguishing characteristic in
some breeds of cattle ; but whatever improvements may have
been effected in the form and character of the carcase by the
modifcation of food and habits, it does not appear that we have
been ible to superinduce any improvement or alteration in the
size 01 texture of the horns. Indeed the horns of wild animals
would seem to be more prominent than in the domesticated races.
Some African tribes, such as the Makololo, are in the habit of
shaving }ff a little from one side of the horns of their cattle when
still groving, in order to make them curve in that direction and
assume mitastic shapes. The stranger the curvature, the more
handsome the ox is considered to be, and the longer this orna-
ment of he cattle pen is spared to beautify the herd. This is a
very anaent custom in Africa, for the tributary tribes of Ethiopia
are seer on some of the most ancient Egyptian monuments,
bringing contorted-horned cattle into Egypt.
The rights and privileges of the "horn-workers" and "hor-n-
pressen " in former times occupied the prominent attention of the
Legislature. But there is no fear in the present day " of the trade
being- ruined, and the business lost to the nation," as was the cry
wher the statutes 6 Edward IV. c. i, and 7 James I. c. 14 were
passed, forbidding the sale of horns to foreigners, and prohibiting
the export of our wrought horns.
The invention of horn lanterns has been by some ascribed to
Kirg Alfred, who is said to have first used them to preserve his
candle time-measurers from the wind. The Romans preferred
lan.ern lights of the horns of the wild ox to others. They also
used thin skins and closely shaved hides for lantern leaves,
which, Martial says, very much resembled those of horn. A
lan:ern in the last century was an indispensable family article ;
there was no going into the yard or out of the door on dark nights
without one, A piece of horn was sometimes placed over the
i 3 6 APPLICATIONS OF HORN.
title of mediaeval MSS. to preserve the letters from injury, while
the transparent material allowed them to be read. The child's
horn-book of later times had its leaves of alphabet and spelling
covered entirely with thin sheets of this material.*
Although the principal manufacturing applications of hori are
for combs, umbrella tops, and knife handles, yet there are other
uses as extensive and varied as the descriptions of horn which
come into the market, or bristle on the head of the animals
characterised by these frontal appendages. Ox, buffalo, aid deer
horns, are those mostly worked up, but the horns of the rhiioceros,
ram, goat, and some other animals, are also employed to limited
extent for different purposes. Rams' horns are sometimes made
into snuff holders, or mulls, for the Scotch. One of these will be
found in Case 168. Their characteristic appearance is well
known ; we give on the opposite page a representation ol the fine
horns of the white-breasted Argali of Thibet, which bear a close
resemblance to them. We shall here speak chiefly of tre horns
of cattle, leaving the others for description when we come to treat
of the animals producing them.
The horns of the ox and buffalo are never shed, they are
deposited in layers or bony cores, so that their general form is
conical. Horns of various kinds form an extemive artice of
export from India; in 1872, 97,000 cwts., valued at more than
.65,000, were shipped from Indian ports ; and in 1873 the quan-
tity was even larger, the value being ^94,694.
The immense horns of the African ox, or Cape buffalo, and of
the Java buffalo, and the Arnee buffalo of India, are the rtost
valuable, and the extent of the trade in this class of horns may be
estimated from the fact that about 2500 tons are annually recei/ed
from British India, and 350 tons from the Straits Settlements,
exclusive of those from Java and the other islands of the Eastern
Archipelago, and these would represent a slaughter of 2,000,000
* Specimens of these may bs seen in the Educational Court, Scutli
Kensington Museum.
THE COMMERCE IN HORNS. 137
cattle annually. The horns of the tame buffalo are much smaller
than those of the wild animal.
From 800 to 900 tons of horns are received from the United
States, and large imports from South America, and Australia.
About one fifth of the supply of ox and buffalo horns is used up
for comb making, and some for knife and cutlass handles, while
a small portion is made into shoe lifts, scoops, cattle drenches,
drinking cups, &c. The solid tips and the hoofs of cattle,
ARGALI (OVIS POLI).
which are composed of the same material as horn, are pressed
into buttons.*
About 400 tons of horns are received annually in England from
the River Plate ; 1000 horns are usually reckoned as a measure-
ment ton in shipping, but they are frequently freighted by weight ;
it will take nearly 2000 to weigh a ton. Those from Spain of a
light yellowish colour serve to imitate tortoise-shell ; the imitation
is effected by solutions of gold, silver, and lead.
Mr. Hadfield in his " Travels in Brazil," tells us that at Rosario
and Santa Fe on the Parana, streets and roads are repaired with
* Cases 168 and 169 are devoted to ox-horn and buffalo-horn applications.
138 MANUFACTURING APPLICATIONS OF HORN.
heads and horns of cows and horses. In the Pampas the skull of
a horse or cow serves for a stool, a chair, or a pillow, as the case
may be. In a certain district in the suburbs of Lassa, the capital of
Thibet, the houses are built entirely with the horns of cattle and
sheep. These odd edifices are of extreme solidity, and present a
rather agreeable appearance to the eye ; the horns of the cattle
being smooth and white, and those of the sheep black and rough.
These strange materials admit of a wonderful diversity of combi-
nations, and form on the walls an infinite ^variety of designs. The
interstices between the horns are filled with mortar. Great
pyramids of horns and bones have been formed on some of the
prairies of North America by the hunters.
At one of the branches of the Upper Missouri there is such a
pyramid, 18 feet high by 15 feet in diameter, made of elk horns,
every hunter who passes making a practice of contributing his
quota to the stock by way of good luck.
MANUFACTURING APPLICATIONS OF HORN. While many of
the former uses of horns for glazing purposes, for drinking cups,
for horn-books, and for the bugle of the bold forester, have passed
away, other and more elegant and varied applications have been
found for this plastic and durable substance. Extensive as is the
present use of horns, we believe that many further manufacturing
purposes may be found for them, and that they will become even
still more important in a commercial point of view.
They receive a great variety of applications at the present day,
owing to their toughness and elasticity, as well as their remark-
able property of softening under heat, of welding, and of being
moulded into various forms under pressure.
To apply horns to manufactures they are treated as follows :
They are first thrown into water, and slight putrefaction com-
mences, by which ammonia is produced, when the horn begins to
soften. To carry this action further, the horns are transferred
into a slight acid bath composed of nitric and acetic acids, with
a small quantity of various salts. When the horns are sufficiently
COMB MANUFACTURE. 139
softened, which requires about two weeks, they are cleaned and
split into two parts by means of a circular saw, and these are
introduced between heated plates, and the whole subjected to an
intense pressure of several tons to the square inch. The plates
may be moulds, and thus the horn can be compressed into
any required shape. A great improvement has of late years
been effected in this branch of manufacture, which consists
in dyeing the horn various colours. To accomplish this, the
horn is first dipped in a bath containing a weak solution of
salts of lead or mercury, and when the horns have been thus
impregnated with metallic salts, a solution of hydro-sulphate of
ammonia is rubbed on them, when a black or brown dye is
produced.
Another method consists in mordanting the horn with a salt of
iron, and dipping it in a solution of logwood. Very beautiful
white fancy articles have been produced from horn, by dipping it
first into a salt of lead, and then into hydrochloric acid, when
white chloride of lead is fixed in the interstices of the horn, which
then simply requires polishing.
COMB MANUFACTURE. The most important use to which horn
is put is for the manufacture of combs, and the annual value of
horn combs made in this country is estimated at 4oo,ooo/.
The comb manufacture is pre-eminently conducive to national
wealth, because therein the value of the raw product is greatly
multiplied. The skilled labour placed on tortoise-shell increases
it in value about 40 per cent, while horn (the generally used
product) so favoured, advances 200 per cent. This latter, rough,
unattractive substance, is split and heated, bent and planed,
triturated and polished, pressed and carved and fretted, till at
length it is sent forth into polite society, reduced to the most
fairy-like proportions, elegant in its surroundings, having a highly
polished exterior, a beautiful set of teeth, a graceful bend, and an
elastic spring. Case 169 shows comb manufacture.
It is the laminatory character of horn that prevents the
140 HORN COMB MANUFACTURE.
economical use of mechanical aid to any large extent. The diffi-
culties thence arising and hitherto insurmountable are an erratic
and diversely running grain, the raising up of the fibres after
every use of the file, saw, plane, or other cutting instrument, and
therefore the necessity for constant removal of debris and dust
from the product-face, and of continual polishing and gauging.
This latter care is needed, because the original start has to be
made with a thickness of horn much stouter than is needed for
the perfect comb, to allow for the waste of manufacture. An
additional difficulty is the requirement of heat in all the pro-
cesses, and that continually. These and other causes have ever
prevented the use of what may be termed perfect mechanical
appliances in this trade industry, in order to elegant, complete,
and rapid production.
Let us first enter the press house. All around on our right
and our left lie heaps of horns, with the tips cut off, or divided
lengthwise ; while the ammoniacal smell of burnt horn affects
the eyes, palate, and nostrils. On one side of this shed, or
outhouse, is an ordinary furnace, a sort of Tubal-Cain improvi-
sation; and close by, in front, is a huge hammer, or kind of
movable anvil, working between upright iron guides, the hammer
or anvil raisable by a pulley. The process goes oil thus. The
workman in front of the furnace takes one of the tipless horns,
(after it has been rendered pliable by heat) and with a common
strong ripping knife splits open the horn lengthwise in the direction
of the varying grain in other words, he merely divides the horn
by the grain throughout. For to cut across the grain would be
objectionable. The split-up horns are then again warmed (in hot
water and by fire), are opened out pretty flat, laid between cold
iron plates, and pressed quite level by aid of the before-mentioned
hammer, a few iron wedges, and an oblong iron-bound space,
sunk in the furnace floor, in which plates and horn are placed.
The above plan is adopted in the case of " non-stained " goods.
When the goods are to be stained afterwards (in imitation of
HORN COMB MANUFACTURE.
141
tortoiseshell, it may be), the heated, ripped-up, and opened out
horn is placed between hot steel plates, and more highly pressed,
so as to reduce the horn-plates in thickness and to destroy the
grain of the material. Then by the aid of other processes the
horn will take the staining requisite in the subsequent operations.
The machine room may be called the laboratory of the comb
works. Blazing fires, revolving lathes, choking dust, and horny
abominations and smells of all kinds, greet you on entrance.
Here the horn may be seen in all shapes and progress of develop-
ment, receiving its direction, contour, polish, &c. The cutting
apparatus works like a simple copying machine. Place the horn
plate on the bench beneath, put over the plate a cutter of the
shape, size, and outline of any comb you may subsequently
require, strike down the press, and the piece is stamped out imme-
"\
1
L
1
[
r
\
p
V.
_^
PARTED COMBS.
diately. Many pieces may, of course, be struck out by one die,
and at one operation, the comb-plate being as economically used
as possible. More pressing and straightening succeed, then
grinding, ready for the " teeth." The mode of operation here
depends on the kind of product you are manipulating. For a
lady's back or side-comb, the "parting-engine" is put in requisi-
tion. This is a clever little contrivance, that cuts the teeth as it
draws the horn-plate through the machine, working by a top
handle also, like a copying machine. Each forward or backward
motion of the handle brings down a tooth-cutter, and by means of
a cogged wheel shifts on the bed on which the plate lies one
i 4 2 HORN COMB MANUFACTURE.
tooth-distance further till all the teeth are cut. Various sized
cutters may be used at one machine.
The last tooth at each end of the comb or combs is separated
by hand, and then you have two perfect combs, the just-cut teeth
fitting into and drawing away from each other, as the fingers of
each hand, if they be placed the one between the other, for
purposes of illustration. The teeth of horse combs and of those
finer ones for the dressing-table, are cut by the circular saw.
Suppose one (or more) very fine-toothed saw to be fixed on a
r ipidly-revolving shaft (lathe fashion) having a frame in front to
hold the horn-plate or plates, to be toothed (for several in thick-
ness may be done simultaneously, one lot in front of each saw
fixed on the one shaft). This frame is centred or pivoted, so
that it can be pressed close to, or be moved further from, the saw-
edges ; and has also a lateral motion acted on by a ratchet wheel.
Now take, say, a dressing comb, put on the ratchet wheel that
will produce the number, or width and size of teeth you need (for
all such wheels are numbered at so many teeth to the inch, and
are made to suit the various sizes and shaped products), turn the
handle, press down the horn pieces against the revolving saw, and
(the pressure being regulated by the mechanism) the teeth are
just cut as you want them in depth, size, &c. each backward
motion of the frame from the saw sending the frame sideways just
the distance needed to determine the width of the teeth ; thus
this repeated action produces perfect teeth.
When the back of the comb is half straight and half curved, or
in any other similar form out of the straight line, and the depth of
the teeth has therefore to vary in accordance, the pressure of the
frame (which holds the horn in process of " toothing") is increased
or decreased against the saw, and so the cut is made deeper or
less deep by causing the frame in its lateral progress to be assisted
(in its proximity to the edge of the circular saw) by a projecting
arm that is raised or depressed by its passage over a curved
block or comb-back of the shape of the one in manipulation.
HORN BUTTONS. 143
The fretwork in the back combs is all done by hand, the
patterns being marked on the products and cut out by a very fine
saw, a steady hand, and keen eye. The grooving and indentations
on the comb-back are produced by the revolution of edged,
grooved, serrated, and feathered wheels, against which the pro-
duct is pressed to any required depth, exactly as the glass-cutter
deals with his product. Thus also are the comb-backs of our
dressing products channelled, grooved, reached, and otherwise
adorned, the warmed and plastic horn being most obedient to
every " good word and work." There seems scarcely an end to
the rasping, planing, smoothing, and polishing, till, in the case of
" stained " goods, the products are placed in a solution of weak
aquafortis, and dotted with a red paint-like composition, to be
subsequently chemicalised and washed off, when the stains will
remain a la tortoiseshell ! *
HORN BUTTONS. The manufacture of horn buttons is one that
is interesting from its antiquity, and from the modern improve-
ments that have been introduced into it. Long before metal
buttons were made for general wear, the horn button shared with
the bone button the patronage of the poor. At present the horn
button is used principally for shooting coats and vests, and for
shoes and boots. The horn button is not, however, made from
horn, as the name indicates, but from the hoofs of horned cattle.
The hoofs of each animal will weigh about two pounds, and
more than 80 tons are used up yearly by one factory in Aberdeen.
The hoofs of horses are not suitable for the purpose. When the
hoofs arrive, they are thrown into a large caldron, and boiled
until they are soft. They are then cut into halves, and the sec-
tions transferred to the work-shop. Here the " blanks" are
pierced or punched out by young women seated at hand-presses.
The blanks, which are of a whitish colour, are then placed in vats
in a strong dye, either of black, red, or green, the only colours
which the hoof will take, where they remain till they are thoroughly
* Simmonds's "Technologist," vol. 5, p. 475*
144 HORN BUTTONS.
dyed. Black is the most common colour used. The next opera-
tion is to fix the shank, which is done while the blank is soft and
hot. This is a rapid process, and, like most of the other operations,
is performed by children. The horn button, after being shanked,
remains but a plain piece of rounded hoof, not even flattened or
smoothed on its surface. The next operation is to place it in a
mould, having an orifice for the shank to fit in. This mould merely
contains the maker's name or trade mark, and is for the under sur-
face of the button. The mould contains a dozen repetitions of the
same pattern. When the buttons are ranged in this receptacle they
are heated over an oven, till they are almost as soft as wax, when
an upper mould, containing the pattern which is to be impressed
upon them, and which fits closely upon the other, is placed over
it. The two are then subjected to the press, and the buttons
are taken out round and complete, with the exception of an
occasional roughness round the edge, resulting from the overflow
of the molten substance. This is afterwards pared off. The
buttons are then fixed by their shanks upon a plate of metal, and
subjected to the operation of a brush or a series of brushes, moved
by steam power, which gives them the last touch, and produces a
beautiful polish. They are now ready for carding and packing.
The Paris makers of horn buttons are celebrated for employing
many of the best die-sinkers of France. Buttons of large size
enable the artist to display ability, and the very fine classical
heads upon some of the buttons in alto-relievo, show a great
amount of skill in the execution of the dies ; on some, colours
have been introduced in indented rings, which at a short distance
look both neat and effective. In some French buttons the
opacity of the horn (or more properly hoof) renders them un-
attractive at a short distance, and it is only upon close examina-
tion that their merits are discovered.*
* The stages of manufacture, and the various illustrations of horn combs
and horn buttons, can be advantageously studied in the cases 168 and 169 in
the Animal Products Collection at the Bethnal Green Museum.
BONES AND THEIR USES. 145
BONES AND THEIR USES. The bones of almost all animals are
now articles of commerce ; both wild and domesticated ones
are made to yield parts of their osseous skeletons for some useful
purpose. Thus we now import the bones of the giraffe, elephant,
horse, ox, buffalo, and whale. The trade in bones has reached
a very large amount, our imports exceeding 100,000 tons, of the
value of ; 7 00,000.
In 1850 we imported but 27,198 tons, but in 1875 the imports
were 104,971 tons, and those collected at home will probably be
about the same amount. The greater quantity of these bones are
used for manure. Of the imports in 1875, only 7,754 tons were
suited for manufacturing purposes.
The composition of bones has been examined by many
eminent chemists, but the most complete researches are those by
M. Fremy. He found no marked difference between the bones
of man, the ox, calf, elephant, and whale, but in the bones of
carnivorous animals and those of birds there is a slight increase
in the amount of mineral matter.
The general composition of bones may be considered to be
as follows :
Blood vessels I
Osseine (usually erroneously termed gelatine) . . . 32
Fat ' 9
Water 8
Phosphate of lime ....... 38
Phosphate of magnesia ....... 2
Carbonate of lime ....... 8
Various other salts . 2
100
The fresh or green bones obtained at home are more valued
than the imported bones, because they yield more gelatine and
fat in boiling. Fresh unsteamed shin bones being solid, are very
heavy, but as they become old they lose much of their weight.
Old steamed bones are on the contrary light, and float in water.
Bone is an important agent in many manufactures, being used
L
146 BONES AND THEIR USES.
by potters, turners, cutlers, gluemakers, sugar refiners, assayers,
and by farmers for manure.
About 2,000,000 shank bones of oxen are worked up every
year in Sheffield, &c., for knife-handles and spoons, and they are
made into tooth and nail brushes, combs, fans, bone flats for
button moulds, and various miscellaneous articles.
The small article of bone buttons constitutes an enormous
trade. Prodigious quantities are made at Birmingham and Shef-
field, and sent away in ton loads annually. So cheap are they,
BONY SKELETON OF HIPPOPOTAMUS.
that they are sold at ^d. the gross wholesale, and hence can
compete with any other material, even wood.
In the several stages of the useful applications of bones, we
have first the shank and cut bones just alluded to for working up,
next carbonised bones, burnt in closed air-tight retorts for about
twelve hours, which are then ground between grooved plates to
make animal charcoal in grain. This is employed as a filtering
substance to clarify sugar in the process of refining. The portions
of the carbonised bones which, in the process of grinding become
too fine for filtering charcoal, are reduced to an impalpable
powder and sold as bone-black to the blacking-maker. The
grease or fat extracted from the bones before carbonising is used
ANIMAL jFATS. 147
for making soap. Sulphate of ammonia, the liquor distilled out
in the process of carbonising bones, afterwards saturated with
sulphuric acid and evaporated, is used as smelling salts, and
largely as a valuable manure.
Bone ash, when ground to moderately fine powder, is the
material of which the cupels of the gold and silver assayers are
made, being at the same time very infusible and sufficiently
porous to discharge the litharge and other impurities, while the
fine metal remains on its surface.*
THE TRADE IN TALLOW. Of the different animal oils and fats,
we shall only speak in this place of tallow, bone fat, and neats-
foot oil, leaving horse-grease, lard, &c., to be dealt with in other
sections.
Under the name of fats we designate the greasy matters, soft
or solid, which fill in animals the cavities of the cellular tissues.
It is found coating the intestines, round the kidneys, under the
skin, between the muscles, near the base of the heart, and in the
various cavities of the bones.
The composition of the fresh fat of animals, previous to its
becoming rancid that is before the formation in it of certain
acids through the oxidising agency of the atmosphere, is oleomar-
garin and stearine, together with the membranous cellular tissues,
in which these fatty substances are deposited. If we subject
tallow to a considerable pressure we obtain a solid residue and a
liquid oil, and even the most fluid oils contain a certain portion
of solid fat.
The fat of various animals has not the same degree of solidi-
fication, fusion, or density; at different ages of the animal all
these vary, becoming more elevated as the animal increases in
age ; food, climate, work or action, modify these. The density,
degrees of fusion, and richness in stearine of fats also varies
* The various economic applications of Bone are shown both in the Animal
Products Collection, Case 170, and the Waste Products Collection of the
Bethnal Green Museum.
L 2
i 4 8
THE TRADE IN TALLOW.
according to the parts of the animal from which it is taken. The
point of solidification of beef suet is about 98*5.
The tallow of commerce is the fat obtained by melting the suet
of the ox or the sheep, and straining it so as to free it from
membrane. When pure, it is white and nearly insipid, but as
usually imported it has a yellow tinge and is classed according
to the degree of its purity and consistence into candle and soap
tallow. The tallow for making soap is considered very good if
13 cwt. of it will yield, with the other ingredients used, a ton
weight of soap. The common kinds of soap are made from
beef tallow and bone fat, and the better sorts from mutton and
mixed tallows. The home production of tallow has been estimated
as high as 120,000 tons, which added to the imports of 50,000
tons, makes a total of 170,000 tons of the raw material employed
in the kingdom.
In 1840 the imports of tallow were 1,148,192 cwts., nearly all
from Russia. In 1850 the imports from Russia were 854,144
cwts., and in 1875 a little more than 50,000 cwts. The United
States, Australia, and South America are now taking the place of
Russia in the supplies they furnish to our commerce, as will be
seen from the following figures ; but the Russian tallow still main-
tains a small superiority in price.
KROM
1860.
1870.
1875-
Russia .... Cwts. .
Australia
1,082,663
12,005
242,541
4.80, 7 c i
50,517
270,408
South America ....
United States and other Countries .
146,961
188,479
474,145
316,861
226,006
420,375
1,430,108
1,523,298
967,396
The sum paid annually for foreign tallow in this country ranges
from ; 2,000, ooo to ^3,000,000, and very little is re-exported.
Tallow arrives at St. Petersburg from Siberia and the Ukraine
from August up to the closing of the canals by ice. The quality
depends upon its purity and its point of fusion. The point of
TALLOW AND TALLOW CANDLES. 149
fusion of the Ukraine tallow is 35 Reaumur. The initials P. Y. C.
and Y. C. used in trade reports represent pale yellow candle,
and yellow candle tallow. That imported from Russia is nearly
all beef tallow; from South America and Australia a considerable
quantity of mutton tallow is received, which is white, and fetches
a rather higher price. New tallow will realize is. or 2s. a cwt.
more than old. Case 158 contains tallows.
Town tallow is equal in value to Australian sheep tallow;
melted stuff, or mixed kitchen fat and bone grease all have a
value, although below that of the finer kinds of tallow. White
bone fat is obtained by boiling or steaming fresh butchers' bones,
and brown bone fat from street bones. The dregs or mem-
branous refuse remaining after melting down tallow, is sold for
feeding dogs, under the name of tallow greaves. Tallow oil is the
oleine or liquid fat obtained in steaming and pressing tallow in
woollen bags.
It was about the twelfth century that tallow torches came into
use, and in the following century the tallow candle was generally
employed, much in the same form and shape which it bears at
the present day, but cotton being unknown, a flaxen wick was
used. These candles in the time of the Romans were considered
a great luxury, and only used by persons of high rank. In 1851
it was estimated that the average make of tallow candles, dips,
and moulds, in this country, was 1,000 tons per week. The
employment of gas in the present day, the cheap and abundant
petroleum oil, and the large supply of vegetable oils, with the
extensive production of stearine candles, have reduced the de-
mand for ordinary tallow candles to a minimum.
The annual production of tallow in Russia about ten years ago
was officially estimated at 160,000 tons, of which one half used
to be exported, and the rest was locally consumed. Now the
shipments are much smaller and "the home consumption more
considerable. There are in the empire upwards of 700 large
tallow melters, who employ about 7,000 workmen. There are
150 TALLOW AND NEATS-FOOT OIL.
600 candle factories employing 2,500 workpeople; 320 soap
works, giving employment to 1,200 workmen, and thirteen steam
works employing 2,100 people. The total value of the products
worked up in Russia from tallow, exceeds ,3,250,000. In Russia
an ox in good condition will yield 200 to 250 Ibs. of tallow. In
Australia about 186 Ibs. of tallow is obtained from each head of
cattle, and 20 Ibs. from each sheep.
At one time there was so little demand for cattle and sheep in
Australia, that they were chiefly boiled down for their tallow. In
1848, 38,642 cattle, and 286,392 sheep were thus slaughtered in
New South Wales for boiling down alone.
From 1844 to 1849, both inclusive, the number of sheep
boiled down in New South Wales and Port Phillip (now Victoria)
was 1,565,752, and of horned cattle 184,064, producing 440,186
cwt, of tallow..
In the six years ending 1865, an average of 37,829 head of
cattle were annually melted down for tallow in Victoria, and in
1868 and 1869, 410,048 sheep were thus disposed of. The mode
of doing so is the following : The carcasses of sheep are chopped
up in three or four pieces, and placed in large vats, eleven feet
high, capable of holding 300 to 400 animals, and steam being
applied, the fat swims on the top, and is drawn off into coolers,
which ordinarily contain 500 gallons. The flesh is given to pigs
or made into manure.
An animal oil which is much in request is neat's-foot oil, made
by boiling down the feet of cattle, by tripe-dressers and others,
who purchase the offal of the markets. Ten of these feet will
yield about a quart of oil. This oil is retailed at about 5 s. a gallon.
Some quantity is shipped from the River Plate and the Falkland
Islands, and a good deal is made in London, Paris, New York,
and other large cities. As it remains liquid below 32, and is in
other respects a useful lubricant, it is much employed to oil
machinery, church clocks, &c. This oil can be easily purified
and freed from the deposit by placing it in the sun's rays with
THE SOAP MANUFACTURE. 151
a few strips of lead in the vessel, when the puje oil will rise to
the top.
SOAP. Soap is the product of the action of caustic alkali upon
neutral fats. Potash and soda form soluble soaps; of these
potash forms soft soap, and soda hard soap. The latter is conse-
quently most generally employed. The cleansing property of
soap is usually considered to depend upon the amount of alkali
which it contains; pure alkali would injure the hands and the
fabric, but by combination with the fatty acids its action is
rendered milder without destroying its property of combining
with impurities, and especially with fatty matters. Soap is used
for cleansing purposes, in washing, in bleaching cloth and woollen
materials, for the preparation of lithographic tints, &c.
The animal substances principally employed are, imported beef
and mutton tallow, horse-grease, lard, and fish-oils, also bone-
grease, kitchen refuse, town tallow, and fat obtained from
butchers. Lard is rarely used in Europe for making soap, being
too dear ; but it is extensively employed in the United States,
where enormous quantities are converted into a solid fat and a
fluid oil.
The greater the quantity of fat acids combined in the soap the
higher is its value. It is in the power of the soap-maker to
manufacture 300 parts of a good hard soap out of 100 parts of
fat. When but a small quantity of water is contained, the soap
becomes very hard, and much labour is lost in obtaining a lather.
If on the other hand water is held in too large a proportion, there
is a great loss of material. For the common yellow soaps and
for soaps for sizing paper, resin is added to tallow in the propor-
tion of 50 per cent.
The soaps made in England are distinguished by a good
substance, a soft cut, and a composition appropriate to the
special uses for which they are made and for their cheapness.
The best are well saponified without excess of alkali or salts.
The materials employed are chiefly tallow for white soap, and
152 THE TRADE IN HIDES.
bone grease and kitchen stuff for marbled soaps and Windsor
soaps.
Since the abolition of the duty on soap, and the soap-makers'
licence, it is not possible to obtain any precise returns of the
quantity of soap made. In 1851 there were 317 licensed makers
in Great Britain, but by centralisation and larger factories the
number of makers has been greatly reduced. The quantity of
soap manufactured in 1851 was 100,000 tons, of which 24,500
tons were exported and used by manufacturers, leaving 75,500
tons for domestic use, a proportion of a little over 8 Ibs. to each
person. The manufacture has since largely extended and the
product is cheaper, owing to the greatly increased supplies of
vegetable oils. The export of soap, which was then (1851) about
6,300 tons, was in 1875, I2 >538 tons.*
THE TRADE IN HIDES. The demands of the civilised world
bring all descriptions of hides and skins to our markets, such, for
instance, as the miscellaneous collections of skins and peltries
of the Hudson's Bay Company. At the public sales in London
and Liverpool, held fortnightly, immense numbers pass under the
hammer of the auctioneer. Strange mixtures are sometimes met
with in the different lots offered. For instance, the Commercial
Society of Mozambique sold at Rotterdam, in June, 1876, 5,461
skins of the gnu (Catobkpus Gnu), 2,542 of the quagga (Asinns
Quagga), 436 of the giraffe (Camelopardalis Gira/a), 96 boar skins,
14 lion and hyena skins, 41 deer, 391 buck skins, 2,168 of the
blesbok (Gazella albifrons\ and 3,071 of various other antelopes.
Skins vary in texture and substance as much as the character
of the animals they cover. Mr. W. N. Evans, a scientific and
practised tanner of Bristol, tells us that the sheep, though valuable
for its wool, gives but a spongy, porous skin, only available for
common work, such as wash leather and imitation chamois.
The pig, with a skin of a closer texture, is yet of so inferior
a description as to be principally confined to saddler's work,
* Case 159 contains spermaceti and Case 160 soaps.
THE TRADE IN HIDES. 153
for which it is well adapted. The horse is the possessor of
a remarkably thin skin, almost transparent j the naturalist would
do well to notice one peculiarity about it, which is, that whilst
three-fourths of the hide make the best curried leather, the re-
maining portion from the hip bones, covering the rump, has under
the true skin a layer of thicker substance, giving to it an inflexi-
bility very foreign to the rest of the hide. No doubt this layer
was placed there for some wise purpose ; but what that purpose
is we have yet to learn. The hide of the ox is the most im-
portant. The calf and younger cattle give us skins which are
mainly used for the uppers of boots. The ox at maturity furnishes
the stouter hide, which the tanner transforms into sole leather.
What are the chemical constituents of a hide? A transverse
section of fresh skin shows it to be a gelatinous mass, the sub-
stance of which is full of fibres interlacing each other in every
direction. The microscope reveals to us the corium, or true
skin, and the cuticle, or epidermis ; between the two lies the rete
mucosum. The cuticle in which the hair is imbedded is removed
during the process with the hair, leaving the true skin to be made
into leather.
The skin in its normal condition, as received from the butcher
in the home market, possessing its original moisture and flexibility
requires but little skill to prepare it for the process of tanning.
Our home product of hides was valued in 1873 a ^ ;7> 000 > 000
sterling ; but the imported hides and skins of different kinds
received from all parts of the world in the same year, raw,
tanned or dressed, exceeded ^10,000,000 in value.
The vast Pampas bordering on the River Plate, in South
America, now furnish large quantities of the best hides. The
River hides, as they are called, consist of the Paysandu ox hides,
which range from 60 to 67 Ibs. on the average. The Gualeguay-
chu ox hides 62 to 64 Ibs. \ the Salto ox 66 Ibs., and the Con-
cepcion ox 64 Ibs. The Buenos Ayres hides average about 62 Ibs.
The hides while quite fresh are put into brine pickle for twelve
vi54 THE TRADE IN HIDES.
to twenty-four hours, when completely saturated they are removed
to drain, then salted and placed in piles for ten to fifteen days,
after which they are ready for shipment. They are placed in
layers on board ship for passage to Europe, with bay-salt between
each layer, and reach our shores in a moist condition. A heavy
River Plate ox hide may measure yft. long, by 5ft. g'm. wide. A
light one 4ft. loin, by 4ft. 4in. A salted ox hide may weigh from
42 to 89 Ibs. According to size one thousand ox hides, with the
necessary salt, may be taken to weigh about 30 tons. The
number of hides, salted and dried, shipped annually from Buenos
Ayres is from 2,500,000 to 3, 000,000, from Montevideo 1,500,000,
and from Brazil about 1,500,000. The principal markets for
these hides are first France, second the United States, third
Belgium, and fourth England.
Havre and Marseilles are the principal ports of import in
France : at the former about one million of hides are received
annually; at Antwerp one million and a half are imported.
Of the one million and a half hides shipped annually from
Brazil three-fourths are wet salted, and one quarter dried. The
former are sent chiefly from San Jose do Norte, and the latter
from Rio Grande do Sul. The latter province used to swarm
with wild horses and cattle, and nearly 600,000 head of cattle are
slaughtered there annually. The Brazilian hides weigh from 30
to 3 2 Ibs. each, and as freight 70 are computed to weigh a ton.
From Guatemala 627,000 hides were shipped in 1874, and from
Texas at least 300,000, either dried or salted, are sent away.
The excellent material obtained from horned cattle on the
steppes, on the immense pasture lands of Podolia, and on the
broad plains of Central Russia acquires a high degree of solidity,
flexibility and excellence from the perfect system of tanning em-
ployed. There are in Russia about 3,000 tanneries and leather
manufactories, and the annual production in prepared hides and
sheep skins amounts to close upon ^8,000,000. The number of
raw hides and skins obtained annually is estimated at 20,500,000,
TECHNICALITIES OF THE LEATHER TRADE. 155
of which 19,000,000, are dressed. Deducting sheep skins, which
are more than 50 per cent of the whole, the numbers and weights
may be taken as :
Ox-hides . . . 2,200,000 averaging 40 Ibs.
Cow-hides . . 1,300,000 ,, 20 ,,
Calf-skins. . . 4,000,000 ,, 3 ,,
Horse-hides . . 1,000,000 ,, 12 ,,
About one-tenth of these are exported.
There are certain technicalities in the leather trade which require
explanation, thus we have the " crop " or full hide, the " butt " or
rounded hide, and the "offal" which consists of shoulders, cheeks,
and faces, necks, bellies, and middles. A side of leather is a
" bend."
In trimming leather a very little is taken off the butt end, then
about a foot in depth or less according to the quality or thickness
of hide is taken from the belly, then from the fore end of the bend
to within about six inches of the horns a square piece called
" shoulders " is taken, and from this a piece is generally cut called
the " range," which is from above the shoulders to the horns.
The rest is " cheeks and faces." Thus we have from a whole
hide five different kinds of leather, which bear about the following
relative prices :
Perlb. s. d.
Butt 20
Belly 10
Shoulders . . . . .14
Range n
Cheeks and faces .... 9
The oblong portion between the two belly parts marked G G,
is known as the " butt," and when split down the ridge, as shown
by the dotted line down the centre, the two pieces are known as
"bends;" the two pieces marked Y are "belly offal;" D is
known as " cheeks and faces." The butt within the dotted line
may extend in length from A to B or from A to C ; if cut off be-
tween B and C that portion is called the " range ; " or the whole
156 MODE OF TRIMMING A HIDE.
from B to X may be cut in one piece and termed a " shoulder."
Sometimes the range is cut off, and the rest would be called a
shoulder, with " cheeks and faces " on : or, again, the range and
shoulder may be all in one nearly square piece. The manner
of cutting this part depends upon the spread and size of the
hide. The sketch on the opposite page shows what is termed a
close rounded butt. There is generally more belly taken off an
English than from a South American hide, and* for strap leather
they round closer than for the other purposes. The belly taken
off a River Plate hide is narrower than what is shown in the
diagram ; the most pains is taken in tanning the butt, as they
always tan offal by the quick process. When leather is trimmed
in this way the belly offal generally sells at one half the price of
the butt or bend, the shoulder a few pence below the price of the
butt, and cheeks and faces about half the price of the shoulder.
Crop leather weighs from 26 to 36 Ibs., and shaved hides 'from
1 6 to 26 Ibs., and sells at some fourpence per pound more than
the crop. The rounded shaved leather, generally cut into sides,
is dressed leather and sells always by the pound.
Calf skins vary in weight from 20 to 25 Ibs. up to 100 to 120 Ibs.
They are sold either entire or rounded. The heavy ones are
not so valuable as the light ones by threepence to sixpence per Ib.
" Kips " is the name given to the ox hides while in the state of
transition from the calf to the fully developed animal, this applies
to English, St. Petersburg, and South American Kips. But there
is another kind of Kip imported in large quantities from the East
Indies, which are the skins of a small breed of oxen shipped
from the three Presidency ports of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta.
A Patna Kip is the hide of a two year old steer or heifer, and is
supposed to be anything in the shape of a hide weighing less than
1 6 Ibs. As a general rule Kips come to market salted. When
properly tanned and dressed, these hides make fine leather, rank-
ing next to calf skin. They are shipped from Calcutta, both dry
and dry salted, folded down the back, and also plastered over the
MODE OF TRIMMING A HIDE.
157
flesh with some kind of whitewash. Kips range from 3 J to 9 Ibs.
Of late years the greed of commerce has induced unscrupulous
CROP, OR FULL HIDE.
dealers to daub the fleshy side of the Indian Kips with large
quantities of plaster, as much as 3 Ibs. being often added, and
158 THE LEATHER MANUFACTURE.
the average is i J Ibs. In the five years ending 1868 the annual
value of the hides and skins shipped from India was ^900,000,
in the next five years it was ^2,560,000, and the average of the
three years ending in 1875 was ^"2, 7 3 9, 13 4.
The following shows the number of hides and skins shipped
from India in 1873 and 1875 :
i873- 1875.
Tanned. Dry and Salted.
Tanned.
Dry and Salted.
Bengal .
. 1,049,829
9,788,504
6,775,920
9,636,651
Bombay
2,040,735
1,015,826
1,019,201
270,712
British Burmah
3,352
367,840
3,600
274,029
Madras .
. 8,119,222
271,071
6,467,764
148,087
Scinde
6,044
325,192
17,562
80,143
11,219,182 11,768,433 14,284,047 10,409,622
The total number shipped in 1874 was 19,295,552. There
is an export duty in India of 3 per cent, on tanned hides and
skins ; raw hides are shipped free.
The cows, bullocks, and buffaloes in the Punjab in 1875
numbered 6,570,212.
LEATHER MANUFACTURE. Next to wool, the leather trade
forms one of the largest British industries connected with animal
products. By the census of 1871 there were in England and
Wales alone more than 55,500 fellmongers, tanners, curriers, and
workers and dealers in skins ; 25,000 workers and dealers in
saddlery, harness, portmanteaus, &c. ; 21,000 glovers ; and nearly
225,000 boot and shoe makers. The uses of leather are so
numerous that it is quite impossible to estimate the home con-
sumption. Even if it were calculated that one half of the popula-
tion of Great Britain used only two pairs of boots or shoes
each yearly, at 5r. a pair, this would give an annual outlay of
^16,368,700. This sum might, however, safely be doubled, to
say nothing of the gloves, saddlery, belting, and other multifarious
uses of leather.
Enormous progress has been made in the leather trade. English
TANNING SUBSTANCES. 159
leather of the best quality is now supplied to the principal markets
of the Continent, and bids fair to hold its ground. While in 1828
the value of the leather of British manufacture exported, was under
^"164,000, in 1875 it'had risen to ^"3,874,108.
The Animal Products Collection at Bethnal Green Museum is
very rich in hides and leathers from all countries, obtained at the
various International Exhibitions ; there are numerous illustrations
of the applications of leather for book-binding, saddlery and
harness, wall hangings, shoes, gloves, and other purposes.
TANNING SUBSTANCES. For the use of the 800 Tanneries of
the United Kingdom, and to work up more than 190,000 tons of
hides and skins into leather, a large quantity of Tanning
Materials is required. The principal supply is obtained from the
bark of our indigenous oaks, and from the larch tree in Scot-
land. Mimosa, Cork, and a few other foreign barks are imported,
and bark extracts from North America, to the value of ^64,000.
Gambier, Sumach, "Divi Divi," (a leguminous pod from Rio
Hache), Myrobalans (a dried Indian fruit), and the acorn-cups of a
species of oak of Southern Europe, passing in commerce under the
name of " Valonia," are the other tanning substances chiefly used.
The proportion for producing one ton of leather would be, of
Bark 6 tons, Sumach or " Valonia " 2 tons, Gambier and Cutch
i ton. The following figures will give an idea of the aggregate
consumption in 1874, and the current prices :
Quantity. Price.
British Oak Bark in loads of 45 cvvt.
(Hatched Bark) . ... 200,000 . 17 to 19 per load.
Foreign Oak Bark . . . cwt. 207,168 . 6 to 7,, ton.
Larch Bark loads 50,000 .5 ,, load.
Mimosa Bark .... cwt. 117,168 . 12 to 14 ,, ton.
Valonia tons 26,336 . 151020,, ton.
Myrobalans .... cwt. 338,466 . 13 to 16 ,, ton.
Sumach ..... tons 16,514 . 12 to 19 ,, ton.
Gambier and Cutch . . . tons 16,441 . 25 to 35 ,, ton.
* In Cases 136 and 137 will be found a large and varied collection of the
vegetable substances used in tanning.
160 PARCHMENT AND VELLUM.
PARCHMENT AND VELLUM. The origin of parchment is very
old, the skins of animals prepared for writing on being generally
used before the discovery of paper. Herodotus tells us the Greeks
wrote on the skins of the goat and the sheep deprived of their
hair and prepared ; Josephus states that the copy of the Holy
Scriptures sent to Ptolemy by the High Priest Eleazar was written
on fine animal membrane. Pergame is generally said to be the
locality where it was first invented, and parchment still bears this
name in parts of the continent. Before the Revolution, the Uni-
versity of Paris had the sole right to sell parchment, and there was a
street set apart for it. All made had to be sent to the Hall to be
examined and stamped. The object was to secure the authenticity
and date of acts and deeds, &c. Parchment is usually made of
sheep skin but can also be made with those of goats and calves.
The skin of the ram makes a better parchment than that of the
ewe, but the best is from lamb skins. Parchment for drums,
tambourines, &c., is usually made of calf skin or goat skin; wolf
skin is said to be the best for this purpose.
Parchment is much used for commissions, warrants, writs,
diplomas, title deeds, and estate plans, &c., which require to be
preserved. It is also employed by miniature painters, for church
missals, in bookbinding, &c.
Vellum is a finer, smoother, white kind of parchment, made of
the skins of young calves which are larger, thicker, and more
difficult to prepare than sheep and goat skins, hence the higher
price. It is elastic, stronger and more smooth and compact than
parchment. It is therefore selected for manuscript addresses,
designs, and church books, &c. Before the discovery of oil paint-
ing, the choicest drawings were made on vellum.
The mode of preparation is first to take off the hair or wool,
then to steep the skin in lime, and afterwards to stretch it very
firmly on a wooden frame. When thus fixed, it is scraped with a
blunt iron tool, and wetted and rubbed with chalk and pumice
stone, till it is fit for use. It is curious to notice that from about
BOOKBINDING. 161
the seventh to the tenth century parchment was beautiful, white,
and good, but in later times a very inferior, dirty looking kind ot
parchment came into use, which has the appearance of being
much older than the good. The reason for this is supposed to
be that the writers in these later centuries used to prepare their
own parchment, while at an earlier date it was a curious art, only
possessed by the manufacturers.
The scarcity and expense of parchment, and the demand for
the writings of the fathers and books of devotion, in the middle
ages, frequently induced the monks to erase or wash out the
writings of the classical authors, to make room for those of the
fathers. In many cases, however, they did not obliterate entirely
the ancient writing, and a careful examination of some of these
"palimpsest" MSS., has led to the discovery of valuable works
and fragments of the classical authors, among the rest one of the
works of Cicero.
Case 135 contains specimens of parchment and vellum, and
the tools used in preparing it, and there are some framed speci-
mens of very old parchment writings. There is in the case a
specimen of parchment made from kangaroo skin. The refuse
chippings and cuttings of the manufacture are used for making
size.
BOOKBINDING. Great improvement has taken place in all
descriptions of bookbinding within the last few years, more
especially in the application of colour and ornament to the cheaper
kinds. So great has been the extension of this trade, that the
introduction of machinery for performing the operations of em-
bossing and blind-tooling became necessary in order that the
bookbinder might keep pace with the demands on his trade. The
editions of most popular works are now so large, and have to be
published at so low a price, that the cheapest style of binding has
to be adopted. An edition of a thousand volumes can be put
up in cloth covers, lettered and gilt, by some of the large binding
firms in six hours.
M
1 62 BOOKBINDING.
Mr. Reed, reporting on the Bookbinding exhibits at the London
Exhibition of 1862, observed that in bookbinding there may be
said to be three grand divisions : first, those works of art which in
all the magnificence of splendid covers, jewelled ornament, and
carved ivory, and enamel, seem to rival in richness the bindings
of the earliest printed books, which on account of their rarity
have been treasured, especially abroad, in the most costly covers,
weighted and enriched by reliefs in gold, silver, and other chased
metals ; secondly, work marked by a degree of simplicity border-
ing upon rigidity, combining an elegance and solidity in design
and manipulation which furnish the highest style of work, in
which the finest relics of antiquity, the choicest reprints of rare
books, and the highest class of modern literature, are encased ;
and thirdly, there is the bright, gay, and begilded cloth and paper
binding of our ephemeral literature, rapidly produced, and as
rapidly destined to destruction.
In all these sections there is a marked advance \ in the first,
extravagance has to some extent given way to utility ; in the
second, the exactitude of the mere copyist has yielded to the
demand for some degree of originality in design and greater care
in the combination of colours; and in the third, cheapness ot
production, and the valuable initiative faculty ha/e given to us
instead of clumsy and inartistic covers, a degree of merit in cheap
work which is one of the marvels of the present age.
Half-binding is that style in which only the back and corners
are covered with leather, and the sides with paper or cloth. In
the finishing or ornamenting of a bound book much taste may be
displayed. The edges of the leaves are usually either sprinkled
with colour, marbled, or gilt with leaf gold. The covers are
sometimes coloured or sprinkled by the binder, and are im-
pressed both on the sides and back with ornamental devices
and inscriptions, by the application of heated stamps or dies,
either with or without leaf gold ; such impressed devices as
are not gilt being distinguished by the name of blind-tooling.
MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS OF LEATHER. 163
When gold is used, the surface of the leather is prepared to
receive it by the successive application of parchment-size, white
of egg, and a little oil. In ordinary handwork, the patterns are
produced by the separate application of a number of small dies,
and engraved rollers for lines and long narrow patterns, but
sometimes a number of dies are fitted together and applied
simultaneously by means of a press. This process is called
blocking. Various shades of colour are applied to the leathers
used in bookbinding. We have bindings in Russia and Morocco
leather, fancy calf, goat, parchment and vellum, and embossed
leather. Among the other materials used for book-covers are
tortoise-shell, carved ivory, velvet, mother-of-pearl shell, oak, and
other carved or inlaid wood.
Case 144 contains specimens of bookbinding.
MISCELLANEOUS APPLICATIONS OF LEATHER. The leather
manufacture is one of our most ancient and important industries,
and there are very many minor and miscellaneous applications of
leather which add variety and interest to a collection. Even if
modern illustrations of shoes and boots are not necessarily shown
in the Museum, some of the curious varieties are, such as alligator,
snake skin, porpoise skin, and kangaroo skin boots. Samples of
leather tankards, bottles, sandals, caskets, and shields as exemplifi-
cations of former uses ; sheaths and scabbards, braces, breeches,
vests and buttons, as articles of dress. Fancy leather work, as
frames, flowers &c. There are also a host of small articles in
leather work, such as port-monnaies, pocket-books, purses, card
cases, sample-cases, letter-cases, cigar-cases, writing-folios, tobacco-
pouches, cloak straps, ladies' belts or leather girdles, which in
many instances are pretty and attractive. Leather palms used
by the sail-maker, buckets, belting and driving straps for ma-
chinery, buff leather, a strong oil leather prepared from the
skin of the ox, buffalo, elk, &c., and used for polishing wheels,
buffsticks or glaziers, knifeboards, razor strops, &c., and other
uses.
M 2
1 64 ILLUSTRATIONS OF LEATHER WORK.
The old adage that there is nothing like leather is certainly
verified in the multifarious uses to which leather has been or is
now put. We make coverings of it in articles of personal use, for
a man may be clothed in leather garments from the head to the
foot. In saddlery and harness its use is universal, and nothing
can supplant it for durability. In articles for household and
domestic use, we have leather hangings and coverings for furni-
ture, buckets and bottles, cups and hose. Eleven frames of
handsome tapestry leather are shown. For travelling we have
portmanteaus, valises and hand bags, pocket books, purses and
cigar cases. In Case 145 are examples of many of these. We
write on leather and we cover our books with it, and it has even
been used by photographers to take likenesses on. It is the
packing and baling material in many countries from its cheapness
and durability, Hammocks, boats, and even cannon, have been
made of it, whilst the leather apron is the most durable and
serviceable protection for many an artisan. Leather shields were
and are still in use in many countries. It serves for the grip
handle of swords, and for sheaths of knives. We use leather in
balls for cricket and football, and we cover musical instruments
with it, as well as telescopes and many philosophical instruments
for protection. It is the most ancient, useful, and generally
applied animal substance for an infinite variety of purposes. And
moreover leather can be made of the skin or hide of almost every
quadruped, and of many fishes, serpents, and reptiles. Human
skin has even been tanned, but it is too thin for any serviceable
use. In Cases 140, 141, 142 are illustrations of leather work, and
Case 138 contains specimens of tools used in the working and
preparation of leather.
There are eleven large framed photographs shown, taken at
Messrs. Bevington and Sons' tannery, Neckinger Mills, Bermondsey,
which illustrate and explain the whole process of tanning and
leather preparation, while other frames from the same firm con-
tain samples of various manufactured leathers, and of the stages
USES OF OFFAL. 165
of progress in preparing sheep-skin, goat and calf-skin, seal-skin,
and horse hide.
USES OF OFFAL. What shall be done with the fifth quarter
of the animal, or the " offal " was a question that formerly used
to be perpetually assailing Boards of Health, and other sanitary
bodies who have the supervision of slaughter-houses, meat-
markets, &c.
Now, however, the offal of cattle suited for food, the waste from
dressing skins and preparing leather, and other animal refuse, all
have their distinctive and remunerative uses.
The tanner makes use of the hide, while the bones and horns
are put to various uses. The suet is melted down by the candle
makers, leaving only the head, offal, and blood to be disposed of.
We shall now proceed to trace out some of the purposes in which
these are employed. The allowance for offal is very largely and
variedly influenced by the breed of the animal, sex, age, and
accidental circumstances. The following figures may however, be
taken as the average medium weight of the offal in fat cattle
brought to market.
In general, hide and horns, 4 to 7 stone of 8 Ibs. in rare cases,
8 to 9 stone ; tallow, 3 to 10 stone in rare cases, nearly to 20
stone ; head and tongue, 2 to 3 J stone ; kidneys, 2 to 4 Ibs. ; back
collop, 2 to 4 Ibs. ; heart, 6 to 9 Ibs. ; liver, lungs, and windpipe,
i to 2 stone ; stomach and entrails, 10 to 14 stone; blood 3 to 4
stone. Or the proportions may be taken to be as follows :
Carcase. Offal.
Store oxen . . . . 59-3 38*9
Fat oxen 59-8 38-5
Fat heifers . . . . 55-6 41*3
Fat calves 63 'I 33 5
Much of the offal is used as food, such as the head, tongue,
feet, heart, liver, lungs, tripe, &c.
The head of the ox contains about 30 per cent of meat, which
is usually fat, and produces a nutritious soup. Calf's head is a
1 66 TRIPE DRESSING GUT AND BLADDER.
more delicate and expensive dish. Ox tongues are usually salted
or pickled, but are sometimes dried, and there is a considerable
commerce in ox tongues imported from Russia, Australia, and
River Plate.
In parts of Africa, according to Dr. Schweinfurth, before the
tongue of any animal is eaten, the tip has to be cut off, for here
they say, is the seat of all curses and evil wishes ; and even the
tongues of sheep and oxen are not served up until they have been
subjected to this treatment.
A profitable business is carried on in London and other large
towns in animal offal for food. In the metropolis there are no
less than 100 tripe-dressers, many of whom sell many varieties of
animal offal prepared for food. The liver and the lungs, or as
they are vulgarly termed lights, of some animals are eaten. The
intestines are also used as food in the preparation of sausages
and black puddings, whilst the thicker and fatter parts are eaten
as tripe.
The feet of animals consist of two chief chemical constituents of
food, viz., oil and gelatine, and hence we have neat's foot oil
(already alluded to) and calf s foot jelly. The oil has too strong a
flavour to be used as food, and must be removed before the foot
is eaten. This is effected by the application of heat after the
free use of the knife, and as the foot is cooked by being boiled in
water, it is necessary that the oil should be skimmed from the
broth, that the latter may be fit for food.*
Neat's foot oil, trotter oil, tallow oil, and all the other animal
oils of commerce, are shown in the Animal Products Collection
and Waste Products Collection of the Bethnal Green Museum.
GUT AND BLADDER. There is a larger and more important
trade than is generally supposed in the preparation and applica-
tion of the intestines of animals for various purposes. They
serve for the preparation of goldbeater's skin, bladders, rackets,
lashes or whipcords, sausage skins, cords for clock-makers, hat-
* Dr. E. Smith "On Foods."
USES OF GUT AND BLADDER. 167
makers, grinders and polishers, and strings for musical instru-
ments. Thirty years ago the value of these in Paris was set
down at ; 50,000 a year, and in London, from the much more
extensive slaughter of animals, a far greater trade is carried
on.
The membrane of the intestines or blind-gut, of which gold-
beater's skin is made, is remarkable for its strength and delicate
fibrous construction. The manufacture, important as it is, rests
in the hands of a very few manufacturers. The principal London
maker uses up the skins taken off the gut of 10,000 oxen
weekly.
Great care is required in the manipulation and successive pro-
cesses of drying, bleaching, and preparing, these skins being of
the highest importance to the goldbeater, for the beating of gold
and silver leaf. The gut or skin is stretched on frames, and to
give them greater support two skins are doubled together, after
which they are well cleansed and scraped to remove all super-
fluous fibrous matter, and being well rinsed and dried are coated
with a varnish. In its finished state this skin sells for ten to
twelve guineas the mould of 850 small leaves, such a mould
enabling the workman to beat out that quantity of gold leaves at
one time. Each leaf in the mould being double, there are 1,700
thicknesses of skin.*
These membranes are of three kinds, an outside covering of
common parchment, a set of leaves made of very fine and smooth
calf-skin vellum, and another set of goldbeater's skin.
Bullock's weasands or ox guts are cleaned and salted for expor-
tation, to be used as covers to sausages and polonies. Besides
the bladders obtained from our own slaughter-houses, we import a
good many from the Continent. The imports of bladders in 1870,
the latest year for which there is any official record, were 652,361,
valued at nearly ^3000.
Bullock's " bungs," as they are technically termed, are the
* This manufacture is shown in case 173.
168 USES OF BLOOD.
largest, and more shapely than any other bladder. Bladders
when brought to a clean and prepared state are specially useful
to druggists, oilmen, colourmen, and other manufacturers as
coverings for various kinds of vessels; they derive their value
from their thinness, toughness, and impermeability to water.
The bladders of the ox and other animals, when deprived of bits
of loose membrane and other impurities, are washed in a weak
solution of chloride of lime, rinsed in clean water, insufflated and
submitted to pressure by rolling them under the arm, which
stretches and enlarges them; then blown out quite tight, and
fastened and dried.* See Cases 173 and 174.
USES OF BLOOD. Domestic economy and the industrial arts
now use up a large quantity of the blood of animals which was
formerly thrown away. The chief difficulty is that it is only
possible to obtain it in quantity in extensive slaughter-houses,
where many cattle are killed.
Its most important use is for making blood albumen, a manu-
facture which is carried on in this country and on the Continent,
the product being cheaper than egg albumen. Blood is com-
posed almost entirely of albuminous matter, of which 5 1 '44 per
cent, is contained in the clot which forms after the blood has
stood, and 48*16 per cent, remains dissolved in the serum.
Two kinds of blood albumen are met with in commerce ; ordi-
nary, of which there are two or three qualities, and patent, which
is transparent and soluble, and used for mordanting yarns and
cloth for dyeing.
Ordinary albumen is prepared by adding a small quantity of
spirits of turpentine to the serum and mixing it well, which
bleaches it, and remove's the grease. It is left to rest for 24 to
36 hours, and the serum which has become clear is separated from
* There is also a large and instructive display of all the economic uses of gait
and bladder, in the Waste Products Collection, at the Bethnal Green Museum,
formed by the author, of which a cheap special descriptive catalogue is
published by the Science and Art Department.
ALBUMEN AND DRIED BLOOD. 169
the deposit. It is then dried on enamelled iron plates at from
50 to 57 Cent, for two hours, and the temperature lowered to
47^ or 49 Cent, for the space of 36 hours.
The patent or transparent albumen is prepared with diluted
sulphuric and acetic acids and a further addition of turpentine,
agitated for about an hour. It is then left for a day to rest,
and the clear liquid drawn off, neutralised with ammonia, and
dried. Ten pounds of serum will give about one pound of
albumen.*
The colouring matter of the blood, haemoglobin, may be obtained
by evaporating its aqueous solution at a temperature below 100 ;
it then appears almost black, but resumes its red colour when dis-
solved in water. Coagulated blood is sold to calico printers for
dyeing Turkey-red, and to chemical manufacturers for preparing
red liquor for printers' use. About 6000 tons are estimated to be
thus employed.
Dried blood serves to clarify wines, syrups, and other thick
solutions. A very general use of blood is for manure, and it is one
of the best fertilisers, equalling, in fact, powdered flesh. Blood
for clarifying is of a good quality when it dissolves entirely in
cold water, and when the solution of one pint of dry blood in ten
of water, heated to boiling, produces an abundant scum and then
leaves the liquor clear. An ounce of blood is usually sufficient to
clarify a cask of wine. Dried blood used to be extensively em-
ployed on the sugar estates in the colonies to separate the scum
and sediments in sugar boiling.
Attempts have frequently been made to utilise the blood of
cattle as human food, but with little success, and yet it contains
all the principles out of which tissues are formed, and hence must
be eminently nutritious.
In Sweden they prepare a very good bread for the poor made
with blood from the slaughter-houses and wheat flour. The blood
* The various blood albumens are shown in the Waste Products Collection
at the Bethnal Green Museum.
i yo BLOOD FOR FOOD USE OF GLUE.
of most of the domestic animals might thus be extensively utilised.
In Denmark, Professor Panum, of the University of Copenhagen,
has recently drawn attention to the amount of nutritious matter
contained in blood and usually entirely lost, which can be pre-
served in forms suitable for food, as sausages, cakes, &c., mixed
with fat, meal, sugar, salt, and a few spices.
We eat the blood of pigs and sheep in black puddings, but the
blood of cattle and calves we throw aside as waste, an anomaly
difficult to understand.
Recently a draught of blood has been recommended by phy-
sicians in cases of pulmonary phthisis, and in Paris and Chicago
numbers of patients are said to resort to the slaughter-houses
to drink the still fuming blood ! This is somewhat like the practice
of the African in Central Africa, who, Captain Burton tells us,
severs one of the jugulars of a bullock and fastens upon it like a
leech. This custom is common in Karagwah and the other
northern kingdoms, and some tribes, like the Wanyeka near
Mombasah, churn the blood with milk.
The Chinese seem to have great faith in blood. They use
as medicine the dried blood of many birds and animals. The
blood of the goat they consider a specific in pleurisy. They
open the jugulars of the deer and by a. long tube drink as much
blood as the stomach will support. The coagulated blood of
the rhinoceros is also used in Siam medicinally in case of inward
hurts.
GLUE is an important commercial animal product which re-
quires a passing notice. The quantity annually used in this country
probably exceeds 10,000 tons, of the aggregate value of fully
^"500,000, as the prices range from ^40 to ^75 per ton. As a
cementing substance glue is extensively used in every country.
Many refuse products are used in its manufacture. Animal
skin in every form uncombined with tannin may be made
into glue. The substances most largely and generally employed
are the parings of hides, and skins from the tanneries and slaughter-
MANUFACTURE OF GLUE. 171
houses known as " glue pieces," fleshings, calves' pates, &c., pelts
from furriers, the hoofs and ears of horses, calves and sheep.
The parings of ox and other thick hides make the strongest, and
afford about 45 per cent, of glue.
Dried sinews, sloughs, (the core or bony support inside horns,)
fresh bones, with other offal and garbage, are other raw materials
used for making glue and size.
The commercial value of glue pieces ranges from ;i8 to ,30,
and when fleshed from ^30 to ^40 per ton. Sheep glue pieces
and fleshings are of much less value, the price being from -io
to ^15 per ton.
The process of manufacturing glue is as follows. The fresh
fleshings, as well as the clippings of other skins which contain
fresh lime, are steeped for several hours in water acidulated with
sulphuric acid. Old fleshings, in which the lime is killed by
becoming carbonate, are merely washed with water; and these
with other glue-making materials are put into large open boilers,
called " glue-pans," with water, and boiled for two or three hours
by a naked fire, when glue is made, or by means of a steam-coil,
when size is the product, until they are dissolved. The boiling
gradually converts the " osseine " into gelatine, which is dissolved
in the water. They are frequently stirred during this operation,
in order that the fat may rise for collection. The liquid is then
run off through a rough strainer into a tank, and allowed to settle
for about half-an-hour, when it is either put into tubs and sent
away as size, or it is allowed to set in wooden troughs, from
which it is taken and cut up into blocks of glue about a foot
square, which are subsequently further divided, by means of wire,
into slabs and dried. The dry cakes are then dipped into hot
water, and slightly rubbed with a brush to give them a gloss, and,
lastly, stove-dried for sale. This furnishes the best and palest
glue. The degree of concentration in making size is much less
than that of glue, the point in the latter case being determined
by the appearance of the cooked liquor upon a lump of alum.
172 SIZE AND GELATINE.
The residue in the glue-pans is a mass of fibrous matter, called
" skutch," which often contains enough fat to pay for another ope-
ration. The skutch is put into a boiler with enough sulphuric
acid to dissolve the fibre (about 75 Ibs. to a ton of skutch), and
heated by high-pressure steam blown in it. Under this treatment
the fibre dissolves, and so lets loose the fat, which rises to the
surface.
Good glue should contain no specks, but be transparent and
clear when held up to the light. The best glue swells without
melting when immersed in cold water, and it resumes its former
size on drying. The best method for use is to steep small pieces
in cold water for twelve hours, then set it over a fire and gradually
raise its temperature until it is all dissolved. Amber-coloured
glue is that most esteemed by cabinet-makers.
Shreds or parings of vellum and parchment make an almost
colourless glue ; old gloves, rabbit skins, and such like, are also
used for making size and gelatine.
Size is a weak solution of glue allowed to gelatinise. To trans-
form glue into the gelatine of the shops it is simply necessary to
dissolve it in water and allow it to settle. Clarifying agents are
also used to destroy the last vestiges of colour.
By the use of gelatine, elastic moulds are made capable of
reproducing with accuracy, and in a single piece, the most elabo-
rately sculptured objects of exquisite finish and delicacy.
A gelatine is made from what is called " picker waste"
a picker is a band of buffalo hide used in driving the shuttles of
power-looms. This gelatine or size is used for stiffening or dressing
straw hats, silk, and other textile fabrics. The pieces cut off in
making it are converted into gelatine for food purposes, but edible
gelatine is also frequently made from sheep's trotters, old parch-
ment, and waste pieces of glue.
There is a very large and fine collection of the glues and
gelatines made in various countries shown in the Animal Products
Collection, Bethnal Green, see also Cases 129 and 134.
174 BOILING DOWN CATTLE.
BOILING DOWN CATTLE. Sometimes, in large slaughtering
establishments abroad, in Australia, or South America, the whole
ox or sheep is sent to the melting-pot to be boiled down, for want
of demand for its flesh or facilities for preserving it.
In such cases, as for instance in the vast establishment of
Mr. J. H. Atkinson, Collingwood, near Liverpool, New South
Wales, 70 to 100 men are employed boiling down sheep and
cattle : As soon as the ox is killed, he is lifted for skinning
by machinery, and when the hide, head, hoofs, &c., are removed,
the carcase is let down on a chopping-block running on a tram-
way ; it is then cut into convenient-sized pieces, without the
necessity of the men handling or lifting the meat, and the trolley
chopping-block run on the rails to the other end of the building,
where the boilers are. The meat is then lifted from the chopping-
block into the boilers by means of endless chains with hooks
attached, passing over sheaves, and driven by steam. The
boilers are large steam-tight double cylinders, and capable of
holding upwards of fifty bullocks at a time. When filled with
meat, the orifice in the top of the boiler is closed, and the steam
is let on at a pressure of 15 Ibs. to the inch. In about seven
hours the whole mass of meat and bone is reduced to a pulp.
The steam is then condensed, and the tallow floats ^n the surface.
On a tap being turned, it flows into the refining-pans ; and when
the refining is completed, by turning another tap, it runs into
large shallow coolers. These are only about 3 inches deep, but
very wide and long, in order that as great a surface as possible
may be exposed to the air. When sufficiently cool, by turning
other taps, the tallow is filled into casks alongside, and these are
run by means of a tramway on to the weighing-machine, and
thence to the rail for conveyance to Sydney. The mass of pulp
to which both bone and flesh have by the steaming process been
reduced, is then removed from the boilers by means of an opening
near the bottom, fitted with a steam-tight door. It falls into
a powerful press, also running on the tramways, and strong
USES OF COW-HAIR. 175
pressure being applied, a large quantity of highly concentrated
soup is extracted ; the flesh and bone having by the pressure
been made into enormous solid cakes, the trolley-press is run into
the piggery, and the greaves given to the pigs. The concentrated
gravy or soup is then placed in a peculiarly constructed boiler,
and reduced by evaporation to such a consistency that, when
cold, it becomes solid, previously to which, however, it is run into
bladders. It is, when cold, semi-transparent, of a rich reddish-
brown colour, and sweet to the smell and taste, almost like con-
fectionery. The first shipment from Sydney of this concentrated
soup to England, was made in June 1862. An average bullock
will yield about 20 Ibs. weight of this portable soup.
The above account applies to cattle which are wholly boiled
down. The prime portions of the best beasts, however, instead
of being carried on the tramway to the boilers, are run off to the
salting-house. The process there need not be described, further
than that every particle of bone is extracted previous to the meat
being salted. The leaner portions, not suitable for the casks, are
cut into strips, and made into what is known as charqui, or tasejo,
a South American name for dried or jerked beef. Each bullock
will yield on an average about 100 Ibs. of charqui, and the market
for it is understood to be practically unlimited.
I need not go into the details of curing the hides, drying and
smoking the tongues, extracting the oil from the hoofs, preparing
the horns and leg-bones for the English market or into the fell-
mongering, or sorting, washing, and scouring of the wool for
large numbers of sheep are slaughtered, as well as cattle. From
the abundance of water, however, all these processes are carried
on with a degree of cleanliness and an absence of offensive smells
most surprising.
COW-HAIR. Besides the cow-hair collected at home, about 3000
tons are imported annually, chiefly from Germany and France.
Russia ships about 64 tons.
Cow-hair used to be extensively employed for mixing with
176 USES OF COW-HAIR.
mortar for building purposes. It is now made into felt for roofing,
and for clothing boilers and pipes of steam-engines. It is used
for twisting into rope, and stuffing sofas and chair cushions. In
some parts of Germany carpets are made of cow-hair. The demand
for cheapness has stimulated the makers of inferior textiles and
blanketing to mix cow-hair with wool. It is also used in the fabri-
cation of horse-cloths and railway rugs, and ladies may be inte-
rested in knowing that the so-called cheap sealskins are made in
the north of England from hair that used to go to the plasterers
to bind their mortar. Wet cow-hair is sold at the tanneries for
about 2s. 6d. a bushel, and is washed and dried and the lime
beaten out. White hair is worth nearly double the price of
coloured hair. Plasterer's hair ranges from ^5 IQS. to & los.
the ton, washed cow-hair ^"10 to ^n the ton.*
* The uses of cow-hair for felt and other purposes are shown both in the
Animal Products Collection (Case 95) and in the Waste Products Collection
at Bethnal Green Museum.
CHAPTER V.
THE DEER AND ANTELOPE TRIBES.
Having considered the Bovines and their economic uses, we are next led
to investigate another class of Ruminants the Deer tribe, and to
consider what products they furnish for the use of man. A Ithough
not very common in civilised Europe, in many regions they are of
essential importance, both for food and other purposes. The horns
of these a?iimals are first alhided to, their specialities and trade
nsesj then the commerce and applications of deer skins receive
notice j after that the various species of deer of any importance
in an economic point of view are described, including the rein-
deer, musk-deer and its product; we then pass on to the Antelope
tribe, those of any special economic interest, as the eland, tJie
spring-bok, and the gnu being noticed.
THE DEER TRIBE. Besides their flesh, which is eaten as food
when obtainable, the products which the deer tribe supply to com-
merce are chiefly antlers or horns, and skins. We shall speak
first of the horns.
There are several species of deer. For our purpose these may be
divided into two groups, of which one includes those with antlers
more or less flattened, the other those with rounded antlers.
The elk (Alces) is the most characteristic species of the first
group. The reindeer differs from the rest of the genus in the
presence of antlers in both sexes, and in the great development
of the brow antlers. The English park or fallow deer (Ceruus
dama, Dama platyceros] is referable to the flat horned group.
The number of stags and hinds in Scotland is rather more than
10,000.*
* In the Betlmal Green Collection there are mounted heads of the fallow
deer, male and female, of the roe, male and female, the red deer, male and
emale, a fine head and antlers of the wapiti (Cervus canadensis}, of the roebuck,
N
1
i 7 8
COMPOSITION OF DEER-HORN.
Deer-horn produces a great quantity of gelatine by decoction y
and the raspings of deer's horn are occasionally employed in
domestic economy to furnish what is supposed to be a nourishing
jelly. The waste pieces are sometimes boiled down for size in
the cloth-making districts. Submitted to the action of heat the
product is the same as that of most animal substances. It used
to be largely employed for the produce of ammonia.
HEAD AND ANTLERS OF THE ARCTIC REINDEER.
The first year the stag has properly no horns, but only a kind of
corneous excrescence, short, rough, and covered, with a thin, hairy
an unusually fine head and antlers of the Cervus axis, two heads with antlers
of the reindeer, and varieties of deer horns from India, Siam, &c. ; also feet of
the elk or moose formed into paper racks or pockets in Case 96 ; a stuffed head
of the eland, and horns of the waterbok and various other antelopes.
GROWTH OF STAG-HORN.
179
skin j the second year the horns are single and straight ; the third
year they have two antlers ; the fourth, three ; the fifth, four ; and
the sixth, five. When arrived at the sixth year the antlers do not
always increase, and though the number may amount to six or
seven on each side, the stag's age is then estimated rather by
the size and thickness of the branch that sustains them than
from their number. The proportional length, direction, and
curvature of the antlers vary, and it oftens happens that there is
one more or less on the one side, than on the other ; the horns
also become larger, the superficial furrows more marked, and the
burr is more projecting. Nothwithstanding their magnitude, those
horns are annually shed in the spring of the year, and succeeded
STAGES OF GROWTH.
by new ones. A full grown stag's horn frequently weighs 2/j.lbs.,
and the whole of this immense mass of true bone is produced in
about ten weeks.
The form of the horns differs at different ages ; but it is not so
easy to tell the age of a stag by its horns.
A correspondent in Land and Water thus describes the stages
of growth. Eight or nine months after birth the horns appear as
nearly straight branches, growing to the length of from six to
N 2
i8o ANTLERS OF THE DEER.
twelve inches. This single horn being cast, the two-year-old stag
sets up his second pair, on which one side prong appears a few
inches above the point of junction with the head. In the third
year each horn acquires two ends. The lower prong increases in
length, and is developed somewhat lower down on the horn.
The upper prong is somewhat smaller than this. The third end
preserves the character of the original single horn. In the next
year the stag sets up four points on each horn, the lower prong
drawing still nearer to the base, and the original horn breaking
out into two points. The next stage is the development oi
points between the eye-end and the middle-end, which are
materially smaller. In the next stage the two upper points form
a crown.
The stag is then called a stag of twelve points, or crown
stag, or, as we say in Scotland, a Royal Stag. The cut on p. 179
shows the progressive development up to twelve points, as given
in Winckell's "Manual for Sportsmen," and Altum's "Forest
Zoology."
Up to the eighth or ninth year the density of the horns in-
creases, and from that to the twelfth year the horns are in
greatest perfection. The number of tiers or branches of the
horn varies according to the age of the animal. At the present
day the oldest stags in Scotland seldom present more than ten or
twelve " points." There is a head still preserved at Mauritzberg
which presents the enormous number of sixty-six points. It
was killed by the first king of Prussia, and presented by that
monarch to Augustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland.
In the Collection at the Chateau of Wohrad, the hunting resi-
dence of the Lordship of Fauenberg, there are one hundred and
nine stags' heads, of which only seventeen are under fourteen
points.
There are occasionally curious contortions in the horns. Mr.
A. Murray, in the " Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal," de-
scribes those of an old reindeer, but small in size and with small
USES OF BUCK-HORN. 181
horns. The horns have met with a distortion, by which they
have a curious bend in the middle, as shown in this figure. The
cause, whatever it may have been, has affected them both equally,
which is not usually the case where horns are distorted. It may
be that the poor animal, when its horns were still soft and young,
got entangled among brushwood ; and that here is the silent evi-
dence of long struggles on the part of the animal, and of perhaps
days of famine before it succeeded in freeing itself from the bonds
which held it. Or it may be merely a distortion consequent upon
the old age of the animal, for we often find the horns in old deer
stunted and distorted, although it is not usual to find them so
symmetrically disfigured.
The horns of the deer, more properly called " antlers," are
solid processes from the frontal bone, and possess the chemical
and physical properties of true bone. After being sawn and filed
to the required shape, the exterior is left in 'its rough and natural
state, which, besides being ornamental, is well adapted for the
handles of knives and instruments requiring a firm grasp. In the
German States, very pretty and delicate objects are carved from
this material.
Buck-horn is principally used now for handles of carving-forks
i8 2 ELK HORNS.
and knives, pocket knives, solid or in scales, and fancy articles.
It should be chosen with hard stems, like ivory, yellow and
furrowed on the exterior, but of a heavy white in the interior.
In Holland, Hamburg, and other parts of the Continent, buck-
horn is more worked up into useful articles than in this country.
At the various International Exhibitions many large fancy articles
have been shown made of stag-horn, such as umbrella-stands,
chandeliers with many lights, &c. In Switzerland the stag's-horn
is manufactured into a variety of ornamental articles for per-
sonal wear, such as brooches, pins, bracelets, and many other
things.
The stag-horn used in Sheffield for cutlery purposes is chiefly
supplied from India and Ceylon, the shipments reaching about
400 tons annually; and another 100 tons is obtained from Europe,
from our own deer parks, and other sources.
Of all the deer family the elk (not yet extinct in Germany and
Scandinavia) has the largest horns. Those of the species in-
habiting the hills and plains of India and Ceylon are also very
heavy. From Southern Russia we have deer horns lighter than
the Indian, but heavier than the German, and the antlers of the
reindeer are lighter and more porous than any others. The
surface is nearly white and smooth, and consequently they are
much less valuable.
The number of horns to the ton necessarily varies according to
their size, ranging from 700 to 2,000. Taking the imports from
the East at 350 tons, and assuming an average number of 1,400
horns to the ton, it would appear that the " fall " as it is termed
of 245,000 head of deer is annually collected there for the use of
our manufacturers. The Greenland Company of Denmark receives
about 30,000 reindeer's horns or antlers yearly.
The fine elk horns exported from Germany are getting scarcer
every year, for the forests decrease, and the native cutlery manufac-
ture extends.
The cut on the next page shows a pair of antlers in the Museum
DEER HORNS. 183
of the College of Surgeons, which have a span of 35 inches, and
are 7 inches apart at the base.
ANTLERS OF ELK OR MOOSE (Alces machlis, Ogilby).
The value of the different kinds of stag-horn is in the following
order : German, Italian, Russian, and English. The total imports
of stag-horn into Britain are estimated at about 700 tons yearly.
Deer-horns form a large item of commerce in many countries.
About 26,000 pairs are annually shipped from Siam. In 1869,
1,433 cwt. of deer-horns were shipped from Ceylon, valued at
2 per cwt. They consist of the horns of the Rusa deer
(Cervus hippelaphus , Ogilby) and of the spotted deer (Axis
maculata). In Cashmere the antlers of the Hungul or Persian
deer (Cervus Wallkhit) shed early in spring, are picked up in
the forests by the villagers, and form an article of export traffic
with Ladak.
DEER SKINS. There is a large commerce in deer skins in
various countries, although we do not receive very many here,
probably about 80,000 are imported annually, for the most part
undressed, which are tanned into leather for various purposes.
About 1,000 cwt. are annually collected in Slavonia, about one
third of which are exported. From Guatemala 35,171 skins were
exported in 1874, valued as low as $d. per pound. From Vene-
zuela about 300,000 skins of deer and other animals are annually
1 84 DEER SKINS.
exported. In the Museum Collection are skins of the reindeer
and other deer. Case 97.
Deer are found in great abundance in every part of the Minne-
sota Territory and other portions of the Western States of America
and the settlers during the winter season are usually well supplied
with venison. The best haunches are worth from 4^. to 5^. per
pound, and when properly cooked are savoury.
The skins are valuable for many purposes, and are neatly
dressed by the Indians, and manufactured into a great variety of
useful and ornamental articles. Deer skins vary in price per
pound, according to weight. An ordinary skin, weighing from
eight to ten pounds, is worth from $d. to *]d. per pound, while one
weighing twelve or fifteen pounds is worth is. per pound. They
average about 7^.
In 1863 the Hudson's Bay Company imported 10,751 deer-
skins ; but the average is seldom more than 3,000 a year.
From 2,000 to 4,000 packs or bundles of deer skins reach New
Orleans yearly by the Mississippi, which are valued at about 4
the pack. Gloves and gauntlets of buck-skin are made in the
United States, of the white tanned skins of the common deer.
Deer skin leggings or breeches made of deer skin are much liked
and used by the hunters in North West America.
In the small Indian village of Lorette in Canada no less than
2,500 deer skins, besides a large number of those of other wild
animals, are worked up annually into winter shoes and mocassins,
and as many as 20,000 pairs are made from that number, selling
wholesale at an average of from one to two dollars per pair ; 1,000
pair of raquettes or snow shoes, selling at from three to six dollars
a pair ; 300 Indian sleds or toboganes selling at from one to two
dollars a pair; besides a quantity of ornamental articles of consider-
able value thus yielding a return of upwards of ,7,000 to the
hunters and natives of this one village for their year's industry.
Deer hair when it can be obtained is used for stuffing saddles,
for which it is a good material. Case 96 contains samples of deer
DEER HAIR. 185
hair and fancy Indian embroidery work made with it in Canada,
slippers, baskets, c.
W
DEER HAIR MAGNIFIED.
It u has been made known by Professor Busk, that the hair of
the deer tribe is peculiar, being almost entirely cellular ; and the
hair has been described and figured by Dr. Inman in an able
paper, " On the Natural History and Microscopic Character of
Hair," published in the Proceedings of the Literary and Philo-
sophical Society of Liverpool. The subject here figured is the
skin and hair of one of the North American reindeer ; but the
structure seems to be the same in all deer in the moose, the
red-deer, roe-deer, musk-deer, c., but not in the antelopes.
The figure on the right hand represents a somewhat magnified
portion of the skin, with both kinds of hair issuing from it ; the
left-hand figure represents a more highly magnified small hair;
the upper centre figure shows a highly magnified portion of the
1 86 DESCRIPTION OF DEER HAIR.
large hair ; the lower centre figure, a transverse section of this ;
and the middle centre, a longitudinal section.
Dr. Inman says : " In the deer the cells are so numerous as to
occupy the whole of the body of the hair, and so irregular that no
particular place of subdivision can be traced." And his figure
quite corresponds with this, the cells being there shown as
amorphous ; but it will be seen from the above figure that they
are truly polygonal for the most part hexagonal. There are
very distinct septa and lines of separation.
" It is held by physiologists that both these kinds of hair are
modelled on the same plan, viz., that of a cellular interior sur-
rounded by a horny cortical exterior, and that the difference in
texture arises from the difference in the extent of development of
the internal cellular pith, or of the external cortical covering : in
the one extreme forming the soft hair of the deer ; in the other,
the hard bristle of the sow. This view recommends itself by its
simplicity, and the unity of the modus operandi ; but although it
may be correct, so far as it goes, it does not explain the whole of
the phenomena. For example, it does not explain why the hairs,
where the horny covering predominates, are imbricated, while
those which are cellular are not ; and it is to be observed that
there is a want of transition between the two characters of hair,
which certainly is opposed to a common mode of development.
If it were the same, we ought to find hairs exhibiting all the gra-
dations of passage between the two extremes, which we do not.
Furthermore, they appear to be designed for different purposes.
Speaking in a general way, the horny or bristly hair is charac-
teristic either of carnivorous animals, who have a greater supply
of caloric than vegetable feeders, or of graminivorous animals
inhabiting warm climates ; while the cellular hairs in question are
confined to the deer tribe, most of whom inhabit cold climates.
It has usually been said, that the fine hair found at the roots of
the coarser hair in these animals is an additional provision of
nature for the warmth of the animal. It rather appears to me,
1 88 THE MOOSE OR ELK.
that, in the deer at least, it is the larger cellular hairs which have
been added for this purpose (no one can look at them, I think,
without seeing how admirably they are adapted for this), and that
the horny hairs, whose office may possibly be as much that of a
regulator of temperature as of a heating apparatus, are the normal
hairs of the animal reduced to the smallest dimensions. If these
two kinds of hair have distinct functions, their mode of develop-
ment may also possess distinctive characters. We see that their
roots extend to very different depths in the skin, and although we
know that the hair is a mere appendage of the skin, produced by
its involution or evolution, it may be that by drawing more of its
substance from one layer than from another, the differences in
its appearance which we have been considering are produced." *
Deers' sinews, dried, are esteemed a great food dainty in China,
and some other eastern countries. The hoofs grated are also used
medicinally to cure wounds.
Some half dozen species of Asiatic deer, according to Dr.
Sclater, constitute the Rusine group, of which the Sambur
(Cirvus Aristotelis) may be taken as the type. Their antlers
have but three points, are comparatively short in the beam ; but
especially in Ceylon these attain an immense thickness. Mr.
Bates states that he has killed bucks carrying heads which mea-
sured eight inches in circumference at the burrs.
The flesh of the Rusa deer is considered a delicate morsel in
Java and Borneo.
The Virginian deer (Cariacus Virgimanus) is still found in large
numbers in the unsettled parts of North America, and is an animal
of great importance to the Indians, who appreciate and cure its
flesh for winter provision.
THE MOOSE OR ELK (Cirvus Alces, Richardson ; Alces Ameri-
camts, Baird ; Alces machlis, Ogilby), inhabits the northern part of
both continents. This deer is in size rather larger than a horse.
* Andrew Murray, Esq., in the "Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,"
New Series, April, 1856.
PRODUCTS OF THE MOOSE. 189
Its flesh is more relished by the Indians and persons resident in
the fur countries, than that of any other animal. It bears a greater
resemblance in its flavour to beef than to venison. It is said that
the external fat is soft, like that of a breast of mutton, and when
put into a bladder is as fine as marrow. In this it differs from all
other species of deer, of which the external fat is hard.
The tough skin of the elk has been put to various uses. In
Sweden a regiment was clothed with waistcoats made of this
material, which was so thick as to resist a musket ball. When
made into breeches, a pair of them among the peasantry of
former days, went as a legacy through several generations.
A buck in its grease will weigh as much as 800 Ibs., without the
offal. When in good condition, the flesh is sweet and tender, and is
highly esteemed as an article of food; but should the animal be poor,
or have been subject to violent exertion previously to death, the
meat is scarcely eatable. The monfle^ or loose covering of the nose,
is considered by epicures the greatest delicacy of the north-west,
contesting the palm with bear's paw, beaver tail, reindeer tongue,
buffalo boss, and sheep ribs. The Indians sometimes snare the
moose ; and in the spring, when the action of the sun has formed
a thick crust upon the snow, they drive them into drifts, and spear
them in numbers. It is not a gregarious animal, and to hunt it
requires more skill than is necessary in the pursuit of either rein-
deer or buffalo. The moose furnishes an excellent hide for moccas-
sins and snow shoes in America, the best skin is from the bull
moose in October, and usually sells for about sixteen shillings.
The uses to which the various parts of the moose are put are
many. The hide supplies parchment, leather, lines, and cords ;
the sinews yield thread and glue ; the horns serve for handles to
knives and awls, as well as to make spoons of ; the shank bones
are employed as tools to dress leather with ; and with a particular
portion of the hair, when dyed, the Indian women embroider
garments.
To make leather and parchment, the hide is first divested of the
igo USEFUL PRODUCTS OF THE MOOSE.
hair by scraping, and all pieces of raw flesh being cut away, if then
washed, stretched, and dried, it become parchment In convert-
ing this into leather a further process of steeping, scraping, rubbing,
and smearing with brains has to be gone through, after which it is
stretched and dried, and then smoked over a fire of rotten wood,
which imparts a lively yellow colour to it. The article is then ready
for service. Of parchment, as such, the Chipewyans make little
use, but the residents avail themselves of it, in place of glass for
windows, for constructing the sides of dog-carioles, and for making
glue. The leather is serviceable in a variety of ways, but is
principally made up into tents and articles of clothing, and in the
fabrication of dog-harnesses and fine cords, wallets, '&c. The
capotes, gowns, firebags, mittens, moccasins, and trowsers made
of it are often richly ornamented with quills and beads, and when
new, look very neat and becoming. The best Indian dressers of
leather in the Canadian dominion are the Slave Lake Chipewyans
and those of the Liard's River.
The lines and cords are of various sizes, the largest being used
for sled lines and pack-cords ; the smaller answer for lacing snow-
shoes and other purposes. In order to make sled lines pliant a
very necessary quality when the temperature is 40 deg. or 50 deg.
below zero Fahrt. the cord is first soaked in fat fish liquor, it
is then dried in the frost, and afterwards rubbed by hauling it
through the eye of an axe ; to complete the operation it is well
greased, and any hard lumps masticated until they become soft,
by which process a line is produced of great strength and pliancy,
and which is not liable to crack in the most severe cold.
To obtain thread, the fibres of the sinews are separated and
twisted into the required sizes. The moose furnishes the best
quality of this article, which is used by the natives to sew both
leather and cloth, to make rabbit snares, and to weave into fishing
nets. Sinews can be boiled down into an excellent glue or size.
In mounting knives and awls with horn, lead, copper, and iron
are used for inlaying, and rather handsome articles are sometimes
7 HE REINDEER. 191
produced. The making of spoons, tipping of arrows, carving of
fish-hooks, stuffing of dog-collars, and embroidering with hair need
no particular comment. [Mr. B. R. Ross, of the Hudson's Bay
Company, in the " Technologist," vol. ii., p. 260].
THE REINDEER (Tarctndus arcticus. Rich.), occupies a band of
country fringing the polar zone in Northern Europe and Asia.
THE REINDEER.
It replaces the horse and the ox in a climate where these animals
could not be utilised. In the Russian empire there are computed
to be about one million, of which 680,000 are in Europe, chiefly
in the governments of Archangel, Vologda, and Perm. In Siberia
there are more than 300,000. The Koraks of Eastern Siberia
who are nomads, and live in skin tents like the Tongouses, have
immense herds of reindeer, some tribes own not less than 15,000.
These supply their food, clothing, and means of transport. Their
gut forms an excellent twine, and their bones serve to make
various tools and arms, and enter into the formation of their
sledges and vehicles which are often of elegant construction.
The pride of the Laplanders is also to have large herds of rein-
deer for their sledges. They drink their milk and make cheese
of it; they clothe themselves with the skins, and eat their flesh,
which is good.
192
STATISTICS O* REINDEER.
In Norway, in 1865, there were stated to be 102,000 reindeer,
of which about 60,000 were in Finmark. The possession of 300
reindeer constitutes the independence of a family; 500 riches.
Some possess as many as 1,000. In October a fifth or a sixth are
killed for food. A fine reindeer will sometimes yield 120 Ibs. of
meat and 40 of tallow.
ESQUIMAUX DOGS KILLING A REINDEER.
In America the reindeer is confined almost entirely to the
" Barren-grounds" (whence it takes its common name), the north-
eastern corner of North America, along the Polar Sea, bounded to
the west by Great Slave, Athabasca, Wollaston, and Deer lakes,
and the Copper Mine River, and to the south by Churchill river.
Here the Barren-ground reindeer graze by thousands, accompanied
by the musk ox, another characteristic inhabitant. Being so
THE BARREN-GROUND REINDEER. 193
plentiful it is termed the common deer by the hunters, just as the
Cervus Virginianus bears this name in the United States. There
would seem to be two varieties, if not distinct species, of this
animal met with ; one termed the Strong-wood reindeer, which
inhabits the thickly-wooded parts of the district, particularly among
and in the vicinity of the mountain-ranges, where they are of very
large size. Though smaller than the moose, these deer are of
considerable bulk, and weigh up to 300 Ibs. In most particulars
they resemble the Barren-ground species, differing from it in the
following points : smaller horns, darker colour, larger size, not
being so gregarious, and not migrating. The only hides service-
able for converting into leather are those of animals killed early
in the winter, which, when subjected to the process already de-
scribed, and bleached in the frost, instead of being smoked, furnish
a most beautiful, even, and white leather, which is used for shoe-
tops, and is embroidered with quills and silk.
The Barren-ground reindeer, during the summer and spring
months, frequent the barren plains lying between the wooded
country and the shores of Hudson's Bay and the Arctic Sea.
Their migrations, which are performed with wonderful regularity,
are as follows : They leave the shelter of the woods in the end of
March and beginning of April, and resort to the plains where they
feed on various kinds of lichens and mosses, gradually moving
northward until they reach the coast, where they bring forth their
young in the beginning of June j in July they begin to retire from
the sea-board, and in October rest on the edge of the wood, where
they remain during the cold of winter. The horns of these deer
are much varied in shape, scarcely any two animals having them
precisely alike. The old males shed theirs in April, and the gravid
females in May. Their hair falls in July, but begins to loosen in
May. Their new coat is darkish brown and short ; but it gradually
lengthens, and becomes lighter in colour, until it assumes the
slate-grey tint of winter. The flesh, when in prime condition, is
very sweet, but bucks, when in season, have their fat strongly
o
194 USES OF THE REINDEER.
impregnated with the flavour of garlic, which, indeed, is always
present more or less.
The shortness of the hair of the Caribou or Barren-ground
reindeer, and the lightness of the skin when properly dressed,
render it the most appropriate article for winter clothing in high
latitudes. The skins of the young deer make the best dresses ;
and the animals should be killed for that purpose in August, as
after that month the hair becomes long and brittle. They are so
drilled into holes by the larvae of the gad-fly that eight or ten skins
are required to make a suit of clothes for a grown person. But
the skins are so impervious to cold that, with the addition of a
blanket of the same material, any person may bivouac in the snow
with safety, and even with comfort in the most intense cold of an
arctic winter's night.
Every part of the carcase serves the natives for food. The
hunter breaks the leg of a recently slaughtered deer and swallows
the marrow, still warm, with avidity ; the kidneys, and other parts
of the intestines are also eaten raw ; the colon, or large gut, when
roasted or boiled, with all its fatty appendages, is one of the most
savoury dishes that can be offered, either to Indian or white
settler in North America. The stomach, with its contents of
lichens and other vegetables, is also eaten the latter substances
being much more easily digested after they have partially under-
gone that process by the gastric juice of a ruminating animal.
Some Indians and Canadians leave this savoury mixture to
ferment or season for a few days before they eat it. The blood,
if mixed in proper proportion with fat meat, and cooked with
some nicety, forms a rich and highly nutritious soup. After all
the flesh is consumed, the bones are pounded, and a large
quantity of marrow extracted by boiling ; this is employed in
preparing pemmican.
Reindeer's tongues are much liked by many in this country,
large quantities being imported annually from Russia. They
are snow cured, no salt whatever being used, the mildness and
REINDEER SKINS. 195
richness of flavour in the meat is preserved, and they are rendered
extremely acceptable to refined palates.
In North America the reindeer supplies the Chipewyans,
Copper Indians, Yellow Knife, Dog Rib, and Slave Indians, with
food, who would be totally unable to inhabit their barren lands
were it not for the immense herds of this deer that exist there. Of
the horns they form their fish-spears and hooks ; and previously
to the introduction of iron by the traders, ice chisels and various
other utensils were made of them. In dressing the skins, the
shinbone split longitudinally, is used for the purpose of scraping
off the hair, after it has been repeatedly moistened and rubbed.
The skins are then smeared with the brains of the animal until
these acquire a soft, spongy character, and lastly are suspended
over a fire made of rotten wood, until thoroughly impregnated
with the smoke. This last mentioned process imparts a peculiar
odour to the leather, and has the effect of preventing its becoming
so hard, after being wet, as it would otherwise be. The skins
thus dressed are used as winter clothing; and 60 or 70 sewn
together will make a covering for a tent sufficient for the residence
of a large family. Their clothing for winter is made out of fawn
skins,' dressed with the hair on, and consists of capotes, gowns,
shirts, leggings, mittens, socks, and robes, which are warm, and
when new, nice looking. Hides which are so much perforated by
the larvae of the cestrus as to be unfit for any other purpose, are
converted into babiche, to make which the skin is first divested of
hair and all fleshy matter ; it is then with a knife cut into the de-
sired thickness, the operation beginning in the centre of the skin.
There are two sizes of this article : the larger being used for
barring sleds and for the foot-lacing of snow-shoes ; the smaller as
a species of thread for sewing leather, for the fine netting of snow-
shoes, and for lacing, fishing, and beaver nets. [B. R. Ross.]
The undressed hide, after the hair is taken off, is cut into thongs
of various thickness, which are twisted into deer snares, bow-
strings, net-lines, and in fact, supply all the purposes of rope. The
o 2
196 USES OF THE REINDEER.
finer thongs are used in the manufacture of fishing nets, or in
making snow shoes, while the tendons of the dorsal muscles are
split into fine and excellent sewing thread. In some instances the
skin is so finely dressed that it equals chamois leather.
The caribou travel in herds, varying in number from eight or
ten to one hundred thousand.
The number of reindeer killed annually in South Greenland
has much decreased of late years. It used to average over 18,000
head. lii the five years from 1840 to 1845, it was calculated that
on an average, 16,000 were killed yearly, from 1851 to 1855, only
about half this number were killed, and it is probably now less.
The Greenland Company only sold 637 skins in 1861. When
hunting, tie Greenlanders merely use the flesh as they want
it for their daily meals, and let the rest lie without putting it to
any use. The animals are generally shot a long way up in the
country, and consequently from the difficulty of conveying them to
their huts, a great part is often left to waste on the ground. The
flesh is often exchanged by the Laplanders for flour. The gloves
which are sold as real Swedish gloves are obtained from the young
whose mother has died before giving birth, which is rare. It
takes three of these skins to make two pair of gloves. Each skin
costs in Sweden 3^. or 4^.
Ball, in his work on Alaska, states that at one village he
counted 1072 bunches of fresh skins of the reindeer fawn hanging
up to dry. As each bunch contained four skins, or enough to
make a " parka/' this would (he adds) give a total of nearly
4300 of these little creatures which had been killed in two
months.
The Laplanders also use part of the entrails for making a kind
of thread or cord which is difficult to break, and which is much
sought for in England. Under the name of wire of Lapland, a
fine slender substance was formerly prepared by the Laplanders,
in thickness and appearance resembling our silver wire. It was
made of the sinews of the reindeer, reduced to the finest fila-
THE MUSK DEER. 197
ments and then drawn through melted tin for the purpose of
coating it with that metal.
The milk of the reindeer constitutes the food of the wandering
Laplanders during the great part of the year.
The stag, or red deer (Cervus Elaphus\ the fallow deer (Dama
mdgaris), and the roebuck ( Capreolus capr<za}> are hunted for their
flesh, and their skin and horns are applied to economic uses,
similar to those already described.
MUSK DEER (Moschus moschifenis, Lin.). This animal, which
inhabits the mountains of China, Thibet, and Siberia, is the source
of the musk of commerce, a perfume which is in demand in nearly
MUSK DEER.
every part of the civilized world. There is a good stuffed speci-
men of the animal in the Bethnal Green Museum. Musk is one
of the most permanent of all odours, and heightens the aroma
of many other perfumes. In the animal kingdom there are
several other animals pervaded with the musky odour, such as the
musk rats of India, Europe, and America, the musk ox and the
buffalo, the alligator and crocodile, some birds and insects.
In most of the Hill States the musk deer is considered as royal
property. In some the Rajahs keep men purposely to hunt it,
and in Gurhwal a fine is imposed on any who are known to have
sold a musk pod to a stranger, the Rajah receiving them in lieu of
rent.
198
THE TRADE IN MUSK.
It is only from the follicles or pouches of the male deer that
the musk is obtained, and in some adult males the pod may
contain as much as two ounces. An ounce is about an average ;
and as many of the deer are killed when young, the pods brought
to market may be taken to average all round only about half an
ounce. A single grain of musk will fill the air of a large apart-
=vv
HUNTING-PIECE, FROM A CHINESE DRAWING, IN WHICH DEER,
LEOPARD, AND MUSK-DEER CAN BE SEEN.
ment with a sensible impregnation for many years without its
weight being perceptibly diminished, and one part can communi-
cate its odour to 3,000 parts of an inodorous powder. Our
imports of musk range from 10,000 to 17,000 ounces yearly. The
exports from British India in 1875 were 7,403 ounces.
The musk bags or sacs, after the grain musk has been extracted,
are used by perfumers to prepare essence of musk.*
There are two commercial kinds of this musk, named after the
countries where they are obtained, the Tonquin or Thibet musk,
* For these illustrations we are indebted to Rimmel's " History of Perfumes.''
THE ANTELOPE TRIBE. 199
imported from India, and the Kabardin or Siberian musk which
comes through St. Petersburgh or by the way of China. Although
the musky odour penetrates the whole animal, its flesh is said to
be eaten by the natives. The skin is manufactured into furs and
leather.
MUSK POD, NATURAL SIZE.
THE ANTELOPE TRIBE. These animals are confined to the old
world, but in no other part are so many varieties of the family
seen as in South Africa, over large districts of which they wander.
Not less than twenty-seven species, from the stately blackbok
down to the diminutive blaabok or pigmy antelope, many of
which, however, are found in other parts of the continent, are
reckoned south of 20 of S. latitude ; of these the largest, the
eland, is still met with in the western parts of Natal, and more
plentifully in the Zulu country, the Transvaal territory, the Kali-
hari, the Betchouanaland and the Ngami regions. It was once
very common in every part of the Cape colony, as the numerous
localities called by its name testify.
THE ELAND (Oreas Canna, Boselaphus oreas, Gray). Among
the known species of antelopes, which are not less than 80 in
number, there are none more imposing from its size or more
interesting in an economic point of view, than the Eland. Sir
Cornwallis Harris speaking of it says : " In shape and general
200 FLESH OF THE ELAND.
aspect, he resembles a Guzerat ox, not unfrequently attaining the
height of nineteen hands at the withers, and absolutely weighing
from fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds ! By all classes in
Africa the flesh of the eland is deservedly esteemed over that of
any other animal. Both in grain and colour it resembles beef,
but is far better tasted and more delicate, possessing a fine game
flavour, and exhibiting the most tempting looking layers of fat
and lean, the surprising quantity of the former ingredient with
WHITE-EARED ANTELOPE (A. leUCOtes), MALE, CENTRAL AFRICA.
which it is interlarded exceeding that of any other game quad-
ruped with which I am acquainted. The venison fairly melts in the
mouth, and as for the brisket, that is absolutely a cut for a mon-
arch. During the greater part of our journey it was to the flesh of
this goodly beast that we principally looked for our daily rations,
both on account of its vast superiority over all other wild flesh,
and from the circumstance of its being obtainable in larger
quantities with comparatively less labour."
Lichtenstein, in his " African Travels," states that the meat is
cut in pieces on the spot, salted and packed in the skins, and
some of it is smoked. The great muscles of the thigh, smoked,
is more particularly esteemed ; these are cut out at their whole
THE SPRINGBOK. 201
length, and from the resemblance they bear to bullocks' tongues
are called by the Dutch thigh-tongues. They are eaten raw with
bread and butter, cut into very thin slices. The taste of eland's
flesh when eaten fresh resembles beef. The skins are much
esteemed for making leather, and the horns are formed into
tobacco pipes. The eland has been introduced and acclimatised
in Europe.
THE SPRINGBOK (Gazella euchore, Antidorcas eiichore, Gray).
This antelope is numerous between lat. 27 and 32 S. It is gre-
garious and found in flocks of many thousands, and is common
throughout Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Barbary, Greece, and the Holy
Land. The flesh is in universal esteem among all the people. It is
fine flavoured when fat, and of a delicate taste. The Moors keep
it in confinement as a pet. Jules Gerard tells us that its dung
dried in the sun and reduced to powder, gives a very agreeable
flavour and odour to the tobacco smoked in Algiers. The horns
of the springbok are shaped like a jews-harp, are twelve to
fifteen inches long, and annulated to within three inches of the
tips.
The bok much resembles the English deer, with short, straight,
or curved horns, instead of antlers. Of these there are a con-
siderable variety, and a very great number in every district of
South Africa. Some, as the bushbok (Tragelaphus sylvaticus]
have comparatively short necks and legs, with a stout, closely-
knit frame, standing scarcely higher than sheep ; others, as the
rheebok (Eleotragus capreolus, Gray), are tall and stately, with long
legs, long straight necks, and straight horns, with an exterior twist
at the roots. The flesh of the bok (pronounced like our English
word buck) makes very fine venison when properly dressed, and
the legs and shoulders of the animal are much esteemed as a
relish when dried down into biltong, a most convenient and
palatable article of diet, perfectly familiar to the colonists. In
this form it can be kept almost any length of time, and has
frequently been brought to England. It is extremely nourishing
202 KAROSSES OR SKIN CLOAKS.
and digestible, and can often be taken by individuals when other
food is rejected by the stomach.*
Superb karosses or cloaks are made and worn by the Kafir
chiefs, composed of the skins of antelopes and other wild animals
neatly sewn together, among which the leopard skin, jackal, and
fox skin, seem to predominate. They are much valued for the
variety and beauty of the skins of which they are composed, as
well as for the neatness of the workmanship, all the pieces being
sewed together with sinew. Hundreds, if not thousands, of these
are purchased annually by traders and sent into the markets of
the Cape Colony for sale. A good one will fetch ^"8 or g.
In former times the occasional migrations of the springboks
into the settled districts of the Cape Colony used to be looked
upon with dread. The number of these animals sometimes seen
in the Karroo Plains, within a compass of fifty miles, has been
computed to be at least 100,000. It is scarcely possible for a
person passing over the extensive tracts of the interior and admir-
ing this elegant antelope, thinly scattered over the plains and
bounding in playful innocence, to figure to himself that these
ornaments of the desert can often become as destructive as the
locusts themselves. The incredible number which sometimes
pour in from the north, during protracted droughts, distress the
farmer inconceivably. Dr. Livingstone states that in their migra-
tions, when first they cross the colonial boundary, they are said to
exceed forty thousand in number.
He also mentions that great numbers of wild animals, gnus,
koodoos, zebras, &c., die from pleuro-pneumonia, although
the mortality produces no sensible diminution in the quantity of
game. He inculcates, therefore, caution, for " when the flesh of
animals that have died from the disease is eaten it causes a
malignant carbuncle ; and when this appears over any important
organ it proves rapidly fatal. It is more especially dangerous
* Silver's " Handbook for South Africa."
VAST NUMBERS OF SPRINGBOK. 203
over the pit of the stomach. The effects of the poison have been
experienced by missionaries who have partaken of food not
visibly affected by the disease. Many of the Bakwains who per-
sisted in devouring the flesh of animals which had perished from
the distemper died in consequence. The virus is destroyed
neither by boiling nor roasting. This fact, of which we have had
innumerable examples, shows the superiority of experiments on a
large scale to those of physiologists in the laboratory, for a* well
known physician of Paris, after careful investigation, considered
that the virus was completely neutralized by boiling."
BASTARD GEMSBOK (Antilope leucophffa, Pallas).
THE GNU. There are two well defined species of this ante-
lope, i. The common black gnu or kokoon of the Bechuanas
(Catoblepas \Connochetes\ Gnu), which is found in the plains of
the Free State and the Transvaal, with horns bent forward and
downwards, points bent at an acute angle upward. Their length
being 26 inches.
2. The brindled gnu, or "wilde beeste" of the Hottentots
204 THE GNU AND GIRAFJPE.
(Connochetes Gorgon}; with horns 1 8 to 20 inches long, bent out-
ward, the points bend over at acute angles towards each other.
Of late years large quantities of the skins have come into com-
merce, as they make excellent bands for machinery. In 1871 as
many as 34,622 dry gnu hides were sold in London. In 1874
no fewer than 20,000 gnus were destroyed in South Africa for
their hides.
The GIRAFFE (Camelopardalis Giraffa) is hunted in Kordofan
chiefly for its flesh, which is eaten that of the young is said to
be delicate and for the stout skin, from which bucklers and
sandals are made. The bones have also been imported for
cutlers' use, as handles. The giraffes brought to Europe come
generally from Nubia and Sennaar. In South Africa the giraffe
has long since retired before the tide of colonial emigration, and
is not to be met with south of Kolobeng, a point 380 miles north
of the Orange River. The Hottentots in Southern Africa used
to hunt the animal principally on account of its marrow, which is
a delicacy they set a high value on.
The following list of other species of antelopes, with their com-
mon and scientific names, found in South Africa, may be found
useful for reference, although they do not demand special notice
or description : Koodoo (Strepsiceros capensis, Harris), sable
antelope (sEgocerus niger), roan antelope (jEgoccrus equina],
waterbok (/Egocerus ellipsyprymnus). Hartebeeste (Acronotus
\Alcelaphus\ caama), bastard hartebeeste or sayssabe (Acronotus
lunata, or Damalis lunatus), pallah or red bushbok (Antilope
\/Egoceros~\ melampus), bontebok (Gazella [Damalis] pygarga\
blesbok ( Gazella [Damalis] albifrons\ bushbok (Tragelaphus syl-
vaticus\ rheebok (Redunca capreelus), rietbok (Redunca eleotragus,
Eleotragus arundinaceus, Gray), small rietbok (Redunca isabellina\
rooi rheebok (Redunca Lalandii\ oribe (Antilope scoparia, Scopo-
phorus ourebi), duiker bok (Cephalophus mergens), steinbok (Tra-
gulus rupestris], klipspringer (Oreotragus saltatrix, Harris), grysbok
(Calotragus melanotis, Gray), bluebok or kleinbok (Cephalophus
VARIETIES OF ANTELOPE.
205
caerulea), and gemsbok (Oryx Gazella). The flesh of the gems-
bok ranks next to the eland, and at certain seasons of the year
they carry a great quantity of fat. Some smaller doubtful species
have been described.
WATERBOK (Anlilope [fCobus] ellipsyprymna, Ogilby).
CHAPTER VI.
FURS AND THE FUR TRADE.
In this chapter the early use of furs is glanced at, the %reat Arctic
hunting fields of Europe, Asia, and America, are described the
trade and statistics of furs given in detail the dressing, dyeing,
and preparing of skins for furs. The trade carried on by the
Hudson's Bay Company and dealers in the United States, Riissia,
and Germany, receives notice, with the value of imported furs,
preparatory to detailed accounts of the principal fur bearing
animals, to be described in subsequent pages.
ALTHOUGH nearly all the orders of the Mammalia supply
peltries, it is those of the Carnivora and Rodentia which are
chiefly valuable to commerce. Peltries is the name given to skins
prepared with the hair on, intended for furs.
To trace the origin of the trade in skins and furs would imply
a study on the origin of the human race. Necessity, the mother
of invention, soon suggested to the inhabitants of the globe that
as nature had not clothed them with sufficient warmth they had
better appropriate the skins of animals well provided in this
respect. Unaided by experience, without defensive or offensive
arms, possessing no knowledge of the different metals which
modern society has converted into fearful weapons of destruction,
pursued by the large animals, reduced to inhabiting crevices in
the rocks and the borders of lakes and rivers for the sake of
shelter man, by his physical organization, was obliged to declare
war against all the beings of creation, attacking some as useful
auxiliaries to satisfy his daily wants, and others to help him to
wage implacable and terrible war against those animals whose
nature and instincts precluded them from participating and
EARLY HISTORY OF THE *UR TRADE. 207
assisting in the organization of society. The victims of the war
thus pursued, supplied him with his daily food, and their skins,
detached from the flesh by means of sharpened stones, were dried
in the sun and then energetically rubbed with the oil and grease
extracted from the intestines of the slaughtered animals. With
porous stones a polish could be added to the skins, and thus the
hides of the bullocks, horses, stags and other large animals were
preserved, and employed to make the tents which sheltered the
early patriarchs. Lions, tigers, panthers, the whole feline race,
together with smaller animals, and even birds, helped either to
shelter or clothe man, and afforded wearing apparel in which he,
was able to glorify himself in the presence of his fellow men.
Gradually the skins were freed from the adhering particles of
flesh which invariably remain when the skins are merely wrenched
off the dead animals. With bone, stone, and iron instruments this
inconvenience was obviated, and then the skins were washed in
water so as to rid them of the blood and open the pores and
cleanse them of the dust and dirt incrusted thereon, and afterwards
exposed to the frost. Having achieved this much, it was dis-
covered that the skins could be greatly improved by plunging them
in water containing a solution of alum and then putting them in
vinegar. These baths prevented the skins from rotting, then they
were dried in the shade and moistened again, and beaten and
stretched, so that by dint of belabouring them, they were rendered
quite supple, clean, and free from that disagreeable odour apper-
taining to skins less carefully prepared.
As man became civilised he invented other kinds ot clothing,
but as a subsidiary covering furs have always been a fashion, and
formed an article of traffic.
The fur trade has made great extension and progress since the
sixteenth century. In 1535 the French took possession of
Canada and in 1553 the Russians established their first stations
ir the north. The taste for furs was developed by these new
hunting establishments which arose in different quarters. At the
208 PROGRESS OF THE FUR TRADE.
same time as the French formed factories in Canada and on
the Mississippi, the British commenced a large trade in Hudson's
Bay. In the eighteenth century the North West Company was
established and commenced a powerful competition with that of
Hudson's Bay. About the same time the Russian North American
Company was formed, with its seat at New Archangel, to develop
the fur trade of the countries from the Oural to Kamschatka, the
north-west coasts of America, and the Aleutian islands, trading
with the Chinese by Nijni Novgorod and Irkutzk, and exchanging
furs for tea at Kiachta. In 1800 Astor the great trader started
the American Company, and in 1825 the North- West Company
was united with that of Hudson's Bay.
At present there remain only the Hudson's Bay Company, which
explores and hunts over some three and a half millions of miles
of British territory in North America ; the American Company,
which carries on the chase over that part of Arctic America,
which the United States has bought from the Russians ; and
the Greenland Company, whose seat is at Copenhagen, and which
prosecutes the fur trade in Greenland, Iceland, and the Polar sea.
What has not the fur trade done for commerce, in pushing the
explorations of the fur hunters, and improving our knowledge of
geography, natural history, and science, and what influence have
not these discoveries had on the civilization of the world !
The fur trade includes three classes of dealers. The collectors
of skins, the wholesale skin and fur dealers, and the furriers or
makers up of furs. The price of furs necessarily varies greatly,
from the simple rabbit-skin worth 4^. to the Siberian sable worth
^20 or the black fox worth ^40 or ^50, and is also dependent
upon supply and the variations of fashion.
A large proportion of the furs used in America and Europe, are
cured and dressed here, for although many expensive furs are not
used in this country, London is the great fur mart of the world.
The trade in made-up furs determines what kind of skin will be
most needed ; for fashion in furs as in other articles of ladies'
HERALDIC USE OF FURS. 209
dress is most fickle, and the favourite of last season may be the
least sought after in this.
It is a remarkable feature of the fur trade, that almost every
country or town which produces and exports furs, imports and
consumes the furs of some other place, frequently the most
distant. It is but seldom that an article is consumed in the
country where it is produced, though that country may consume
furs to a very great extent.
In the account of the Master of the Robes to Louis IX. of
France in 1251, there is a charge for the fur lining of a surcoat
of 346 ermines, for the sleeves and wristbands 60, and for the
frock 336, or 742 ermines in all for a single dress.
The four noble furs of those ages were the sable, the ermine,
the vair, and the gris. The three former of these represented the
three fur colours admitted into their armorial bearings. Every
one at all acquainted with heraldry knows that ermine is repre-
sented by a white ground with black, somewhat lengthened spots.
These were intended to designate the black-tipped tails of the
animals, the skins being sewn together either with the tails on, or
the tails were first cut off and afterwards sewn in rows upon the
skins, sometimes alone, sometimes with a little wad of black
lamb-skin on each side of the tail.
The vair was a squirrel, obtained probably at that time, as it is
at present, from the southern provinces of Russia. It has a white
belly, and a blue or rather dove-coloured back, on which latter
account its colour, when blazoned, was azure. When these skins,
entire, or at least only reduced to square pieces (called in ancient
heraldry, pannes) were sewn together, the result was a varied
surface of bluish grey and white, in alternate, somewhat bell-
shaped figures ; but as the white of the squirrel's belly is far
inferior to that of the ermine, it was the custom for the more
sumptuous kind of garments, -to use only the back of the squirrel,
and to form the alternate white figures of ermine.
Respecting the "gris" heraldic antiquaries seem much in doubt.
p
210 ABUNDANCE OF FUR-BEARING ANIMALS.
Some suppose it to be only the blue or grey back of the same
squirrel as has been just described by the name of vair. This,
however, is not very probable, especially as the common French
name of the North American grey squirrel is petit gris, although
in size it is equal to the vair. Greise and graies occur in two lists
of furs inserted in M. Chancellor's travels in Russia and Muscovia,
1544; and as graye is the old English name of a badger, the
heraldic gris is probably the fur of this very animal. If not it
may be the calabar, or grey squirrel of Russia.
The Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in one of their
annual reports, commenting upon the opinion that the fur-bearing
animals are dying out, and must soon be extinct, remarks :
" We think that those who argue in this way must forget the
many thousand square miles of land in and beyond our territory
which can never be settled, and whence these skins are mainly
brought. No doubt the skirts of regions formerly resorted to by
the Hudson's Bay Company only are now visited by other traders,
but this Company still possesses and with proper management will
long possess the best means for obtaining increased returns from
the vast regions of Mackenzie River, East Main and other lands,
where nothing is lost by the absence of settlement, because nothing
will grow there."
Everywhere it must be remembered that these animals, like
cattle or human beings, are liable to periodical failures of food,
or periodical inroads of disease. Experience shows that their
abundance runs in cycles. The failure in one year of an insignifi-
cant class of animal may cause the decrease in the next year of a
far more valuable beast which feeds on the former. The whole
chain of animal life is more or less linked together, and the diffe-
rent species as they depend on each other, fall off or increase
again according as the supply of food and the vigour of each class
may be more or less abundant.
The statistics which we publish show that instead of decreasing,
the quantity of furs and skins of wild animals is increasing yearly.
PREPARING AND DRESSING FURS. 211
We drive back wild animals on some points, but the globe is yet
so thinly peopled for its size, that man does not arrest the
production of animal life ; on the contrary, for the last century
and a half the quantity of skins collected has increased. Agri-
culture itself increases the production of these animals by aug-
menting their food supplies, and their reproduction is therefore
greater than their destruction by the hunters who wage a continual
war against them.
A large trade is carried on in what may be termed artificial
products, in which common and cheap furs are so prepared as to
resemble the rarer and costlier articles. The piecing of furs is
a distinct branch in itself. Many articles of fur regarded as entire
by the buyer are made up of several pieces, the size of the natural
fur not sufficing for the purpose. The skill with which piecing is
done is somewhat marvellous, and great care and judgment are
required to assort the parts. All the clippings and cuttings of
furs have their uses, and pass into different hands for various
purposes. A great trade is carried on with fur remnants and
cuttings to Greece ; they are there joined into cloths and rugs
with incredible patience and perseverance, arid they also form
linings for the national dresses.
Great skill and care are required in dyeing and tinting the skin.
Usually the greasiness of the fur is killed or removed by a bath of
lime-water, but this is now, in many instances, objected to. The
seal-skin, for instance, should be carefully prepared for unhairing,
it is then picked and beamed carefully, the fur cleansed of all fatty
matter by repeated washings. The dye stuff is then applied daily
with a brush, and the skin spread out in a drying-room at a suitable
temperature. This latter process is repeated from 1 5 to 30 days in
succession, till the colour has become sufficiently deep and dark ;
finally the skins are cleansed by thorough washings in pure soft
water; and the product is a dyed fur seal-skin, whose lustre is clear,
rich, and permanent. A gloss is imparted to the hair and at the
same time suppleness to the skin, by treatment in cylinders with
p 2
212 VALUE OF FURS.
sawdust and sand, or the former alone. Dyeing by immersion is
more practised, and better suited for the hides of domestic than
of wild animals.
The fur seal has annually increased in demand for ladies'
mantles, and like all other goods of a costly nature, has called
forth an imitation of less value. This has been effected by
removing the upper hair from the skin of the musquash, leaving
the finer portion, which, having passed through the hands of the
fur dyer, forms an excellent substitute at half the price.
The art of imitating, altering, and improving furs is carried on
with very great success, so that ferrets are passed off for martens,
and bear skins are deepened in tint and appearance. By means
of certain dyes, dog skins and white rabbit skins are tigred, grey
rabbits are turned into genette, the panther skin is imitated, and
in fact all sorts of skins spotted and altered in appearance.
The most choice marten is the Siberian sable, but the Russians
have found out how to dye the red marten skin as dark as the
beautiful natural black sable.
It was lately mentioned in a New York paper that a case of
Russian furs, in a camphor-wood box about 3 feet long, contain-
ing 400 small skins, and bearing the Russian official seal, was
valued at nearly ^3,000. Some of these skins were worth 10
guineas, some 3 guineas, others 5 guineas, and some were of
fabulous prices. They are generally sold at a profit of 30 to 33
per cent. As it takes some 16 or 18 skins to make a complete
mantle, and adding the workmanship and profit, a very choice
set of furs may easily reach a value of nearly ^300.
The immense tract of country in North America, to the north
of the United States, belonging to Great Britain, may be regarded
as an immense hunting ground which supplies a great part of the
furs used in Europe and America; the northern and western
States and territories of the American Republic also furnish a
considerable quantity.
Among the most interesting and really instructive features of
THE HUDSON'S BAY FUR STORES.
213
Victoria, in Vancouver Island, is the "fur room" of the
Hudson's Bay Company, within the Fort. Here may be seen
great bales of the most valuable, rare, and beautiful furs and
skins of the monsters of the deep and lords of the forest.
Here we may stroke the back of the bear without fear, and
fondle the polecat without contamination. It is like visiting
a great menagerie comprising all the wild animals of Oregon
and Washington territories, Vancouver Island, and British Co-
lumbia. Some of the skins have come hundreds of miles
from the wildest and most inaccessible places known to man-
What a volume of daring adventures, feats requiring coolness
and courage, might be told of the capture and slaying of the wild
beasts who once filled the glossy furs before you, and the flash of
ARCTIC FUR- BEARING ANIMALS.
whose eyes once made the stoutest hearts tremble ! Hundreds
of white hunters and trappers are constantly employed by the
company to hunt and trap the beaver, otter, black, grey, and silver
fox, lynx, marten, wolverine or glutton, mink, musk-rat, &c., be-
sides at all the trading posts these skins are eagerly sought after
and purchased from the Indians ; and a steamer, the Otter^ is
entirely engaged in going from one Indian port to another of the
islands to the north of Victoria, trading blankets, biscuit, and
214
PRICES OF FURS.
other articles of necessity and prime value to the savages for
these skins and furs. In Victoria is the grand de'pot where all
the skins of the north-west territory find their way, are cured,
packed, and forwarded to London once a year, in a vessel be-
longing to the Company, which arrives out in the month of March
of each year, direct from the old country. The skins are regularly
packed in large wine casks by means of a screw, and it is won-
derful the number that are pressed into a single cask. The value
of some of these furs in Europe is very great, and the profits of
the trade are large.
Furs constitute one of the most valuable exports from the
province of British Columbia, and the following is a list of ani-
mals the furs of which are- obtained there, with their value :
Each.
Each.
Panther .
. $2-50
Lynx
- 3-00
Wild cat ,
075
Common otter
. 5-00
Wolf .
, 2*50
Sea otter
. 50*00 to $80*00
Red fox ,
, 25-00
Squirrel
, 0'12
Fisher .
. 5-00
Red deer (elk)
, 0*15 per Ib.
Mink.
, 2-00
Blacktailed deer
- 0-15
Marten .
. 5'00 tpf IC'OO
Ermine .
. 0-50
Racoon
. 075
Fur seal
. lO'OO
Beaver .
i "oo per Ib.
Mountain goat
. 2'OO
Black bear .
. 5 -oo to $8 -oo
sheep
. 3 'o
Brown bear .
* 7 '5
Wolverine .
I'OO
AT CARIBOO.
Siffleur (marmot)
. 0-50
Silver fox
. $50 to $70
Musk-rat
. 0-25
Black fox .
lOO'OO
Until the year 1860 the fur trade was entirely monopolised by
the Hudson's Bay Company but since that date the trade has
ceased to be exclusively in the hands of this Company, and there
are now a large number of persons who have invested capital in
it. In general the trade is carried on by coasting vessels, which
exchange goods for peltry. It is rather difficult to arrive at a
correct estimate of the value of the furs exported; but it was
stated at $210,000 in 1868, and $233,688 in 1869.
STATISTICS OF SKINS OBTAINED. 215
The prices of skins are regulated by the quality of fur and also
by the condition of the pelt ; if they have been torn in the trap,
or riddled by shot, or injured in handling, they cannot take rank
among No. r skins, no matter how fine the quality of the fur. In
this respect there has been a great change of late years, by the
improvement in traps and the doing away with the " dead-fall "
and kindred arrangements. Cased skins, that is those which are
not cut open on the belly, command the best prices. Those
preferred " cased " are mink, musk-rat, otter, fox, fisher, opossum,
and skunk. Skins that are well-stretched and dried, command
better prices than those of the same quality that have been handled
carelessly, and the fur dealers at the present time complain of care-
lessness in this respect. The Indian method of loosening the
skin from the flesh is a good one ; it enables the skins to be
removed from smaller animals much cleaner than any other plan.
They puncture the skin in two or three places where no injury
will be done by the cut and insert a quill ; by blowing through
this quill the air is forced between the flesh and skin, which can
be stripped off without the use of a knife, and comparatively free
from the flesh.
The Hudson's Bay Company receive their supplies from the
north-west coast of America, the produce of their hunters and
traders on the west side of the Rocky Mountains, about July.
The sales take place in August or September. Those from the
eastern side of the Rocky Mountains come to hand in November,
and are sold in London during the winter and spring.
The following is an enumeration of the skins the Company
received and sold in the years named at decennial intervals :
216
PRICES AND VALUE OF FURS.
1856.
1866.
1875-
Badger
1,105
508
2,001
Bear ....
9,255
7,855
5,898
Beaver.
74,482
150,170
100,721
Fisher .
5,182
4,420
2,186
Fox, cross .
i,95i
2,935
1,961
kitt. . . .
3,370
3,9io
2,699
red ...
7,37i
12.739
7,644
,, silver . . .
613
761
603
,, white . ,
10,292
5,524
4,333
Lynx and cat .
11,634
34,6i5
15,661
Marten
179,275
115,667
61,782
Mink . . .- .| 61,516
53,044
62,760
Musquash . . . 258,791
312,301
503,948
Otter ....
13,740
14,720
9,825
Sea Otter .
290
85
ii
Porpoise, half skins . . j 483
47i
131
Rabbit. . . . 9, 93 7
I44,5!9
48,291
Racoon . . . .[ 1,798
5> I0 5
1,632
Seal, fur ... 36
1,845
1,427
hair . . .
5,263
14,899
3,743
Skunk
n,3i9
2,755
2,33i
Wolf ....
7,576
6,611
i, 608
Wolverin
1,142
705
1,052
Total . . .
757,431
896,164
842,248
Besides a few deer skins, swan skins, ox hides, c.
The value of the furs and skins exported from the United
States is shown by the following figures :
1821 .
1831
1841 .
766,205$
750,938
993,262
1851
1861
1871
977,762$
878,466
1,590,193
And in the three years ending 1874 the average annual export
of furs exceeded 3,500,000 dollars or ^700,000.
The value of the foreign furs imported into the United States
in 1856 was stated at nearly ,400,000, and these were chiefly to
be made up for ladies' use.
The value of the furs and skins exported from Canada was in
1850, 19,395; in 1860, "68,661; in 1870, ,63,816; and of
the furs, dressed and undressed, in the year ending June 1874,
,102,229, showing a great increase on previous years.
FUR MARKETS OF THE WORLD.
217
The prices of furs in Canada vary in different years. The
following are the extreme rates in usual seasons for ordinary sizes
and qualities
Bear Skins .
Lynx
Red Fox .
Silver Fox
Black Fox .
Beaver .
20S. tO SOS.
I2S. ,, 2OS.
Ss. 7s.
505-. ,, 150*.
50.?. ,, 6ooy.
3J. ,, Ss. perlb.
Otter .... 25*. to 50^.
Mink . . 5-r. los.
Elk & Moose, dressed 2os. ,, 40*.
Hair Seal . . . 2s. 6d. to 5*.
Stone Marten of Europe 2os. ,, 50^.
Red Marten ditto IGJ. , 2os.
The great centres of the fur trade in North America are New
York, Boston, Montreal, and St. Louis ; the furs are shipped to
those cities from all parts of the fur-producing region, excepting
the section controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company, and from
these cities they are distributed to the various sections of this
country and Europe. The principal furs obtained on the American
continent are sable, mink, musk-rat, foxes of various kinds, ra-
coons, fisher, skunk, opossum, bear, lynx, wolf, wolverine, buffalo,
badger, beaver, otter, seal, rabbit, and monkey, chinchilla, coypu.
Of sables America produces about one half the supply ; of mink,
four-fifths ; musk-rat, more than nine-tenths ; of chinchilla and
coypu, all ; about one-half the foxes, all of the racoon, fisher, skunk,
buffalo, one-half the seal and from one-half to three-fourths of the
other kinds. London is the great centre of the fur trade in racoon,
beaver, mink, seal, fox, otter, musk-rat and wolves, although
nearly all kinds of furs are found at the trade sales. Leipsic is
a large market for the majority of furs obtained in America, and
various kinds from Middle Europe, Russia, and Asia. Martens
(fitch, stone and black), together with sable and ermine, are more
largely dealt in than at other markets, while, as in London, almost
all other kinds can be found. The rich furs of Russia are col-
lected at Irbit, Siberia, and Nishni Novgorod, on the Volga River,
where they are sold at the annual fairs. According to estimates
made by experts, the total catch of a single season is about
20,000,000 skins j of these one-third are obtained in Northern
218 FURS OBTAINED IN EUROPE.
Asia and North-West America, nine and a half millions in North
and South America, and three and three quarter millions in Russia,
Sweden, and adjoining countries. The total value of these skins
is not far from ^2, 600,000.
Among furs and skins used by the furrier are included those of
the swan, penguin and grebe, and lamb skins, such as those of the
white and grey lamb, the Persian lamb, and the same dyed.
Of all these specimens will be found in the Collection of Animal
products in the Bethnal Green Museum.
France furnishes from its own territory furs and peltries of
the value of over one million sterling, and imports about double
that amount ; one half of the quantity is used up locally, and
the rest exported. Those produced locally consist of about 2,000
martens, 36,000 polecats, 4,000 otters, 100,000 weasels, 60,000
foxes, 30,000 cats, 60 millions of rabbits, 72,000 goose-skins,
100,000 lamb, 40,000 sheep, and 25,000 goats', besides a quantity
of hares, bears, wolves, ermines, badgers, minks, kids, &c.
It is in the governments of Archangel, Vologda, Viatka, and Perm,
as well as in Nova Zembla, that the trade of the fur hunter is chiefly
carried on in European Russia, to the value of about ^64,000.
In that part of the empire the bear, wolf, badger, fox, squirrel,
and other animals are taken the skins of which fetch various
prices. The produce of the chase there, however, diminishes
yearly. It is Siberia and the Russian company's possessions
that furnish the larger part of the furs to commerce. In Siberia
certain tribes pay their taxes in furs, and as these constitute the
private revenue of the Emperor, the handsomest furs by conse-
quence are never seen in the market.
Throughout the whole country furs are an object ot pursuit ;
sables, martens, stoats, foxes, squirrels, and ermines, are tracked
and trapped by hunters. As a general rule the furs of the eastern
are of better quality than those of the western provinces, but the
ermines near the rivers Irkutzk, Oby, and Ishim form an excep-
tion, being of three times the value of those found beyond the river
RUSSIAN FUR-TRADE WITH CHINA. 219
Lena. Still the time has not yet come for any suffering among
the inhabitants in consequence of a scarcity of the animals. A
large export goes on to the west; they are disposed of in Yakoutsk
to the value annually of three or four hundred thousand pounds,
and furs of more than twice that value are sold in a single town
bordering on Chinese Tartary.
It is for these furs that the Chinese barter their own produce,
and create the trade of second importance to Siberia.
The export trade of Russia to China was originally almost
entirely confined to furs. The large quantity of Siberian furs paid
to the Crown in form of tribute, and other supplies of the same
article found an easy sale, not only in the interior, but in the
markets of Central Europe, as well as in Persia and Turkey. But
when the national costume was changed in Russia, and was re-
placed by that worn in the west of Europe, the supply became
too large for the markets of Persia and Turkey, and the govern-
ment, being an interested party, looked out for another market
for its furs, which it found in the northern provinces of Mongolia
and China.
Besides this tribute, Siberia, however, furnishes to general
commerce ermine, marten, zibeline, petitgris, and fox skins, to
the value of about ^3 2,000. The skins of the wolf, fox, marten,
and sea otter, are the principal, but these are diminishing year by
year. Formerly they used to obtain about 40,000 skins of dif-
ferent kinds yearly, now scarcely half these are obtained.
To show the former extent of the trade in peltries or furs from
Russia to China, it may be stated that the exports in 1837 con-
sisted of the following number of skins :
220 FURS SENT FROM RUSSIA TO CHINA.
Beaver 10,119
Squirrel 2,931,345
Otter, Russian 21,959
,, foreign 1,695
Sea bear 12,117
Steppe and other fox . . . . . 134,671
Foreign fox 126,598
White fox 56,373
Fox paws or pads S 2 9,575
Ukraine lamb skins . . 909, 752
Trans-Baikal ditto . . . . , 216,167
Foreign ditto 975S
5.074,878
The hunting and trapping for furs give large employment to
the poorer classes of Siberia, and bring in an annual value of
about 160,000. There used to be exported to China, via Kiachta,
from one to three millions squirrel skins, 250,000 to 300,000
cat skins, and 260,000 fox skins, besides some beaver and lynx.
The beaver skins have dropped from 10,000 or 12,000 to 3,000,
the squirrel skins have declined altogether. The otter skins
have fallen from 20,000 to 4,000 and 5,000, the bear skins from
12,000 to 5 or 6,000, the fox skins to 15,000, the cat skins have
fallen to 8 or 9,000, the lamb skins from 1,250,000 to 74,000 ;
and the lynx from 15,000 to about 2,000.
The following table was given in the French Jury Reports of
the Paris International Exhibition of 1867, as an approximate
estimate of the furs received in Europe from North America,
Russia, and the Greenland Company.
FURS RECEIVED IN EUROPE.
221
Furs.
1800.
1825.
1852.
1866.
Beaver . . .
164,237
76,277
51,280
154,971
Bear.
25,105
12,145
12,478
11,048
Otter . .
21,694
12,271;
n,82<;
17 OS"?
Pecar
6,598
A A-J -**O?
7,644
O' j
9,449
x / , W JO
6,157
Marten
70,053
100,574
116,804
124,484
Wolf
8,093
1,462
8,765
6,610
Glutton . . .
i,495
806
1,508
806
Lynx
19,708
12,252
12,710
38,751
Vison . . . .
9,344
46, 1 76
209,125
60,169
Fox ....
24,164
25,861
77,055
64,247
Marmot . . .
109,979
52,721
562,177
388,178
Musquash .
27,272
281,416
1,637,340
1,577,707
Deer and elk . .
29,288
66,351
54,406
31,812
Bay Lynx .
6,125
4,752
Opossum . . .
14,444
218,144
Skunk .
1,618
74,591
Rabbit. . . .
21,825
54,827
144,519
Badger
1,710
618
Seal . .
I7,i5i
34,775
Value of the imports into United Kingdom of furs of all sorts.
1870.
1871
1872.
1873
. ,659,872
. 541,209
. 714,967
. 419,104
1874 .
Articles made of fur
1875
Articles made of fur
617,276
74,263
. 971,697
. 122,376
CHAPTER VII.
CARNIVOROUS MAMMALS. (Continued}.
The general history and statistics of the fur trade having been given
in the preceding chapter ', detailed accounts are now furnished of the
principal carnivorous animals and their economic relations to
man commencing with the felines or cat tribe, including the lion^
puma, panther, leopard, jaguar, ocelot, wild and domestic cats,
chetah, European lynx:, American Bay lynx, Canadian lynx,
and Civet cats.
CARNIVORA. The distinguishing characteristics of the Carni-
vorous Mammals, it has been well observed, are found in the
perfection of structure-arrangement, number, and development of
the teeth, the canine teeth being especially adapted for destroying
other animals, and tearing, crushing, and dividing the flesh upon
which these animals subsist. In the bears and their allies, which
exist on a more or less mixed diet, the crowns of the molar teeth
are 'furnished with small tubercles or prominences, evincing an
adaptation to a vegetable diet.
SKULL OF BEAR (C/rsus), SHOWING THE DENTITION.
The inquiry may possibly be made, What are the uses of the
numerous carnivorous animals which roam over large tracts of
TRADE IN WILD BEASTS. 223
country, and are a terror to man and beast ? But it has been
often shown that the races of herbivorous animals, without a
natural check from predatorial enemies or other slaughter, would
soon become too numerous for the substances which have been
allotted for their nourishment, and, by creating famine, would be
the cause of their own destruction.
In their uses to man, this balancing of creation, as it were, is
most important, by keeping down many that would desolate by
their ravages pastoral regions. The more direct benefit will be
found in the extensive commerce which is maintained with their
skins, which form comfortable protections from cold and the
inclemencies of the weather, and are beautiful and ornamental
articles of winter dress.
There is a wholesale and retail trade in wild animals, and
agents are at work for the wild beast dealers in every quarter of
the globe. Travellers are dispatched to pick up strange animals
in Central Africa, the Indian Archipelago, or South America, just
as other traders send their buyers to Paris or London. They have
dealings with the various Governments and Zoological Gardens of
Europe. Zebras will be sold at ^450 to ^500 the pair ; gnus*
for ^170; rhinoceroses at ^1,200 the pair; tigers at ^300 each.
THE FELINES OR CAT TRIBE. First in the list of the Felines
stands the LION, of which there are two marked species, Leo
Africanus, and Leo Asiaticus, inhabiting the greater part of Africa,
and the warmer districts of India. There appear to be several
varieties, if not species, of the African lion, as Leo Barbarus and
L. G-ambianus.
It is principally for its skin that the lion is sought, although
living animals are valuable for menageries and zoological collec-
tions. In some years 100 to 200 skins are secured. The flesh of
the lion is eaten by the Hottentots ; and a tribe of Arabs between
Tunis and Algeria, according to Blumenbach, live almost entirely
upon it when they can get it. When a lion has been killed and
the skin removed, the flesh is divided, and the mothers take each
THE LION THE PUMA. 225
a small piece of the animal's heart, and give it their male children
to eat in order to render them strong and courageous.
They take away as much as possible of the mane, in order to
make armlets of it, which are supposed to have the same effect.
It would seem from the Journal of the Marquess of Hastings,
that this superstition as to eating lion's flesh is as strong in India.
On the death of a lion it is stated " Anxious interest was made
with our servants for a bit of the flesh, though it should be the
size of a hazel-nut. Every native in the camp, male or female,
who was fortunate enough to get a morsel, dressed it and ate it
They have a thorough conviction that the eating a piece of lion's
flesh strengthens the constitution incalculably, and is a preservative
against many particular distempers. This superstition does not
apply to tiger's flesh, though the whiskers and claws of that animal
are considered as very potent for bewitching people." But the
flesh of the lion has also been eaten with gusto by Europeans, for
Madame Bedichon in her work on Algeria, states, that at Oran a
lion was killed which three days before had eaten a man, and the
Prefect gave a grand dinner, the principal dish being the lion,
which the French gentlemen assembled ate with the greatest
relish.
More recently still, within the last year or two, a magnificent
quarter of lion, shot in the neighbourhood of Philippeville, Algeria,
by M. Constant Cheret, was sent to the Restaurant Magny,
Paris, and served up to a party of nineteen guests, who enjoyed
with gusto " Estouffade de lion a la Me'ridionale " and " Cceur de
lion a la Castellane."
PUMA OR COUGUAR (Felis concolor, Lin). This animal, some-
times called the South American lion, is most common in the
southern part of the continent, although its geographical range is
said to extend to the north. The skins are chiefly used for carriage
wrappers. The fur is thick, close, and of a reddish brown colour,
approaching nearly to the colour of a fox on the back, and
changing on the belly to a pale ash. When at a mature age,
Q
226 THE TIGER AND ITS DEPREDATIONS.
however, its general colour s a silvery fawn. Three or four
other species are said to inhabit Paraguay, Buenos Ayres, and
Chili.
The puma is very destructive to sheep, and has been known to
kill fifty in a night, merely to suck a portion of their blood. The
length of the adult animal is a little over four feet, and its tail two,
to two and a half feet. The flesh is said to be tender and well
flavoured.
TIGER (Felts Tigris}. This animal is exclusively confined to
the Asiatic continent, and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago.
The peninsula of Hindostan seems to be its great nursing place,
but it extends far up into the hill regions. The district of Goal-
parah in Assam is so infested by wild animals, that 1700 has
been paid in a single season for the heads of beasts of prey.
And yet the reward for tigers is only ten shillings per head.
The Delhi Gazette states that 250 tigers' heads have been brought
in by natives in a single month. They are mostly killed by
poisoned arrows from spring bows fixed near their favourite
haunts. In 1871, noo wild beasts were destroyed in the Madras
Presidency, at a cost of ,2,200, of which 666 were cheetahs,
205 tigers, 129 hyenas, 97 bears, 12 wolves, and a few jackals.
On the Nielgherry Hills 16 tigers and 29 cheetah? were killed, and
;no paid in rewards. In Kistna and South Canara73 were
paid for killing 146 tigers and leopards, but not before they had
destroyed over 1760 head of cattle.
In China the mandarins cover the seat of justice with the tiger
skin, and the easterns are very proud of their tiger skin rugs. A
good skin is worth 3 or 4, but varies according to size and
condition. They are sometimes obtained exceeding n^feet long.
There are three good stuffed heads of the Bengal tiger (Tigris
regaiis) in the Bethnal Green Museum.
PANTHER (Felts Pardas). This animal, principally found in
Africa, is believed to be only a variety of the leopard, but differs
in its superior size and deeper colour from it. Its colour is of
THE LEOPARD THE JAGUAR. 227
a bright tawny yellow, with rounded black spots disposed in circles
about his body; the breast and belly are white.
In Algeria recently a gun of honour was presented to a great
slayer of panthers, Si-el Moufok, aged 40, who had killed 42 of
these wild beasts, and his father 75 before his death in 1850.
Si-el Moufok has a young brother who has already killed 3 panthers.
LEOPARD (Felis Leopardus, Cuv., Leopardus varius). This
animal, which is about four feet long, is dispersed over Africa,
Asia, and some of the Indian islands. There are one or two
varieties. Their skins, which are very valuable, are of a bright
tawny hue, marked with black spots. There is a leopard skin
shown with the furs in the Museum Collection. In this country
the collocation of the leopard under the officer's saddle is a dis-
tinguishing mark adopted by some of the cavalry regiments.
The imports of these skins is but small in numbers, seldom
averaging more than 100 a year, although in some years 150 have
been imported. They are sometimes used on draught and saddle
horses, and for ornamenting caps, fur garments, and cuffs. Leopard
skins command good prices for hearth-rugs and military purposes,
and for the seats of some carriages. The skin is worn as a mantle
by the Hungarian nobles who form the royal body-guard of
Austria.
In the Museum Collection is a fine African leopard skin rug
bordered with bear skin, and four or five very choice Bechuana
mantles or karosses made of leopard, and various other skins of
native animals.
There is another species of leopard known as the ounce
(Leopardis undo), met with about the shores of the Persian Gulf,
the fur of which is rather paler, rougher, and thicker.
JAGUAR (Felis \Leopardus\ onca\ or American Panther. This
animal is as large as a wolf, and is formidable for its strength and
ferocity, in these points resembling the royal tiger of Bengal. It
has a fur, the ground colour of which is a pale brown yellow, very
beautifully marked with chocolate brown spots and with streaks and
Q 2
FLESH OF THE JAGUAR THE OCELOT. 229
stripes. It is used for ornamental purposes, as hearth-rugs, &c.
It seems to be a merciful dispensation of Nature that the most
terrible quadrupeds are not gregarious, but hunt alone or in
couples. If lions, tigers, and jaguars herded like wolves, whole
provinces would be depopulated by their ravages, and man
would hardly be able to hold them in any subjection. But by
destroying them in detail, their numbers can be kept within
bounds, and their depredations confined to their native forests
and jungles.
An oil from the adipose tissue of the jaguar is used externally
in Brazil in cases of rheumatism, and also for fomenting boils.
The Gauchos or herdsmen differ in their opinion whether the
jaguar is good eating, but are unanimous in saying that cat is
excellent.
Mr. Wallace, when travelling up the Amazon, one day had
some steaks of the jaguar on the table, and found the meat very
white, and without any bad taste. " It appears evident to me,"
he adds, " that the common idea of the food of an animal deter-
mining the quality of its meat is quite erroneous. Domestic
poultry and pigs are the most unclean animals in their food, yet
their flesh is highly esteemed, while field rats and squirrels, which
eat only vegetable food, are in general disrepute."
OCELOT (Felts Pardalis). This animal, rather less than the
ounce, is a native of tropical South America. Its skin is beauti-
fully variegated, of a bright reddish colour, with stripes of a deeper
tinge edged with black variously disposed over the upper parts of
the body, and hence is in great request by furriers. Two other
species, the linked and the long-tailed, are enumerated as belong-
ing to South America.
The skin of the bush cat (Leopardus served), the tiger cat of the
furriers, is also in some request, being of a golden grey, with dark
spots and stripes.
There are some other species of Felines described by naturalists,
such as the Margay (F. tigrma\ and two or three species of Indian
230 WILD AND DOMESTIC CATS.
cats ; but as these have no commercial or economic importance, it
is unnecessary to describe them.
The WILD CAT (Pelts Caius),froio. which the well-known domestic
animal is descended, still inhabits the mountainous parts of
Britain and Northern Europe. Its fur is much longer and rougher
than that of the tame cat, grey, mottled and spotted with black,
and its softness and durability render it very suitable for furs.
THE COMMON CAT (felts domesticus, Lin.). Besides its uses as a
household pet and for keeping down rats and mice, there is a large
trade carried on in the skins of cats for their fur. Cats have even
been shipped in large numbers to Australia, California, Malta, and
other places where rats have become too numerous to be pleasant.
In some countries, as in France, a tax is levied on cats. In that
country about 30,000 skins are furnished annually to commerce.
As there is scarcely a house in which one or more cats are
not kept, and very many are also maintained in stores, ware-
houses, docks, c., to clear mice, there cannot be less than four
to five millions domestic cats in the United Kingdom, so that
there must necessarily be a good supply of skins.
The common cat is fed on fish, and bred for its fur in Holland,
where the finest skins are obtained. Large quantities are also
collected in Holstein, Bavaria, Switzerland, &c. This fur is now
greatly valued, and the supply of good skins continues far short of
the demand. The black, spotted, and striped varieties are all
much in request, to be made into wrappers for open carriages,
sleigh coverings, and railway travelling.
In 1856 we imported 13,451 cat-skins, chiefly from the Con-
tinent, in 1856 32,138, and in 1860 9,741.
According to the " Bulletin of the Society of Acclimatisation "
of Paris, the domestic cat is more eaten as food than is generally
supposed. In Williams's " China" it is mentioned that wild cats
are sometimes caught, and are considered a great food dainty.
THE CHETAH or HUNTING LEOPARD (Gueparda jubata;
Cynailurus Jnbatus, Wagler). This animal is found in all the
CARACALS OR LYNXES. 231
warm parts of the old world, from the Cape Colony to Persia
and India. In Asia it is trained for hunting antelopes. The skin
is of a light yellowish fawn colour above and white below, with the
back and sides covered with black spots. It is used for ornamental
purposes.
LYNXES. There are several species of Caracals or Lynxes
EUROPEAN LYNX (Felis lynx).
inhabiting Africa and Asia, but the European and Canadian ones
are those chiefly hunted for their furs.
The skins of the common lynx and the spotted lynx are shown
among the furs in the Museum.
The European lynx (Felis lynx; Lyncus virgatus) ranges over
a good part of Europe and some of the northern parts of Asia.
232 LYNXES AND CIVET CATS.
The length of the body and head is about three feet. The fur of
its winter coat is in demand for various purposes. It is of a
darkish grey, tinged with red, with dark spots and patches.
There is a species which extends more to the south, known as
Lyncus pardinus.
The AMERICAN BAY LYNX or WILD CAT (Lynx ruftts, Felts
Canadensis, Geof.) differs from the common lynx in having shorter
fur and longer pencils to the ears. There is a variety of this, per-
haps even a distinct species (L. maculatus\ whose fur, spotted
with brown, is as valuable as the others. The specimens of the
Bay lynx from the Columbia River are generally carried direct to
China, without passing through the hands of European furriers.
As a rule, the colder the climate the fuller and more valuable the
fur. The lynx is found on the Mackenzie River as far north
as 66, and is not uncommon in the woods of Canada, especially
in the Lake district.
The Canadian Lynx is said by Temminck to be identical
with the lynx of Northern Europe. It has a light, though warm,
hoary fur ; the natural colour is of a beautiful grey or rusty brown,
spotted with dark and rufous. Dyed of various colours, it is
much used by the Chinese, Greeks, Persians, and others, for
cloak linings, robes, and muffs, &c., being exceedingly soft, warm,
and light.
The imports of these skins by the Hudson's Bay Company range
between 5,000 and 16,000 yearly. In the 13 years ending 1868
the total imports by the Company had reached 330,000 skins.
Of late years there has been a large increase in these skins. A
few hundred are obtained annually in Alaska. In 1851 we
imported 8,415; in 1858, 15,688; in 1861, 8,415; in 1875,
15,000.
CIVET CATS. The AFRICAN CIVET (Viverra cwettd) is most
abundant in the hottest parts of Africa and in Abyssinia. It is
chiefly remarkable for the highly odoriferous secretion, from which
the perfumers used to prepare the old-fashioned " musk." Musk
CIVET CAT'S.
233
has now given way to some extent to patchouli, and to far purer
and more delicate floral perfumes ; so that civets are no longer
in the demand which former periods of fashion created for them.
The skin of the civet has a yellowish-grey ground colour, with
long hair on the back, large dusky spots disposed in longitudinal
rows on each side. Furriers often confound this skin, which is
light and soft, with that of the Zibet and Genet.
The pouch situated near the genitals is a deep bag, sometimes
divided into two cavities, whence a thick, oily, and strongly musk-
like fluid is poured out. When good, this odoriferous substance
ANIMALS FURNISHING CIVET AND MUSK.
is of a clear yellowish or brown colour, and of about the con-
sistence of butter ; undiluted, the smell is powerful and very
offensive, but when largely diluted with oil or other ingredients, it
becomes an agreeable perfume. Important medical virtues were
formerly attributed to the civet ; it, however, no longer forms an
article in the materia medica, and even as a perfume has been laid
aside.
Until the time of Buffon, the difference between the African
and Asiatic species was unobserved, both being of nearly the
same form and colour, but the number of dark marks on the tail
is different in the two.
234 THE ZIBET AND GENET.
ZIBET (Viverra Zibethd). The skin of the Asiatic species
differs somewhat in its markings from its African congener. The
animal furnishes the same secretion, and has been found in the
Philippine Islands. The caudal rings of this species hold an
unvarying character, and are uniformly six in number, pale, upon
a black ground.
The Muskars, a low class of woodmen, eat their flesh. In
South India the secretion is much employed by the native practi-
tioners under the name of kustre. In Travancore there was, and
probably is still, an establishment kept up at the expense of the
Government, in which these animals were kept and reared for the
sake of their secretion. It has a disagreeable ammoniacal odour,
and acrid, pungent taste. There is another species called the
Rasse ( V. malaccensis) found in Java, Singapore, and other Eastern
districts, which yields the same perfume.
GENET or SPANISH CAT ( Viverra genetta, Lin.). This animal,
about the size of a small cat, has a beautiful soft fur of a pale
reddish grey, the sides of the body being spotted with black, and
a dark line running along the back. It is a native of the western
parts of Asia, and is found also in Spain. The skin makes a soft
CIVET CAT.
and light fur, but it is imitated by the furriers with grey rabbit-
skins dyed. The civet furnished by this species is less powerful
than that of the others. There are one or two other varieties of
genets.
WILD CIVET CATS. 235
The WILD CAT of Formosa (Fells viverrina, Hodgson) is much
sought after by the Chinese for its soft pretty skin, to make cuffs
and collars for their coats ; 4^. 6d. being the usual price for a
single skin. In the collection of furs in the Museum the skin of
the wild cat of India and of the black cat will be found.
The skin of the Viverra pallida is also valued for lining to
great-coats. The poorer classes, who are unable to purchase the
dearer furs, make use of these cheaper yet pretty skins. The
Chinese eat the flesh of this animal, although it has a strong civet
odour.
CHAPTER VIII.
CARNIVOROUS MAMMALS continual.
This chapter deals 'with the dog tribe the varieties of the domestic dog,
the Esquimaux dog and dog sledges. The tax on dogs in various
countries. The wolf- statistics of the ravages it commits , and the
use made of its skin. Foxes variety and value of the skins of
this animal as furs, wholesale trade in them by the Hudson's Bay
Company statistics of imports. Racoon and dear skins. Badgers.
THE DOG (Cams). All zoologists agree that there is no trace
of the dog to be found in its primitive state of nature, although
wild dogs exist in India, America, and Australia. Some have
been led to believe the wolf is the original dog, but none of the
native wild dogs have ever returned to the true form of the
wolf. This question, however, is one not requiring to be dis-
cussed at any length here.
Sir John Richardson states that the great resemblance which
the domestic dogs of the aboriginal tribes of America bear to the
wolves of the same country, was remarked by the earliest settlers
from Europe, and has induced some naturalists of much observa-
tion to consider them to be merely half-tamed wolves. The
Esquimaux dogs are not only extremely like the grey wolves of
the Arctic circle in form and colour, but they also nearly equal
them in size.
If we consider the numerous varieties of the dog, from the
King Charles to the Newfoundland \ the harrier and the bulldog ;
those raised for food in China and the South Sea Islands to the
sheep dog from the smallest to the largest the variation in size
is fully one hundred fold.
There is more apparent difference between one of these dogs
and the wolf and the fox, which are its allies, than between other
VARIETIES OF THE DOG. 237
animals far separated from the class. What modifications we
find in the breed, what races lost, what races created? Like
man, whom he follows over the globe, the dog changes like
him, but more greatly, and readily adapts itself to all climates
and all habits.
And why? Because long domesticated, it has experienced
infinite , changes according to the localities ; because man has
selected the differences in individual births to create varieties ;
because he has coupled dogs having the same instincts, and
improved them so as to obtain a race suited for a special purpose,
which he has not ceased to improve. He has obtained from a
primitive animal, which is no longer met with, a varied race of
animals which nature did not form.
It will be sufficient for our present purpose to class dogs under
three heads :
1. Farm dogs, which includes the colly, the shepherd's and
drover's dog, the mastiff, and the bulldog.
2. Hunting dogs, as the terrier, the hound, the harrier, the
beagle, and the greyhound.
3. Shooting dogs, as the pointer, the setter, and the spaniel.
The dog is old at fifteen years, and seldom lives beyond
twenty. Dogs are encouraged and kept in most countries as
companions, housedogs, guardians for sheep, for the chase, and
in many cases for beasts of draught.
2 3 8
ARCTIC DOG SLEDGES.
In this country the employment of the dog for drawing burdens,
or as a turnspit, has been done away with ; but on the Continent
they are still harnessed to small carts, and dog-trains for sledges
are much employed in the Arctic Regions.
In Siberia, Greenland, and other northern countries, five dogs
are yoked to a sledge, two and two, with the fifth in front as a
leader. In general, only one person rides in a sledge, who sits
- :
^ -
ARCTIC DOG SLEDGE.
sideways, and guides the animals by reins fastened to their collars.
Such is their fleetness, that they have been known to perform a
journey of 270 miles in three days and a half, and so great their
strength, that they will convey a sledge containing three persons
and their baggage sixty miles in a day over the snow.
THE ESQUIMAUX DOG (Cams familiaris,vax. borcalis). Captain
Lyon thus describes the Esquimaux dog : In form he is very
similar to our shepherds' dogs in England, but is more muscular
and broad-chested, owing to the constant and severe work to
which he is brought up. His ears are pointed, and the aspect of
THE ESQUIMAUX DOG. 239
the head is somewhat savage. In size a fine dog is about the
height of the Newfoundland breed, but broad like a mastiff in
every part except the nose. Young dogs are put into harness as
soon as they can walk. Every dog is distinguished by a name,
and the angry repetition of it has an effect as instantaneous as an
application of the whip, which instrument is of an immense length,
having a lash of from 1 8 to 24 feet, while the handle is one foot
only. With this, by throwing it on one side or the other of the
leader, and repeating certain words, the animals are guided or
stopped.
ESQUIMAUX DOG.
I found (adds Captain Lyons) by several experiments that three
of my dogs could draw me on a sledge weighing 100 Ibs. at the
rate of one mile in six minutes ; and as a proof of the strength of
a well-grown dog, my leader drew 196 Ibs. singly, and to the same
distance, in eight minutes. At another time seven of my dogs ran
a mile in four minutes, drawing a heavy sledge full of men. After-
wards, in carrying stores to the " Fury," one mile distant, nine
dogs drew 161 Ibs. in the space of nine minutes. My sledge was
on runners, neither shod nor iced ; but had the runners been iced
at least 40 Ibs. might have been added for each dog.
2 4 o DOG'S FLESH AS FOOD THE DOG-TAX.
The flesh of the dog is eaten in several countries, and its skin
utilised for leather. The flesh of the North American dog, var.
Cam's canadensis, is esteemed before that of almost any other
animals by the Canadian voyageurs, and is eaten by some of the
Indian tribes on the Saskatchewan and shores of the Great Lakes ;
but the Chipewyan tribes hold the practice in abhorrence, because
they consider themselves to be descendants of a dog.
In many countries, to keep dogs within due bounds, a tax is
levied on them, as in France, the United Kingdom, and parts of
Germany. The dog-tax in Great Britain is 5^. per annum, and it
realized in the year ending December, 1874, ,313,017, so that
there was duty paid on 1,252,068. The Commissioners of Inland
Revenue, however, complain that, notwithstanding considerable
exertion on the part of their officers and the assistance of the
police, there is still a large number of dogs uncharged.
There are more than 120 packs of hounds kept, the number of
harriers is about 20,000, and other fancy breeds and dogs for the
chase, 114,500. In Yorkshire there are ten packs of foxhounds,
one pack of staghounds, and five or six of harriers, equal in all to
thirteen or fourteen packs of foxhounds. Thirteen packs of fox-
hounds, or fifty couple each, viz. 1300 hounds, consume annually
200 tons of oatmeal, at a cost of 2600, besides the carcases of
about 2000 dead horses.
In Ireland the dog-tax is only 2s., and in 1870 duty was paid
on 270,422, being a dog for every twenty persons. The tax pro-
duced ^27,042, and after deducting ,7000 for expenses in the
administration of the Act of Parliament, there remained 20,000,
which was paid over to the authorities in reduction of local
taxation. There are now about 300,000 returned in Ireland.
In France the number of dogs was estimated at 2,250,000.
The tax in that country is about six francs a head. Many are
thrown into the Seine by their owners rather than pay the tax,
and these carcases are occasionally so numerous, and so fat, that
at Javelle there is quite a trade carried on in fishing for and
STATISTICS OF DOGS. 241
boiling them down for the fat, of which about 2,250,000 Ibs. are
obtained annually, this is sold to the glove-makers at is. the
pound, for dressing the better class of straw-coloured gloves.
In the city of Berlin the dog-tax is three thalers, or about 9^.,
and it is found there are about 21,000 dogs kept ; of these nearly
3,000 are used in drawing carts. It was thought that the impo-
sition of the tax would check the number of dogs kept, but not-
withstanding the tax and the obligatory use of a muzzle, they
were found to have increased by one-third in four years. In
Wurtemburg the dog-tax brings in 376,355 marks, or nearly
^19,000 ; in the Hawaian Islands 20,000 dollars, or ^4,000.
In the United States it is officially computed that there is a
dog to each family, and this gives in round numbers 8,000,000
dogs, each of which costs eight dollars a year to keep, and con-
sumes annually food sufficient to raise a pig. But it is believed
there are twice that number in the States. The dogs are found
to commit sad ravages among the sheep there.
And then it is reasonably argued what benefits might not result
from killing the larger number off. For instance :
6,500,000 dog-skins, worth . . . $1,625,000
6,500,000 carcases, for chicken-feed . . 2,000,000
6,500,000 refuse for manure . . . 375, ooo
Tot al . $ 4, ooo, ooo
Thus the surplus dogs, by proper use, might yield ,800,000.
If chopped up or ground, their meat and bones would be excellent
for chicken feed ; and their skins good for gloves and other
manufactures.
The skins of big mastiffs are fit to be tanned for boots and
shoes or thick riding gloves, the skins of lesser dogs can be
dressed white for gloves. In the city of New York 6,000 to 8,000
dogs are annually impounded, a very small portion of which are
redeemed. They are killed by drowning, and the carcases are
taken to the offal boats, which convey them to Barren Island,
1
242 THE WOLF.
where every part of them is turned to some useful account. The
fat is rendered out, the skins are sold to glovers, and of the bones
an excellent compost for fertilising land is made. There are
about twenty-five regular dog-catchers, and a number of other
persons who incidentally bring in those that they pick up.
In the Animal Products Collection there is a pair of child's
cuffs made of the hair of a French poodle.
WOLF (Cam's occidentalis, Baird). The skin of the wolf is
much valued, and is used as cloak and coat linings in Russia and
other cold countries by those who cannot afford the more choice
kinds ; also for sleigh coverings and rugs for open travelling
carriages and wherever additional warmth is required.
The varieties of the American wolf have finer fur than the
European species; the Prairie wolf (Cams lutrans}, supplies one
of the furs of the Hudson's Bay Company. The wolf of the
northern districts is covered with a long and comparatively fine
fur, mixed with a large quantity of shorter woolly hair, and it has
a more robust form than the European wolf. In some districts
the wolves are very numerous, and vary greatly in the colour of
their fur, some being white, others totally black, but the greater
number are mixed grey and white, more or less tinged in parts
with brown. According to a pamphlet which M. Lazarevsky has
circulated, the wolves in 1873 did nearly as much damage as a
Tartar invasion might have inflicted. They carried off 179,000
cattle and 562,000 smaller domestic animals from the forty-five
governments of Russia in Europe. In the Baltic provinces 1,000
head of horned cattle were destroyed, and in the Polish provinces
2,700 oxen, and 8,600 sheep, pigs, and goats. If a cow be reckoned
as worth thirty roubles, and a sheep at four roubles, the gross sum
of the tribute levied by the wolves in Russia must reach 7,700,000
roubles (3-$-.). This is an amount of money quite well worth looking
.after, and it represents a number of wolves which must be dan-
gerous even to human life.
Some singular details are given in a recent Russian paper of the
WOLVES IN RUSSIA.
243
ravages committed by these animals, which are worth reproducing.
The number of wolves, it is said, in Russia, cannot be less than
170,000, and they eat of feathered game alone 200,000,000 head.
In 1875 no I GSS than two hundred human beings were destroyed by
wolves. A comparison is instituted between the losses occasioned
by cattle plagues and fires as against those caused by wolves,
and, extraordinary as it may seem, the proportion of damage
done by wolves as compared with cattle plagues is as 200 to 240.
The amount that wolves will eat is enormous. In two or three
HUNGRY WOLVES.
hours a pair will eat the half of a horse weighing 700 Ibs., they
themselves weighing not more than 100 Ibs.
In 1873, m one government, that of Vologda, wolves killed
14,000 head of large cattle and 35,000 head of small ; in the
Kazan government they killed 5,000 large and 26,000 small, of
an aggregate value of .36,700. In the St. Petersburg govern-
ment the losses are less, but even there, in the same year,
property was destroyed by wolves to the extent of ;io,ooo.
In forty-five Russian governments, exclusive of the Baltic
provinces and Poland, 714,000 head of cattle were destroyed in
one year, making a loss to the country of over ; 1,000,000.
R 2
244 A FACES COMMITTED BY WOLVES.
In the forests of France, and in the Pyrenees, the wolves
occasionally attack shepherds, and they now and then venture
within the walls of lonely chateaux and farm-houses. But their
numbers of course cannot be compared with the enormous hosts
of savage beasts in Russia, which one may perhaps guess at from
the quantity of wolves that must band together to kill and carry
off one able-bodied ox.
The European wolf has a coarser fur, with less of the soft wool
intermixed with it, than the American wolf. Sir John Richardson
enumerates the following varieties :
a. Common grey wolf (Z. griseus).
b. White wolf (Z. al&us).
c. Pied wolf (Z. sticte).
d. Dusky wolf (Z. nubihts).
e. Black wolf (Z. ater).
f. Prairie wolf (Cants httrans}.
The skins of the American wolves are not split open like the
large wolf-skins, but stripped off and inverted or cased like the
skin of a fox or rabbit, and hence in the Hudson's Bay Company's
lists called "cased wolves." From 4,000 to 12,000 wolf skins
are imported annually by the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1851
there were but 2,400 skins received; in 1861, 3,669; in i868 r
9> I 93-
The hide of the wolf is considered peculiarly fitted for knapsacks
and similar purposes, for which it is much employed in Germany.
There is a wolf skin shown in the fur series at the Bethnal Green
Museum.
The canine teeth of wolves are used, mounted in a handle, by
gold workers in France, to polish and burnish gold. The jewellers
and bookbinders especially use them, the latter for smoothing the
edges of books gilded. They are also mounted for children to rub
their gums with like coral to facilitate dentition.
Strings of the teeth of their enemies, and of bears, panthers and
other wild animals are favourite ornaments on the necks of young
men among the Dyaks of Borneo. In Case 168 in the Museum
there is a necklace of bears' claws, and in Case 171 one of tigers'
teeth, and another of monkeys' teeth. Even in civilised society
VARIETIES OF FOXES SILVER FOX. 245
tigers' 'claw-jewellery and the teeth of carnivorous animals are
worn when handsomely mounted.
The Cayapas in the district of La Tola, Ecuador, male and
female, wear round their necks large collars made of the teeth of
the jaguar, caiman, snakes, &c., mixed with shells, eggs, &c.
FOXES. The fur of the fox is in high esteem in Russia and
China. The skin of the red fox ( Vulpes fulvus, Baird) is finer
than that of the V. vulgaris of Europe ; its value is from two to
three dollars ; that of the cross fox (Var. decussatus\ is valued at
twelve to fifteen dollars ; the white and black varieties are also
highly prized according to the uniformity or intensity of the colour.
The grey fox ( V. mrginianus] and the kitt fox ( V. volez) have a
much coarser fur. Fox fur is used much for sleigh robes, caps,
and trimmings. There is a good series of fox skins in the
Collection of Furs in the Museum.
The most valuable of the American fox skins is the silver grey,
which twenty years ago fetched as high as eight guineas per skin ;
the black fox, which is rarely met with, formerly sold at ;io a
skin ; now they are worth four times that price ; the cross fox at
;i, and the red fox about ^4. The Turks are the principal
purchasers of the red fox skin. The wood grey fox skins, which
are obtained in the States in considerable numbers, are much
cheaper. This animal, so common about Buffalo and the south,
is not known in any part of Canada.
A fine sinew thread taken from the tail of the fox is used by the
North American Indians in their bead work.
The SILVER OR BLACK Fox ( Vulpes fulvus, var. argentatus\ when
in first rate condition, produces one of the most valuable furs in
the Hudson's Bay Company's territory, or that the world produces.
A very limited number of skins only come into the market, 500 to
1,000 from America; black skins have been known to realise as
much as ^50 each, and even then are generally purchased for
re-exportation, being highly prized in Russia. La Hontain speaks
of a black fox skin as being, in his time, worth its weight in gold.
246 RED, CROSS, AND ARCTIC FOX.
They are of an incomparable lustre and beauty. Some have
been taken in Newfoundland. In its finest and best condition
this animal is almost wholly black, excepting the tip of the tail,
where the black fur is intermingled with white silvery hairs.
RED Fox ( Vulpes fulvus). This animal is indigenous to the
wooded districts of the colder parts of North America, where it is
found in immense numbers. The American fox has a much finer
brush than the European species, and is a 'much larger animal. Its
fur is of exceeding beauty, of a ferruginous colour. All the varie-
ties of foxes are of one species, and live and breed together, but
owe their difference of colour to unknown causes. From 8,000 to
30,000 are received yearly in the Hudson's Bay Company's ships.
CROSS Fox ( V. fulvus, var. decussates). This variety is readily
distinguished by a black cross on the neck and shoulders, from
which it derives its name. It is probably a cross between the
silver and red fox. This fox inhabits the northern parts of
America. Its fur is a sort of grey resulting from an admixture of
white and black hair. From 2,000 to 5,000 are obtained annually
by the Hudson's Bay traders. In former years it was worth four
or five guineas a skin, whilst that of the red fox did not bring
more than fifteen shillings. The difference in value seems to
depend principally on the colour, for some of the red foxes appear
to have as long and as fine furs.
The KITT Fox (Vulpes cinereo argentatus) is the smallest of the
American foxes. About 5,000 are received annually by the
Hudson's Bay Company.
The ARCTIC Fox ( Vulpes lagopzts, Baird) exhibits in a remarkable
degree that change of colour to which all polar animals are more
or less liable. In winter it is pure white, in summer a line of a
darker colour appears on the back with corresponding transverse
stripes upon the shoulders, so that it is sometimes mistaken for
the cross fox. The white skins are exported into the London
market in considerable quantities. The fur is of small value in
commerce when compared with that of any variety of the red fox.
STATISTICS OF FOX SKINS.
247
Its flesh, on the other hand, particularly when young, is edible ;
whilst that of the red fox is rank and disagreeable. It is compared
in flavour to that of the American hare, and resembles the flesh of
a kid. About 5,000 skins are received on the average yearly by
the Hudson's Bay Company, although in some years 12,000 have
been sold. There is a darker variety known as the sooty or blue
fox ( V.fuligonus\ of which very few are obtained. In Greenland,
in the year ending March, 1875, 3,100 fox skins were obtained ;
of these the blue fox skins were to the value of ^4,942, and the
white fox skins ^370.
The following Table shows the imports of the various kinds of
fox skins by the Hudson's Bay Company for a series of years :
SILVER.
CROSS. RED. 1 WHITE.
BLUE.
KlTT.
1856
613
1951
7371
10,292
103
3370
1857
1047
3 l88
10,484
4940
63
5776
1858
IO6O
3472
9706
2103
21
10,003
1859
Il6 3
3982
11,489
1565
15
5547
1860
1177
4030
11,031
3355
43
4568
1861
1070
3403
8897
5084
42
2,532
1862
6 3 2
2248
7783
2805
23
2905
1863
587
1947
6402
33io
29
5532
1864
612
57i6
12,235
78
2409
1865
459
1800
8760
4821
33
3126
1866
569
1910
8125
59i7
36
5 J 4i
1867
1089
4445
29,439
2113
5896
1868
1359
5132
22,065
10,341
6624
The RACOON (Procyon lotor, Cuv.) is found in the warmer
parts of North America. The skins obtained from the western
States, particularly of Michigan, are considered much better than
those of Ohio, Pennsylvania, or New York. In 1840 they sold
at a dollar a skin. Russia is the principal market, and during
late years the price has fallen much lower. The skins afford a
rather handsome fur of a greyish-red colour for robes, and were
also employed in the manufacture of felt hats. They are used
throughout Germany and in Russia as a lining to the long
travelling coats and other equipments of northern countries.
248 THE RACOON.
The imports by the Hudson's Bay Company range between
i, 800 and 4,700 skins annually; but large numbers also come in
from the United States, bringing up the total to from 300,000 to
500,000 a year. This skin is shown in the Museum Collection.
RACOON (Procyon lotor}.
BEAR-SKINS. The American black bear (Ursus americamis,
Pallas) differs from the European species, and affords in season a
thick and brilliant fur. Bear-skins are used as saddle-cloths for
horses, for foot-muffs, and furs, grenadiers' hats, and formerly for
cuffs. This fur takes dyes well.
Bears are found in considerable numbers in the Minnesota
territory and other parts of the new settled States of America,
also in small numbers in Canada and the Lower Provinces, but
they are constantly diminishing before the progress of civilisation.
The black bear is by far the most numerous, but few of the grizzly
species being found. An average skin is worth five dollars a
very good one (she-bear), from six to seven. They are principally
used for saddle housings and harness trimmings, and sometimes
for sleigh robes. Their skins as furs are best when the animals
are just issuing from their winter's sleep ; and at that season the
Indians are reaping their bear harvest.
About 8,000 bear-skins are annually imported by the Hudson's
Bay Company, and some others are brought from the United States,
Canada, &c.
In 1806, 9,255 bear-skins were received by the Hudson's Bay
BEARS, AND BEAR-SKINS.
249
Company; in 1866, 7,855. In 1870 we received from America
1 1,777 bear-skins, valued at ^15,278. In later years the Board of
Trade have not specified the separate skins imported as furs.
The BLACK BEAR inhabits every wooded district of the Ame-
rican continent, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Carolina
A POLAR BEAR HUNT WITH ESQUIMAUX DOGS.
to the shores of the Arctic sea. The fur on the body is long,
straight, shining, and black. The cinnamon bear is considered
to be an accidental variety of this species. They hibernate in the
northern fur countries for about six months, being in a fat condi-
tion ; further south they only hide themselves for three or four
months. Sir John Richardson tells us that at one time the
skin of a black bear, with the fur in prime order and the claws
250 VARIETIES OF BEAR.
appended, was worth from twenty to forty guineas, but at present
the demand for them is so small, from their being little used
either for muffs or hammer-cloths, that the best sell for less
than 40^. There is a black bear-skin in the Collection of Furs in
the Museum.
In the forty years ending with 1862, 10,000 black bear-skins
were obtained in Alaska.
With the progress of settlement and civilisation, bears are fast
passing away both in northern Europe and America. There
was a time when as many as 500 bears were killed in one winter
in two of the counties of Virginia. Then the Indians shared
largely in the spoils as well as the excitement of the chase.
Their mode of serving up the bear, as a first course, was to roast
it whole, entrails, skin, and all, as they would barbecue a hog.
Most of the American planters preferred bears' flesh to beef,
veal, pork, or mutton. Bears' paws were long reckoned a great
delicacy in Germany, and after being salted and smoked, were
reserved for the tables of princes. The tongues and hams are
still in repute.
The black bear is replaced on the barren grounds of North
America by Ursus Richardsonii> a species bearing a strong resem-
blance to the U. arctos of Europe, another species the brown or
barren-ground bear ( U. ferox), and the grizzly bear ( U. horribilis]
ordinarily dwells among the Rocky Mountains. The latter is
large, strong and ferocious. They are sometimes nine or ten
feet long, and are reported to attain a weight exceeding 800
pounds. From the black, and indeed from all, the natives
derive food ; they also cut the summer hides into cords. The
claws of grizzly and barren-ground bears are much prized
for necklaces and coronets by the Indians, as a proof of their
prowess.
THE POLAR BEAR ( Ursus maritimus. Linn.) is perhaps the only
species common to both continents, and may be considered as a
sea animal, inhabiting the ice floating between them. They come
THE POLAR BEAR.
25*
down on the ice drifted round Cape Farewell in the current from
the east coast, and some are taken on the ice round Upernavick,
in the far north.
In Capt. Hall's " Life with the Esquimaux," among other anec-
dotes given of the ingenuity of the polar bear, is one by which
he kills a walrus when basking in the sun on the rocks. If this
POLAR HEAR KILLING WALRUS.
happens to be near the base of a cliff, the bear mounts the cliff
and throws down upon the animal's head a large rock, cal-
culating the distance and the curve with astonishing accuracy,
and thus crushing the thick, bullet-proof skull. If the walrus is
not instantly killed simply stunned the bear rushes down to it,
seizes the rock, and hammers away at the head till the skull is
broken.
2 5 2 THE BROWN BEAR.
The bear-skin is of the greatest value to the Arctic tribes. They
dress it by pinning it down on the snow and leaving it to freeze,
after which the fat is scraped off. It is then hung up to dry
in the intense frost, and with a little scraping it becomes
perfectly supple, both skin and hair being beautifully white.
The Greenland Company get from forty to sixty white bear-skins
annually.
The flesh is eaten by the Esquimaux and the Danes in Green-
land, and when young, and cooked after the manner of beef
steaks, is by no means to be despised, although rather insipid.
The fat, however, ought to be avoided, as unpleasant to the palate.
Dr. Scoresby tells us that the muscular fat of the bear is well
flavoured and savoury. " I once," he adds, " treated my surgeon
to a dinner of bear's ham, and he did not know, for above a
month afterwards, but that it was beef steak. The liver is very
unwholesome." Other arctic voyagers consider it exceedingly
coarse. The Russian sailors who wintered at Spitsbergen found
it to be much more agreeable to the taste than the flesh of the
reindeer.
Sir John Richardson well observes, in his " Fauna Boreali-
Americana/' that when people have fed for a long time solely
upon lean animal food, the desire for fat meat becomes so in-
satiable, that they can consume a large quantity of unmixed and
even oily fat, without nausea. Our arctic seamen relish the paws
of the bear, and the Esquimaux prefer its flesh at all times to that
of the seal. Instances are recorded of the liver of the polar bear
having poisoned people.
The BROWN BEAR ( Ursus arctos\ although at one time com-
mon in many parts of Europe, is now restricted to a few se-
cluded valleys in the Alps, Pyrenees, and mountains of Norway
and Lapland. The dark-coloured race, long considered a distinct
species, under the name of the European black bear, together
with the barren-ground bear of North America, are now included
among the varieties of Ursus arctos. They are hunted for their
THE ISABELLA BEAR.
253
skin and fat. The distribution of the brown bear is more exten-
sive than any of the family. In Asia it inhabits Siberia and the
Altai as far westward as Japan when the Altai is crossed, and
the great Himalayan chain examined, there is found another
brown bear, which has been named the Isabella bear, from the
prevailing light fulvous colour of the fur.
KILLING A POLAR BEAR.
As to the distinction between the Ursus arctos and the Isabella
coloured bear of the Himalaya, the difference rests only in the
colouring of the tips of the hair, and that is not always a sure
criterion. No doubt the majority of the Isabella bears have the
tips of the hairs brownish white, but brown is the fundamental
colour. Some individuals, especially old males, are almost
marone, whilst others vary from brown to brownish yellow,
and are a dirty white ; hence travellers speak of the " White
and Brown bears of Cashmere " : it is evident, however, that
254 THE THIBET BEAR.
neither age nor sex determines the colour with any degree of
accuracy.
The Isabella bear is found on the mountains of Armenia, where
it has long passed under the name of the Syrian bear, and is
perhaps the animal referred to in the Bible. It is not rare on
the Caucasus and high ranges of Persia, Affghanistan, and Hima-
laya, at least as far eastwards as Nepaul and probably much
farther.
The winter's coat is shed about midsummer, when the old hair
and under wool, called peshmena^ hang in matted masses on its
sides. The bear's peshmena is not attained until autumn, and
after the new coat has gained considerable length. It is analogous
to that of the wild and tame goats and sheep of Thibet, and more
or less pervades all the quadrupeds of the high and snowy ranges.
The peshmena of the ibex is softer than that of the tame goat of
Thibet Its fur is thick and long in winter, but does not contain
much under wool.
The Thibet bear ( Ursus tibetanus) is a native of the lower Hima-
layan ranges, and is said to be found in Persia, Affghanistan and
Northern China. There is a white mark on the chest shaped
like the letter Y, the two legs proceeding a short distance up the
side of the shoulders. Towards the end of October, after this
bear has fed on fruits and grain, like its congener, it becomes very
fat. The native hunters state that the kidney fat is useless as an
article of commerce on account of being tainted with the smell of
the animal's urine. They accordingly preserve only the external
adipose on the loins and inside of the thighs.
THE EUROPEAN BADGER (Meles Taxus] differs totally from
the American one in many points, especially in its dark-coloured,
much coarser, and shorter fur.
The skin with the hair on being impervious to rain, used to be
employed in France to cover trunks, the collars of draught horses,
and their harness. The skins were also formerly made into
pouches by the Highlanders. From the wiry nature of the hair it
THE AMERICAN BADGER.
255
is extensively used for the manufacture of superior kinds of
shaving brushes and artists' pencils. It is preferred in China to
pigs' bristles. Brushes made of badgers' hair are used by painters
in softening the colours employed in imitating wood. The flesh
is reckoned a delicacy in Italy, France and China, and may be
cured like hams and bacon.
THE AMERICAN BADGER (Meles \Taxidid\ Labradoria, Sabine).
The fur of this animal is very soft and fine, and about three and a
AMERICAN BADGER (Melcs Labradoria}.
half inches long on the back, of a purplish brown colour from the
roots upwards, variegated with narrow black rings near its summit,
and tipped with white, producing a pleasant and somewhat
mottled or hoary grey colour, but exhibiting no brown tints when
the fur lies smooth.
In the eleven years ending with 1866, the average annual
import of these skins by the Hudson's Bay Company was from
1,000 to 1,700. The flesh is said to be not inferior to that of the
bear, to which it is closely allied in structure.
CHAPTER IX.
CARNIVOROUS
The last chapter hairing nearly exhausted the description oj the fur-
bearing animals of commerce there remain but a few more to be
spoken of; these include the Wolverine or Glutton, the Skunk, tht
Fitch or common Polecat, the Martens or Weasels, including
the Rrmine, Mink, Fisher, and Sable y the common Otter
American Otter, and Sea Otter; we then pass on to the varieties
of Seal, and the description and statistics of this important
fishery carried on for the skins and oil of the animals.
WOLVERINE, OR GLUTTON (Gulo luscus, Sabine). This Nortl
American animal is nearly the size of our badger. It ranges frorr
75 to 42 N. It has two distinct kinds of hair, the inner fiii
being soft and about an inch long, the intermixed hairs are rigid
and about four inches long. Its fur is of a deep brown colour
passing in the depth of winter almost into black. The import:
through the Hudson's Bay Company average about 1,000 to i,5oc
skins a year. It is much used for muffs and sleigh robes ; r
small number are obtained in Alaska.
THE AMERICAN POLECAT (Mephitis Americana, Sabine), 01
SKUNK as it is invariably called in that country, has a long, soft
black fur. It can discharge, when molested, a fluid from a smal
bag, near the root of the tail, which emits one of the most power
ful stenches in nature, that produces instant nausea. The odou:
has some resemblance to that of garlic, although much more dis
agreeable. Owing to the repugnant smell which the anima
possesses, and which the fur, even when it has passed through the
dressing process retains, it was long considered of small commer
cial value. Continued experiments, however, surmounted th<
difficulty ; the two stripes of white coarse hair down the back ar<
FITCH OR POLECAT MARTENS. 257
removed, and a skin of rich black fur is formed, so that it now
takes rivalry with superior furs for ladies' wear.
The history of this skin is suggestive that there may be many
other skins that could be rendered useful, were apparent objections
sought to be overcome. Twenty years ago the number that
appeared in the London market was trivial, about 2,000 to 4,000,
in 1861, ir,ooo were brought to public sale; in 1866, 11,319,
were imported by the Hudson's Bay Company and now that their
preparation has been still further improved, this formerly neglected
skin bears a higher value. When care is taken not to soil the
carcase with any of the strong smelling fluid, the meat is con-
sidered by the natives to be excellent food.
The skins of the FITCH or POLECAT OF EUROPE (Putorius
fcztida) are used for making muffs and victorines. It has a fur
of good quality, useful for common purposes. The long brown
hairs which cover the inner yellow fur are used for making
artists' brushes. A stuffed specimen of this animal is in the
collection.
THE MARTEN. The form of this animal is well known. It
has a pleasing aspect. Its fur is about an inch and a quarter
long, of a pale, dull, greyish brown, or hair brown colour, from the
roots upwards, dull yellowish brown near the summit, and tipped
with dark brown or black \ the lustre of the fur is considerable.
Being fine it is used for trimmings, and is also dyed so as to
imitate sables and other expensive furs. Hence it has always
been an important article of commerce.
The collective import of Marten skins from North America is
always large, although it varies year by year. The quantity sold
by the Hudson's Bay Company was, in 1851, 171,945; in 1856,
I 79 5 2 75; in 1857, 171,000. The next two years the average
imports were 139,000, then in subsequent years they ranged
between 74,000 and 112,000, and recovered to 125,000 in 1865,
and 144,000, in 1866. In 1870, the number imported was only
79,674, valued at about ^"i 3^. each.
358 ERMINE AND MINK.
One of the Mustela tribe, the ferret (Mnstela furo) is used for
driving rabbits from their burrows.
The WEASELS of the fur countries become white in winter, like
the ermine and are not distinguished from them by the traders.
There is in the Museum Collection, a stuffed white weasel
(Mustela nivalis) common to Russia and Sweden.
THE ERMINE OR STOAT (Mustela \Putorius\ ermined) is a com-
mon inhabitant of America from its most northern limits to the
United States. Brown in summer; in winter time the fur in
some specimens is of a pure white colour throughout, except on
the end of the tail, which . is black. The skin is from eight to
twelve inches in length. It so happens that royalty and nobility
have adopted this fur in some countries, as one of their emblems,
which has given to it a value far above its merits. It is made into
various articles for ladies' wear, with the tail attached. Minever r
the royal fur, is ermine with small pieces of black lamb inserted.
The skins are called "clicks" by the Indians, and form a
medium of currency. In 1870, 296,255 ermine skins were im-
ported, valued at about 2S. each.
Among furs, that of the MINK (Putorius vison, Vis on lutreold]
stands pre-eminent for ornament, wear, and durability. It is of
exceeding beauty, and increasing value, and the animal does not
seem to diminish in numbers. The fur, of a chocolate or umber
brown, is very fine, although short ; it is of two sorts, a dense
down, with longer and stronger hairs. Two varieties differing in
size are found in Nova Scotia, the smaller, nigrescent, has the more
beautiful fur. The Putorius Cicognanii and Putorins Richardsonii
(Bon.), two distinct species, are also met with in that province ;
they differ from the true ermine chiefly in length of tail.
The Mink in 1840 sold in America as low as 6d. per skin ;
but in 1855 commanded as much as js. 6d. and was in active
demand. Previously to 1853 this description of fur was prin-
cipally shipped to Europe, but since that time the American
furriers have been using it extensively in the manufacture of
STATISTICS OF MINK FISHER. 259
ladies' victorines, capes, &c., and the competition between the
shippers and manufacturers has raised the price. The mink of
Wisconsin is not so fine as those obtained from Buffalo. The
best mink skins are those caught in the north and north-east of
Michigan, the north-west furnishing the next quality. The range
of price is very great ; colour, size, and quality of fur, as well as
the condition in which the skin is cured, all contributing to
determine the value.
In 1851 we imported 191,729 mink skins; in 1860, 111,926.
The imports by the Hudson's Bay Company range from 60,000 to
70,000 per annum and have occasionally reached 76,200. This
skin at present is so highly appreciated that it commands ten
times the price it did a few years ago. Very fine dark-coloured
specimens sometimes sell in America for ^i each, and even
higher, when manufactured into caps, tippets, &c. As in most
fur-bearing animals the skin of the northern mink is the most
valuable, and the fur only good when taken late in autumn, in
winter, or early in spring.
In the Museum Collection of furs there are specimens of pine
marten, sable, mink, ermine, cross ermine, skunk, perivitski, mus-
quash, and others.
FISHER (Mustela Americana, Turton ; Mustela Canadensis, Lin.).
Large numbers of these skins are every year exported by the fur
traders from North America under the name of fisher or pekan,
they are also locally called wood-shocks. The animal has a range
extending completely across the American continent, The tail
forms a large portion of the value of the skin in Russia, being
worn as a circlet round the head. Its fur is harsher than that of
the pine marten, and much less valuable, the musky odour 01
the body is rather stronger. The fur towards the roots is fine
and downy, of a clove brown colour.
THE PINE MARTEN (Mustela leiicopus, Lin.) inhabits the woody
districts in the northern parts of America, from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, in great numbers. The fur, of a dull greyish brown,
s 2
260
PINE AND BAUM MARTEN.
is used for trimmings. Hence it has always been an important
article of commerce. About 100,000 to 200,000 skins have
long been collected annually in the American fur countries.
The lustre ot the surface of the fur is considerable, and the fur is
in the highest order in the winter time.
PINE MARTEN (Mustda
This is the fur generally understood in England as " sable,"
Russian sable being always separately indicated. The quantity
sold here is very small.
Its geographical range is between 40 and 70 N. across the
continent. The imports by the Hudson's Bay Company are
about 5,000 to 6,000 annually, the largest number was 7,185 in
1866.
THE BAUM OR WOOD MARTEN (Mustela abietum) is found in
the pine forests of northern Europe, where it lives like a squirrel
upon the trees, which it easily climbs, its long claws giving it a
firm hold upon the bark. Its fur is in the natural state coarser
than that of American sable, but when dyed the skins resemble
the best sable, and form a large article of commerce.
STATISTICS OF LAND OTTER SKINS. 261
THE BEECH OR STONE MARTEN (Martes albogularis, Mustela
saxoruni) is also a European species, common in mountainous
countries. The French excel in dyeing this fur, whence it is fre-
quently called French sable.
THE KOLINSKI OR TARTAR SABLE (Mustela sibericd) is pro-
cured from the Russian territories. Its natural colour is a bright
yellow, in which state it is much used ; it is also dyed to imitate
the dearer sables.
THE RUSSIAN SABLE (Martes zibellind) is one of the most
costly furs, both from its fineness, and the difficulties of procuring
it amid the wilds of Siberia; it is rarely used except by the
wealthy. Russia receives about 25,000 skins annually.
THE OTTER (Lutra vulgaris) was at one time common in
England, and is still frequently caught in Europe. In China it
has been trained to catch fish for its owner. The handsome fur
of the otter meets with a ready sale in commercial circles. In
1871, 1,550 land otter skins were imported at the Chinese ports
of Tientsin and Chiukiang.
THE AMERICAN OTTER (Lutra canadensis) differs from the
European in its greater size, and the colour of its fur, which is fine
and thick ; a good skin is worth 30^. or 40^. It is used for the
finer sorts of hats or for costly caps. The hunting season is from
September to May. The Russians, Chinese, and Greeks use a
great many of these skins for robes, trimmings, and national
dresses. The following have been the annual imports by the
Hudson's Bay Company during the last twenty years :
1856 .
13,740
1866 .
18, S'U
1857 *
1858 .
n,577
12,500
1867 .
1868 .
. . 14,236
12,026
1859 .
1860 .
. . . 13,165
. 11,278
1869 .
1870 .
. . 12,500
10,900
1861
1871
. . IVIOO
1862
14 , ic8
l872 .
1 3, 700
186-*
IT..T.T.I
l87^
. . II,2OO
1864 .
1C, 44?
1874 .
8,100
1865 .
. . 13,600
1875 -
. . 13,000
262 THE SEA OTTER.
The fur very much resembles that of the beaver, but it is
shorter, and not so well adapted for felting. In the collection of
furs of the Museum are skins of the otter and " pulled otter," with
the long hairs removed.
THE SEA OTTER (Enhydra marina}. The fur of this animal is
exceedingly fine and heavy. It was formerly found in thousands
on the Pacific coast from California to the Russian settlements,
but from the absence of proper restrictions, is progressing towards
extinction on those parts of the coast under British rule. The
imports by the Hudson's Bay Company range from 100 to 300
per annum. In the last quarter of a century about 100,000 sea
otter skins have been sent to Russia from the Pacific coast. The
flesh of the young sea otter is said to be very delicate food, not
unlike lamb.
The sea otter has been found only in the North Pacific. Their
skins have ever been held in high estimation by the Chinese and
Russians as an ornamental fur j but their great scarcity and
consequent cost limits the wear to the wealthy and higher classes
only. The commercial value of the sea otter's skin, like other
commodities, has varied with the changes in the relation of supply
and demand. The narrative of Cook's Voyage shows the value
of a prime skin to have been at the time of that voyage 24. In
1802, when the largest collection was made, the average price of
all skins at Canton was only about ^4. The skins were formerly
worth in Europe from ^40 to ^100, but they have much declined
in value. At present the best quality only bring from 16 to
^20.
When properly skinned the pelt is of an oval form. The tails
are always cut off and sold separately. The hair in a first-class sea
otter skin, according to Mr. Ball, should be nearly even in length
all over it, and of uniform colour. The length of a full-sized skin
which has been stretched before drying, is about six feet, and its
breadth nearly four feet.
The fur varies in beauty according to the age of the animal.
IMPORTANCE OF SEALS. 263
When the otter is full-grown it becomes of a jet black. The male
otter is beyond all comparison more beautiful than the female,
and is distinguished by the superior jetty colour, as well as velvety
appearance of his skin. The skins in the highest estimation are
those which have the belly and throat plentifully interspersed with
a kind of brilliant silver hairs, while the body is covered with a
thick black fur of extreme fineness and silky gloss.
The sea otter possesses historic interest. Its quest led the
Russians from Okhotsk to Kamschatka, and thence over the Aleu-
tian chain to the opposite coast of America. As long ago as in
1788, 3,000 skins were obtained by Delouff in Cook's Inlet; and
in 1794, Barnoff's expedition to Behring Bay took away about
2,000. The animal was formerly abundant on the Kamschatkan
coast, and on the American coast as far south as Lower California ;
but owing to its habits it is difficult to prevent indiscriminate
slaughter, and it is now scarcely known in many localities where
it was once abundant. We have no accurate information of the
total quantity taken annually.
SEALS. In a commercial point of view, the seals are the most
important of carnivorous animals, and the pursuit of them is eagerly
carried on in the Arctic and Antarctic regions, as well as in other
quarters, but is most extensively prosecuted around the shores of
Newfoundland and the Labrador coast, for the skins and oil
obtained from the animals.
The various kinds of seals differ as greatly in size and phy-
siognomy as members of the human family. There are canine
and feline-looking seals ; seals with round heads cropped like a
prizefighter's, and seals with patriarchal beards and flowing locks ;
meek, pensive-looking seals, and seals fierce and long tusked ;
little seals three feet in length, and monsters upwards of eight feet
long, weighing looolbs. The harp seal is most esteemed, and
commands a high price. The Greenland seal is double the size
of the common seal, and the sea-lions range from 1 8 to 20 feet in
length.
264 1HE NEWFOUNDLAND SEAL FISHERY.
The seal fishery is now the most profitable branch of trade in
the colony of Newfoundland. In 1852 it employed 367 vessels,
of 35>76o tons aggregate tonnage, and 13,000 men. The vessels
are from 75 to 200 tons, but those of 130 tons, which carry crews
of 40 or 50 men, are preferred. The voyage is begun early in
March, rarely exceeds two months, and is often completed in
three weeks. Two and three voyages are sometimes made in one
season.
Assuming the fleet of vessels fitted out in the colony at 360,
they average over 100 tons, and employ an aggregate of 15,000
men. Pricing the vessels at ^1000 apiece, we have ^3 60,000
(irrespective of provisions) of floating capital on the waters. In
the brief space of eight years the whole of this capital disappears,
for the fleet wears out within that period, and has to be replaced.
Hence ^40,000 a year (besides the cost of annual repairs) is
expended for a portion of the decked vessels with which the
fisheries are carried on from Newfoundland alone. It may be
remarked that of late years the number of vessels is fully 100 below
what it used to be. In 1860, 200 vessels took 258,015 seals ; in
1870, 116 vessels took 189,733.
It is the opinion of those who best understand the business,
that the fleet despatched annually is already too extensive for
the return that can fairly be expected from the ice-fields in
such proximity to the coast of Newfoundland, as will render an
outfit from its ports convenient or profitable. The exports of
seal-oil, during the five years ending with 1850, averaged 4,921 tuns
for each year; for the five years ending 1855, 6,353 tuns; five
years ending 1865, 3,538 ; five years ending 1870, 4,900 tuns; but
the skins also yield very large profits.
It is stated that the prosecution of this " fishery " is hazardous
and very exciting. When the voyage is successful, the gain to the
merchant, captain, and crew is very considerable, but the losses
are also heavy. It places large sums of money in the hands of
ordinary seafaring men, who squander it characteristically.
VALUE Of THE FISHERY. 265.
Governor Darling says it is a pursuit which partakes more of
gambling than of steady industry, and he is of opinion that it
does not improve the physical condition or promote the happi-
ness of the people at large.
The species of seal which chiefly resort to the Newfoundland
coast are the two largest kinds the hooded seal (Stemmatopus
\Cystophor d\ cristatus), 7 or 8 feet long, and the harp seal (Phoca
Greenlandica and oceanica). They whelp their young, in January
and February, on the ice-fields of Labrador. The whelping ice,
as it is called, is floated southwards by the ocean-currents, and
is always to be found on the coast of Newfoundland after the
middle of March. The young seals, not taking to the water till
three months old, are easily caught ; their skins, with fat attached,
are stripped off, and the worthless carcases left on the ice. They
are sorted into five qualities " young harp," " young hood," " old
harp," and "bedlamer" (a year-old hood), and "old hood," the
most productive being " young harp."
At St. John's, the headquarters of the trade, the skins and
blubbers are separated, and the latter is generally put into wooden
cribs, beneath which are pans to catch the oil. No artificial heat is.
used in this process. The oil which runs for the first two or three
months is termed pale seal oil, and forms 50 to 70 per cent, of the
whole quantity. As putrefaction takes place, the oil becomes
darker and more offensive. The putrescent refuse and the clippings
of the pelts yield further quantities of oil by boiling (boiled seal oil).
This old process, however, is now superseded by a steam apparatus.
By this invention a uniform and much better quality of oil is pro-
duced, free from the horrible odour of that prepared by the old
method, and the time required is only twelve hours, instead of six
months.
The aggregate annual value of the seal-oil and seal-skins
shipped from Newfoundland ranges from ^"250,000 to ,300,000.
The average take of successful vessels is about 2,000 seals,
though as many as 8,000 have been secured in one trip ; out
266 SEAL FISHERY OF 1876.
of upwards of 400 vessels that yearly engage in sealing, not more
than sixty make remunerative voyages, and many suffer heavy
losses. Hence the business is altogether a lottery. The seal
fishery of Newfoundland for 1876 was, however, one of the best
for many years, and the following is a graphic account of the
results :
" For seven weeks the bitter east wind blew, driving the huge
ice-fields upon our shores, filling all the bays and harbours with
ice, and creating a solid ice-pack, which no vessel could pene-
trate, all around the coasts. The sealing fleet were arrested
within sight of the harbour and held powerless in the grasp of the
frost king. Thus matters stood, and we anticipated a disastrous
fishery. Our hunters could not get to the seals, lying in their
icy cradles, rocked by the heaving billows of the Atlantic, but all
the while the east wind was gently floating the * white coats '
within reach of the hunters, till at length they were separated
from detachments of them only by a few miles. A change of
wind came at last, a relaxation of the ice took place, and the
hunters sprang upon their prey. Still they did not come up with
the great body of the seals, only with scattered herds, so that no
steamer got a ' bumper trip,' though many did well on their first
voyage. The largest number brought in was by the steamer
Bear 20,000 seals, worth three times as many dollars. Others
got 16,000, 13,000, and 10,000 each. The most lucky hit of all
was made by the Merlin, an old worn-out steamer. She was
pinned in near the shore by the ice pack, but the seals came
around her, and she got as many as she could load 16,000
prime seals, value 48,000 dols. The seals this year were not
taken till in their full-grown stage, and consequently were on an
average 20 per cent, better than in other years. So soon as the
steamers unload their cargoes of fat they start again for the ice-
fields on a second hunting excursion. On this trip they rarely
capture many young seals, as they have taken to the water about
the ist of April; but they pursue the old seals, sometimes
LARGE CATCH OF SEALS. 267
shooting them on the ' pans ' of ice, sometimes falling in with a
herd of them jammed in ice and unable to escape, and ' batting '
them in multitudes. This year will be memorable in the annals
of seal killing by the wonderful success of second trips and the
vast number of old seals brought in. Let us follow the fortunes
of the steamer Neptune as an illustration of the romantic side of
seal killing. She did but moderately well on her first trip, having
brought in only 8,000 seals, value 24,000 dols. On her second
trip she got caught in an ice pack in Green Bay, and vainly tried
to escape. When there the men were sent out over the ice fields,
and some of them wandered so far as ten miles from the steamer.
At this spot a huge herd of old seals was discovered caught in the
pack and unable to escape. The men returned to the ship with
the welcome news, and the whole crew, 30 in number, formed
themselves into line like soldiers charging, and rushed on their
prey. The work of destruction by striking them on the nose with
a long club called a ' gaff' was eagerly pursued, and at the end of
four hours 18,000 great seals lay dead within a small area. But
how were they to be got aboard, the vessel being ten miles
distant ? To drag them over the ice was impossible. Well, by
one of those rare pieces of good fortune which sometimes befall
the hunter, the grasp of the ice relaxed the east wind ceased to
press from the outside, and next morning the steamer was able to
get alongside the slaughtered seals and all were easily put on
board. The striking thing, too, was, that had they not been
killed on that particular afternoon the whole would have escaped
next morning through the openings in the ice. The average
worth of an old harp seal is 6 dols. ; so that the value of this
cargo was 108,000 dols. This is the most valuable cargo of seals
ever taken in Newfoundland. This single steamer thus earned
132,000 dols. in a little over two months. One third goes among
the men ; the captain will get 4,000 dols. for his share ; the
remainder belongs to the owners. Several other steamers have
arrived with good trips of old seals. The Wolf has 8,400, Ranger
268
IMMENSE SLAUGHTER OF SEALS.
7,000, Walrus 3,800, Greenland 4,300. The Vanguard and
Commodore are also said to have fair trips, but are not reported.
When one remembers that every old seal is worth 6 dols., the
value of these united cargoes is very considerable. The weight
in fat of the Neptune's cargo is 850 tuns. All the captains unite
in declaring that they never saw the seals more numerous, so
that to all appearance our seal fishery presents as yet no signs of
exhaustion. But I should like to hear what Professor Baird
GROUP OF SEALS.
would say to this terrible slaughter of old seals, coming after the
destruction of the young ones. It seems like killing the goose
that lays the golden eggs. It is vain to enact restrictions when
men are out in those ice solitudes and herds of seals around.
Not till unmistakable signs of an exhaustion appear shall we get
the killing of old seals prohibited.
" The persistent east wind drove the great body of the young
seals up the bays and in upon islands and headlands on our
northern coast, thus bringing them within reach of the settlers
ashore. The whole population of these places rushed out and
PROPORTION OF OIL FROM BLUBBER. 269
slaughtered and dragged the seals ashore. ' Young men and
maidens, old men and children,' were eagerly engaged in the
work. News arrived some time ago that in two localities,
Twillingate and Fogo, 100,000 seals had been taken in this
way value, 300,000 dols. It is supposed that at least 50,000
seals additional must have been taken in other neighbouring
localities from which no news has yet arrived. Where is the gold
mine in the world that can compare with our seal fishery? How
sad if by reckless destruction of these valuable creatures we
should exhaust this important industry ! That there is fear of
such a result is evident when we look at so many other fisheries
once as flourishing as ours and now non-productive."
Seal-oil is also obtained in the Caspian and White Seas, and
other parts of Russia. In the Caspian Sea about 140,000 to
160,000 pouds of 36 Ibs. are obtained annually; in the White Sea
half that quantity. The Capuchin or hooded seal (Cystophora
cristata) is found to yield there 360 Ibs. of blubber, the Phoca
Groenlandica 160 to 240 Ibs., the Phoca annellata 120 Ibs., and
the young white seal about 60 Ibs.
Repeated and careful experiments in rendering out seal fat or
blubber in Newfoundland, show the relative produce of pure oil
obtained from the different varieties of seal to be as follows, per
barrel, when in prime condition
Old harp (P. Grcenlandica] . . .
Young harp ......
Young hood (Cystophora crislata} . .
Bedlamer, a year-old hood .
Blubber.
Ibs. of
Oil.
galls.
Residue.
Ibs.
288
225
2 3
246
22
21
2I&
73
103
The average quantity of oil from 1,000 seals may be roughly
estimated at io tuns. Seal-oil has ranged in price from
to z 2 IOS - per tun. Seal skins according to size, from
to 2.?.
270 SEAL'S FLESH AS FOOD.
At the Cape of Good Hope the technical names for seals are
wigs, pups, and black pups, the middling and small skins are
considered the best.
Seal skins in crust are sold according to weight, those of 25 Ibs.
to 45 Ibs. will fetch y&r. to loos, per dozen, those weighing 50 Ibs.
to 80 Ibs., i2os. to 2oos. When split for binders they sell at 78^.
to 90^. per dozen, or at from $d. to ivd. per Ib. The common
terms for the different kinds of skins are, blue backs, white coats,
and hair seals.
While the products of these animals have become regular
articles of commerce, and contribute to the requirements of
civilised life, it should also be remembered that they are even
more essential to the well-being of the tribes of men inhabiting
the Arctic regions. "Seals (observes Crantz) are more needful
to them than sheep are to us. The seal's flesh supplies them with
palatable and substantial food; the fat is sauce to their other
aliment, and furnishes them with oil for light and fire, while at the
same time it contributes to their wealth in every form, seeing that
they barter it for all kinds of necessaries. They sew better with the
fibres of seal's sinews than with thread or silk ; of the fine internal
membranes they make their body raiment and their windows ; of
the skins they make their buoys, so much used in fishing, and
many domestic utensils, and of the coarser kinds their tents and
their boats of all sizes, in which they voyage and seek provisions."
It has been recently stated, " Whales and walruses the Esqui-
maux capture when they come in the way, but the seal is their
daily bread ; his flesh and blubber support them and feed their
lamps ; his skin clothes them and forms their kayaks, with which
they brave the stormiest seas ; the seal's bone, where iron is not
to be had, barbs their harpoons, and seal's bladder forms the
float with which, when the prey is speared, it is so hampered that
it is unable to escape."
There is no food more delicious to the taste of the Esquimaux
than the flesh of the seal, and especially that of the common seal
MODE OF COOKING SEAL'S FLESH. 271
(Phoca vitulina). But it is not only the human inhabitants who
find it has such excellent qualities, all the larger carnivora prey
on seals. Seal's meat is so unlike the flesh to which Europeans,
are accustomed, that it is not surprising that we should have
some difficulty at first in making up our minds to taste it ; but
when once that difficulty is overcome, everyone praises its flavour^,
tenderness, digestibility, juiciness, and its decidedly warming after
effects. Its colour is almost black, from the large amount of
venous blood it contains, except in very young seals, and is >
ESQUIMAUX DOGS CAPTURING A SEAL.
therefore, very singular-looking, and not inviting, while its flavour
is unlike anything else, and cannot be described except by saying
" delicious ! " To suit European palates, there are certain pre-
cautions to be taken before it iscooked. It has to be cut in thin
slices, carefully removing any fat or blubber, and is then soaked
in salt water for from 12 to 24 hours to remove the blood, which
gives it a slightly fishy flavour. The blubber has such a strong
taste that it requires an arctic winter's appetite to find out how
good it is. The daintiest morsel is the liver, which requires no
soaking, but may be eaten as soon as the animal is killed. The
272 EXPORTS OF SEAL OIL.
heart is good eating, while the sweetbread and kidneys are not to
be despised. The usual mode of cooking seal's meat is to stew
it with a few pieces of fat bacon, when an excellent rich gravy is
formed, or it may be fried with a few pieces of pork.
The Esquimaux use every part of the seal, and, it is said, make
an excellent soup by putting its blood and any odd scraps of
meat inside the stomach, heating the contents, and then devouring
tripe, blood, and all with the greatest relish. " For my own part "
(observes Dr. Horner) " I would sooner eat seal's meat than mutton
or beef, and I am not singular in my liking for it, as several of
the officers on board the Pandora shared the same opinion as
myself. I can confidently recommend it as a dish to be tried on
a cold winter's day by those who are tired of the everlasting beef
and mutton, and are desirous of a change of diet."
In the Museum Collection, besides a white coat seal skin in the
natural state, and one dyed, and the stages of preparation of seal
skin for leather, there is a model Caiak or Esquimaux sealing
canoe with all its harpoons, weapons, inflated float, and appli-
ances ; different kinds of seal oil, pale, straw, brown, &c. Porpoise
oil and sea elephant oil are among the animal oils.
The following gives the annual average exports of seal oil from
Newfoundland at quinquennial periods :
1850 .
1855 .
1860 .
SEAL SKINS IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM.
1840 . . . 560,596 | 1849 . . . 470,834
1841 . . . 313,362 1850 . . . 779,924
1842 . . . 153,828 1851 . ... .. 769,756
1843 772,697 1852 . . . 811,530
1844 .. . 563,947 1853 . . . 850,550
1845 . . . 632,304 1854 . . . 661,552
1846 . . . 428,633 1855 . . . 601,002
1847 753,i4i 1856 . . . 681,234
1848 . . . 706,267 1857 . . . 803,438
Tuns.
Tuns.
4,291
1865 .
- 3,538
6,353
1870 .
. 4,901
5,816
1874 (4 years)
- 4,332
FUR SEALS OF COMMERCE. 273
1858 . . . 719,926
1859 . . . 565,813
1860 . . . 561,666
1861 . . . 494,079
1862 . . . 480,526
1863 . . . 555,334
1864 . . . 342,833
1867 . . . 743,5"
1868 . . . 780,477
1859 . . . 736,336
1870 . . . 731,913
1871 . 833,709
1872 . . . 657,696
1873 . . . 876,077
1865 . . . 529,284 1874 . . . 755,oo5
1866 . . . 513,671 1875 . . . 629,723
THE FUR SEALS OF COMMERCE. The fur seals and sea lions
are closely allied, forming the family Otariada. They are well
distinguished from the hair seals (Phocida) by their external ears
and . long flippers destitute of hair, and with only three nails.
The hair seals have no external ears, and their flippers are broad,
short, and covered with hair, having five nails on the hind ones.
For many years great ignorance prevailed as to the animals
which furnished the true fur seal-skin of commerce, and even
yet, professed naturalists admit there is a lack of knowledge with
regard to them, their natural history having been studied, for the
most part, only in a limited and fragmentary way, scarcely a
single species having been fully investigated. Millions have been
slaughtered for their skins, but those engaged in the murderous
traffic care nothing for the scientific characters of their victims.
Naturalists of exploring expeditions have made isolated obser-
vations and brought home a few skins and skeletons; but for
connected and extended studies of these commercially valuable
and scientifically interesting animals, we are mainly indebted to
the report of Mr. Elliott, who was sent out by the American
government to investigate the sealing and other resources of their
lately purchased islands in the North Pacific, and to the obser-
vations of Captain Musgrave, who beguiled the tedium of a twenty
months' enforced sojourn on the Auckland Isles by watching the
species inhabiting that region.
Mr. A. W. Scott also published in 1873, at Sydney, an elemen-
tary treatise on " Mammalia recent and extinct," confined however
T
274 VARIETIES OF FUR SEALS.
to the Pinnata, Seals, Dugongs and Whales. In the preface he
tells us "influenced, by the great commercial value of several
species of the pinnata, I have felt anxiously desirous to direct,
without further delay, the attention, and thus possibly secure the
sympathy, of readers, other than students, to the necessity 01
prompt legislative interference, in order to protect the oil and fur
producing animals of our hemisphere against the wanton and
unseasonable acts committed by unrestrained traders ; and thus
not only to prevent the inevitable extermination of this valuable
group, but to utilize their eminently beneficial qualities into a
methodical and profitable industry.
" Keeping steadily in view these two objects, I have endea-
voured by devoting as much space as my limits would permit to
the consideration of the animals whose products are of such com-
mercial value to man, and whose extinction would so seriously
affect his interests, to point out the pressing necessity that exists
for devising means of protection for the fur seals and the sperm
and right whales of the Southern Ocean.
" To evidence what great results may be effected by considerate
forethought, I may state that under the fostering care of the
United States Government, the northern fur seals of commerce,
which but a few years ago were nearly extinct, have already, by
their rapid increase and mild disposition, developed themselves
into a permanent source of national wealth.
" The islands of the Southern Seas, now lying barren and waste,
are not only numerous, but admirably suited for the production
and management of these valuable animals, and need only the
simple regulations enforced by the American Legislature to resus-
citate the present state of decay of a once remunerative trade,
and to bring into full vigour another important export to the many
we already possess."
There are four classes of seals on the Prybilov Islands
(Behring's Straits): the fur seal (Otaria \Callorrhinus\ ur sinus),
the sea lion (Otaria \Eumitopms~\ stellerii}, the hair seal (Phoca
SEA BEARS. 275
vitultna), and the walrus (Trichecus rosmarus). The flesh of the
hair seal is stated to be more juicy and sweet for food than that
of the fur seal.
A most instructive report was issued by Mr. Elliott, Assistant
Agent in the Treasury Department, who was deputed a couple
of years ago to examine the Prybilov Islands of Alaska, the
great rendezvous of the sea bears, as they are termed, which
gives hints for the practical management of these lucrative
fisheries for the future. Mr. Elliott informs us that the finest
sorts of the true fur seals repair to these Islands annually to
breed, in fabulous numbers that but few members of the
animal kingdom exhibit a higher order of instinct and intelligence
and, that the male sea bear is, of all brute polygamists, the
most notorious.
The adult male is from $^ to 7^ feet in length, and weight
about 400 Ibs. Millions of them may be seen at once on
some of their " rookeries," or breeding grounds, along the coasts
of the rocky islands they frequent. In the month of June the
bull seals arrive in thousands, and the females come up out
of the sea in still greater numbers about three or four weeks
later. Some of the bulls display wonderful strength and courage.
They swim very swiftly, and are as great a terror to the
smaller species of seals, such as the P. vitulina and the like,
as the great sea lion is to them. Their skin, which is very
thick, is covered externally with hair like that of the common
seal, but a good deal longer, and standing erect about the
shoulders of the male. Beneath this external hair, the animal's
body is clothed in the soft wool, which, in a manufactured state
is familiar to us all ; and is such a large source of revenue to
the London and Continental furriers in the shape of ladies' seal-
skin cloaks, jackets, trimmings, and comfortable articles of wear
for the winter.
Sir George Simpson, who had many opportunities of studying
the habits of the North American animals in their native haunts,
T 2
276 STATISTICS OF FUR SEALS.
speaking of the fur seal in former times, says : " Twenty or
thirty years ago there was a most wasteful destruction of the fur
seal, when young and old, male and female, were indiscriminately
knocked on the head. This improvidence, as every one might
have expected, proved detrimental in two ways. The race was
almost extirpated and the market was glutted to such a degree, at
the rate of some 200,000 skins a year, that the prices did not
even pay the expenses of carriage. The Russians, however, have
now adopted nearly the same plan which the Hudson's Bay
Company pursues in recruiting any of its exhausted districts,
killing only a limited number of such males as have attained
their full growth a plan peculiarly applicable to the fur seal,
inasmuch as its habits render the system of husbanding the stock
as easy and certain as that of destroying it."
In Mr. DalPs work, " Alaska and its Resources," the Arctic fur
seal trade is fully detailed, and the numbers caught seem to have
been very large, as will be seen by the following figures :
Caught 178610 1797 557,024
Exported 1797 to 1821 1,767,340
Sold in the Colonies ditto 377,642
Caught 1821 to 1842 758,502
taught 1842 to 1862 37 2 >894
Total in 76 years 3,833,402
Or an average of more than 50,000 a-year.
The contract for taking fur seals on the islands of St. Paul
and St. George, in Alaska, was a few years ago awarded by the
American Congress to the Alaska Commercial Company, of San
Francisco. This company is to have the privilege for twenty
years, on payment of 55,000 dollars annual rental, 62 J cents
on each skin taken, and 55 cents for each gallon of seal oil
obtained.
The report of Lieutenant Washburn Maynard, of the United
VARIETIES OF SEA LIONS. 277
States Navy, who was detailed to accompany Mr. Elliott to Alaska
has been laid before Congress. Lieutenant Maynard states that
the Alaska Company are observing their contract, 100,000 seals
are annually killed by them, and 12,000 by the natives for food,
under the direction of the Government agent. The number
is experimental, and Lieutenant Maynard is of opinion that the
effect upon the increase or decrease of seal life upon the islands
cannot be discovered for six or seven years from the making of
the contract. He gives a chapter on the sea otter, the skin of
which animal is ten times as valuable as the seal. He reports,
as do others, that this animal is rapidly disappearing by the
indiscriminate slaughter of the female and young otter, the
constant harassing by hunters, and the use of fire-arms in
their capture, and he indicates that prompt measures must
be taken, or it will be too late to preserve the otter from
extinction.
Mr. J. Willis Clarke gave a Lecture on Sea Lions before the
Zoological Society, which was published in the " Contemporary
Review" for Dec. 1875.
According to this naturalist, there are nine well authenticated
species of sea lions, thus distributed : in the North Pacific three,
Otaria \Callorrhinus\ ur sinus, O. Gillespii, and O.stellerii; in the
South Pacific, around Cape Horn, and in the South Atlantic as far
north as Rio de la Plata, two species, O.jubata, and O. Falklandica ;
about the Cape of Good Hope and the adjacent Islands, one,
O. pusilla or antarctica; around Australia and New Zealand,
two, O. Hookeri and O. lobata; and at Kerguelen's Land, one,
O. gazella.
SEA LIONS {Eumitopius \_Otarid\ stelleri. Mull). These animals
are abundant on most of the rocky islands of Alaska. They
appear in May, and remain until late in the fall. The males
often weigh two or three tons. Their hide and oil are used for
the same purpose as those of the walrus, though inferior in
quality. The whiskers of the sea-lion are as large as a quill, and
278 FLESH AND BLUBBER OF FUR SEAL.
sometimes fifteen inches long. They are exported to China, the
Chinese paying a high price for them to use as toothpicks. The
gall is also disposed of in China, being used in the manufacture
of silk.
The flesh of the fur seal and sea-lion serve the Aleuts for food,
and their blubber for fuel. The flesh of the fur seal forms but a
small portion of the body ; the greater part is blubber, and
this is more noticeable because of the thousands of carcases oi
seals which are scattered over the Aleutian Islands. If these
were composed of a large part of muscular fibre, as is the case
with the walrus, the decaying bodies would breed a pestilence.
The flesh of a young fur seal, placed in running water overnight.
and then broiled, is far from disagreeable in fact, it tastes
exactly like mutton-chop. The young sea-lion is said to be even
better eating, and both present a marked contrast to the fetidity
of the flesh of the hair seal (Phocd) of Norton Sound. The
Aleuts make of the skin of the flippers boot soles, which are very
durable.
The fat cut from the nearest carcase serves them for fuel. The
blubber of the fur seal yields oil of the first quality, and is worth
about two dollars a gallon; yet for many years hundreds of barrels
have fertilised the hillsides, for want of some one to preserve it.
Each seal will furnish half a gallon, which would give, for 100,000
seals, about 1,000 barrels of oil, worth at least ,12,000; this has
always been wasted. In fact, the oil is worth as much as the skins
at the islands.*
Sea lions are unknown in the Atlantic except in the extreme
south, though the Atlantic abounds in true seals, from which
the sea lions differ in several particulars. The more obvious
difference is the possession of external ears, which seals lack.
They have besides a long, mobile, flexible neck, whereas in
seals the neck is short and scarcely perceptible. Then their
limbs are still available for locomotion on land, while those of
* Doll's "Alaska and its Resources."
NORTHERN FUR SEAL.
279
seals have lost all power of supporting the body out of water.
Lastly, they possess the fatal gift of under fur, which gives them
their commercial importance, and threatens to cause their un-
timely extermination.
From time immemorial two species (ptaria \Eumitopius\ stellerii
and O. Gillespii} have inhabited an island in San Francisco Har-
bour. Protected by the civic authorities, they have multiplied
enormously, threatening the entire destruction of the salmon
once so plentiful in all California!! rivers.
NORTHERN FUR SEAL, THE SEA BEAR OR SEA LION OF ALASKA.
Of the Arctic or Behring Sea species (Callorhinus ur sinus, Gray)
not less than six million skins have been obtained since 1741.
The Hudson's Bay Company received between 1856 and 1866
upwards of 4,000.
They are killed by a blow on the back ol the head with a heavy
sharp-edged club. The Aleut then plunges his sharp knife into
the heart, and with wonderful dexterity, by a few sweeps of his
280 SLAUGHTER OF FUR SEALS.
long weapon, separates the skin from the blubber to which it is
attached. The nose and wrists are cut around, and the ears and
tail left attached to the skin. When the operation is over the
skin is of an oval shape, with four holes where the extremities
protruded. These skins are then taken and laid in a large pile,
with layers of salt between them; after becoming thoroughly
salted they are done up, two together, in square bundles, and
tied up with twine. They are then packed for transporta-
tion to London, where all the fur seals are dressed. (Ball's
"Alaska.")
The claim of the North Pacific sea lions to public interest arises
from the circumstance that eighty per cent, of the seal fur now
supplied to the markets of the world comes from the islands of
Behring's Sea, and the indications are that in a few years the
Alaskan possessions of America will be the only source of this
beautiful fur. Everywhere else the slaughter goes on without
regard to system, age, or sex, and already many islands which
used to furnish thousands of skins every year have been entirely
depopulated. Not less than a million skins were taken from
the Island of Masafuera, off the coast of Chili. In two years, four
hundred thousand skins were obtained from a small island near
Australia. From the South Shetland Islands, three hundred and
twenty thousand were taken in 1820 and 1821, males and females
being slaughtered indiscriminately, and the young left to die. It
is hardly necessary to add that, in a few years, this horrid and
wasteful process wrought its own destruction.
The resorts of the sea lions of the north were discovered in
1786, and a Russian fur company at once established. For
thirty years from eighty to ninety thousand skins a year were
brought away, the killing being done without regard to sex or
system. About 1817 it was observed that the animals had
diminished in numbers. For twenty years more the wasteful
slaughter went on, until but a tithe cf the original number ap-
peared. Then the slaughter was regulated, the number of skins
"ROOKERIES" OF THE FUR SEALS. 281
restricted, and the females left undisturbed. When the islands
came into the possession of the United States, the system was
substantially continued, with the result of giving them almost a
monopoly of the entire seal fur trade. According to Mr. Elliott's
calculation, as many as three million breeding seals annually con-
gregate on the two islands, St. Paul and St. George, to which
they resort ; the yearlings and males under six years of age he
sets down at two millions, making a population of upwards of five
millions. Only young males are allowed to be killed, and the
number is limited to one hundred thousand. Females are not
molested, and no killing is permitted within several miles of the
" rookeries," as the resting places of the females and their cubs
are called.
When the time for killing arrives, usually in June, the killers
select some " hauling ground " of the young males for the old bulls
do not allow them to associate with the females and, armed with
clubs, get between them and the sea. The animals, startled by
the sight of the men and frightened by their shouts, scramble
rapidly landwards, and are leisurely driven to the killing grounds.
In favourable weather they can travel at the rate of half a mile an
hour, the most effective implement for driving being an umbrella.
At the killing ground they are allowed to rest awhile, after which
the fittest are selected and killed with clubs, a single blow on the
head being sufficient for each. The rest are allowed to return to
the sea.
For many years the stiff coarse hair, which conceals the under
fur, was plucked out by hand. It was finally discovered that the
roots of the hair were more deeply seated than those of the fur,
and that, by shaving the skin from the underside until the hair
roots were cut away, the hair could easily be brushed away, leav-
ing the under fur intact, thus greatly simplifying and cheapening
the work of preparing the skins. Naturally, the under fur is curly
and of a light brown colour ; but as the ladies prefer a darker
shade, it is dyed, in which process the curls untwist and the fur
282 ANTARCTIC FUR SEALS.
becomes smooth. The mode of preparation is described at
p. 211.
The Government rents the islands for 50,000 dollars a year, and
imposes a revenue tax of two dollars on each skin taken. Accord-
ing to late accounts, the seal population of the islands is steadily
increasing, and it is considered that the number allowed to be killed
might safely be increased also. In view of the probable early
extermination of the fur-bearing seals, so called, of other regions,
however at least, so great a reduction of their numbers as to
make the taking of them unprofitable it is to be hoped that
no risks will be run in the only place where they have any
chance of perpetuation. Better under-kill than over-kill, even
if the demands of the ladies should be scantily gratified.
Properly managed, the Alaskan Islands will remain for ever the
chief source, perhaps the only source, of this beautiful and
valuable fur.
When full grown, a sea lion is about 15 ft. long and weighs
1 6 cwt. The chief home of these seals is the ocean and shores
between Russian North America and the opposite shores of Russia
itself that is to say, about Behring's Straits and Behring's Sea.
They are found also in the Kurile Islands and east coast 01
Kamschatka.
The sea lions of the Southern Ocean are the Otaria jubata and
O. Falklandica. These have been pursued with an indiscriminate
slaughter in the high Antarctic latitudes by the seal hunters who
annually go south to the Crosets, Kerguelen Island, and other
desolate places for skins and oil ; instead of only destroying a pro-
portion of the adult males, they put to death the females also, and
the helpless cubs perish from cold and hunger alongside the dead
bodies of their mothers.
The Antarctic fur seal (Arctophoca Falklandica, Peters, Otaria
Falklandica) was at one time common in the Falkland group and
the adjacent seas. The skins (which were worth fifteen Spanish
dollars, according to Sir John Richardson) are from four to five
284 THE SEA ELEPHANT.
feet long, covered with reddish down, over which stiff grey hair
projected. They were especially hunted on the Falkland Islands,
Terra del Fuego, New Georgia, South Shetland, and the coast of
Chili. Three-and-a-half million of skins were taken from Masa-
fuera to Canton between 1793 and 1807 (Dallas).
THE SEA ELEPHANT (Macrorrhinus angiistirostris, Phoca pro-
bosridea, Peron) of California has only been well described since
1866. The males have a sort of small trunk, but no tusks. Its
flesh is not only black, oily, and indigestible, but it is also almost
impossible to separate it from the lard. The tongues alone
supply really good aliment, and they are salted with care and
esteemed in the market. The heart is sometimes eaten, but it is
hard and indigestible ; and with regard to the liver, which is
esteemed in some seals, according Dr. Hamilton, it would appear,
after repeated trials, to be hurtful.
WALRUS ( Trichecus rosmarus}, SHOWING THE UPPER INCISORS IN THE
FORM OF TUSKS.
THE WALRUS OR SEA-HORSE (Trichecus rosmarus, Rosmarus
obesus) it has been well remarked, forms a connecting link be-
tween the mammalia of the land and those of the water, corres-
ponding in some of its characters both with the bullock and the
whale. It is often seen of the size of a great ox, and sometimes
exceeds the dimensions of the gigantic elephant. The chase of
the walrus in the Arctic regions is of great antiquity. They used
to congregate by thousands on the Magdalen Islands in the River
THE WALRUS OR SEA HORSE. 285
St. Lawrence, but have long been driven far to the north, by their
pursuers.
The economic products for which this animal is sought are its
flesh and its skin, its oil and teeth. Among the inhabitants of
the Arctic regions its flesh is much valued and esteemed, and is
greedily eaten along with the lard, and even the skin.
In ancient times most of the ropes in the vessels of northern
countries, appear to have been made of walrus skin, and when cut
into shreds and plaited into cordage, it formed lines which were
used for the capture of the whale ; these also answer admirably
for tiller-ropes ; cables, too, were wont to be manufactured from
them, and the Finlanders used to pay tribute to the king in
WALRUS SKULL, SHOWING THE POWERFUL CANINE TEETH.
this form. When tanned the skin is converted into a soft porous
leather, above an inch in thickness, but it is not so useful nor
so durable as in its green or raw state. It might do for har-
ness and carriage leather. The hide has been successfully used
for belting, and covering skin boats.
A recent American paper states that " probably not less than
fifty thousand walrus, with their young, were killed and destroyed
last year (1875) by our arctic whalemen. The arctic walrus never
forsake their young, but will take them in their flippers and hold
them to their breasts, even when their destroyers are putting their
286
PRODUCTS OF THE WALRUS.
sharp lances through and through them and the blood is streaming
from every side, uttering the most heartrending and piteous cries
until they die. But the worst feature of the business is, that the
natives of the entire Arctic shore are now almost entirely dependent
upon the walrus for their food, clothing, boots, and dwellings.
WALRUS ON THE ICE.
Twenty years ago whales were plentiful and easily caught ; but
they have been driven north, so that now the natives seldom get
a whale."
These animals are abundant near Port Mollis in Bristol Bay,
and on the more northern coast and islands of the Alaska terri-
tory. The oil is valuable, but they seldom yield more than 20
or 30 gallons. The teeth, which weigh about 4 Ibs. the pair
(although many books give them at half-a-ton !), used to be in
great demand by dentists. Among the Chinese the dentine or
ivory is employed for those curious uses to which they turn ivory
so skilfully. This oil is a well known article of commerce.
There is no doubt but that the annual supply might be largely
augmented. The quantity of walrus tusks obtained in Alaska
averages 100,000 Ibs. in weight. These canines are sometimes
TUSKS OF THE WALRUS. 287
two feet long. The Hudson's Bay Company occasionally import
about 100 Ibs. or 200 Ibs. weight in the year.
There are some stuffed heads of the walrus on the east wall
of the Museum, one male, and two female ; samples of walrus
hide in Case 140 and the skin prepared as chamois leather.
CHAPTER X.
MAMMALS OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE.
We diverge in this chapter from the higher class of mammals to notice
some few which are of minor interest in an economic point of
view. These are monkey 's, bats, insectivorous and toothless animals,
such as the hedgehog, the tatoo, the porcupine, ant-eater, and the
Pangolins or scaly ant-eaters. The rodent or gnawing animals
are, however, more extensive and important, having regard to their
commercial products, many of them yielding furs, while others,
such as hares and rabbits, contribute largely to the food of man.
LEAVING the Carnivora, we have now to bestow a passing
glance at a few orders of mammals, which have but a limited
commercial or economic value, but still can scarcely be passed
over altogether without incidental notice. These are the Qua-
drumana, the Cheiroptera, the Insectivora, and the Edentata j the
Rodentia will require a more detailed description.
MONKEYS. In an economic point of view the Quadrumana are
not of much importance. Live animals, it is true, are in request
for Zoological Gardens, and the skeletons and skulls of some of
the rarer species, as the Troglodytes Gorilla, realize a high price.
Attempts have been made to introduce monkey skins into com-
merce as furs, and specimens of these black and grey monkey
skins are shown in the Museum Collection. The long shaggy
black skin of one species, the white-thighed Colobus, with a silky
fur, obtained from the Gaboon, West Africa, when first introduced
met with a very dull sale. The price at which it could be bought,
however, encouraged speculators, and the skin was largely manu-
factured into muffs, which from the low rate they were offered at,
and the really good appearance they presented, did not fail to
receive a favourable reception from the ladies.
USES OF MONKEYS.
289
A fashion arose, and from the original price of is. per skin,
they advanced in the year 1860 to i2s. per skin. Imitation by
another long-haired fur, and less care in manufacture, occasioned
the skins again to recede, and will afford time to the monkeys,
(who must have been sorely hunted,) to recruit their numbers.
There are two other species of monkey which might be intro-
a. HEAD OF AYE-AYE OF MADAGASCAR (Cheiromys Madagascariensis).
b. HEAD OF WHITE-NECKED MARMOSET (Jacchus bicolor).
c. HEAD OF EAST INDIAN RED MONKEY (Macacus rufescens].
duced with advantage ; they are the Diana monkey and the
Colobus gucreza^ found in Abyssinia, which is black but covered
with a kind of mantle of long white hair, this, parting on the
back, covers all the body. Monkeys are more extensively eaten
as food than is generally supposed, in the Eastern Archipelago,
Africa, and South America. In some places monkeys have been
trained to ascend the palms and throw down the cocoa-nuts.
IT
290 BA TSHED GEHO GS.
In the Museum collection there is a stuffed specimen of a small
ourang-outang and a necklet of monkeys' teeth.
We give an illustration showing the facial varieties of some few
different monkeys (p. 289).
BATS. Specimens of the large edible flying fox or bat (Pteropus
edulis), which is regarded as a delectable food by the natives of
Siam, were shown at the Dublin Exhibition of 1865. They are
caught in bags at the end of a pole. The flesh is said to be
white, delicate, and remarkably tender, and like the flesh of
most bats is generally eaten throughout the islands of the Eastern
Archipelago, as is also that of the fox monkey or flying lemur
(Galeopithecus volans).
In caverns in different countries there are large deposits of
bat guano, which are utilised for fertilising land. In numerous
caves from Virginia to Texas are found deposits of this excrement,
sometimes reaching to many thousands of tons in extent. The
Governor of the Bahamas reports that in caves in those islands
there is probably 400,000 tons of this manure.
There is a skin of the vampyre bat (Phyllostoma spectrum), the
dangerous bloodsucker of the South American tropics, among the
fur series in the Museum collection ; also one of the common
mole (Talpa Europaa), the skins of which have some small value,
HEDGEHOG (Erinaceus Europczus). The flesh of this animal
when it has been well fed is said to be sweet and well flavoured,
and is eaten in many places on the Continent. But in Britain
few besides the gipsies partake of it. The prickly skin appears to
have been used by the Romans for hackling hemp, but teasels
and metallic " cards " have long supplanted it. It is used some-
times as a muzzle on the Continent in weaning a calf, and is
occasionally fastened to the pole of a carriage to prevent the
horses rubbing against it. From its fondness for insects the
hedgehog is often placed in London kitchens and bakehouses
to keep down the swarms of cockroaches with which they are
infested.
TATOO AUSTRALIAN PORCUPINE. 291
EDENTATA. There are a few of the toothless animals which
are laid under contribution for food. Wallace tells us he found
the flesh of the sloth tender and palatable. The echidna or
native porcupine of Australia, which belongs to this order, is said
to taste like a sucking pig. The flesh of the great scaly ant-eater
(Myrmecophaga jubcttd] is esteemed a delicacy by the Indians and
negroes in Brazil and Western Africa, and though black and of a
strong musky flavour, is sometimes even met with at the tables of
Europeans. Most of the varieties of armadillo are used for food
in South America. The animal is roasted in its skin, and is
esteemed one of the greatest delicacies of the country.
The flesh of the TATOO (Dasypus \2-ci-nctus and D. villosus)
of South America is much esteemed. That of the hybrid species
of the River Plate is one of the most exquisite meats that can be
eaten. The animals have a scaly carapace or a hard shell-like
armour which, divided into regular compartments, covers their
head and body and often their tail.
THE PORCUPINE OR SPINY ANT-EATER (Echidna hystrix) is
similar in its size and general appearance to the English hedge-
hog, except that it has a long and slender snout, and has the
power of protruding its tongue to a considerable distance. It is
a burrowing animal, and although ordinarily of dull and slothful
habits it makes its way into the ground with extraordinary rapidity ;
in fact, considering its size, its muscular power is very great. The
upper surface of the body is covered with thick spines of a dirty
yellowish colour, blackish at the points, and averaging about an
inch and three quarters in length. Below these the body is
covered with dark fur. When attacked or alarmed the animal
will coil himself like a hedge-hog, and burying his nose in the
earth, leave nothing but a round of prickles exposed, which
neither man nor beast can touch with impunity. The genus
Echidna has a very extensive distribution in Australia, but is
generally found on the rocky coast, never far in the interior.
These animals, of which there are two species, the brush-tailed
u 2
292 CANADIAN PORCUPINE.
and the branded ant-eater (Myrmecobius fastiatus], are not very
numerous, but may frequently be met with even in the vicinity
of Sydney by those acquainted with their habits and with the
mode of tracing them. Feeding largely on ants' eggs, the flesh
is delicate meat, resembling that of a young sucking pig, and
considered superior to hare.
Of the pangolins or scaly ant-eaters there are several species.
Manis javanica is met with in Siam and the mountains and
southern provinces of China. The dark yellow scales are much
used medicinally in China for all sorts of maladies either calcined
or in their natural state, being considered a remedy for ulcers and
a cure for the itch, to which the Chinese are much subject. The
scale is often fixed on a bamboo to scratch the skin by those
troubled with the itch.
We now reach the Rodents or gnawing animals, and find many
of these are of great service to man.
THE CANADIAN PORCUPINE (Hystrix pilosus, Catesby ; Erc-
thrizon dorsatus, Linn.). The Indians and hunters in the United
States and about the Rocky Mountain ranges eat the flesh of this
animal, but to a more refined taste it would be unpalatable.
The quills or spines are much used for embroidering the only
really tasteful articles to be found among the natives of those
regions and of which considerable quantities are sold in the
American cities. The Slave Indians, dwelling along the McKenzie
and Liard's Rivers, are reckoned the most skilful fabricators of
this manufacture. The things made out of them consist of belts,
bands, garters, bracelets ; and they are also used for ornamenting
birch bark-work, baskets, shot pouches, dresses, and shoes. In
manufacturing belts, &c., a frame-work of sinew- thread is first
laid, through which the quills are interwoven in squares, something
in the manner of Berlin-wool work. The articles, when finished,
are very pretty, and some of the women are sufficiently adepts to
follow any angular pattern which may be set them.
The flesh of the common crested porcupine (Hystrix cristatd) is
A GO UTIPA CABIZCA CHA.
293
considered very delicate food, and is often eaten at dinners in
Rome, being sold at $d. per pound, the porcupine being not un-
common in the Campagna. It is said they should be cooked
like a hare or with wine sauce like a wild boar. It is hunted in
Algeria, and the quills are exported from the ports of northern
Africa; in 1873 about 21,000 valued at ;6o, were shipped from
Morocco.
The flesh of the AGOUTI (Dasyprodd) of South America is
firm, white, tender and well tasted, and when fat and well dressed
is by no means unpalatable food. It has been sometimes termed
the rabbit of South America. That of the CAVY (D. acuchi\ a
smaller species, also resembles it. The flesh of the GUINEA-FIG
(Cavia aperoed) is white and savoury. That of the wild species
common in Central America is very delicate.
CHINCHILLA LANIGERA.
The PACA or spotted cavy ( C&logenys fulgis and C. sitbniget)
is one of the best game animals of Brazil and breeds freely when
domesticated. Its flesh is said to be very savoury and forms
a staple article of food in many parts of South America.
The skins of the BIZCACHA or VIZCACHA (Calomys bizcacha) of
2 94 CHINCHILLA SEA VER.
Buenos Ayres have occasionally found a market in England on
account of their fur. The flesh of this animal when cooked is
very white and good, but is seldom used, other animal food being
so abundant in South America.
The fur of the CHINCHILLA (Chinchilla lanigera) a South
American rodent, is remarkably soft, and is extensively used both
in America and Europe. The skins reach us from Chili, Peru,
New Granada, and Buenos Ayres. In 1837, 37,337 dozen of
these skins were shipped from Buenos Ayres, valued at 16^. the
dozen, and 2742 dozen from Arica. There is a specimen of the
skin among the collection of furs in the Museum.
BEAVER (Castor Canadensis, Kuhl.). Beaver skins were at one
time a very important article of commerce from America. The
Hudson's Bay Company in 1743 sent to London 15 0,000 skins, and
in 1808, no less than 127,000 were sent from Quebec alone to this
country. In 1827 from more than four times the extent of terri-
tory, the amount did not exceed 50,000. But in the last quarter
of a century they have again become greatly in demand. The
imports by the Hudson's Bay Company have been as follows of
late years :
1856 . . . 72,482
1857 . . . 80,640
1858 . . . 90,217
1859 . . . 107,428
1860 . . . 91,459
1861 . . . 106,270
1862 . . .116,144
1863 . . . 114,442
1864 . . . 143,238
1865 . . . 118,575
1866 . . . 150,776
1867 . . . 144,744
1868 . . . 148,040
1869 . . . 157,415
1870 . . . 122,985
1871 . . . 169,876
1872 . . . 165,031
1873 . . . 149,045
1874 . . . 117,489
1875 146,434
A beaver skin will be found in the collection of furs of the
Museum, and there is also a fine stuffed specimen of a beaver
caught in England.
In commerce beaver skins, cut open, stretched to a hoop and
dried in the ordinary manner, are named "beaver parchment, 5 '
BEAVER SKINS AND HAIR.
295
and form by far the greatest part of the importation. When the
beaver skins have been made into dresses, and worn by the
Indians it is termed "beaver coat," and though it may have been
in use a whole season, it still brings a good price. Inferior sized
skins are named " beaver cub."
The beaver exists some distance within the arctic circle, and
the darkest coloured pelts come from Fort Good Hope. The
Slave and Dog-rib tribes make capotes and robes out of the skin.
BEAVER (Castor fiber}.
Beavers are caught in good order at all seasons of the year in
the Rocky Mountains, as there it is never warm enough to injure
the fur ; in the low lands, however, along the Missouri, the trappers
rarely commence their hunting before September, and relinquish
it about the last of May. Sixty or seventy skins make a pack of
TOO Ibs.
Beaver hair was formerly much employed with the fur of hares
and rabbits for making hats, but these heavy beaver hats have gone
296 BEAVER FLESH CASTOREUM.
out of fashion. Cloth was also made of it, but it was heavy, dear
and not agreeable in appearance.
The flesh and tail of the beaver are amongst the most prized
dainties of Indian epicures. It used to be considered best
when roasted in the skin after the hair had been singed off, and
in some districts it required all the influence of the fur traders to
restrain the hunters from sacrificing a considerable quantity of
beaver fur every year to secure the enjoyment of this luxury.
The flesh resembles pork in its flavour, but Sir John Richardson
tells us that it requires a strong stomach to sustain a full meal
of it
Castoreum. The beaver besides its fur furnishes a substance
used in medicine as an antispasmodic, and commercially known as
castoreum. The principal imports are by the Hudson's Bay
Company, and these vary from 1,000 to 5,000 Ibs. annually. In
1875, 3297 Ibs. were received. The price ranges from 7.$-. to 25^.
per Ib. The taste of Siberian castoreum is much more pronounced
than that of Canadian in consequence of its greater richness in
castorine, of which it contains 4-6 per cent, whilst Canadian
contains but 1*98 per cent.
In the hunting districts castoreum is extensively used for en-
ticing the lynx to enter into the snaring cabins.
The castoreum in its recent state has an orange colour, which
deepens as it dries, into bright reddish-brown. During the drying,
which is allowed to go on in the shade, a gummy matter exudes
through the sac, which the Indians delight in eating. It is never
adulterated in the fur countries.
In the trade district of Alaska in the seventy-six years ending
with 1862, 2,500 Ibs of castoreum was obtained.
MUSK RAT or MUSQUASH. (Fiber Zibethicus). The geographical
range of this animal is extensive, from 30 to 60 north.
Though they have a strong musky flavour, particularly in spring,
their flesh is eaten by the Indians in North America, who prize it
for a time when it is fat, but soon tire of it. The musky odour is
MUSK RAT OR MUSQUASH.
297
owing to a whitish fluid deposited in certain glands near the
origin of the tail. The skin, when taken from the body, still retains
the scent. The fur on the whole body is soft and glossy, and
beneath is a finer fur or thick down as in the beaver, but shorter
and less lustrous.
Still it is a beautiful fur, and when dyed and plucked, its resem-
blance to the fur seal is so great as to deceive any but dealers.
Twenty years ago they used to fetch a shilling a skin.
MUSK RAT (Fibei' Zibethict(s).
Great numbers of these skins were formerly used in America,
and sent to Europe for making beaver hats ; but since the general
use of silk hats, the demand for this purpose has passed away.
They are however now in great request as a fur. In 1824 only
about 5000 skins were exported to Great Britain from America ;
now the quantities collected by the Hudson's Bay Company are
enormous, ranging between 400,000 and 600,000 annually. The
lowest number sent of late years has been 177,000.
The European musk rat is met with about the River Volga, and
the adjacent lakes from Novgorod to Saratov. The price at
Orenburg in olden times used to be as low as >]d. a hundred for
298 HAMSTERBROWN RAT.
these skins. And even in later years they were so common near
Nishni Novgorod that the peasants would bring in 500 each to
market, which they sold at $s. 6d. a hundred. The skins and
tails were put into chests and wardrobes in Russia to preserve
clothes from moths. The skins were also believed to guard the
wearers of them from fevers and pestilence.
HAMSTER (Cricetus vulgar e, F. Cuv.; Mus cricetus. Linn.). The
fur of this animal is useful for many purposes, and they are some-
times found entirely black. Hamsters are great depredators to
corn, and hence ruthlessly destroyed. In some years as many as
80,000 skins of these little animals have been brought to the
town-hall of Gotha.
The skins of the Berwitski or Siberian mice (Mus striatus, Linn.)
are used as a fur.
The Bohemian ladies used to make cloaks of the skins of the
Souslik or Zizel (Mus dtellus^ Linn.). The spotted kinds make
very beautiful linings.
THE BROWN RAT (Mus decumanus, Linn.). This very destruc-
tive animal, according to the accounts of historians, came from
Asia to Europe, about the beginning of the seventeenth century ;
was unknown in England before 1730, and, according to Dr.
Harlan, did not make its appearance in North America until
the year 1775. Rat skins are said to be used in Paris for making
gloves.
MARMOTS. There are several marmots in the northern parts of
America, viz., the hoary marmot, Arctomys pruinosus, Gmelin,
A. kennicotii, and A. monax. The latter is known as the wood-
chuck in the United States. Out of the skins of all these the
mountain tribes of Indians make robes, and the flesh is considered
good when fat.
THE QUEBEC MARMOT (Arctomys empetra, Schreber), inhabits
the woody districts from Canada to lat. 61 and perhaps still
further north. Its fur is not of much value. The hoary marmot,
or whistler (A. pruinosus^ Pennant), is of the size of the wood-
VARIETIES OF MARMOT.
299
chuck or Maryland marmot. It is covered with a beautiful long
silver-gray hair and has a long bushy tail. The Indians consider
their flesh as delicious food ; by sewing a number of their skins
together they make good blankets. Some of the spines are
entirely white, others brown at the tip?.
QUEBEC MARMOT (Arctoinys cmpetra).
Ground squirrel or Sifleur. The Tawny marmot (Arctomys
Richardsonii). The fur is stout and fine, and of two kinds a
short down and longer and coarser hairs. 3639 marmot skins
were imported from North America in 1860, some are received
under the name of Weenusk. They are obtained from the
Arctomys empetra, Spermophilus Parry i. Rich.
The European marmots are :
1. The Polish marmot (A. bobac).
2. The Marmot of the Alps (A. mar motto).
3. Souslik, or marmot of the Volga (A. \Spermophilus\ guttatiis].
4. Zizil, Susel or Hungarian marmot (A. citellus vel undulatus].
5. Siberian marmot or jevraschka (A. concolor) and two or three
others. These do not produce so fine and close a covering as
the fur of the North American squirrels.
From 60,000 to 120,000 marmots are caught every year in the
country about Aschersleben in Middle Germany, when it retires
300 NUTRIA RABBITS.
to its winter quarters ; in its fat condition, the marmot is killed
in great numbers and eaten in parts of Europe.
Under the name of NUTRIA, a very large number of the skins of
the Myopotamus coypus have been in some years imported from
South America. This rodent has two kinds of fur, long ruddy
hair, which gives the tone of colour, and a brownish ash-coloured
fur at its base, which, like that of the beaver, used to be largely
employed in the hat manufacture. The habits of the coypou are
much like those of the other aquatic rodent animals.
In 1837 we imported from Buenos Ayres 622,236 skins, valued
at sixpence each ; in 1841 and 1842 about 1,200,000 were imported
yearly; in 1850 only 18,713 were received; in 1858,856,130,
valued at about q\d. each; and in 1861, 506,089.
RABBITS. The Rabbit (Lepus cuniculus), originally a native of
Spain, belongs to the same genus as the hare, but differs from it
considerably in its gregarious habits, its subterranean mode of life,
its whiter flesh, and the less perfect state of the young when first
produced.
" Fancy " rabbits, as they are called, have been kept in this
country from the earliest times, being mentioned by Caesar in his
account of Britain. They have been raised from the common
rabbit by scientific breeding in many countries, particularly in
Persia and Arabia, whence we have derived several of our present
breeds. The silver-grey rabbit is much bred for its fur, which
fetches a high price in China, and is sometimes used here.
In France about 60,000,000 of rabbit skins are collected annually.
The principal portion are used for their hair, for hat making, and
a few millions for furs, when dyed different shades. More than
sixteen different transformations are given to the skins in France,
and they are made to assume the appearance of costly furs to suit
the tastes and customs of different nations. France works up
seven-eighths of the quantity, and Belgium the other eighth.
The number of rabbits sold in the markets of Paris in 1845 was
only 177,000, but in 1860 this number had increased to more
STATISTICS OF RABBITS. 301
than two millions. Taking the number consumed in Paris at a
thirtieth of the whole quantity used in the Republic, the total con-
sumption would be about 70 millions annually. According to
official returns, the average price of a rabbit exceeds two francs, so
that the value of those consumed annually may be taken at
^"5,500,000.
Messrs. Leeding & Co., Borough High Street, state that they
work up yearly nearly two million hare and rabbit skins, nearly all
English, for foreign skins do not make such good fur as the
English and Scotch. They buy the skins principally from poul-
terers, marine store dealers, and hawkers. They estimate the
number of skins manufactured in this country annually produced
and imported at not less than 30,000,000. At an average weight
of 2\ pounds each, these would give 35,500 tons of food, and
valuing each at but is., this amounts to ;i, 500,000, to which
^500,000 more must be added for the value of the skins. The
number of rabbits sold by licensed game dealers in the kingdom
in 1872 was returned at about 5,200,000, but these are a very
small proportion of the total sales.
It was stated by Lord Malmesbury in the House of Lords in
March, 1873, that Mr. Brooks, the salesman, in Leadenhall
Market, receives weekly from Ostend 1500 cases, each containing
i oo rabbits; that one gentleman in Somerset sends to Birmingham
10,000 a week, to Wolverhampton 3000, and to Nottingham
4,000 weekly. Southampton receives in the year about 90,000.
The skins of many species of hares and rabbits are valuable for
common purposes of fur, on account of the almost inexhaustible
supply. The most common American species are the Lepus
amtricamiS) L. palustris, L. sylvaticus, L. townsendii, L. glarialis,
L. aquaticus, Z. nigricaudatus. The colours vary from light grey to
yellowish and reddish brown in summer ; in winter white pre-
dominates. The fur of the polar hare (L. glacialis) is beautifully
white and soft, and is sometimes substituted for ermine. When
beaver hats were worn the felt bodies were made of rabbit skins ;
302 RABBITS SKINS AND HAIR.
it is now dyed and made into a great variety of common articles.
Rabbits' hair and wool has been made in England and America
into a kind of cloth for ladies' wear, mixed with wool and cotton.
There is a specimen in the Museum made from the Angora rabbit.
When properly prepared the hair affords a good strong yarn, which
is said to be in no way inferior to wool. An important industry is
likely to grow out of the successful introduction of rabbit hair
weaving in all countries. It is rather remarkable that the use of
the hair has not been thought of before, particularly when we
consider how many hundred millions of rabbits are annually
destroyed. No animal is better adapted for raising on a large
scale than the rabbit. They multiply almost as rapidly as white
mice, and are not confined to any particular climate.
In one of the Jury Reports of the French International Exhibi-
tion of 1867, after speaking of the choice varieties of Angora and
Cashmere rabbits, raised for the fine hair of their fur, often an
inch to an inch and a half long, which is spun into silky yam in
parts of France, and which is so much sought after in North
America for making certain shawls that ^3 are often given for
fur skins of rabbits only five or six months old, it goes on to
speak of the profit to be derived from raising rabbits. The
Ministry of Public Assistance, Paris, buys rabbit skins regularly
at 6d. per Ib. Rabbits breed so rapidly, that they will have from
6 to 8 litters annually, of from 8 to 1 2 and 1 6 young ones.
The wild rabbit's skin is more valuable than that of the tame,
and is largely used in the manufacture of hats. Some of the
cheaper kinds of muffs, boas, &c., are made of hare and rabbit
skins, which are dyed to imitate the skins "of foreign animals.
There are about eighty fur-cutting machines in London and the
provinces, each cutting four hundred and twenty skins a week.
Each machine employs about twenty-five workpeople on the
premises, or two thousand all over the kingdom, earning nearly
;6o,ooo per annum in weekly wages. About eight thousand
persons are also employed out of doors in collecting, sorting,
INCREASE OF RABBITS IN AUSTRALIA. 303
drying, and otherwise preparing the skins during four months of
the year, and their earnings amount to something like ^ 140,000
during the season. Thus rabbits, as furnishing a most appreciable
quantity of animal food, and contributing to several manufacturing
industries, are by no means to be despised.
In the Museum collection of furs will be found skins of the
wild rabbit, the blue rabbit, dyed rabbit skin, Polish rabbit, silver
rabbit, and the English hare, while in the Waste Products Collec-
tion are further illustrations of the economic uses of rabbit and
hare skins and the wool.
In all the Australian colonies rabbits have multiplied prodigi-
ously, and the difficulty is to keep down their increase. In South
Australia the destruction is carried on to such an extent that in
one district alone in four months capitations were paid on 26,000
head. Formerly payment was made on the production of the
rabbits' tails, but it was discovered that the men were guilty of
the deception and cruelty of cutting the tails off and letting the
rabbits go alive. They are now obliged to kill them, and produce
the ears and scalps before they get paid.
In Tasmania rabbits are so numerous that in the Campbell
Town, Ross, and other districts, it is not unusual for a shooting
party of three to kill several hundred in an afternoon. On some
farms the bodies of the rabbits are boiled down as food for the
pigs. In other parts the skins are taken off and sent to market,
or are used by the men on the farms for rugs and bedding.
During the year 1872, 218 bales containing 48,238 dozen of
Tasmanian rabbit skins were exported, valued at ,5,860. From
the ist of January 1872 up to the first quarter of 1873, there were
over 700,000 rabbit skins shipped, valued there at ,7,252.
Rabbits have increased also in Victoria to such an extent since
their introduction, that men have been specially employed to
destroy them. The rapid growth of this comparatively trivial
industry of rabbit skins, illustrates the commercial activity of the
colony. When first they were an article of trade their value was
304 HARES AND HARE SKINS POLAR HARE.
6d. a dozen, whereas they are now worth 2s. in Melbourne, and
sell in London at $s. 6d. a dozen. About 100,000 dozen are
shipped annually. The Australians have also begun to preserve
rabbits in tins, stewed, curried, and fricasseed, for export to
England.
HARES. The number of hares consumed in the United King-
dom is very large. Those sold by licensed game dealers in 1872
were returned at 702,830 ; but this by no means represents the
whole supply. It may be computed that 150,000 at least are
sold annually in the London markets and shops. The white hare
comes to us from the north of Scotland, where it changes colour,
like those in the Arctic regions.
In France the skin of the hare is not used as a fur. In this
country they were employed to a small extent as chest protectors,
but other and cheaper substitutes have now been introduced by
the chemists.
In the fur countries the American hare becomes white in the
winter. This change takes place in the northern districts in the
month of October, and the animals retain their white coat until
the end of April, when it begins to fall off, and is replaced by
their shorter and coloured summer dress. The winter skins of
this animal are imported by the Hudson's Bay Company under
the name of " rabbit skins," as it is much like that of the common
European rabbit. In some parts of the fur countries the natives
line their dresses with hare skins, and the Hare Indians sometimes
tear the skins with the fur into strips, and plait them into a kind
of cloth. They resort to this expedient, however, only from the
scarcity of deer skins and moose leather, which form closer and
better dresses.
THE POLAR HARE. The winter fur of this animal (Lepus
glatiatis, Leach) is of a snow-white colour to the roots, and is
more dense, and of a finer quality than that of the American
hare. It bears a close resemblance to swandown. The weight
of a full-grown Polar hare varies, according to its condition, from
POLAR HARE AND AMERICAN RABBIT. 30.5
7 to 14 Ibs., and a similar variation in the weight of the common
British hare is known to exist. Its flesh is whitish and well
flavoured, being greatly superior to that of the American hare
(L. AmericamiS) Erx.); and also much more juicy than the alpine
or varying hare of Scotland.
The Polar hare inhabits both sides of Baffin's Bay, and is
common on the barren grounds at the northern extremity of the
American continent Its southern boundary is about the
elevated ridge of the Rocky Mountains and the eastern coast of
Labrador. The fur is in prime order in lat. 63 about the end
of October, and begins towards the end of April to be replaced
by the summer coat, which is more or less coloured.
THE AMERICAN RABBIT (Z. campestris, Bach), so essential to
the welfare of the Chippewyan nation, is spread all over the dis-
trict, except upon the barren grounds. It is subject to periodical
failures, which occur with great regularity, and cause no small
amount of privation and suffering to the Indians, when they
happen. When the animals are numerous, the Tinne tribes of
the McKenzie valley subsist altogether on them, and the skins
furnish almost entirely their winter clothing robes, shirts, capotes,
mittens, and socks being made, which afford a sufficient protection
against the most severe cold, though .they do not form lasting
garments, as the hair falls out very quickly.
The import of rabbit skins by the Hudson's Bay Company
varies, having been as low as 18,500 skins in 1862, and as high
as 141,400 in 1866.
SQUIRRELS are found in various countries of the world, but they
vary in size and colour. Those of temperate Europe have usually
a reddish fur on the back, and white beneath, but occasionally this
deepens to a dark brown ; in Russia and other northern parts,
and in Siberia, the fur becomes of a slate or grey colour in
winter, and a large number of the skins enter into commerce.
Many millions are obtained in the Russian territories, and a good
many are sent to England. The fur is much used as linings for
x
3 o6 SQUIRRELS AND THEIR USES.
tippets and cuffs, for which its softness and cheapness peculiarly
adapt it. So numerous are the squirrels in parts of California,
that a bill has passed the Legislature which requires every land-
owner to exterminate them on his land, and in case of his failure
to do so, authorizes a public officer to attend to the matter, the
expense to be a lien on his land, to be collected in the same
manner as taxes. The skins of the ground squirrel, or hackee,
(Tamias Lysteri), have been tanned. They are found remarkably
strong, and as well suited for gloves as the very best kid, which
the skin somewhat resembles, but is much finer.
The North American red squirrel (Sciurus hudsonins, Pennant).
The fur was at one time of no value, but is now an article of
trade. The flesh is tender and edible, but that of the male has a
strong murine flavour. The other species mast esteemed are,
S. carolinensis , cat squirrel (S. cinereus\ black (S. niger\ grey
(S. migratoriuz), and fox squirrel (S. capistraius).
The grey squirrel was long a favourite fur with the Chinese,
and held the chief place in the barter trade at Kiachta. At the
end of the last century 7,000,000 of these skins were exchanged,
and the export rose in 1800 to 10,000,000 skins; but from that
period it gradually declined, till between 1849 and 1852 the
average annual export fell to 1,460,000. In 1853 the quantity
dropped to 344,557. In 1858 it rose to about 1,100,000, and in
a year or two ceased altogether. The fur of the Russian squirrel
was formerly largely used also in Europe, but is now seldom
seen.
The grey squirrel and black squirrel make excellent pies. The
flesh tastes like that of a rabbit, but much more juicy. The grey
squirrel is a common dish in Virginia. It is usually broiled, and
is very palatable. The large squirrel of the East is excellent
eating, and its flesh is much valued in Borneo.
In the fur collection of the Museum will be found specimens
of the red, black, blue, grey, and Indian squirrels, and a stuffed
specimen of the flying squirrel (Pteromys volucella).
CHAPTER XL
SOLIDUNGULA AND PACHYDERMS.
In this chapter we revert again to the larger and useful animals,
especially to the thick-skinned ones. The numbers and uses of the
horse, ass, and mule in various countries are described, and the
economic products of horse hides and horse hair, with their appli-
cations noticed. The African and Asiatic elephant, and the extinct
mammoth elephant receive notice, and very complete statistics of
the ivory trade are given.
THE HORSE, the Ass and the MULE are the useful servants of
man in various countries, and the services they render cannot be
overrated, for draught and for the saddle, as well as for the
secondary products obtained from them after death.
It would be quite impossible in a limited space to go into
detail as to the several breeds of horses, and therefore a very
brief mention of one or two must suffice.
Dray and Waggon Horses. Ordinary sized farm horses
weigh from 12 to 13 cwt. ; riding or harness horses from 10 to n
cwt. Amongst the heavy weights on record are a horse which
belonged to the Carron Co. that weighed i8j cwt. and one to
Barclay, Perkins & Co., the brewers, which weighed one ton.
A kind of horse still in demand is what is termed the dray
horse, thus described in the Farmer's Magazine.
There are two very important points in these namely, size,
and a disposition to accumulate fat ; and this latter property is as
essential as it is in cattle or sheep. To breed horses of gigantic
proportions, the first impression that naturally arises with the
uninitiated, is that of procuring mares of great size, and selecting
for them partners of still greater magnitude. There is nothing,
however, more uncertain in this respect than the produce of very
x 2
308 DRAY AND CART HORSES.
large mares. It not unfrequently occurs that a medium sized
and sometimes indeed, a small sized mare breeds very large
foals, and in the event of one of such offspring being employed as
a brood mare in the hope that her progeny will be equal to, or
perhaps exceed, the proportion of the dam, that she gives birth
to mere insignificant foals. It often happens that her produce
will in this respect follow their grandam, such is the propensity of
nature to go back to originals. Very large mares will frequently
produce one or two foals of great size and many of insignificant
proportions.
The heavy-heeled, lethargic mare of elephantine proportions,
is far from being likely to produce foals that will realize great
prices as dray-horses in London, but one with a roomy frame, a
great body on short clean legs, strong shoulders, and vast develop-
ment in the loins and quarters, put to a stallion of adequate
proportions, will probably produce what is required, but with the
utmost caution, success is by no means certain.
There is another class of horses in great request in London,
commanding high prices, of lighter make, the breeding of which is
less precarious ; and they are annually becoming more and more
in demand, while the dray-horse is becoming less in vogue.
These are employed for working luggage-vans, in connection with
the railway stations, and for other purposes of heavy draught in
which great power is required, and, to meet the usage of the times,
more activity and pace than the heavy dray or common cart
horses possess. To produce this description of horse a good-
shaped active cart mare or a powerful mare of lighter make, is
crossed with a sire of the Yorkshire or Cleveland breed.
They must have action and be able to trot at the rate of seven
or eight miles an hour. Their height should not be less than
sixteen hands.
For farming operations, in which they may be advantageously
employed prior to the time when they have attained an age to
command the top price of the London markets, they are
THE ARAB HORSE. 309
incalculably superior to the huge lumbering dray-horses, which
for agricultural purposes, conducted as they are at this time, are
unwieldy, slow and useless brutes. They consume an enormous
quantity of food, without which it is futile to expect that their
gigantic frames can attain their proper growth ; and to make them
fat for sale, the indispensable property they must possess, involves
an outlay that leaves but an insignificant margin for profit.
The Arab Horse. The horses bred in Africa, in Egypt, in
Arabia, in Syria, in Asiatic Turkey, in Persia, &c., are all of the
same family, constituting the race known as of eastern blood.
Strength, agility, vigorousness in form as in action, these are the
characteristics of the horse the moment he is found beyond the
Euphrates or below the Mediterranean and the Caucasus. Where
it is on the land of Islamism, it is always temperate, invincible to
privation and fatigue, living between sand and sky.
Whether it be known under the names of Turkish, Persian,
Numidian, Barb or Arab of Syria matters little, these are mere
prefixes and the name of the family is the horse of the East. The
other variety, above the Mediterranean, is the European horse.
So thoroughly established is the excellence of the desert horse
as compared with the more domesticated kinds of the Arab horse,
that in selecting Arabs for turf purposes, it is thought among the
first essentials to pick one that has been all his life in the desert.
The Arabs have a laconic statement that there are essentials in
a horse which may be thus enumerated :
Four things large : the front or brow, the breast, the rump, the
limbs. Four things long: the chest, the upper ribs, the belly,
the haunches. Four things short: the back, the pasterns, the
ears, the tail.
To this Abd-el-Kader added, that three things should be clear
or pure : the eyes, the skin, and the hoofs.
Statistics of Horses. From the summary we have been able to
make there would appear to be, in round numbers, about 39,000,000
horses in Europe, 16,500,000 in America and the West Indies,
310 HORSES IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
nearly 1,000,000 in Australasia and the Pacific Islands, and
500,000 in South Africa. For the great continent of Asia, there
are no statistics available, nor as to the numbers of the equine race
in Mexico, and the five Central American States, British Guiana,
Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Chili and Paraguay. About yj million
mules and asses have to be added to this number.
HORSES in various countries according to the latest returns.
EUROPE.
ASIATIC ISLANDS
Russia . . .
1876,
21,570,000
Java . . . 1873.,
632,164
Sweden
1874,
455,907
Reunion . . . 1874,
4,155
Norway . . .
1865,
150,000
Mauritius . . 1875,
18,969
Denmark
1874,
350,000
Ceylon . . . 1874,
7,960
Iceland
German Empire .
Holland .
Belgium . .
France
Portugal . . .
Spain .
Italy . . .
1875,
1873,
1873,
1866,
1874,
1870,
1865,
1874,
29,000
3> 35 2,23 1
253,394
283,163
3,633,605
79,716
672,559
500,000
WEST INDIES.
Jamaica . . 1869,
Martinique and
Guadaloupe . 1874,
Barbados (estimated),
Other West India
Islands (estimated),
74,157
9,502
5,000
10,000
Austria Proper .
1871,
1,367,023
AMERICA.
Hungary
1870,
2,179,811
United States . 1875,
9,504,200
Switzerland . .
1868,
100,000
Argentine Con-
Greece
1867,
98,938
federation . . 1875,
4,000,000
Ionian Isles . .
1860,
12,000
Uruguay . . 1873,
1,600,000
Turkey . . .
1874,
1,100,000
Canadian Do-
Great Britain
1875,
2,255,129
minion . .1871,
2,624,290
Ireland . . .
1875,
534,883
Other Brit. Amer.
Provinces . .1871,
100,470
AUSTRALASIA.
AFRICA.
New South Wales 1875,
346,691
Egypt .
1871,
19,359
Queensland. . 1874,
99,243
Algeria . . .
1861,
165,402
Victoria . . . 1875,
180,254
Cape Colony
1875,
207,318
South Australia . 1875,
93,122
Orange Free State
1859,
27,552
Western Australia 1875,
26,636
Natal . . .
1874,
23,443
Tasmania . . 1875,
23,473
New Zealand . 1874,
99,261
Hawaiian Isles . 1866,
25,000
Formerly, the only means for travelling from place to place was
on the back of a horse ; and then, as might be expected, a breed
of horses with adequate powers to carry men was studiously kept
DEMAND FOR HORSES. 311
up. But improvements in roads, and the construction of wheel
carriages, have long afforded a different and more easy mode of
conveyance. Besides, we now have railways and locomotive
steam-power whisking the traveller (ay, and his horse too) along
at a marvellous rate, annihilating space, to some station or terminus,
whence he takes refuge in the mob of a 'bus, or in a cab, drawn by
miserable horses, equal only to the short distance they have to
drag the load.
In the year 1832, before railways were generally formed, the
total number of horses used for riding and drawing carriages in
Great Britain which contributed to the assessed taxes was 182,878 ;
in 1862 their number was 306,798, besides 263,391 used in trade,
&c. ; and in 1872 they had increased to 907,000. The duty has
now been abolished.
The nominal horse-power of the engineer the steam-horse is
so rapidly taking the place of the bond fide draught of the equine
animal that we are beginning to overlook, in many instances, our
old friend the horse, and yet he does not decline in price or
demand. The 7000 locomotives running over some 16,000 miles
of rail in the United Kingdom annually, and those traversing a
greater mileage in the United States, to say nothing of the con-
tinent and the colonies, and South America, are doing much of
the haulage in pleasure and traffic for which we had formerly to
depend upon horses. Still, to mount the large armies kept up, to
move the artillery, ambulances, &c., and to facilitate the traffic of
towns and railway stations, horses continue in great request,
although their opponent steam is fast driving them from the
plough-team and other farm uses. The difficulty to obtain horses
of suitable powers as remounts for cavalry is yearly increasing.
War makes sad havoc among horses. The civil war in the
United States reduced the number -of horses in that great republic
fully one million. The average destruction in the Federal army
alone was not less than 500 per day. The Franco-German war
also' entailed a heavy destruction of horses.
312 EXPORT OF HORSES FROM ENGLAND.
The scarcity of horses in England is becoming a matter of
general anxiety, not only to individuals who require the use of
horses, but to the Government, which has to make provision
for the service of the cavalry and artillery. Lord Rosebery,
in a debate in the House of Lords three years ago, stated that
while we now had 6,600 cavalry horses and 6,000 artillery horses,
in case of war we should require 2,500 cavalry horses and 4,000
artillery horses more, and not fewer than 25,000 light and 75,000
heavy transport horses*
We have been largely exporting horses of late years, which if
continued must make us shortly dependent on a foreign supply.
We exported in
No. Value.
1872 12,618 .^348,620
1873 - 17,822 585,868
1874 12,039 535,771
1875 . 25,757 980,777
Russia is essentially the land of horses. Compared with other
countries in Europe we find that Russia has one horse for every
three and a half persons, Austria, one for every ten, Prussia and
Great Britain, one for every eleven, France, one for every twelve,
and Italy, one for every twenty-seven. In Russia the greater
number are to be found in the provinces of Oran and Perm
(where most of the inhabitants, who are of the Tartar race, have a
peculiar inclination for horse breeding), in the country of the
Don Cossacks, where horsemanship is an indispensable part of
the daily avocations of the people, and in the provinces of Middle
Russia, which require a great number of horses to carry on their
extensive trade.
As far back as the historical accounts of Russia extend, the
rearing of horses seems always to have formed a notable branch of
the national industry. The warlike and nomadic habits of the
ancient population the increasing demands for the supply of an
extensive army the immense distances, requiring a large amount
of animal labour, as well for the conveyance of produce and mer-
HORSES IN RUSSIA. 313
chandise as for locomotion ; all these combined have stimulated
the development of this branch of rural economy, favoured as it is,
over a large portion of the empire by the great extent of pasture
lands. Accordingly we find the Russians possess excellent horses
for all uses, and a larger number than all the other European
States combined.
The government, true to the traditions of the country, continues
to devote special attention to the encouragement of horse-
breeding, for which the steppes of south-eastern Russia afford the
most favourable opportunity.
There are no less than twelve imperial studs, of which nine are
in Europe and three in the Caucasus. There are also fourteen
government depots and country stables spread over the empire,
each having from 60 to 150 stallions for public use. There are also
about 2,500 private studs, which own 6,500 stallions and 69,000
brood mares. The government encourages by every means in its
power the improvement in the breeds by sustaining racehorses
of pure blood and trotting horses, by offering prizes and medals at
races and exhibitions. There are about 400 horse fairs held an-
nually, and at fifteen of these from 2,000 to 10,000 horses are
offered for sale, and some 300,000 change hands. The price of
horses has advanced of late years in Russia fully 50 to 100 per
cent.
The export of horses from Russia is shown by the following
figures, giving the average number in the last three quinquennial
periods.
Total. Annual Average.
1861 to 1865 51,000 10,000
1866 to 1870 65,000 13,000
1871 to 1875 125,000 25,000
Taking the mean value fixed in the Russian official docu-
ments 12, this gives a present annual total of ,300,000.
In the provinces of Central Asia and Siberia there is almost a
horse, to every inhabitant, the proportion being 179.3 to I0 m
the former, 70-1 to 100 in the latter. Next to these stand the
314 HORSES IN AFRICA AND THE EAST.
eastern and south-eastern governments. The third place is occu-
pied by the central governments of European Russia, where horse
breeding by great landholders, as well as the production of cart-
horses, is carried on most extensively.
Russia requires, in time of war, for its army purposes, 272,000
horses ; Italy, 26,000 ; Turkey, the same number ; Egypt has about
6,000 mounted troops; Austria, 59,000 cavalry, and as many more
horses are required for the engineer and artillery service ; China
has 30,000 Mongolian cavalry; Brazil, 3,000 cavalry.
Spain stands third in rank among the European States for the
character of its equine race. Andalusia is the principal district
for horses. The colts of Cordova are renowned, so are those of
Galicia and Valencia, while New Castile is famous for its mules,
and Estramadura for its asses.
The Indian Government have made the Cape Colony a remount
station, and have purchased horses largely of late years there. The
native horse of the Colony would not satisfy the eye of an
English remount officer, but his endurance during the longest and
hottest day surpasses that of almost any other horse. The horse is
small ; is generally brought for inspection in very bad condition,
and requires a thoroughly honest and good judge of horses to do
justice to the breeders and dealers, and to protect the Govern-
ment. There are now more than 200,000 horses in the Cape
Colony.
In the Eastern countries beyond Bengal the horse is seldom
used for draught, and the race is a diminutive one, the ponies
being only employed for riding now and then. He is but poorly
fitted for carrying burdens, and useless for the plough, the cart, or
cavalry purposes. Java, however, possesses a race of very hardy
ponies, useful for riding or draught, which numbers over 600,000.
The island of Sumbawa is noted for the number and beauty of
its small horses, the most esteemed of all the Indian Archipelago,
and these are largely exported to Java.
While horses have increased in number in New South Wales
AUSTRALIAN HORSES. 315
from 116,397 in 1850 to 346,000 in 1875, they have deteriorated
in quality. Breeding does not pay because the rules of good
breeding are neglected so much, that the reputation of Australian
horses has failed to attract buyers. Were the breed good the
demand would soon increase more for shipment to India.
There are splendid horses in the country, but the tendency to
breed from any sort of mare leads to the production of a wholly
worthless class of horses, which are commonly sold in the markets
for a few shillings a head, or boiled down for the grease to lubri-
cate the carriages they should draw.
Wild horses, or " brumbies," as they are termed, are so numerous
in some of the districts that persons are employed exclusively to
shoot them, who receive a fixed sum besides the hide and hair as
perquisites. Twenty years ago a settler was offered ^10 a head
all round for the horses on his run, which he refused, and now he has
to pay for shooting them. At one station alone, in the district of
Goondiwindi, Queensland, over 7,000 wild horses have been shot,
and yet plenty still remain.
The Australian horse, although not so large as the English
horse, is active, muscular, and hardy to a degree. The results
obtained, even under the present system, are such as to prove
that the climate and soil of Australia are in the highest degree
favourable to the breeding and rearing of the horse ; and when
the time arrives that the breeder can fence extensively without
fear of removal, it will be seen that Australia can and will produce
the finest horses in the world. The Indian Government, as well
as civilians in India, require a supply of horses every year, of the
very best description the wilds of Australia produce ; not a large,
overgrown animal, but a stout, compact horse of about 15 hands
a wild horse, ( the result of promiscuous breeding. Such
are the wild horses of the South American pampas, which are
among the most enduring in the world ; and such are the wild
horses of Australia that are now depasturing there in mobs of
thousands. The drive to the port of shipment tames them, and
316 HORSES IN SOUTH AMERICA.
they are easily broken in, and when landed are fit for every
purpose required in India. Horses admirably adapted for the
Indian market are becoming so numerous in the up-country
districts, whilst the demand for them is so limited, and the prices
are so low, that it is found more profitable to shoot them for the
hair and hides, than to send them to the city for sale. And many
station-holders view the presence of horses upon their runs as an
absolute nuisance. The Indian market offers a panacea for the
ills complained of by breeders of horse stock, and would probably
return to them a handsome remuneration if the trade were pursued
with spirit. About 2,600 horses are imported annually into India
chiefly from Australia.
After Russia, the United States and the South American
republics have the largest number of horses. They are so
numerous in Cordoba and other parts of the State of Buenos
Ayres, that droves of mares are annually exported to Peru ; the
breed, especially in the sierras, is small.
Thirty years ago, all travelling in the country was done on
horse-back, and although there are now railways traversing the
country, the natives make light of galloping 100 or even 150 miles
in a day. When we find that mares are sold to the slaughter-
houses at a dollar a head, to be killed merely for their hide and
grease, the rearing of an improved breed for export could not but
prove remunerative.
In France it is made a subject of regret that the ancient native
breeds have disappeared, and the reproach of BuiTon holds good,
" that they have augmented the number and confusion by favour-
ing the mixture of races, and without reflection have interfered
with nature, introducing African and Asiatic horses, so that the
primitive races of France have been lost, and their characteristics
are scarcely to be distinguished. These characters would be " (he
observes) " more specially marked, and the differences be more
sensible, if the races of each climate were kept separate, and
unchanged by inter-breeding."
MILITARY DEMANDS FOR HORSES. 317
In France, including Algeria, the number of horses was, by the
latest returns, 3,630,000.
When the peace establishment of the army required 70,000
saddle horses, France had to import annually from 6,000 to
7,000 ; that establishment is now raised to 90,000. To pass from
a peace to a war footing under the new military law demands
176,000 horses, and a large proportion of them of superior quality
to what was formerly considered serviceable. There were in 1874
107,000 horses in the army, and gendarmerie, and republican
guard. The movements of field artillery are now so much accele-
rated that many of the draught horses of that arm must come
from the same class as those for the cavalry.
Great Britain requires about 40,000 horses for her military
service, and 5,000 for her Irish mounted police.
In Germany, for military purposes, 97,000 horses are required
on the peace footing, and on a war footing 233,500 for field
troops, 30,500 for depot troops, and 37,000 for garrison purposes.
Her cavalry requires about 70,000.
Having glanced at the value of the horse when living, let us
now consider its commercial products after death. Of late years,
owing to the high price of butcher's meat on the Continent, there
has been a large consumption of horse-flesh for human food.
HORSE HIDES.
After this noble animal has worn out all its powerful energies in
serving man, it leaves him a carcase from which much can be
utilised for manufactures and industry.*
Horse Hides are valuable when tanned, and considerable
numbers are obtained in Russia and the River Plate States. It
has already been stated at page 155 that 1,000,000 horse hides are
tanned annually in Russia. The Mongols and Kirghiz make
articles of dress of horse leather. Several Tartar tribes are experts
in leather plaiting, and use a great deal of horse leather for this
purpose.
The following figures will give an idea of the export trade in
horse hides from Buenos Ayres :
1853 129,905
1860 278,613
1870 102,250
1872 208,509
1873 149,482
In 1870 about 19,000 cwts. of horse hides of the value of 30,0007.
of British produce were exported. The supply of foreign horse
hides to this country varies, as will be seen by the following
figures :
1853 171,300
1854 206,500
1862 160,186
1869 98,821
1870 101,940
1871 I5M23
The current prices in the London market at the close of 1876
for horse hides were, for salted hides IDS. to i5>r. each; for dry
hides 7^. to 8.r. ; tanned hides, Spanish, weighing 6 Ibs. to 1 2 Ibs.
i6d. to 2^d. per Ib. ; English hides of 10 Ibs. to 18 Ibs., i$d. to
i6d Horse butts about the same.
Horse Hair. Though in nearly every country horse hair is
collected, the chief sources of supply are Germany, the River
* In the cheap descriptive Catalogue of the Waste Products Collection in
the Museum, the statistics of the consumption of horse flesh as food, and the
relative value of the several parts of the dead horse are fully described, as well
as in my work on " Waste Substances," published by Hardwicke and Bogue.
OUR SUPPLIES OF HORSE HAIR. 319
Plate States, Belgium, and Russia, as the following list of the
imports into the United Kingdom in 1875 will show :
cwts.
Germany 7,299
Uruguay 4,935
Argentine Republic 3>o69
Belgium i>556
Australia 906
Brazil 996
Russia 708
Other Countries 762
20,231
We get some good long tail hair from Russia ; other qualities,
long, medium, and short, from South America, where a quantity
is obtained from the immense number of horses, which, in a wild
state, roam over the pampas of that continent. The average
annual shipments of horse hair from Rio Janeiro in the five years
ending 1873 were 10,714 cwts. and from the River Plate States
9,000 cwts. The manes and tails of horses which die in this
country, form but a small portion of the supply ; the hair thus
obtained is generally of poor quality, and unfit for use in the
manufacture of hair cloth. The foreign material is imported in
bales weighing about 1,000 Ibs. each. These contain either
" mixed hair," that is, hair of different lengths, or else are filled
entirely with long hair.
As the material in its raw state is in a tangled and dirty condi-
tion, the first process through which it passes is sorting, during
which the different coloured hairs are placed in separate heaps.
This is to facilitate the subsequent dyeing, as the black stain used
is much more readily imparted to hair that is naturally of a dark
colour than to that of the lighter shades. The bundles of sorted
hair are then hackled, by which process the hairs are made
straight, and the foreign substances and dirt mingled with them
removed. During the hackling, great care is taken not to break
the hair, as upon its length its value depends long hair being
320 CURLING HORSE HAIR.
much more scarce than the shorter varieties, and consequently far
more costly. A number of tufts of hackled hair are next placed
between the teeth of a couple of cards, or flat pieces of tough
wood, on which pointed spikes of steel of about three inches in
length are inserted. One of these cards is placed on its back on
a table and the bundles of hair laid side by side between its teeth ;
when this card is full, the other one is placed upon it, points
down, so that the bundles are firmly held by the double set of
spikes. The hair it must be remembered, is still of different
lengths, and it is the object of this carding to arrange the long
and short hairs in separate bundles. The workman, therefore,
begins by pulling out from the bundles between the cards, all of
the long hair in the ends nearest to him, and then keeps on
removing more and more, until the set of extremities at which he
is working are perfectly even, no one hair projecting more than
another. Then he fastens the ends, removes the upper card,
reverses the bundles, and repeats the same process with the other
extremities. When he finishes, the hairs between the cards are
all of exactly the same length, and the separate tufts are now
ready either to be made into curled hair, to be sold to the brush-
makers, or to be woven into hair cloth.
From the bales it is sometimes thrown into a '* picker " making
800 revolutions per minute, and then twisted into ropes by
machinery, to make it curl. The next process is to boil it, that
it may be thoroughly cleansed, for which purpose it is put into
vats, heated with exhausted steam from the engine ; this done, it
is thoroughly dried in an oven. The ropes of hair are then ready
to be picked into pieces for use.
The process of curling is begun by making the lengths of hair
which are found to be too short for other uses, into a rope. The
workman, taking a bundle of loose material in his hand, attaches
it to a revolving hook, and, walking backwards, continually adding
more hair, spins a long, tight strand. Two of these strands are
twisted into a cord, which, when finished, is reeled up into large
HAIR-CLOTH FOR SEATING. 321
coils. It is then boiled and immediately afterwards baked, this pro-
cess setting the "kink" in the hairs, and rendering them thoroughly
elastic. In this condition, curled hair is sold to the trade; it only
remains to untwist and pick out the rope by hand to obtain the
desired quantities.
The short hair is serviceable after curling, for stuffing chair seats,
cushions, sofas, mattresses, &c. ; the long hair for weaving into
seating and covering ; and the middle lengths for brush-making in
lieu of bristles. Light horse hair can be dyed of various colours ;
but as there is only a limited supply of the pure white, some
difficulty would arise in obtaining sufficient raw material.
Hair-cloth, principally used for covering sofas and chairs, is
manufactured from the longer and better qualities of hair. The
bundles of hair destined to be made into cloth are removed to
the dye-house. There they are attached to a large iron grating,
which, when filled, is lowered into a vat of boiling dye, in which
it remains for about five hours. The hair is then detached, and
is ready for weaving. The warp of the cloth is of black cotton
thread. Linen thread is a better material, but makes a stiffer and
harsher fabric, less suited for upholsterers' uses. The hair com-
poses the weft, and its length depends upon the width of cloth to be
made, the usual proportion being a thirty-five inch hair to a thirty-
inch cloth.
Hair-seating used to be woven by hand, every hair being intro-
duced singly. It differs in this respect from most other woven
fabrics, in which there is a uniform and continuous supply of
material.
In the Animal Collection, there are some interesting specimens
of damask hair-cloths.* Among these are fancy green- striped hair
seating, plain grey satin seating, orange damask figured, scarlet
* Case 93 contains horse hair of different kinds and qualities, horse hair
cloth used for bags, sacks and rope made of it, and combed hair for stuffing.
Case 94, an instructive collection of horse hair, bleached and dyed different
colours, for making hair-cloth seatings ; also a series showing the process of
making horse hair gloves and flesh rubbers.
Y
322 MISCELLANEOUS USES OS HORSE HAIR.
damask, figured black diaper damask, plain black satin hair, &c.
In some of these specimens a variety of damask patterns or designs
are introduced by the application of the Jacquard loom, and also
a diversity of colours.
After leaving the loom, the cloth is pressed between hot metal
plates, and then rubbed to give it the necessary polish. As
furnished to the trade it is generally black, and its principal use
is, as already mentioned, for covering furniture. A very fine
variety is sometimes made for sieves. In price, hair-cloth averages
about 4s. per yard. In width, it is manufactured in all sizes
between fourteen and thirty-two inches.
Horse hair-cloth originated in England, and in the early part of
the century M. Bardel received medals for the introduction of the
manufacture into France. The manufacture is now largely carried
on in the United States, where upwards of 20,000,000 yards are
made yearly ; one factory alone makes 600,000 yards annually, no
hairs less than 16 inches long answer for the purpose. The
invention of special looms which pick-up and place the hairs
automatically, has driven out of the market the hand-made
goods.
Contrary to the popular idea, the hair is not, as a rule, round.
A section under the microscope shows a form as though a third of
a circle had been cut off, and the flat portion slightly indented.
This conformation caused some difficulties in the manipulation,
which, required great skill and the most delicate machinery to
overcome.
Among the various other purposes to which horse hair is applied,
are, for making ladies stiff petticoats, mixed with cotton, for bags
for pressing apples, cloth for straining purposes used by brewers,
oil refiners, &c., for socks or soles for lining boots and shoes.
Horse hair is used on the helmets of the Horse Guards. It is
made into ropes and wigs, even the learned lawyer is obliged to
rob the poor Siberian horse for his wig. Horse hair shirts were
formerly worn for the health of the soul, but gloves of the same
HORSE HAIR IMPORTS. MULES AND ASSES. 323
material are now used for the health of the body. False tails of
horse hair are made for the use of those horses which are deficient
in that respect. Fishing lines are occasionally made of horse
hair.
A queue, or tail of horse hair, suspended at the end of a pike,
terminated by a gilded pennant, is the Turkish standard, or
emblem of authority. Commanders are distinguished by the
number of horse tails carried before them, or planted in front of
their tents. Thus the Sultan has seven, the Grand Vizier five,
and the Pashas three, two, or one. The usage of these tails is of
Tartaric origin.
The imports of horse hair into the United Kindom are shown
in the following return :
Cwts. Value.
1862 17,478 86,199
1863 15,854 78,813
1864 17,743 90,511
1865 21,078 106,938
1866 20,875 H3> 97
1867 17,318 100,336
1868 16,056 102,509
Cwts. Value.
1869 19,857 .152,631
1870 14,134 127,145
1871 21,365 202,103
1872 15,830 188,726
1873 19,891 223,393
1874 19,102 177,782
1875 20,231 171,053
MULES are the well-known offspring of the ass and the mare.
From being very hardy and sure footed they are much employed
in the West Indies and South America. Peru is noted for the
finest breed of mules in America. The plains of Caraccas are
estimated to furnish annually 30,000 for the West India islands.
There are no precise data as to the numbers, but there are prob-
ably from one to two millions in the different South American
States.
In the two provinces of Catamarco and Tucuman there are
more than 57,000 mules and asses. At the Atajo mines in the
former there are 3,500 employed on Mr. Lafone's mines, besides
large numbers at other mines.
Mules and asses, especially the former, are not very abundant
in the United Kingdom. Asses are employed in drawing small
Y 2
324 MULES IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA.
carts and in carrying burdens, by hucksters in town and by poor
people in the country, particularly those near commons, the
barrenest of which will keep an ass. But it is chiefly in South
America and the West Indies where mules are used. The im-
portance of mules in carrying on the traffic of Brazil is evidenced
by the fact stated some years ago by a well-informed writer, that
the arrivals of laden mules at Cubatas, near the port of Santos, in
the province of San Paulo, amounted to 420,000. The introduc-
tion of railroads in Brazil is doing something to replace them, but
it is only transferring their services to other quarters. The mules
annually imported from the cattle farms of Sorocaba in San Paulo,
into the province of Minas, average 60,000 to 70,000 a year.
Minas itself rears a considerable number of mules ; those in-
actual service there may be rated at about 260,000 ; the number
that die there annually are from 18,000 to 20,000. Mules con-
stitute the great commerce of Tucuman. These animals are
bought in Cordova, Sante Fe, and Buenos Ayres, and being
fattened during the winter in the valleys and plains of the States
of the Argentine Confederation, are driven to Peru, where about
50,000 are sold annually. Many are taken thence to Truxillo,
Lima, and other places both on the coast and in the interior, for
sale. In some of the North American States numbers are raised
at a better profit than horses, from the fact that they come to
maturity much earlier and command remunerating prices at any
age.
In 1783, Washington became convinced of the defective nature
of the working animals employed in the Southern States, and set
about remedying the evil by the introduction of mules instead of
horses, the mules being found to live longer, be less liable to
disease, require less food, and in every respect to be more valuable
and economical than the horse in agricultural labour in the
South.
In Spain, horses are comparatively little used compared with
mules and asses. According to the census of 1865 there were in
MULES IN SPAIN AND MOROCCO. 325
the Peninsula and the two adjacent provinces about 1,000,000
mules and 1,300,000 asses, compared with 627,000 horses. The
mules of the South of Europe are frequently sixteen or seventeen
hands high.
Notwithstanding the improved means of transport introduced
into the country, many troops of mules for carrying burdens are
kept up in Spain for supplying the towns of the interior. The
Iberians of Andalusia, the Minglanilla in New Castile, the inha-
bitants of Segovia and of Maragalirie in Old Castile, and many
others besides, preserve the old system of transport by mules'
backs. Various causes contribute to keep up this system. The
taste of families for the occupation of muleteers, in which they
have been brought up, and which has been handed down from
father to son ; the high rates of tolls on roads which the muleteers
can avoid by short cuts and circuitous routes; the heavy rates charged
for goods by railway, and the risk and damage on the transport
of delicate and fragile goods which are tossed about at stations, con-
tribute to keep up the old mode. Railways instead of destroying
the old traffic, have rather augmented it.
The mules of Morocco excel even those of Spain. Some of
these, Dr. Leared states, are as large as a full-sized horse. Plod-
ding, patient, sure-footed and docile, they carry the traveller at
the rate of four miles an hour through a long day, with few halts
und little sustenance. The mule in Morocco holds the place of
the stage coach, or railway train in more advanced countries.
The price of a mule ranges there between 20 and ^"40.
Mules are beginning to be much used in Central Asia. There
has of late years been a development of the through traffic from
the Punjab to Turkestan by mules. A troop of 170 went from
Jalandhar to Ladak, which at once obtained return freights to
carry borax to Kulu. They are found to carry heavier weights
than the camel, and to travel faster.
ASSES. Persia is famous for its races of asses, of which there are
three principal varieties, one white and two grey, of different sizes.
326 STATISTICS OF MULES AND ASSES.
The former are the most esteemed. The two larger varieties
attain the height of four and a half feet, and are much finer than
the wild ass. The smaller grey ass is a very pretty animal from
the south of Persia. The skin of the ass was formerly used for
making shagreen and other leather.
Statistics of MULES and ASSES :
Russia .
. . 1874,
30,000
Spain .
. 1865,
2,292,692
Portugal
. . 1860,
200,000
France
1872,
749,754
Austria .
. . 1860,
200,000
Germany
(estimate)
20,000
Holland .
. . 1864,
2,696
Ireland
1875,
180,000
United States
. 1874,
1,500,000
Brazil . . (estimate)
Argentine Republic 1875,
Uruguay . .1872,
Algeria . . . 1861,
Morocco . (estimate)
Cape Colony . . 1875,
Martinique and
Guadaloupe . 1874,
Reunion . . 1874,
400,000
235,000
120,000
310,831
[,OOO,OCO
7,264
The QUAGGA (Equus Quagga) has been tamed. The Hottentots
and other natives of South Africa hunt the animal for its flesh.
Lieut. Moodie, in his " Ten Years in South Africa," says he once
had a piece of the flesh cooked for his breakfast, grilled and
peppered, and he did not find it at all unpalatable. It was, he
adds, certainly better than the horse-flesh which was served to
him in the hospital at Bergen-op-Zoom in 1814. Captain Burton y
in his " Central Africa," tells us that of wild flesh the favourite is-
that of the Zebra (E. Zebra) ; it is smoked or jerked, despite
which it retains a most savoury flavour.
The Roman peasants found the flesh of the ass palatable, and
the celebrated Maecenas having tasted it, introduced it to the
tables of the great and rich, but the fashion of eating it lasted no
longer than his life. Galen compares the flesh of the ass to that
of the stag. It is said to be eaten plentifully in the guinguettes of"
Paris, under the denomination of veal.
328 SPECIES OF ELEPHANTS.
PACHYDERMATA.
THE ELEPHANT. There are at present but two existing species
of this huge pachyderm, and its principal economic product is the
ivory which it furnishes to commerce.
Besides these contemporary races of elephants, the market is
extensively supplied with the ivory derived from the tusks of
the great mammoth or fossil elephant of the geologist. The
remains of this gigantic animal are abundantly distributed over
the whole extent of the globe. They exist in large masses in the
northern hemisphere, deeply embedded in the alluvial deposits of
the tertiary period. Humboldt discovered specimens on some of
the most elevated ridges of the Andes ; and similar remains have
been found in Africa. In the frozen regions of the far North,
surrounded by successive layers of everlasting ice, the fossil ivory
exists in a state of perfect preservation, and it constitutes an
important article of commerce in the north of Europe.
A true elephant roamed in countless herds over the temperate
and northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America. This was the
creature called by the Russians, mammoth ; it was warmly clad
with both hair and fur, as became an animal deriving its susten-
ance from the leaves and branches of trees which grow as high as
the 65th degree of north latitude.
Formerly the name ivory was given to the main substance of
the teeth of all animals ; but it is now, by the best anatomists and
physiologists, restricted to that modification of dentine or tooth-
substance which, in transverse sections or fractures, shows lines of
different colours or striae proceeding in the arc of a circle, and
forming by their decussations minute curvilinear lozenge-shaped
spaces. By this character, which is presented in even the smallest
portion of an elephant's tusk in transverse section or fracture, true
ivory may be distinguished from every other kind of tooth-sub-
stance, and from every counterfeit, whether derived from tooth or
bone. This engine-turned. decussating appearance is as charac-
DENTAL TISSUES.
3 2 9
teristic of fossil as of recent ivory. Although, however, no other
teeth except those of the elephant present this characteristic of
true ivory, there are teeth in many other species of animals which,
from their large size and the density of their principal substance,
SECTION OF SKULL OF AN ELEPHANT, SHOWING THE DENTITION AND
A BULLET LODGED IN IT.
are useful in the arts for purposes analogous to those for which
true ivory is used; and some of these dental tissues, such as
those of the large tusks of the hippopotamus, are more serviceable
for certain purposes than any other kind of tooth-substance.
The dentition of the genus Elephas, includes two long tusks
330 IVORY AND TEETH OF ANIMALS.
(see i in the annexed figure), one in each of the premaxillary
bones, and large and complex molars (in 3, m 5, m 4) in both
jaws : of the latter there is never more than one wholly, or
two partially, in place and use on each side at any given time,
the series continually being in progress of formation and destruc-
tion, of shedding and replacement; and, in the elephants, all
the grinders succeed one another, horizontally, from behind
forwards.
In a lecture by Prof. Owen delivered before the Society of
Arts, in Dec., 1856, "On the Ivory and Teeth of Commerce,"
from which I quote, he remarks that the utility of teeth in com-
merce and the arts depends chiefly on a peculiar modification in
their laws of growth. For the most part, teeth as in our own
frames having attained a certain size and shape, cease to grow.
They are incapable of renewing the waste to which they are
liable through daily use, and when worn away or affected by
decay, they perish. Certain teeth in man and the majority of the
mammalia, are succeeded by a new tooth after the old one is worn
away and shed, but this with very few exceptions, occurs but once
in the course of life. Teeth of this kind are said to be of limited
growth, but there are other teeth, such as the front teeth of the
rat, rabbit, and all the rodent tribe, the tusks of the boar and
hippopotamus, the long descending canine tusks of the walrus,
the still longer spiral horn-like tusk of the narwhal, and the ivory
tusks of the elephant, which are endowed with the property of
perpetual growth, that is, they grow as long as the animal lives.
The molar teeth of the elephant are of little value. They
have been attempted to be utilised for making knife handles, but
owing to the larger proportion of cement to dentine they are
brittle : small slabs are sometimes sliced out of them. It will be
seen by the appended illustrations that there is a striking differ-
ence in the enamel plates of the molars of the African and
Asiatic elephants : in the former the lamellar divisions of the
crown are fewer and thicker, and they expand more uniformly
THE AFRICAN ELEPHANT.
33*
from the margin to the centre, yielding a lozenge-form when cut
or worn transversely, as in mastication.
UPPER MOLAR TOOTH OF INDIAN ELEPHANT (ElephdS Indictis}, SHOWING
TRANSVERSE ARRANGEMENT OF THE ENAMEL PLATES (dd), AND-
FESTOONING OF THEIR BORDERS (ee).
UPPER MOLAR TOOTH OF AFRICAN ELEPHANT (Elephas Africantts),.
SHOWING THE LOZENGE-SHAPED ARRANGEMENT OF THE ENAMEL-
PLATES OR RIDGES.
The AFRICAN ELEPHANT is much larger than that of Asia ;
sixteen feet is not an uncommon height, and many are killed
of even superior proportions.
The distinction between the African and Indian elephants is
clearly denned by Dr. Livingstone. " The first elephant (he says)
killed by my man was a male, not full grown ; his height at the
withers was 8 feet 4 inches ; and the circumference of his fore
foot 44 inches. The female, which was full grown, measured in
height 8 feet 8 inches, the circumference of the fore foot being 48
inches. These details are given with the view of showing that the
general rule, that twice the circumference of the fore foot equals
332 AFRICAN IVORY.
the height of the animal is not of universal application ; for in the
first instance, double the circumference falls short of the height by
twelve inches, and in the second instance by eight inches. Subse-
quent observations, however, proved the general correctness of the
rule with regard to full-grown animals.
" The greater size of the African elephant in the south would
at once distinguish it from the Indian one; but here they approach
more nearly to each other in bulk, a female being about as large
.as a common Indian male. But the ear of the African is an ex-
ternal mark which no one will mistake even in a picture. That
of the female now killed was 4 feet 5 inches in depth, and 4 feet
dn horizontal breadth, and I have seen a native creep under one
so as to be quite covered by it. The ear of the Indian variety is
not more than a third of this size." Livingstone adds that although
there was more abundant food he found the animals of all kinds
an the districts north of 20, smaller than the same races existing
southward of that latitude.
The full-grown male elephants on the river Zouga, seemed no
larger than the females on the Lempopo, while they were even
smaller than on the Zouga. There is, however, an increase in the
size of the tusks as we approach the equator.
It would seem from old Roman imperial medals extant, that in
early centuries of the Christian era the African elephant was
tamed; although no attempt has been made to subjugate this
most useful animal at the Cape.
African Ivory. The finest transparent ivory is collected prin-
cipally along the western coast of Africa, within 10 north and
south of the equator, and it is considered to become worse in
quality and more liable to be found damaged with the increase of
latitude in either direction. The best white ivory is for the most
part the produce of the eastern coast of Africa generally. The
African ivory in the best condition, should appear, when recently
cut, of a mellow, warm, transparent tint, almost as if soaked in oil,
and with little appearance of grain or fibre. In this state it is
334 LARGE IVORY TUSKS.
termed " transparent " or " green " ivory. But on exposure, the
transparency to a certain extent goes off, and the ivory is left of a
delicate white hue, which should be permanently retained.
Among large African tusks may be enumerated a pair weighing
325 Ibs., each measuring 8 ft. 6 in. in length, and 22 inches in
basal circumference; and one weighing no Ibs. from South
Africa, which was shown by Mr. Joseph Cawood, of Graham's
Town, at the Great Exhibition in 1851 ; one weighing 139 Ibs.,
shown by Messrs. Fauntleroy, and one weighing 103 Ibs., shown
by Messrs. Buchanan and Law at the same Exhibition. Some
very large tusks were also shown at the London Exhibition in
1862. Mr. Gordon Gumming had one weighing 173 Ibs. A
tusk was shipped from Camaroon to Liverpool, some years ago,
weighing 164 Ibs.; and another to Bristol weighing 147 Ibs.
Captain R. Burton, writing on the ivory-trade of Zanzibar, states
that the tusks are larger there than elsewhere. At Mozambique,
for instance, 60 Ibs. would be a good average for a lot. At
Zanzibar, a lot of 47 averaged 95 Ibs. ; 80 Ibs. is considered a
moderate average, and 70 to 75 Ibs. poor. Monster tusks are
spoken of. Specimens of 175 Ibs. are not very rare, and the
people have traditions that these wonderful armatures have ex-
tended to 227 Ibs., and even to 280 Ibs. each, approximating in
size to the huge fossil tusks occasionally met with in the northern
regions. Cuvier made a list of the largest tusks found up to his
time, and the most considerable one registered by him weighed
350 Ibs. At a sale of tusks in London, the largest brought from
Bombay and Zanzibar weighed 122 Ibs. Those from Angola
averaged 69 Ibs., from the Cape and Natal 106 Ibs., from Lagos
OUR SUPPLIES OF AFRICAN IVORY. 335
114 Ibs., and from Gaboon 91 Ibs. But these are by no means the
largest sizes to be found at present ; for elephant-hunters now pene-
trate further into Africa, and therefore meet with older animals.
In former years, before European commerce had extended far
into the interior of Africa, many of the native chiefs surrounded
their dwellings with palisades of elephants' tusks, but now that
their intrinsic value has become well known, they have been
bartered away for more appreciated objects. Some of the natives
often spoil their tusks by cutting them. The Gold Coast ivory
may generally be known by having a rough-hewn hole made near
the end of the hollow. Some tribes stain the exterior by sticking
the tooth in the sooty rafters of their chimneyless huts, with the
idea that so treated it will not crack or split in the sun.
The following statement will serve to show the localities from
whence our supplies of African ivory have been received of late
years, given in cwts.
1870.
1871.
1872.
1873.
1874.
1375.
Portuguese Possessions
West Africa, not designated . .
Gold Coast
410
1322
417
1966
395
2081
131
449
2465
78
387
1958
IO2
3 I2
2297
2CI
South Africa
1185
IIOQ
IOIQ
III7
1^48
1442
East Coast
823
ACQ
69
^O^
696
Egypt
4.C2I
^242
4Q72
4628
22Q7
241 1
Tripoli and Tunis
141
4OO
Some African ivory also comes in through Malta and Portugal.
The quality of the African ivory varies considerably. That
best adapted for the English market comes from the Camaroon
coast, and the most esteemed runs from 50 Ibs. weight upwards,
the next in value 35 Ibs. to 50 Ibs., then from 18. Ibs. to 35 Ibs.
Tusks are valued in proportion to their size ; those that weigh i
cwt. or more are the best, and fetch from ^40 to ^50 the cwt. ;
the second class comprehends such as require two teeth to make
a cwt. or more ; the third class, three or more to the cwt. All
below 1 8 Ibs. are called " scrivelloes," and are of the least value,
except such as are adapted for cutting billiard balls.
336
IVORY EXPORTS FROM NATAL,
Gaboon, Loando, Congo, and Ambriz, rank next to the Cam a
roons in the quality of the ivory shipped.
The Gold Coast ivory, and that brought down for shipment to
Sierra Leone and Cape Coast Castle, ranks next, and is tolerably
good. Gambia teeth are usually very bad, always broken, very
crooked, cracked in the hollows, and more or less damaged.
The Gold Coast ivory may generally be known by having a
rough hewn hole made near the end of the hollow, and these teeth
(the term under which they pass in commerce) are much esteemed.
Fine ivory is known by having no cracks or flaws, either in the
solid or in the hollow. Cracks in the ivory are a serious detri-
ment, and must be always particularly noticed. The elephants"
tusks that are only rather tapering in shape are most liked ; very
crooked teeth must be guarded against, as they cut up to great
disadvantage. Broken-pointed teeth, or those with deep flaws, or
otherwise damaged about the point, must be avoided. Teeth
with large hollows are not at all liked, as there must inevitably be
a great waste in cutting them up ; in short, a fine tooth is known
by being of a neat tapering shape, with but a small hollow, free
from cracks, with a fine, thin, clear coat, free from flaws ; it is
also transparent, which may be discovered by holding the point
to a candle.
Quantity and value of the ivory exported from Natal :
i8qo...,
Ibs.
. 4.0,481
9,200
1863
Ibs.
187 oid
40 "iiG
i8qi...
.. 4O.QI7. .
7,Q8q
1864
12^ 874
26 2^4
1852
1853
lgC.4
3 I 542
25,672
64, 2OQ
... 6,274
... 8,634
14 686
1865...
1866...
1867
79,395
29,218
... 21 618
19,154-
6,6 73
e QO8
1855- -.
1856
55,567
.. "?8,4<;o...,
...13,504
...13,716
1868...
1869
34,ooo
.. T.Q cqo
9,169
1 1,326
1857...
68,273
...18,170
1870
CQ 0^8
14 3C.O
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
117,663
67,255
73,695
75,545
10,116
31,754
..17,618
..21,064
..22,825
27,059
1871..
1872...
1873...
1874...
Stat.
51,597
36,052
48,986
27,678.....
Abstract, Colon ia '.
13,220
9,392
17,199
9,036
Possessions.
AFRICAN IVORY. ASIATIC ELEPHANTS. 337
Quantities and values of exports of ivory from the Cape
Colony :
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
Ibs.
57,757 16,358
92,944 21,903
30,362 8,398
63,323 16,826
58,330 i4,73i
[13,379 24,813
53,226 10,773
26,013 4,488
30,241 10,486
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
Ibs.
40,969
61,514
36,669
55,155
60,419
46, 382
...10,114
.. .11,018
... 8,772
...13,482
..14,546
11,566
1872
88,203
24, 1 76
1873
1874
91,457
73,747
..32,613
..26,667
THE ASIATIC ELEPHANT. The elephant is still found in the
east and north of the island of Ceylon in very large numbers. A
good many are killed annually by sportsmen. The late Major
Rogers, of sporting notoriety, is known to have killed in that
island upwards of 1,000 with his own rifle ; 1,600 were captured by
being snared, or enclosed in kraals, and exported to India from
the northern province in the five years ending 1862. When
tamed and used as a beast of burden, it is quite surprising what
he can be made to do, and the intelligence and docility he
displays his cunning, strength, and endurance are well known.
He is often employed by the Public Works Department on the
roads and bridges, and is found a valuable and frequently indis-
pensable auxiliary. He will roll over large stones, place them in
position as directed, arrange them in twos with the skill of a mason,
or level a beam with the eye of a builder. In matters of mere
brute strength they find him almost equally useful. They have
large waggons made expressly for him. When suitably harnessed
he is made to draw immense loads. The cut on the next page
represents an elephant at work in a timber yard at Moulmein.
Elephants exist in large troops in the forests of Siam, and are
caught by the aid of domesticated females, who entice them into
ambushes or snares prepared beforehand. They are soon tamed,
and when domesticated render great services to their owners.
The ivory of Siam is much sought after for its quality and its
338
ASIATIC ELEPHANTS.
density, being considered superior to that obtained from parts of
India. A fine tusk of a Siamese elephant was shown at the
London Exhibition of 1851 that weighed 100 Ibs., the ivory of
which was very white and compact.
INDIAN ELEPHANT EMPLOYED IN A TIMBER YARD, MOULMEIN.
In some " Notes on Northern Cachar," by Lieut. R. Stewart in
a number of the Bengal Asiatic Society some information is given
as to the capture of elephants by the natives :
" Elephants are slain in great numbers by the Kookies
wherever they are to be had, not only the tusks but the flesh
being highly prized. Parties of twenty and upwards go out in
pursuit of them at a time. When some recent elephant track is
INDIAN IVOR Y. 339
discovered in the forest, two or three of the party ascend some
convenient tree, whose branches overhang the track, the re-
mainder follow it up, and having got on the other side of the
herd, scare it towards the ambush by shouting, beating gongs, and
discharging fire-arms. Here, while passing, the animals are
assailed from above with long spears having huge iron bars
covered with deadly poison ; every wound inflicted results in the
death of the animal at not more than half a mile from the spot
on which he was hit. So wary are the elephants, however, that
it is seldom more than two out of a herd are killed. At the
place where their game is found dead they commence cutting him
up, and extract his tusks ; laden with these and as much of the
flesh as they can carry, they return home, and other parties go
out and encamp in the neighbourhood of the carcase until they
have entirely consumed it or are driven away by the effluvia of
decomposition. Portions of the flesh that they cannot imme-
diately eat, are dried and smoked to be kept for future con-
sumption."
The ivory from India is of a more opaque or dead white, but
has a tendency to turn yellow or discoloured. The teeth from
Ceylon and Singapore are distinguished by their fine grain,
pearly blush colour, and small size.
In the Asiatic elephants, tusks of a size which make them
valuable as ivory in commerce are peculiar to the males, while
in the African elephants, both males and females afford good
size tusks. Tusks weighing 150 Ibs. have been occasionally
exported from Pegu and Cochin China.
Several specimens of fine ivory were exhibited at the local
show Madras in 1854. The largest tusks sent were a pair
weighing 138 pounds, obtained from a wild elephant killed in
the Travancore forests. One tusk weighed 71 pounds, the other
67 pounds, and showed a fine white compact kind of ivory; of
these two, one measured six feet eight inches and the other six feet
six inches, the circumference being seventeen inches in each case.
z 2
340
IMPORTS OF ASIATIC IVORY.
It is a singular fact that the domestication of the elephant is
usually attended by deterioration of the length and quality of
the ivory.
Quantity and value of imports of Asiatic ivory into the United
Kingdom from British India and Aden :
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
i8 .
Cwts.
...-4,058
-..3,440
.-.2,580
..-.4,425
-3,123
....3,166
2,748
80,733
68,874
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
Cwts.
. ...2,520
.. ..2,620
2,058
1,515
493
80
1^2...
... 70,013
... 82,549
.... 65,913
... 56,855
17,814
... 2,741
.... 4,717
1856
1857
1858
...-4,781
3,232
...5,006....
V/Wj \JJ^f
170,523
138,653
170,860
1870
1871
1872
*o
221
399
... 244
7,933
.... 11,966
8,059
A WJV
1859
1860
1861
1862
jt^^y^
2,254
--2,849
4,339
--3,428
70,409
87,118
116,188
78,010
1873
1874
1875
I,2OI
3,942
3,560
.... 58,082
...193,299
....171,227
Value of the ivory
series of years :
and ivory-ware exported from India for a
1840 ..
70,828
1858
19,805
1867 . ..
1868 ....
1869
85,008
64,575
122,520
1850
1851
1852
1853
1854
1855
56,718
43,086
90,140
55,886
80,895
66,921
1859
1860
98,157
07 126
1861
1862
33,039
120,367
60, 260
1870 ....
1871
108,289
8^,00^
1872 ....
1873 ....
1874
61,918
1864
80, -^os
104,869
127 4O4
1856
82 ^84
1865
77 217
1857 ..
...128,006
1866 ..
.. 02,402
187; ..
.. 80,640
In the last named year the exports were from Bengal ,1,843,
from British Burmah ^2,231, and the remainder from Madras
and Sind.
As illustrations there are in the Animal Products Collection a
fine small elephant's skull with tusks ; nine large ivory tusks, one
weighing 94 Ibs., and many small ones, samples of mammoth
THE IVORY TRADE. 341
ivory, and diseased ivory, ivory anklets and numerous manufac-
turing applications of ivory, with elephants' bones from Siam.
The Ivory Trade. The supply of ivory seems to increase
rather than to diminish. In 1827 we only received 3,000 cwt
Taking the imports in round numbers, in 1840 they were nearly
SIAMESE WAR ELEPHANT.
5,500 cwt. ; in 1850, 9,400 cwt. ; in 1860 nearly 10,000 cwt; in
1870, 12,600 and in 1875, i6> 2 58 cwt. The total quantity of
ivory imported into the United Kingdom in the quarter of a
century ending with 1875 was 267,924 cwt. There is a small
quantity of other ivory than elephants' tusks mixed up with this,
but it is comparatively unimportant, and it would probably not
amount to 8,000 cwt. in the whole period. Now averaging the
342
OUR IMPORTS OF IVORY.
tusks received at only 26 Ibs. each, nearly 21,000 elephants
must have been slaughtered annually, exclusive of what was
shipped elsewhere, or used locally, and supposing some tusks were
cast, some animals died a natural death, and some portion was
fossil ivory, at least 20,000 elephants annually will be within the
mark.
Quantities and value of the ivory imported into the United
Kingdom :
1840
1841
1842
1843
1844
1845
Cwt.
5>469
5,8n
6,429
5,462
5,229
6,402
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863 ..
Cwt.
12,279
10,821
10,854
11,163
11,605
9,290 ..
... 410, 6o&
... 336,147
... 332,166
... 297,491
... 262,962
. 256,0^9
1846
Z-JQ4.
1864
1 1 4.Q7
361 384
1847
6,477
1865 .
10,268
322,286
1848
5,146
1866
11,082 ..
44.C-J7C
1849
1850
1851
1852
1853
iS* 4
7,457
9,396
6,356
9,5 J 5
10,388
Q.2QQ 2^O d2O
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
io,343
9,909
H,599
12,590
12,797
... 360,520
337,403
507,3!9
439,839
... 341,205
^A.8 6(37
1855
i8<;6
8,376 219,964
9,866 .. . 341, 5i7
1873
1874
13,385
n 16?
j4, u yj
... 506,629
C76 QI C
1857
9,890 421,318
1875
16,258
... 772,371
From the following statement of the exports of ivory, it will be
seen that we retain and use up about half the quantity imported.
Quantities and value of the ivory re-exported from the United
Kingdom :
Cwt.
... 5,927 .-.
.. 5,837 -.
... 4,039 ...
1868
1869
1870
1871
202,901
207,505
144,192
196,005
1872
1873
1874
1875
Cwt.
7,703 290,960
5,228 238,548
7,930 366,920
7,546 399,H9
EXTINCT ELEPHANTS. The tusks of the extinct Elephas primi-
genius, or mammoth, have a bolder and more extensive curvature
than those of the Elephas indicus. Some have been found which
EXTINCT ELEPHANTS.
343
describe a circle, but the curve being oblique they thus clear the
head, and point outwards, downwards, and backwards. The
numerous fossil tusks of the mammoth which have been dis-
covered and recorded, may be ranged under two averages of size
the larger ones at nine feet and a-half, the smaller at five feet and
a-half in length. Professor Owen, in his " History of British
HEAD OF INDIAN ELEPHANT.
Fossil Mammals," vol. viii. p. 247, has assigned reasons for the
probability of the latter belonging to the female mammoth, which
must accordingly have differed from the existing elephant of
India, and have more resembled that of Africa in the development
of her tusks ; yet manifesting an intermediate character by their
smaller size.
In the account of the mammoth bones and teeth of Siberia,
344 FOSSIL IVORY.
published in the " Philosophical Transactions " for 1737 (No. 446),
tusks are cited which weighed 200 Ibs. each, " used as ivory to
make combs, boxes, and such other things ; being a little more
brittle, and easily turning yellow by weather and heat." From
that time to the present, there has been little intermission in
the supply of ivory furnished by the tusks of the extinct elephant
of a former world.
This fossil ivory formed one of the earliest articles of export
from Siberia to China. About 20,000 Ibs. of it (that is to say,
the tusks of at least 100 mammoth-elephants), are bartered every
year in New Siberia, so that in a period of 200 years of trade
with that country, the tusks of 20,000 mammoths must have been
disposed of perhaps even twice that number, since only 200 Ibs.
of ivory are calculated as the average weight produced by a pair
of these tusks. As many as ten of these tusks have been found
lying together in the Tundra, weighing from 150 to 300 Ibs. each.
The largest are rarely seen out of the country, many of them
being too rotten to be made use of j while others are so large
that they cannot be carried away, and are sawn up into blocks
or slabs on the spot where they are found, with very considerable
waste, so that the loss of weight in the produce of a tusk before
the ivory comes to market is of no trifling amount. A large
portion of this ivory is used by the nomad tribes in their sledges,
arms, and household implements, and formerly a great quantity
used to be exported to China ; a trade which can be traced back
to a very distant period, for Giovanni de Piano Caspini, a
Franciscan monk sent by Pope Innocent IV. in 1246 into
Tartary, describes a magnificent throne of carved ivory, richly
ornamented with gold and precious stones, belonging to the
Tartar Khan of the Golden Horde, the work of a Russian
jeweller, the slabs of which were so large that they could only
have been cut out of great mammoth tusks.
Notwithstanding the enormous amount already carried away,
the stores of fossil-ivory do not appear to diminish; in many
EXTINCI MAMMOTHS. 345
places, near the mouths of the great rivers flowing into the Arctic
Ocean, the bones and tusks of these antediluvian pachyderms lie
scattered about like the relics of a ploughed-up battle-field ; while
in other parts these creatures of a former world seem to have
huddled together in herds for protection against the sudden
destruction that befell them, since their remains are found lying
together in heaps. In 1821, a hunter from Yakutsk, on the Lena,
found in the New Siberia Islands alone, 500 poods (18,000 Ibs.)
of mammoth tusks, none of which weighed more than 3 poods ;
and this notwithstanding that another hunter on a previous visit
in 1809, had brought away with him 250 poods of ivory from the
same islands. The inhabitants on the mainland, pile up in heaps
the tusks which are found scattered about on the Tundra^ and
convey them in large boats up the Lena. In the period from
1825 to 1831, at least 1,500 poods of 36 Ibs. each reached Yakutsk
yearly. The trade in fossil-ivory at Turuchansk, on the Jenissee,
has for many years past amounted to from 80 to 100 poods annually,
and that of Obidorsk, on the river Obi, to from 75 to 100 poods.
Entire mammoths have occasionally been discovered not only
with the skin (which was protected with a double covering of hair
and wool) entire, but with the fleshy portions of the body in such
a state of preservation, that they have afforded food to dogs and
wild beasts in the neighbourhood of the places where they were
found. They appear to have been suddenly enveloped in ice, or
to have sunk into mud when on the point of congealing, and
which before the process of decay could commence, froze around
the bodies, and has preserved them up to the present time in the
condition in which they perished. It is thus they are occasionally
found when a landslip occurs in the frozen soil of the Siberian
coast, which never thaws, even during the greatest heat of the
summer, to a depth of more than two feet, and in this way, within
a period of a century and a half, five or six of these curious
corpses have come to light from their icy graves.
A very perfect specimen of the mammoth in this state was
346 ECONOMIC USES OF IVORY.
discovered in the autumn of 1865, near the mouth of the Jenissee.
An expedition was dispatched to the spot by the Imperial
Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg, in the summer of 1866,
and the result of that expedition was the disclosure of some
interesting facts in the natural history of a former creation.*
Half-a-ton of this mammoth ivory was sold at the second series
of ivory sales in London in May 1876, and realised from 22 to
^43 per cwt.
Recent examinations on the Yukon river in Alaska, establish the
fact that the fossil-remains of the elephant are even more plentiful
on the west than on the east side of the North Pacific. A supply
of ivory sufficient to last the world for years has thus been met
with.
Ivory is occasionally used now for binding books, but it was
often used in older times to preserve valuable missals, &c.
There is a carved ivory book-cover of the nth century in the
Museum at Berlin. There is also an elaborate carved one of the
same period in the Imperial library at Paris. At Milan is
another carved ivory binding to a copy of the Gospels said to be
even earlier, f
The scrivelloes or small tusks of the elephant, have been occa-
sionally applied to fanciful ornamental uses by the taste and
design of experienced naturalists. Such an instance is afforded
in the cut given on the opposite page of ivory tusks mounted for
the frame-work of a mirror.
Not much use is made in commerce of the elephant's skin. It
has been occasionally tanned as a matter of curiosity. Riding
whips of bleached elephant hide were made for the Duke of
* Mr. Lumley's Consular Report on Russia, 1867.
t Cases 171 and 172 contain various applications of ivory, sections of mam-
moth ivory, sections showing diseased ivory, Chinese carvings, chessmen,
draughtsmen, turned balls, fans, &c. ; Indian ivory inlaid-work, knife-handles,
tablets, brush-backs, combs, hand-mirrors, and other objects of European
turnery work, and handles of knives made from the molar teeth of the
elephant.
FLESH AND HIDE OF THE ELEPHANT. 347
Edinburgh, which had a resemblance to transparent horn. The
stout bristly hair on the elephant's tail is made into rings, bracelets,
and other female ornaments for the natives of India.
In Bruce's " Travels," it is stated, " The Abyssinians cut the
whole of the flesh off the bones of the elephant into thongs, like
the reins of a bridle, and hang these like festoons upon the
branches of trees till they become perfectly dry, without salt, andi
ORNAMENTAL APPLICATION OF SCRIVELLOES OR SMALL TUSKS.
then they lay them up for their provisions in the season of the
rains." Sparmann saw the flesh dried in a similar manner by
the Hottentots and the Boshjesman race.
CHAPTER XII.
PACHYDERMS, OR THICK-SKINNED ANIMALS, AND THEIR
PRODUCTS.
.Swine Great value of the pig Various breeds Our foreign imports
of pigs, bacon, hams, and pork Extent of pig-breeding in the
United States Vast export products Immense slaiigliter-houses
Pigs in Russia Pork as food Trade in lard and lard-oil
Hogskins Bristles Our import trade Russia the chief source
of supply Statistics of Swine in various countries Peccaries or
wild hogs Tapir Rhinoceros Use of its hide and horn Hippo-
potamus Its hide, flesh, and teeth.
SWINE. The pig is, of all domestic animals, that which has
been most modified. The discoloration of the skin, the lessening
of the hair on it, the aptitude for rapid growth and fattening, are
the results of a system of permanent confinement and rich and
.abundant food to which the animal has been submitted for many
centuries. It is killed at from one to two years, according as
there is sufficient food to supply it. After three years the flesh
becomes hard, and the animal gains little in size. According to
age, race, and degree of fatness, the pig when killed may weigh from
1 60 to 600 Ibs., or more in some improved breeds. It is the
animal in which there is the least waste between the dead and
living weight, nearly all the carcase being utilised, the blood, the
skin, the head, and most of the entrails, which are useless in other
animals, serving as food. In highly fattened pigs, the fat consti-
tutes about 27 per cent, of the weight of the animal. The
extent and variety of the commercial products of the hog are
perhaps unsurpassed by any other domestic animal.
His fat is an article in the form of lard, extensively used in
cookery, perfumery, and medicine ; his flesh is prepared for food,
PRODUCTS OF THE PIG.
either fresh, pickled, as salted pork, dried and smoked bacon ; as
hams and shoulders usually smoked ; the head and collar is made
into brawn ; the intestines are used as coverings for sausages ; the
skin or hide is the most general cover for saddles, and is made
into shoes and pocket-books ; the bladder finds use for excluding
air from jars or other vessels, for holding lard, &c. ; the bristles
are extensively used for tooth-brushes, and for brushes of all
shapes and purposes ; in short no part of the hog is useless. The
very hoofs make jelly or glue, and when to this is added the fact y
that his flesh when fresh, is very digestible and nutritious, it forms-
a catalogue of useful products, not yielded by any other animal.
Exclusive of our home produce, the foreign supply of pigs and
their products in 1875 were as follows :
Value.
Live pigs, No. 72,170 255,076
Bacon and Hams cwts. 2,638,875 6,982,470
Bristles Ibs. 2,558,996 419,203
Lard cwts. 540,244 1,634,769
Pork 266,663 590,356
,9,881,874
Besides probably some prepared pig-skins not enumerated.
The enormous increase in the consumption of foreign bacon
and hams is worth special notice. The imports have been as-
follows :
Bacon and Hams. Pork,
cwt. cvvt.
1840 6,181 29,532
1850 352,461 211,254
1860 326,106 I 73>3 2 5
1870 567.164 257,014
1875 2,638,875 266,663
The varieties of the pig are very numerous, and are increased
daily, arising from crossing of breeds, food, climate, care, &c.
No animal is so extensively diffused over the globe, or increases so
rapidly. Marshal Vauban calculated that the produce of a single
sow in ten years, assuming six pigs at a litter, and excluding the
males, would increase to 6,434,130 pigs, or as many as any of the
VARIETIES OF SWINE.
chief European States could support. If this calculation were
carried on to the twelfth generation, we should find they would
people all Europe, and by the sixteenth cover the entire globe.
THE OLD ENGLISH BREED OF HOG.
The Berkshire has long been regarded as one of the superior
breeds of England, combining size with a sufficient aptitude to
THE BERKSHIRE.
fatten, and being well fitted for pork and bacon. It has been
regarded also as the hardiest of the more improved races.
The extremes of domestic swine are the English prize-pig at
the one end, and the pig whose domestic hearth is in the hut of
VARIETIES OF SWINE. 351
the Finn, all the way from St. Petersburg to Archangel, on the
other. This latter is a meagre bony animal only useful for his
bristles and his skin.
On most parts of the Continent English pigs have been
introduced and become thoroughly appreciated. The different
breeds of the numerous English races are now distinguished
into black and white, and these again subdivided into large,
medium and small.
The wild boars of Barbary, Bengal and Scinde, are much
finer animals than those which endure the severity of a northern
winter in the forests of Germany or Russia.
Nature made the pig an animal of great activity and spirit.
Man, in the due exercise of the power which has been conferred
on him of moulding nature to his own convenience, has made
him a creature of flitches and hams. This transforming power
SMALL BREED WHITE PIG, SHOWN AT BEDFORD.*
has been exercised rather wantonly, for of all the loaded animals
which deform our cattle-shows none so outrage delicacy as the im
proved pig. Unless his legs shrink under the weight of his shape-
* From the Agricultural Gazette.
352
TRADE IN PORK IN AMERICA.
less carcase ; unless his belly trails on the ground ; and unless his
eyes are quite closed up by fat, he has no chance of a prize.
North America is the land where breeding swine has been carried
out to the greatest extent. The vastness of the capital engaged
in pig-raising in the United States, may be estimated from the
fact that there were assumed to be, in 1873, 33,630,050 swine,
valued at ^26,750,000 ; and the business is fast increasing.
The total product of pork and bacon was :
Ibs.
4,484,273,334
Consumed by the population 3,608,023,535
Surplus for sale 876,249,799
Products of the hog exported 503, 029, 32 1
Leaving a surplus unutilised of
373,220,478
Among the principal breeds kept are the Suffolk and Chester
whites, and the Essex and Berkshire black.
To give an idea of the progression of this trade, I append the
exports from the United States for a series of years.
Hogs.
No.
Pork.
Barrels.
Bacon and Hams.
Ibs.
Lard.
Ibs.
1820-21
1830-31
1840-41
1850-51
7,885
14,690
7,901
1,030
66,647
51*263
133^90
165,206
1,607,506
1,477,446
2, 794*5 J 7
18,027,302
3,996,561
0,963,516
10,597,654
19,683,082
Shipments of pork from the United States in the last few years :
Ibs.
I870-I 39*250,750
I87I-2 57,169,518
1872-3 64,147,461
1873-4 70,480,384
1874-5 55,152,208
The exports of pork from the port of New York were in
Ibs.
1872 158,194
1873 197,445
1874 178,070
PRODUCTS OF THE PIG. 353
The bacon and hams exported include also a small quantity
of beef. It was stated to be in
Ibs.
1872-3 426,986,933
1873-4 373,441,856
1874-5 298,524,240
It is not so very many years ago that the trade in the products
of the hog was commenced on a small scale by a few bold
speculators in Cincinnati. Selecting the hams and sides of the
animal, they made pickled pork; of the rest they took small
account. Soon, however, the idea occurred to one more acute
than his fellows, that the heads and the feet nay, even the spine
and the vertebrae might be turned to account. Trotters and
cheeks had their partizans, and these parts looked up in the
market. About this time the makers of sausages caught the
inspiration ; they found these luxuries saleable ; and so many pigs
were to be slaughtered, that the butchers were willing to do it for
nothing, that is to say, for the perquisite of the entrails and offal
alone.
The next step was due to the genius of France. A Frenchman
established a brush manufactory, and created a market for the
bristles ; but his ingenuity was outdone by one of his countrymen,
who soon after arrived. This man was determined, it seems, to
share the spoil ; and, seeing nothing else left, collected the fine
hair or wool, washed, dried, and cured it, and stuffed mattresses
with it. But he was mistaken in thinking nothing else left. As
but little was done with the lard, they invented machines and
squeezed oil out of it ; the refuse they threw away. Mistaken
men again ! This refuse was the substance of stearine candles,
and made a fortune to the discoverer of that secret. Lastly came
one who could press chemistry to the service of mammon. He
saw the blood of countless swine flow through the gutters of the
city ; it was all that was left of them, but it went to his heart to
see it thrown away. He pondered long ; and then, collecting the
354 SLAUGHTER OF PIGS IN AMERICA.
stream into reservoirs, made prussiate of potass from it by the ton.
The pig at last was used up.
If we look at the progress of the pig slaughtering trade in Cin-
cinnati, we are struck by the remarkable progress made. In
1833 only 85,000 hogs were killed there; in 1847 the number
had increased to 250,000; in the season of 1862, 598,452 were
killed, the average weight of each being 203 Ibs. and the yield of
lard from each 25 Ibs. ; in the season of 1872 it was 630,301.
The Mississippi Valley is the great seat of the trade in pork-
packing which takes in the States of Illinois, Ohio, Missouri,
Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, and a few others. The average number
killed during the winter season (which extends from November i
to March i) is about 5,500,000.
The chief slaughtering towns are Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis,
and Indianopolis. If we take the largest central town Chicago,
we find that the hogs received in 1875 were 3,912,110 against
4,259,629 in 1874; those received killed numbered 1,781,876,
the average net weight of the hogs was 21,242 Ibs. The total
yield of lard obtained was 197,038 tierces, being an average of
37*30 Ibs. per hog. There were shipped 89,646,605 Ibs. of bacon
middles; 36,015,801 Ibs. of hams, and 31,344,345 Ibs. of green
and dry salted shoulders. The price of the bacon hogs ranged
from 6 1 to 7^ dollars each. The total value of the hogs received
in Chicago in 1875 was nearly ^13, 7 00,000.
There are two seasons termed respectively the winter packing
and the summer packing. The following shows the number
packed in the winter season for the several States which carry on
this business :
States. Number.
Ohio 886,264
Illinois 1,834,218
Indiana 610,482
Kentucky 333, 706
Tennessee 39,86o
Missouri 890,679
Iowa 350,087
LARGE SLAUGHTERING HOUSES. 355
States. Number.
Kansas 49, 1 79
Nebraska 20,835
Wisconsin 25,320
Minnesota 33 I >635
West Virginia 4,000
Michigan 54? 9^9
Pittsburgh, Pa 20,000
Atlanta, Ga. ,. 4,75
Total 5,456,004
The average gross weight of the pigs was 289^ Ibs. ; the mean
price per 100 Ibs. gross $3.78. The aggregate gross weight was
1,579,568,854 Ibs. and deducting the usual abatement of 20 per
cwt., 1,263,655,084 Ibs. To this has to be added the summer
packing stated at 118,675,914 Ibs.
At Cincinnati in 1866 the average net weight of each pig,
without the entrails, was 238 Ibs. ; 354,079 were brought in alive,
and at Chicago 1,410,520 ; and at St. Louis 191,899.
The slaughtering and packing -establishments at Chicago are on
an extensive and very complete scale and worked by steam.
With incredible rapidity the animal is lifted, killed, washed,
scraped, brushed, gutted, cleaned and dismembered. Each part
salted or smoked is then put into boxes or barrels, and is ready to
be sent into commerce. From 1000 to 2000 pigs can thus be
despatched daily in single establishments. These operations can
be carried on throughout the year, except at periods of excessive
frost.
The building and appurtenances calculated for dispatching two
thousand hogs per day, are thus described in an American agricul-
tural periodical: The hogs, being confined in pens adjacent,
are driven, about twenty at a time, up an inclined bridge or passage,
opening by a doorway at top into a square room, just large enough
to hold them ; and as soon as the outside door is closed, a man
enters from an inside door, and, with a hammer of about two
pounds weight, and three feet length of handle, by a single blow
aimed between the eyes, knocks each hog down so that scarce a
356 MODE OF KILLING PIGS.
squeal or grunt is uttered. In the- meantime, a second apartment
adjoining this is being filled ; so the process continues. Next a
couple of men seize the stunned ones by the legs and drag them
through the inside doorway on to the bleeding platform, where
each receives a thrust of a keen blade in the throat, and a torrent
of blood runs through the latticed floor. After bleeding for a
minute or two, they are slid off this platform directly into the
scalding vat, which is about twenty feet long, six wide, and three
deep, kept full of water heated by steam, and so arranged that
the- temperature is easily regulated. The hogs, being slid into
one end of this vat, are pushed slowly along by men standing on
each side with short poles, turning them over so as to secure
uniform scalding, and moving them outward so that each one
will reach the opposite end of the vat in about two minutes from
the time it entered. About ten hogs are usually passing through
the scalding process at one time. At the exit end of the vat is a
contrivance for lifting them out of the scalding water, two at a
time, unless quite large, by the power of one man operating a
lever, which elevates them to the scraping table. This table is
about five feet wide and twenty-five feet long,, and has eight or
nine men arranged on each side, and usually has as many hogs
on it at a time, each pair of men performing a separate part of
the work Q removing the bristles and hair. Thus, the first pair
of men remove the bristles only, such as are worth saving for
brush-makers, taking only a double handful from the back of each
hog, which is deposited in a barrel or box. The hog is then
given a single turn onward to the next pair, who, with scrapers,
remove the hair from one side, then turn it over to the next pair,
who scrape the other side ; the next scrape the head and legs :
the next shave one side with sharp knives, the next do the same
to the other side, and the next the head and legs and each pair
of men have to perform their part of the work in twelve seconds
of time, or at the rate of five hogs in a minute, for three or four
hours at a time ! Arrived at the end of this table with the hair
PROCESS OF PREPARATION. 357
all removed, a pair of men put in the gambril stick, and swing
the carcase off on the wheel. This wheel is about ten feet in
diameter, and revolves on a perpendicular shaft, reaching from
the floor to the ceiling, the height of the wheel being about six
feet from the floor. Around its periphery are placed eight large
hooks, about four feet apart, on which the hogs are hung to be
dressed ; and here again we find remarkable despatch secured
by the division of labour. As soon as the hog is swung from the
table on to one of these hooks, the wheel is given a turn one-
eighth of its circuit, which brings the next hook to the table, and
carries the hog a distance of four feet, where a couple of men
stand ready to dash on it a bucket of clean water, and scrape it
down with knives, to remove the loose hair and dirt that may
have come from the table. The next move of the wheel carries
it four feet further, where another man cuts open the hog almost
in a single second of time, and removes the larger intestines, or
such as have no fat on them worth saving, and throws them on to
a large table behind him, where four or five men are engaged in
separating the fat and other parts of value another move and a
man dashes a bucket of clean water inside, and washes off any
filth or blood that may be seen. This completes the cleaning or
dressing process and each man at the wheel has to perform his
part of the work in twelve seconds of time, as there are only five
hogs at once hanging on the wheel, and this number are removed,
and as many added, every minute. The number of men em-
ployed, besides drivers outside, is fifty j so that each man may be
said to kill and dress one hog every ten minutes of working time,
or forty in a day. At the last move of the wheel, a stout fellow
shoulders the carcase, while another removes the gambril-stick,
and backs it off to the other part of the house, where they are
hung up for twenty-four hours to cool, on hooks placed in rows
on each side of the beams just over a man's head* Here are
space and hooks sufficient for two thousand hogs, or a full day's
work at killing. The next day, or when cool, they are taken by
658 PIG TRADE OF RUSSIA.
teams to the packing-house, where the weighing, cutting, storing,
and packing, are all accomplished in the same rapid and systema-
tic manner.
The importance of the products of the hog in America are
shown by the exports in 1875 which were as follows, from the
principal American ports and Montreal.
Pork, barrels 223,,8o3
Bacon and hams, Ibs 184^502,606
Lard, Ibs 166,402,584
There was also made 8,552,583 gallons of lard oil in the States,
worth 7,701,900 dollars.
Passing now to another great pig producing country, we find
that as regards the number of swine, Russia stands first among
the European States, the German Empire, Austria, and France,
ranking next in succession. The indigenous races reared in
Russia are the short-eared or native, the long pendant-eared, the
tridactyle pig, and the breeds of Caucacus and Siberia.
The short-eared race is not a beneficial one. Its head is
massive, legs long, and body covered with hair; an adult pig
furnishing about one pound of bristles. It fatter s but slowly and
does not attain its full development till its third year, gives a fair
quality of lard, but the flesh is meagre and bad. Its ordinary
weight when fattened is from 200 to 360 Ibs. The Finnish or
lop-eared pig is principally raised in the western part of Russia.
It exceeds the common short-eared race in size and will fatten up
to 540 and 720 pounds. It is more costly to fatten but yields in
return a better quality of meat and a larger amount of lard.
The pigs of the Caucasus have also long pendant ears, and are
generally of a black colour. They are very prolific, the sows pro-
ducing 10 to 1 8 at a^ litter. In the Russian villages the pigs are
left to roam at perfect liberty, seeking their food in the woods,
fields, or streets, and it is only in rigorous winters that they are
enclosed in pens and fed. Fattening is only carried on in the
CONSUMPTION OF PORK IN FRANCE. 359
vicinity of large manufactories of starch, beet-root sugar, and oil,
or distilleries.
Of late years there has been an export of swine carried on from
Russia. The average amount in numbers between 1869 and 1872
was 336,205 ; but in 1873 it rose to 689,000, and in 1874 to
845,000, valued at about $os. each.
The consumption of all the products of the hog is very large in
France, the business of the charcutier being much more extended
than in England, and of these shops there are no less than 700 in
Paris. At the annual ham fair held in that city on three days
in Lent, the quantity of bacon, hams, and sausages, brought for
sale reaches an amount of 500 tons. The number of pigs sold
in the Paris markets is about 250,000 annually.
Pork is the meat principally consumed in France and most of
the countries of Europe. It requires all the care and judgment of
the producers, however, to rear a variety of pig which combines
a quantity of good flesh with firmness of fat suited to form the
nutritive food of man at the least possible outlay.
Most of the country people eat only pork. Some localities will
not touch mutton, and others do not like beef, but there is not a
village, a hamlet, or a cottage, where pork is not the ordinary food
every day of the year. It is with pork that the daily soup is made,
and with its fat or lard that nearly all vegetables are cooked. The
peasant prefers to sell his milk and butter, and depend upon the
fat of his pig for the wants of his household. There are, in France,
two or three million heads of families or households, and it is
within the mark to state that nearly every one of these consumes
at least, one pig a year, indeed many kill three, four, or five a year ;
hence instead of there being only five or six million pigs, it is
probable that there are double that number. The French race
of pigs is found to suit best the special wants of the people, pro-
ducing a firmer fat, which does not waste in cooking, and hence is
better fitted for the requirements of the French kitchen. In the
French jury reports of the Exhibition of 1867, M. Reynal, the
360 LARD BLADDERS.
reporter, asserts that in a pig weighing 160 Ibs. the English pig
will only yield 50 Ib. of meat, while a French pig of the same
weight would give double, and better suited to the several pur-
poses of the pork butcher.
The famous Hungarian pork sausages or salami, as big as a
man's arm, are largely consumed throughout the Austrian empire.
Hungary supplies a great quantity of bacon and lard to the whole
of Europe. But the pigs run to fat very much and are long in the
leg, and many of them are so useless for food purposes that in
some establishments in Pesth half-a-million are annually boiled
down for their lard alone.
Lard. The melted fat of the pig forms a very extensive article
of commerce as well as of home consumption in many countries.
The melting of lard preserves it without using salt or any other
antiseptic, simply because the pure lard is contained in very minute
meshes or cells, and this cellular membrane being the parts that
putrify, any process which will destroy or burst them while they
are yet sweet, so that the lard may be collected separately, is all
that is necessary for its curing or preservation.
The application of heat has been found the simplest and most
effective mode of bursting these cells. Melting in a cast-iron pan
is the most usual way ; but in consequence of the liability to
scorch or singe, melting by steam has been lately introduced, but
steamed lard is not so certain to keep sweet, owing, no doubt, to
the cells being imperfectly burst ; the heat of the steam not being
intense enough for the purpose. Fire melting can be managed
with entire safety under a proper system.
Bladders are a good deal used for holding small quantities of
lard. Pigs' bladders are the largest produced and run in more
uniform sizes than calves' and bullocks' bladders. It is important
that the bladders should be well cleaned by scraping and the use
of acids, so that they may be tolerably transparent.*
* A good collection of bladders and their uses is shown in the Waste
Products Collection of the Museum.
COMMERCE IN LARD. 361
The leaf-lard and trimming, together with the heads and fat
and such other parts as are not useful for packing, are placed in large
high tanks and heated by high pressure steam for some hours,
until the lard is completely set free. The lard is then drawn off,
clarified, and cooled ; the leaf-lard is, of course, kept separate
from the rest, being much more valuable. The second quality of
lard is used for the production of lard oil, while the third quality
or that made from such trimmings as have become slightly tainted,
is used in the production of the lower grades of oil or for
making soap. All hogs that die on the railway cars are also
rendered and converted into the lower grade of grease or
grease-oil. The refuse bone and meat from the rendering tanks,
the internal organs, and the blood, are used in the manufacture
of fertilisers.
The exports of lard from the United States have been as
follows in the past five years.
Ibs.
1870-71 80,037,297
1871-72 199,651,660
1872-73 230,534,207
1873-74 204,327,536
1874-75 166,859,168
Most of this is shipped from the port of New York.
The exports from that port were in 1872, 173,736,353 Ibs. ; in
1873, l8 4,i75>5 681bs - ; and m l8 74, r 39>9 82 >079 lbs -
The greater part of this lard is sent to England and the West
Indies. The quantity received in the United Kingdom has been
yearly increasing. The imports were, in
cwts.
1841 6,226
1851 120,409
1861 324,691
cwts.
1871 477,568
1875 540,244
The value of the lard received here in 1875 was ;i, 634,769.
Much of the American lard is exported to the Havana where it
is used instead of butter. The lard oil is said to be used in the
362 LARD OILHOGSKINS.
Eastern States to adulterate spermaceti oil and in France to lower
the price of olive oil, from 65 to 70 per cent, being often mixed
with the olive oil without detection. The impure lard and the
fat extracted from diseased animals and from the offal is used in
the manufacture of soap.
Lard Oil is now made to a considerable extent, and has many
economic uses. The lard in woollen bags is placed between the
plates of immense hydraulic presses, and left about 18 hours
under a pressure of from 100 to 150 tons. By this means the
oil is expressed in a very pure and fluid state.
In Cincinnati alone there are more than forty manufactories of
lard oil, which make about 1,500,000 gallons of oil, and 5,200,000
Ibs. of stearine for candles. Glycerine is also now largely made.
The lard is heated with water at 662 to 720 Fahr., by
which the glycerine is separated from the fatty acids, and about
500,000 Ibs. are made annually by two or three establish-
ments.
Hogskins, besides their use for saddles, are prepared for leg-
gings, portmanteaus, bags, and other purposes. The best curried
fetch from 16^. to 30^., the second quality 13^. to 15^.
Bristles. After wool and silk one of the most important of
the animal fibres we import is bristles. From 1840 to 1854, the
average quantity of bristles imported into Great Britain ranged
from 1,533,000 Ibs. (the lowest), in 1842, to 3,237,000 Ibs. (the
highest), in 1853. Since that period, the average quantity received
has been about 2,500,000 Ibs. We have begun even to import
bristles from such a distant region as China. The declared value
of the bristles annually imported into the United Kingdom in
1874 and 1875 was ^420,000. The supply of bristles comes not
in bulk from the United States or any part of America, north or
south, where they want flexibility not from Great Britain, where
swine by intermixing and crossing, have lost in the value of their
clothing what they have gained in the delicacy of their flesh
not from France or southern Europe *ior from many of the
RUSSIAN BRISTLES. 363
German States where they yield, in the one case, too long a bristle,
in the other too short and rigid, and hence have for many years
been thrown out of the market not even from Poland, whose
immense woods furnish mast and acorns for herds of swine, but
whose bristles, once in demand, either from natural deterioration
or careless curing, have now fallen dead upon the market. The
trade, indeed in bristles, is both American and English ; and these
two nations hold its monopoly, but not its supply. It is upon
Russia that the whole world is now mainly dependent for this
most important household necessary and valuable article of
commerce. In the interminable forests of Northern Muscovy,
where, for thousands of square miles, the country is covered with
pine and larches, oaks and beeches, birch trees and rowans, and
the ground littered knee deep with cones, acorns and berries, the
swineherd tends his half wild animals, that swarm in almost in-
credible numbers, and drives them to water and feed. But not
all of these are of value for their clothing. The perfect bristle is
found only upon a special race, and that race fattened in a certain
way. On the frontiers of civilisation, all over the Muscovite
territory, are large government tallow factories, where animals,
reared too far from the habitations of men to be consumed for
human food, are boiled down for the sake of their fat. The
swine are fed on the refuse of these tallow factories at certain
seasons, and become in prime condition after a few months' feed-
ing. It is from these animals that the bristles of commerce mainly
come.
Russia has long been celebrated for the quantity and quality of
its bristles. The best are obtained from the common rustic pigs,
those in fact which approach nearest to their savage parent, the
wild boar. The finest are those taken from the dorsal spine of
the animal. The largest quantity of bristles are obtained from
the central governments, principally those of the north. Those
of Siberia and of Sarapoul in the government of Viatka, are noted
for furnishing the best. The average price is from ^7 roj.-to-
364 THE TRADE IN BRISTLES.
j. the poud of 36 Ib. The average amount exported reaches
114,440 pouds of the value of about ,1,000,000.
France furnishes to commerce a large quantity of bristles, about
2,000,000 Ibs. from her native swine (about 850 grammes from
each pig); this includes the bristles obtained by plucking and
scalding hogs in Midi, Brittany, and La Champagne, the total
value being estimated at about i % million francs.
French bristles, whether produced in France or only cleansed
there, bear the highest reputation in the market. They are white
as wool, soft as an infant's hair, firm to the touch and exceedingly
elastic. From these are made the brushes of the artist, and the
pencils of the skilled painter and decorator. Bristles arrive in
casks. They are tied in bundles, and packed with care. Length,
elasticity, firmness and colour are the elements that constitute
their excellence. The bristle expert selects those of six inches
long to make up his class. Above seven will not do. The nine
and ten inch bristles lack toughness. Length being settled,
elasticity is next looked for. A single brush upon the hand and
a glance into the bundle are enough. Colour then comes in.
The dark go into one class, the brown to a second, the white to a
third. Bristles may be bleached by remaining two or three days
in a saturated solution of sulphurous acid in water ; most kinds
can be bleached by merely moistening them and exposing them
to the air, or by moistening them with very dilute sulphuric acid
and exposing them to the sun. It is curious that what is con-
sidered the meanest employment for the article should have
put value upon the choicest selection. The cobbler's bristle
rises in value above all others. The price of bristles steadily
advances, the range being from is. to 7 s. per Ib. ; the demand is
beyond the supply.
At Konigsberg, in 1870, the transactions in bristles amounted to
500,000 Ib. ; half of these were produced in the province, and
half came from Russia. About 100 men and women are employed
there in assorting the raw material into the following classifica-
SWINE IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES.
365
tions : First and second grey crown, first and second white crown,
white and grey shoemakers', and white and grey long.*
Our imports of bristles in 1875 came from the following
countries, in the proportions named :
Ibs.
Russia 1,243,966
Germany 769,873
Holland 288,127
Belgium 44,643
France 99, 109
United States , 38,730
Other countries 74,548
Value.
189,610
149,174
43,581
8, 1 80
15,239
4,807
8,612
2,55 8 ,996 419,203
Statistics of SWINE in various countries according to the latest
official returns.
EUROPE.
Reunion . . 1874,
71,490
Russia . . .
1876,
11,694,000
Mauritius . . 1875,
30,318
Sweden . .
1873,
421,795
Norway . . .
1865,
100,000
AMERICA AND WEST
INDIES.
Denmark .
1874,
450,000
United States . . 1875,
28,062,200
German Empire .
1873,
7,124,088
British America . 1871,
1,425,014
Saxony
1867,
325,564
Uruguay . . 1874,
100,000
Holland . .
1873,
360,258
Argentine Republic 1870,
170,000
Belgium
1866,
632,301
French Guiana . 1874,
5,3H
France . . .
1876,
5,889,000
Falkland Islands . 1875,
6,000
Portugal
1870,
776,868
Jamaica . . . 1870,
9,086
Spain . . .
1865,
4,264,817
Other British West
Italy .
1874,
1,574,582
India Islands . 1874,
20,000
Austria Proper .
1871,
2,551,473
Guadaloupe . . 1874,
12,123
Hungary . .
1870,
3,692,788
Martinique . . 1874,
15,352
Switzerland
Greece . . .
1866,
1867,
304,428
c "5,776
AUSTRALASIA.
Great Britain
1876,
*?*?> / /
2,293,717
New South Wales 1875,
219,958
Ireland . . .
1875,
1,249,235
Queensland . . 1874,
42,884
Malta and Gozo .
1860,
4,500
Victoria . . 1875,
i37,94i
South Australia . 1875,
78,019
AFRICA.
Western Australia 1875,
13,290
Cape Colony . .
1875,
110,489
Tasmania . .1875,
51,468
Natal . .
1875,
11,317
New Zealand . . 1874,
123,741
* Case 95 contains a good assortment of the bristles of commerce and of the
other hairs used in brush-making, such as badger, camel, goat's hair, etc.,
while in Case 96, applications of the bristly spines of the porcupine are shown
in a writing stand, pen holders, etc.
366 PECCARIES TAPIR.
The wild hogs of Brazil (Dicotyles labiatus and D. torquatus]
live in herds of sometimes as many as sixty individuals. The
flesh is one of the best of Brazilian game.
The peccaries of America are, however, much inferior to the
wild hogs of Europe and Asia as an article of food, and are said
to be only made palatable by the removal, immediately after death,
of a singular dorsal gland which is found above the posterior
vertebrae.
The hide of the TAPIR (Tapirus Ameri<;anus),when tanned,
makes excellent boot soles, and is highly prized by the Indians
for the manufacture of shields. The durability and resistance of
this hide is proverbial. The flesh, when roasted, closely re-
sembles beef, and is even compared to veal, especially if it be
young. The fatty protuberance on the nape of the neck is
alleged to be a delicacy worthy of the table of a modern Lucullus.
The feet and cheeks, boiled to a jelly, are also considered
delicious.
RHINOCEROS. Prof. W. H. Flower, F.R.S., lately read a
paper before the Zoological Society on some cranial and dental
characters of the existing species of rhinoceroses. It gave the
result of the examination of fifty-three skulls of rhinoceroses,
contained in the Museum of the College of Surgeons and the
British Museum, and described the principal characteristics of the
five forms under which they could all be arranged, viz. : i. Rhino-
ceros unicornis, Linn, (including R. stenocephalus. Gray); 2. Rhino-,
ceros sondaicus, Cuv. (including R. Floweri and R. nasalis of
Gray); 3. Ceratorhinus Sumatrensis, Cuv. (including C. niger,
Gray); 4. Atelodus bicornis, Linn, (including A. keitlon, A. Smith);
5. Atelodus stums, Burchell. It was also shown that the skull of a
rhinoceros, lately received at the British Museum from Borneo,
was that of a two-horned species not distinguishable from C.
Sumatrensis.
The African species have two horns, the Indian, with the
exception of the Sumatra species, but one horn.
SPECIES OF RHINOCEROS. 367
Dr. Earth mentions having often met with the rhinoceros in
Central Africa, but only in the eastern part of the country.
Livingstone notices the Kouabaoba or straight-horned rhino-
ceros (R. Oswellii) which is a variety of the white (R. simns,
Burchell). Although four species of the rhinoceros are enumerated
by Dr. Smith, Livingstone is of opinion that there are only two,
and that the other supposed species consists simply of a difference
in size, age, and direction of the horns.
The rhinoceros must at one time have been very numerous in
the Cape Colony. There are still a great many in the north-
eastern part of Great Namaqualand, the northern part of the
Kalitari and Bitchouanaland, and the country along the Limpopo.
There are said to be four distinct species : i. The Rhinoceros
.Africanus, the common black rhinoceros with two horns of
unequal length, once roaming in the immediate vicinity of Cape
Town ; 2. the Rhinoceros Keitloa or black rhinoceros with two
horns of nearly equal length ; 3. the Rhinoceros simus or common
white rhinoceros ; and 4, the Rhinoceros Oswellii, or long-horned
white rhinoceros, the most rare of all.
Of the hide of the rhinoceros (as well as of the hippopotamus)
the Dutch Boers make a sort of horse-whip known by the name
of jambok. They first of all cut the hide into long strips three
inches in breadth which are hung up to dry with a heavy weight
appended to them. When thoroughly stretched and dry, these
strips are again cut into three divisions, then tapered and
rounded with a plane, and a polish given with a piece of grass,
which renders them semi-transparent like horn. A jelly from the
skin is much esteemed in China and Siam, and a good gelatine is
also made with the feet of the rhinoceros.
The illustration on the next page represents a carved rhinoceros
horn from Siam, shown at the London International Exhibition
of 1862.
There are in the Animal Products Collection of the Bethnal
Green Museum, in Case 169, sections of rhinoceros horn and
368 HIDE AND HORN OF THE RHINOCEROS.
examples of its commercial applications formed into tazzas,
umbrella handles, walking sticks, whips, and other uses.
There is also a good skull with the horn in situ of the Indian
rhinoceros and three specimens of horns of the rhinoceros of
CARVED RHINOCEROS HORN, SIAM.
different sizes. These horns are not attached to the bone, but
merely rest upon it. They are composed wholly of horny matter,
and this is disposed in longitudinal fibres ; so that the horn
seems rather, as Prof. Owen observes, to consist of coarse bristles
USES OF RHINOCEROS HORN. 369
compactly matted together in the form of a more or less elongated
sub-compressed cone.
When turned in the lathe and fashioned into drinking-cups,
these are held in high repute in Southern Africa by the colonists.
The Dutch Boers firmly believe, according to the ancient creed,
that if any noxious fluid were poured into a cup of this descrip-
tion, it would instantly foam and boil over the brim. Captain
Burton in his " Central Africa " says :
" The gargetan (karkadan ?), or small black rhinoceros with a
double horn, is as common as the elephant in the interior. The
price of the horn is regulated by its size ; a small specimen is to
be bought for one jembe or iron hoe. When large the price is
doubled. Upon the coast a lot fetches from six to nine dollars
per frasilah, which at Zanzibar increases to from eight to twelve
dollars. Th inner barbarians apply plates of the horn to hel-
comas and ulcerations, and they cut it into bits, which are bound
with twine round the limb. Large horns are imported through
Bombay to China and Central Asia, where it is said the people
convert them into drinking cups, which sweat if poison be admin-
istered in them ; thus they act like the Venetian glass of our
ancestors and are as highly prized as that eccentric fruit, the coco
de mer. The Arabs of Muscat and Yemen cut them into sword-
hilts, dagger-hafts, tool-handles, and small boxes for tobacco and
other articles. They greatly prize and will pay twelve dollars per
frasilah, for the spoils of the kobaoba, or long-horned white
rhinoceros, which, however, appears mo longer to exist in the
latitudes westward of Zanzibar island."
A long perfect horn sometimes sells in China as high as ,20,
but those that come from Africa do not usually fetch above 6
or >^7 each. The principal use of these horns is in medicine and
for amulets, for only one good cup can be carved from the end of
each horn, and consequently the parings and fragments are all
preserved.
3^ tons of these horns were imported into London in 1874.
370 THE HIPPOPOTAMUS.
Good sound rhinoceros horns of 28 to 32 inches long will fetch
4s. to 5J-. per Ib. ; smaller ones, from 13 to 25 inches long, io#,
to is. 6d. per Ib.
HIPPOPOTAMUS. This thick-skinned animal (Hippopotamus am-
phibius) is a native of Africa, and is well known now to most
persons by the specimens to be seen in the Zoological Gardens,
Regent's Park. It is popularly termed the sea-cow by the Dutch
HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBIUS.
settlers of Southern Africa. The interest attaching to this animal
from an economic point of view is rather limited, being chiefly
confined to a local use of its skin and flesh in Africa and the
limited application of its powerful teeth or tusks as a substitute
for true ivory.
Livingstone found the Kafue river (in 16) full of hippopotami,
the young being perched on the necks of their dams. About a
thousand of these large animals must have been slaughtered
yearly to meet the demand for this ivory.
The flesh of the hippopotamus is delicate and succulent. The
layer of fat next the skin makes excellent bacon, technically
denominated hippopotamus " speck " at the Cape. Dr. Schwein-
furth says that when boiled, hippopotamus fat is very similar to
pork lard, though in the warm climate of Central Africa it never
attains a consistency firmer than that of oil. Of all animal fats it
appears to be the purest, and, at any rate, never becomes rancid,
and will keep for many years without requiring any special process
HIDE AND TEETH OF HIPPOPOTAMUS. 371
of clarifying ; it has, however, a slight flavour of train-oil to which
it is difficult for a European to become accustomed. The hide is
in some parts two inches thick, and not much unlike that of the
wild boar. The hide of a full grown hippopotamus is sufficiently
heavy to load a camel.* From the hide are made most punishing
whips, of which a few have occasionally appeared in the shops of
London.
Dr. Schweinfurth states that several hundred Nile whips or kur-
tyatches can be made from the hide of a single hippopotamus, and
these are in great demand in Egypt. By a proper application of
oil, heat, and friction, they may be made as flexible as gutta percha.
The fresh skin is easily cut crosswise into long quadrilateral strips,
and when half dry the edges are trimmed with a knife, and the
strips are hammered into the round whips, as though they were
iron beaten on an anvil. The length of these much dreaded
" knouts " of the South is represented by half the circumference
of the body of the hippopotamus, the stump end of the whip,
which is about as thick as one's finger, corresponding to the skin
on the back, whilst the point is the skin of the belly.
Hippopotamus teeth were in former years largely in demand
by dentists to make artificial teeth, and as much as 30^. per pound
was paid for fine tusks ; the dentine is very hard and dense, and
contains less organic matter than the ivory of the elephant or the
tusk of the walrus. Mineral teeth, however, have almost exclu-
sively replaced those made of this substance. Some seven or eight
tons of hippopotamus teeth used to be imported yearly, but they
fetch a very low price now \s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. per Ib. When great
delicacy is required, this dentine, however, is found more suitable
for carvings than the ivory of the elephant, and is much used in
France for this purpose, especially in the manufacture of fine
* There are, in the Animal Collection of the Museum, samples of dried
rhinoceros hide and elephant's skin, from Siam, in Case 140; and strong
shooting shoes made of thick boar's hide. And on the south wall a wild boar
hide for a shield, which took two years' tanning. Under the stairs, there are
part of a tanned rhinoceros hide and a hippopotamus hide.
B B 1
372 HIPPOPOTAMUS TUSKS.
brooches. Pausanius (viii. 46) mentions the statue of Dindymene,
whose face was carved out of these teeth instead of elephant ivory.
The tusks of the hippopotamus, like the incisors of the rodents,
are maintained of a certain definite shape by being opposed to one
another, but the tusks of the walrus and of the elephant, as it
would seem through the absence of opposing teeth, acquire pro-
portionately greater length, exhibiting, indeed, the largest size to
which teeth attain in the animal kingdom.
There is a fine skull of the hippopotamus, and several of the
canine tusks and incisors shown in the Museum Collection, on the
west wall.
CHAPTER XIII.
AQUATIC MAMMALS.
Sirenia Dugongs Whales and the whale fishery Products of the
fishery Changes in the trade Its great decline Whalebone
Spermaceti Ambergris Whale-oil The Narwhal or sea-uni-
corn The common Dolphin Porpoise White Whale Por-
poise-oil Porpoise-leather.
HERBIVOROUS MARINE MAMMALS. The eastern representa-
tive of the family of Sirenia is the DUGONG (Halicore Indicus^
Desm. ; Trichechus Dugong, Gmel. ; H. Atistralis, Owen and Gray;
Halicore Dugong, F. Cuvier ; Dugungus Indicus, Less and Hamil-
ton). It is distributed over the Indian Ocean, common in shoals,
on the coasts of Ceylon, Aripore and the Bay of Calpentyn to
Adam's Bridge. It is also found along the eastern coast of
Australia from the Tweed to Cape York. The dugong is the
principal of the herbivorous cetacea, subsisting entirely on a
species of sea-grass which grows in those shallow waters, which
are its regular feeding grounds.
Professor Owen remarks, "the whole of the internal structure
in the herbivorous cetacea differs as widely from that of the
carnivorous cetacea as do their habits; the amount of variation
is as great as well could be in animals of the same class, existing
in the same great deep. The junction of the dugongs and mana-
tees with the true whales cannot, therefore, be admitted in a
distribution of animals according to their organization. With
much superficial resemblance, they have little real or organic
resemblance to the walrus, which exhibits an extreme modification
of the amphibious carnivorous type. I conclude, therefore, that
the dugong and its congeners must either form a group apart, or
374 , HERBIVOROUS MARINE MAMMALS.
be joined, as in the classification of M. de Blainville, with the
pachyderms, with which the herbivorous cetacea have most
affinity."
The upper lip is very large and thick, and both are covered
with a hard horny substance, which aids the animal in tearing up
the submarine weeds which are its food. The eyes are small, like
most others of the whale tribe, and the ears very minute. They
usually frequent the ocean inlets, where their food most abounds,
browsing on them like an ox eating up the grass. In size
these animals seldom exceed 14 feet in length. The fatty oil is
obtained from the adipose matter of the cellular substance under
the skin. It is free from any odour, and when well refined, is
clear and limpid. At low temperatures it nearly becomes thick,
and loses its fluidity.
The dugong is an inhabitant of the Indian Ocean, and is found
principally amongst the islands of the Archipelago, and the north-
eastern coast of Australia. As far as we are aware, they are not met
with south of Moreton Bay, and even there they are not by any
means as numerous as in the bays and shallows farther north. In
the waters of Wide, Hervey, and Rodds' .Bays they are far more
numerous. But their chief habitat is the tropics. There they
may be found at all seasons of the year in almost incredible num-
bers, coming in and going out with the tide, just like huge mobs
of cattle at a mustering on a large cattle-station. Dugongs being
obliged to come to the surface to breathe, are rarely found in deep
water, but usually in from two to four fathoms, where grow the
grass and weed which are their sole food.
In length they vary from six to fifteen feet, the average probably
being about nine feet. The weight of an ordinary specimen will
be from four to six hundredweight, although we have heard of
individuals weighing something like a ton, and producing no less
than twenty gallons of purified oil. Directly behind their peculiar
flippers are situated the mammae, or breasts, which are not of very
large proportions. The young are born singly, and are known as
THE DUGONGS.
375
"calves." When killed and opened, a dugong is about the size
and appearance of a bullock, except that the skin is thicker, the
fat more like that of the pig, and that the tail part assumes the
shape of that of a fish.
376 FLESH OF THE DUGONG.
The skeleton of one forwarded to Europe from Australia some
years ago measured eleven feet in length.
The flesh is excellent, tasting more like beef than fish. Gumilla
states that the flesh of those of the Orinoco, when roasted, has the
flavour of pork and the taste of veal, and when salted makes ex-
cellent sea-store. The dugong is considered by the Malays as a
royal fish, and the king is entitled to all that are taken. The flesh
is highly prized, and considered by them as superior to that of the
buffalo or cow.
The dugong, or sea-hog, locally called " Mooda Hoora," is
sometimes met with in shoals on the western coast of Ceylon.
When captured, the flesh of this cetacean sells there at half-a-
crown for a small piece of less than a pound in weight. It is
esteemed a great delicacy by the Mahometans, who naturally seek
a compensation in this dish for the prohibition under which they
suffer respecting the porcine type terrestrial.
The flesh of the dugong is much relished by the blacks.
Dr. Kelaart, of Ceylon, says it is far from being disagreeable,
and is not unlike pork.
They are caught about the Straits Settlements, eight or nine
feet long. Leguat, an old author, writing nearly 150 years ago,
says they were met with in shoals of 300 or 400 around the
Isle of France or Mauritius, and that they were sometimes twenty
feet long.
Dugong bacon has become an article of sale at Maryborough,
Queensland, and is described as being, when properly cured, a
relishing article of diet, more especially for the breakfast table.
It is said to have the flavour of good bacon with just an agreeable
" bloater " twang added. Mr. E. Wilson states that he uncon-
sciously ate it in salted rashers for breakfast without knowing the
difference.
The "Moreton Bay Press" (Queensland) states that the bone of
the dugong, or "yungan" (as the aborigines call it), in fineness
and hare ness of grain, specific gravity, and appearance, approaches
DUGONG OIL. 377
nearly to the nature of ivory. It could be used as a substitute
for that material for most of its purposes, and might be procured
in considerable quantities for export.
The oil from the dugong has obtained a high reputation as a
substitute in medicine for cod-liver oil.
Dr. Hobbs, the health officer of Moreton Bay, tells us (what the
later experience of many others also confirms) that " so sweet and
palatable is the oil procured from the dugong, that in its pure
state it may be taken without disagreeing with the most sensitive
stomach, and also used in a variety of ways in the process of
cooking ; so that this potent restorative remedy may be taken as
food, and many ounces consumed almost imperceptibly every
day, thus furnishing the system with the requisite amount of
carbon for its daily oxidation."
The Queensland Dugong fishery, situated in Hervey's Bay,
near Maryborough, is owned by Mr. Y. L. Ching, a gentleman
who has gone into the business in an extended and systematic
manner. The dugong is taken either with nets or by harpoon-
ing. Three or more boats are sent out daily, being manned by
aboriginal crews (all of whom are picked men), whose sighting
capabilities are very superior, far surpassing the whites at this
sort of work. In this manner sometimes as many as six dugongs
a day are taken. When one has been harpooned, it is imme-
diately brought home and cut up. The oil is then extracted, and
subjected to a variety of complicated processes, finally undergoing
a chemical clarification, which renders it fit for the European
and American markets, where, owing to its medicinal properties,
there is a large demand for it. A large dugong weighs from
10 to 12 cwt, and yields from 6 to 14 gallons of oil. Some-
times, indeed, as much as 18 gallons are obtained from a good
fish.
Dr. Barth states that a mammal like the Manatus Senegalensis,
called Ayu by the natives, is met with in the rivers of Central
Africa. The South African rivers also have these mammals.. The
378
SPECIES OF MANATUS.
Ayu is not less frequent in the Isa, near Timbuktu, than it is in
the Benuwe.
There are said to be two Atlantic species the Manatus Ameri-
canus, and M. Senegalensis. The former frequents the mouths of
SKIN OF THE MANATUS. 379
rivers and quiet secluded bays and inlets among the islands of
the West Indies and the coasts of Guinea and Brazil. It is said
sometimes to attain nearly 1 5 ft. in length, and differs from the
dugong in having no canines or incisors. It is particularly abun-
dant in the lakes of the Amazon^ where it is known as the " peixe
boi." Wallace, in his Travels up that river, describes their cap-
ture : " Beneath the skin," he says, " is a layer of fat of a greater
or less thickness, generally about an inch, which is boiled down
to make oil, used for lighting and cooking. Each yields from five
to twenty -five gallons of oil." Edwards, in his " Voyage up the
River Amazon," also speaks of them, and says that they are not
unfrequently taken eight feet in length. It is said to be a distinct
species from the Manatus of the Gulf of Mexico.
The skin of these animals is smooth, of a blackish-blue
colour, much stouter than that of the ox, being nearly an inch
thick. A Queensland paper recently stated that 49 dugong-
skins were shipped by Mr. Smith, the naturalist, from Wide Bay.
THE WEST iNDiAiN MANATEE (Manalus Americanus}*
" Their skins," it observes, " will probably find their way back to
many of our mills and factories, in the shape of machine-belting,
&c. Owing to the thickness and durability of the hide of the
dugong there is an increasing demand for it, which is likely to
lead to a considerable trade in this new commodity."
* From Wilson's "Zoology."
380 SPECIES OF WHALES.
They make thongs of it about the Orinoco River, South
America, to tie their cattle, and for horsewhips. Canes and sticks
of Lamantin (Manatus Americanus) are made by moistening the
dry layers of the skin, which are taken off when this mammal is
caught, and it is very abundant in the seas around Cuba. These
are beaten and passed over the fire to round and polish them.
They are only made to order, but might become an important
industry if the skin of the manatus entered more into commerce,
as it is capable of many other applications, such as riding-whips,
surgical instruments, &c. The price of the walking-sticks in
Trinidad de Cuba is from 2 to ^3 los. according to the care
with which they are prepared.
WHALES. These cetaceous animals, of which there are several
species, are of commercial importance on account of the oil con-
tained in their fat or blubber, and in the head of some, and of
the whalebone or horny laminae in their upper jaw. Large fleets
used to be fitted out by different countries for their capture, but
the outfit of vessels has greatly declined in number and tonnage
of late years.
One species of whale is met with about the North Pole, two in
the Atlantic, and two others in the Pacific. On the coasts of
South America another species is found, known as the Southern
whale. It passes the summer about the Cape of Good Hope, and
in winter is met with about the South American coast. There
would seem to be also two species in the Pacific. One in the north
is met with in winter near America, in summer close to Asia, on the
coasts of Japan and China. The southern species passes the
spring near America, and is found in winter in the Oceanic seas.
The Greenland whale, the object of the principal fishery, never
leaves the icy seas. The waters with which the earth is begirt are
still full of the leviathans of the deep. They change indeed their
habitation from time to time.
The whales caught about the Eastern Archipelago are of the
cachalot or sperm kind. Those to the north of Australia and the
THE WHALE FISHERY. 381
west coast are of various kinds, the cachalot, right whale, and
humpback.
The total number of whales killed in the northern fisheries in
the forty-three years ending 1858 was about 24,000, besides
twenty or thirty captured yearly in the shore fisheries of the
colonies. Hull formerly took the lead in whaling, and during the
period between 1772 and 1859 that port benefited to the extent
of nearly 7^ millions sterling by the whaling trade, upwards of
A, RIGHT OR GREENLAND WHALE (Balcena mysticetus).
B, CACHALOT OR SPERM WHALE (Physeter macrocephalus).
2,000 ships having been sent out at different times. Peterhead
has latterly taken the first place in the outfit for the Northern
whale fishery. The produce of the fishery brought into that port
in the ten years ending 1858 was 1,108 whales captured, yielding
23,636 tuns of oil and 14,455 cwts. of whalebone, of the aggregate
value of ^1, 239,000. The whale trade has been gradually
shifting from the ports in this country, which formerly enjoyed
the greatest share of the business.
Previous to the year 1790 London was the principal port from
whence the vessels sailed, inasmuch as four times as many were
sent out from the Greenland Docks at Deptford (now the Com-
382 BRITISH WHALE FISHING.
mercial Docks) as from any other place. In 1820 55 vessels
measuring 17,603 tons were dispatched, which brought in 7,946
tuns of oil, and 19^ tons of bone ; in 1830 90 ships were sent out.
Liverpool, which also used to fit out many ships for the whale
fisheries, has long given up the pursuit and turned her shipping to
other channels.
The following is the result of the British whale fishing from
Dundee since 1865 :
No. of Ships.
Oil Tuns.
Bone- Tons.
1865
7
630
3
1866
II
340
18
1867
II
20
1868
13
970
50
1869
IO
140
7^
1870
6
760
405
1871
8
1,165
, 61^
1872
IO
I,OIO
54
1873
10
1.352
69
1874
10
1,290
66^
The price of whale oil at the commencement of 1877 was
to .33 los. per tun. The imports in 1876 were only 45
tuns.
The price of Arctic and Davis 7 Strait whalebone has run up to
the extraordinary price of ; 1,200 to ^1,300 a ton, or about
treble the average prices of the past ten years. The consumption
of whalebone in this country was, in
Tons.
1872 Ill
1873 104
1874 107
Tc
1875 72
1876 55
The records of the American whale fishery prove how petroleum
and vegetable oils have been driving animal oils from the market.
In 1846, 730 ships measuring 233,189 tons, were employed in the
American whale fishery. In 1874, only 163 ships measuring
37,733 tons were so occupied ; being little more than half the
number that were fitted out in 1846, for the North Pacific fishery
PRODUCTS OF THE AMERICAN FISHERY. 383
alone. To show the great fluctuations, I give the imports of the
three articles the produce of the American whale fishery at
decennial periods.
1846
1856
1866
1874
Spermaceti.
Whale Oil.
Barrels.
Barrels.
95>2i7
207,493
80,941
197,941
36,663
74,302
32,203
37,782
Whalebone.
Ibs.
2,276,930
2,592,700
920,375
345,560
The largest take was in 1853, 103,077 barrels of spermaceti,
260,114 barrels of oil and 5,652,300 Ibs. of whalebone.
IN PURSUIT OF WHALES.
Products and exports of the American whale fishery :
Spermaceti.
Whale Oil.
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1874
Barrels.
47,174
47,906
55,183
41,534
45,2oi
42,053
32,203
Exported.
Barrels.
Exported.
18,619
65,575
9,885
18,645
85,011
. 3,842
22,773
72,691
. 9,872
22,156
75,!5 2
. 18,141
24,344
3i,o75
1,528
16,238
40,014
2,153
18,675 37,782
France has quite given up the whale fishery. Ten years ago
384 WHALE OIL.
two or three vessels used to bring in 200 or 300 tuns of oil and 8
or 10 tons of whalebone, but there have been no vessels employed
since 1868.
A coast fishery, for the capture of the whales that approach the
shore, is still prosecuted in some few of our Colonies. There is
an export of whale-oil from New Zealand.
The whale fishery from Tasmania employed 16 vessels in 1874,
instead of 18, as in the previous year. These brought into port
342 tuns of sperm oil valued at ,30,780; whereas, in 1873, 558
tuns of sperm oil and 12^ tuns of black oil, valued at 44,000.
were returned as the produce. The fishery was carried on in
1875 by 13 vessels. Seventeen vessels obtained, in 1869, 13 tuns
of black oil and 643 tuns of sperm, with 8 cwt. of whalebone,
the whole valued at "49,000. In 1875 the exports from the
colony were :
Value.
Black oil 25 tuns 965
Sperm oil 314! 29,970
Whalebone 2,000 Ibs 38
30>7 73
The largest amount shipped in the past ten years was "52,546
in 1868.
Dr. Scoresby says the flesh of the young whale is of a red
colour, and when broiled and seasoned with pepper and salt, eats
like coarse beef. The milk of the whale resembles that of the
quadrupeds in appearance, and is said to be rich and well
flavoured.
Whale-oiL Blubber is the cellular membrane in which the
oil of the whale is included. Its thickness varies from 8 to 20
inches, and frequently as much as 100 tuns of oil is obtained
from a full grown whale. The oil is drained out of the blubber
by placing the latter cut up in racks, through which the oil drips
down into casks. It is then heated up to 225 to deprive it of its
rancid smell, and also to make the grosser parts settle. The oil
WHALEBONE. 385
is then pumped over with water, left to cool, and finally stored in
casks.
Under the general name of black fish oil of the whalers, several
kinds are included. Thus the pilot whale ( Globiocephalus Svineval}
is known as the black whale to seamen, and among American
sailors G. intermedia* is so termed. The common black whale of
the Australian Seas is Balczna Australts, and the name is some-
times applied to Physeter microps and P. Tursio. The killer or
black fish of the South Sea whalers is the Globiocephalus macro-
rhynchus.
A black fish of average size will produce from 30 to 35 gallons
of dark oil, with an unpleasant odour.
Whalebone. These animals have no teeth, but in their place
they have substitutes in the form of baleen plates ending in a
fringe of bristles. These two extensive rows of whalebone or
" fins," as they are denominated in trade, are suspended from the
sides of the crown bone, and hang down on each side of the
tongue.
B
A, SKULL OF WHALEBONE WHALE (Balccna mysticetus). a, CRANIAL PORTION
OF SKULL; b, UPPER JAW; c, LOWER JAW; d, BALEEN.
B, SINGLE PLATE OF BALEEN, SHOWING THE FIBROUS EDGE BY WHICH
THE PLATES ARE UNITED TOGETHER.
Each series or " side of bone," as the whale fishers term it,
consists of upwards of 300 plates or " blades," as they are com-
mercially called ; on account of the arched form of the roof of the
c c
386 VARIETIES OF WHALEBONE.
mouth, the longest are near the middle, from whence they gradually
diminish away at each extremity ; fifteen feet is the greatest length
of the whalebone, but ten or eleven feet is the average size, and
thirteen feet is a magnitude seldom met with. If the largest blade
in the series weighs 7 Ibs., the whole produce will be about a ton.
In young whales or suckers, the whalebone is only a few inches
long ; but when the length reaches six feet or upwards, the whale
is said to be of " size."
Three principal kinds of whalebone are recognised in commerce.
1. The Greenland, from the Davis' Strait fishery and various
parts of the North Sea.
2. The South Sea or black fish whale-fin, brought by the South
Sea whalers ; and
3. The North West coast or American whale-fin, obtained
principally in the Pacific or Behring Straits fishery by the United
States whalers. These three kinds are very different in shape,
and are thus described by the late Dr. J. E. Gray.
" The outer edge of the Greenland is curved considerably, in
that of the North-West Coast it is much more straight, and in that
of the South Sea nearly quite straight. The fibres on the edge in
the Greenland and margined whales are very fine, flexible, and
long, forming only a thin series ; in the South Sea they are rather
coarser ; but in the North-West Coast much thicker and coarser,
quite bristly, and much more so towards the apex ; and they are
more erect, and form a thicker series, approaching in that
character to the baleen. of the 'finners.'
" The Greenland fin has the hair on its edge generally stripped
off, and is clean and bright when it is brought to England ; but
this may be from the care the North Sea whalers take in col-
lecting and cleaning it ; the blades are brought home in bundles
of about i cwt. each. On the other hand, the North-West
Coast fin and the South Sea fin have the hair left on the edges :
they are brought home in bulk, and are always covered with an
ashy-white, soft, laminar coat, looking like the rolled external
RECEIPTS OF WHALEBONE IN AMERICA. 387
layers of the enamel. This coat has to be scraped off with large
knives before it is used or prepared, and the surface after the scrap-
ing is not so polished and resplendent as that of the Greenland
'fins.'"
The baleen of the right whale is very long, varying from nine
to twelve feet, linear, tapers very gradually and is of nearly the
same moderate thickness from end to end.
The following table shows the receipts, in the United States, of
whalebone from the Arctic, Greenland, and Southern Fisheries,
and the quantities exported to Europe.
1861
Receipts.
Ibs.
I 112 OOO
Export.
Ibs.
I OIC^OOO
Consumptio
Ibs.
IO5,OOO
1862
1863
69I,CXDO
c62 OOO
667,000
44? OOO
... 97,000
60,000
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
77O,OOO
651,000
891,000
- 949,000
QOO,8^O .
590,000
373 5 ooo
754,ooo
737,5oo
707,882 ..
... 152,000
... 202,000
... 195,000
... 132,500
. 256,000
1869
1870
603,603
708,16=;
311,600
14.8 OOO
... 167,400
2IO.7OO
1871
1872
1873
1874 ..
.... 600,655
- 193,793
206,396
34.5.S60 ..
387,199
177,932
120,545
164.. <;n ..
--- 213,456
... II5,86l
.- 85,751
. l8l.027
Whalebone is closely analogous, in its chemical and physical
properties and mode of growth, to hair and bristles, but is deve-
loped in compact plates which resolve into stiff bristles at their
free margin, from the thick gum at the circumference and palatal
surface of the upper jaw of the animals of the whale tribe. The
most valuable kind of whalebone is obtained from the great
Arctic whale (Baltzna mysticetus) in which the plates or blades
are arranged in several rows, the outermost consisting of the
longest plates, attaining, in a full-grown whale the length of from
8 to 12 feet. The Antarctic whale (B. Australis) affords the
second best kind, and the great finner whale (Balanoptera Boops]
c c 2
388 DESCRIPTION OF WHALEBONE.
the shortest and coarsest plates, which are only fit for splitting
into the false bristle for brushes, &c. Prepared whalebone has
been applied to covering whip-handles, walking-sticks, and tele-
scopes; and, in the form of shavings for plaiting like straw, in
the construction of light hats and bonnets. It has lately been
used for the higher qualities of artificial flowers, probably for
stamens, &c.
Whalebone has nothing in it of the nature of bone, but is an
albuminous tissue, resembling horn and hair, and, as it were,
forming the transition between these two substances. This
material answers the purpose of retaining the small mollusca
and Crustacea contained in the water which enters the mouth of
the whale, by the fringe-like bristles which project from the
central part of the plates. The principal supply is obtained from
the Greenland and southern whales (Bal&na mysticdus and
Australis}. From the roof of the mouth hang down on each side
of the tongue about 300 plates of whalebone, or baleen, as it is
properly called ; these are at right angles to the jaw-bone, and the
largest of them parallel to each other. On the southern wall
of the Museum there are displayed two pairs of blades of the
hump-backed whale (Megaptera longimana and M. Americana] one
from Bahia and one from Greenland; one pair of blades of
medium size from the South Sea whale (Balizna Australis} ; and
one large extra-sized blade, measuring about 12 feet from Davis
Strait fishery this blade has been cleaned and the hair-fringe
removed ; one pair of blades from Balcena Japonica ; and one
medium-sized blade of Polar whalebone, cut into sections to
show the mode of use, the largest plates being the most external.
The form of the baleen-covered roof of the whale's mouth is a
transverse arch, in which rests the convex upper-surface of the
tongue when the mouth is closed. Each plate, on its inner and
oblique margin, sends off a fringe of rather stiff but flexible hairs,
which project into the mouth.
The preparation of whalebone consists in boiling it in water
SPERMACETI. 389
for several hours, which renders it soft when hot; this process
also renders it harder when it is cold, and of a darker colour;
the jet black colour is the result of a dyeing process. Whalebone
used to be largely employed for the stretchers of umbrellas, for
canes, whips, and as a substitute for bristles in common brushes.
It is impossible to use it with advantage on very extensive surfaces,
as it cannot be soldered or joined together like tortoise-shell.
When softened by heat, it can be bent and moulded, like horn,
into various shapes, which it retains, if cooled under the pressure.
The surface is polished with ground pumice stone, felt, and water,
and finished with dry-sifted quick-lime.
In Case 96 some manufacturing applications of whalebone are
shown in plaited work and thin shavings for whips, rosettes, &c.,
dyed different colours.
Spermaceti is a kind of waxy body which separates in cold
weather from the oil obtained from the head matter of the cachalot
or sperm-whale (Physeter macrocephalus). It is used a good deal
for making candles, with about 3 per cent of beeswax added to
prevent crystallisation. This manufacture has diminished to a
great degree through the invention of composite and other hard
candles.
The head of a large sperm-whale will weigh about thirty-five
tons, and forty-five barrels of pure spermaceti have been taken
from the case, which is a mere vein in his head compared with the
remaining part, which consists of four-fifths of the head, and is
called " white horse " a sinewy gristle, which is impenetrable to
a sharp axe.
In the right side of the nose and upper surface of the head of
the cachalot whale, is a triangular-shaped cavity, called by the
whalers " the case." Into this the whalers make an opening, and
take out the liquid contents (oil and spermaceti) by a bucket. The
spermaceti from the case is carefully boiled alone, and placed in
separate casks, when it is called " head-matter."
This substance is of a yellow colour, and its consistence varies
39P STATISTICS OF SPERMACETI. AMBERGRIS.
with the temperature. In purifying it, to separate the oil as much
as possible from the solid matter, it is submitted to compression in
hair bags placed in an hydraulic press. It is then melted in
water, and the impurities skimmed off. Subsequently, it is re-
melted in a weak solution of potash. It is then fused by the
agency of steam, ladled into tin pans, and allowed slowly to con-
crete into large, white, translucent, crystalline masses.
Our imports of spermaceti or head-matter have been as follows
in the last ten years :
Tuns. Value. i Tuns. Value.
1866 2,121 .263,118
1867 3,226 373>3 6 7
1868. 1,945 185,960
1869 4,107 387,171
1870 4,069 341,340
1872 3,715 333,534
1873 2,817 252,434
1874 3,155 296,630
1875 4,469 427,884
Ambergris is a concretion from the intestines of the spermaceti
whale, and is a product of disease, as it is not met with in the
healthy animal. It is sometimes found floating on the sea, and
is occasionally extracted from the rectum of whales in the South
Sea fishery. It has a grey white colour, often with a black streak
has a strong, but rather agreeable smell, a fatty taste, is lighter
than water, melts at 140 Fahr., dissolves readily in absolute
alcohol, in ether, and in both fat and volatile oils. It contains
85 per cent, of the fragrant substance called ambreine. This is
extracted from ambergris by digestion with alcohol of 0-827, fil
ing the solution, and leaving it to spontaneous evaporation. I
is thus obtained in the form of delicate white tufts ; which are
converted into ambreic acid by the action of nitric acid. Amber
gris sells at from zis. to 42^. the ounce.
Strangely enough, this substance is brought to Mogador in con-
siderable quantities by the Timbuctoo caravans from the interior
of Africa. It probably finds its way there from the West coast
At Mogador it sells for about 20 per pound. Most of the well-
off Moors have ambergris in their houses, and they use it in green
THE NARWHAL. 391
tea as a flavouring, and one of the greatest compliments paid to a
guest is to present him with a cup of this curious mixture.
The cachalot or sperm-whale is not unfrequently cast up on the
southern coasts of Morocco. One was thus stranded at Casa
Blanca in each of the three years ended 1870, and considerable
quantities of ambergris are in this way obtained. The exports
from Morocco were in :
Ibs. Value.
1868 27 ;6oo
1869 65 1,300
1870 100 2,000
1873 18 360
Ambergris is occasionally found on the shores of some of the
Bahamas Islands ; two pieces brought lately (1873) at Nassau over
^"140 each.
In 1869 ambergris to the value of more than, ; 7,000 was im-
ported into France from some of the French settlements of
Madagascar, Mayotte, &c.
THE NARWHAL OR SEA UNICORN (Monodon monoceros). This
is a singular and very interesting animal, formed in many respects
like the whale, but much more graceful. The colour is grey
above, and pure white beneath; the whole spotted or mottled
with a blackish hue. From the head projects a long straight horn
of solid ivory, in the same line as the body. The structure and
origin of this horn (which has given much celebrity to this hand-
some creature) are very peculiar. It is, in fact, the tooth, and
the only one it possesses in general : the fellow tooth, however,
exists within the bone of the jaw, but undeveloped. It is usually
the left tooth that projects. Its principal use appears to be to
pierce and kill its prey, such as large skates and other fishes.
This ivory sword is seldom used for manufacturing purposes.
In the year ending March, 1875, tne Greenland Company col-
lected 457 Ibs. weight of Narwhal horns which were valued at
17*
392
HORN OF THE NARWHAL.
The flesh is much esteemed by the Greenlanders and
Esquimaux, who eat it dried and smoked, and employ certain
parts^of the intestines for making strong cords ; the tusks are
used by them for pointing the extremity of their arrows and har-
poons.
The horn of the Narwhal has been sometimes obtained ten
feet long ; it is spirally striated throughout its whole length, and
tapers to a point. It was once in high repute for some supposed
NARWHAL AND POLAR BEAR.
medicinal properties. The narwhal is occasionally, though not
very often, found with two of these horns or tusks, sometimes of
equal, at others of unequal length. About 100 tons of these are
occasionally imported in a year to Denmark from the Arctic seas,
under the misnomer of "sword-fish horns." There is said to be
a magnificent throne in Denmark made of this ivory, which is
preserved with great care in the castle of Rosenburg.
Among the collection of ivory on the east wall, there are four
tusks of the narwhal, one six feet eight inches long, and another
DOLPHIN AND PORPOISES. 393
divided to show the section of the interior ivory. There is also a
walking-stick carved from it, a turned walking-stick of the bone of
a whale, and a native weapon of similar substance from North
West America. In Case 140 is a sample of tanned whale skin.
In Cases 171 and 172 are sections of teeth of the sperm-whale,
and some carved.
The COMMON DOLPHIN (Delphi-mis delphis) has at present little
or no commercial importance, but in former years a dolphin was
thought a fit and worthy present to be made to a Duke of Norfolk,
who again distributed it among his friends ; it was roasted and
eaten with porpoise sauce.
The COMMON or BLACK PORPOISE (Phocccna vulgaris) is the
smallest, and the grampus (Phoc&na orca) the largest of the
animals of the Delphinidse family. The porpoise is commercially
the most useful of them.
The length of the common porpoise is from four to eight feet,
and when in the water they present a considerable resemblance to
large black pigs, whence they are frequently called sea-hogs and
hog-fish. The name of porpoise is said to be derived from the
Italian Porcopcsce, or hog-fish ; the German Meer-schwein has the
same meaning, and the French Marsouin is evidently derived
from some old Teutonic form of the same word.
In 1799, when animal oil was more valuable than it is now, the
Society of Arts offered a premium of ^30 for the greatest number
of porpoises beyond thirty which might be taken in the year off
the British coasts, and an additional premium of ^13 for not
less than fifteen tons of oil extracted from porpoises.
The WHITE WHALE. The extraction of the oil of the white
porpoise (Phocana leuca\ and of the black porpoise (P. commums),
constitutes an important industry in the district of Quebec on the
St. Lawrence River.
One vessel brought home to Peterhead, in 1868, the oil and
skins obtained from 250 white whales.
This oil is inodorous, and gives a brilliant light ; it is said to be
394 PORPOISE FISHERY.
superior to any other for lighthouses because it does not congeal
even in the most intense cold, and its ductility renders it in-
valuable for greasing leather and oiling machinery, which it pre-
serves from injury by friction.
Porpoises are caught in large numbers in the Little Belt,
Denmark, noo to 2000 being frequently secured.
The porpoise was occasionally served up at the tables of the old
English nobility as a sumptuous article of food, and eaten with a
sauce composed of sugar, vinegar, and crumbs of fine bread. It
was also often sold salted.
In some parts of North America the skin of the porpoise like
that of the beluga is tanned and dressed with considerable care.
At first it is nearly an inch thick, but it is shaved much thinner,
till it becomes somewhat transparent, and is then made into articles
of wearing apparel; it also supplies excellent coverings for car-
riages.
The fishing for the porpoise is carried on off the coast of Tre-
bizond ; it is taken in nets, and is also shot. It yields a large
quantity of oil per annum ; a portion is consumed by the lower
classes for light, and the rest finds a market at Constantinople.
The natives at Lazistan are very expert in this business ; it forms
the occupation of 1,500 to 2,000 individuals.
Porpoise Leather. Under the name of porpoise leather, the
tanned skin of the white whale (Beluga catodon, Gray, Phoctzna
leucas\ has become an important article of trade. Originally
introduced by Mr. W. Tetu of Quebec, in 1851, they met with but
little favour from tanners and leather dealers, although he obtained
medals at all the great International Exhibitions. Notwithstanding
that beautiful leather was thus shown to be made from them, the
skins, when exposed to public auction in 1855, fetched only 2$. ^d.
per half skin.
Since that period half-skins have reached the price of 2 5^. 6d.,
and the leather has been often sold at 15^. to 2 is. per. Ib.
The skin when tanned has a great range of utility, comparing
PORPOISE LEATHER.
395
favourably with the best French kid in beauty, cheapness, and
durability, whilst it is in high repute for the strongest shooting-
boots.
A tanned porpoise skin and shoes made of it are in the Museum
collection.
g&i
POLAR BEAR AND WHITE WHALE.
No individual has done more to develop the trade and increase
their utility than Mr. G. Roberts of the Hudson's Bay Company.
That company received the first porpoise skins from their settle-
ment in Little Whale River, on the east coast of Hudson's Bay.
They were imported as now in half skins in a salted state. Mr.
Roberts undertook their development as leather on behalf of the
company, and called with samples of the skins, and the leather that
had been made in Canada from them, on several of the tanners in
Bermondsey, who were all incredulous as to leather of such fine
quality being produced from this skin. Ultimately he met a
M. Bossard, a French tanner in business in Bermondsey, who
396 PRODUCTS OF WHITE WHALE.
took the matter up and produced from split skins, leather which
up to this time has not been surpassed.
Although occasionally seen in the Bay of Chaleur and parts of
New Brunswick, it is chiefly in the river St. Lawrence that this
mammal is found. As early as 1707 there were no less than eight
companies or bodies of men, established at different points of the
river for capturing them. In the year 1710, one of these com-
panies of six individuals took 800 porpoises : 159 porpoises were
captured, in the years 1857 and 1858, at Riviere Ouelle. They
are taken in enclosures made of light and flexible poles fixed in the
beach, and harpooned or speared. The animal ranges in weight
from 2,500 Ibs. to 4,000 Ibs, and each is probably worth for its oil
and its skin ^7 or 8. About 250 to 500 of these whales must
be captured within the Hudson's Bay territories, for they have
occasionally imported, in a year, 2,000 half skins.
Its flesh, which is said to be very good, is eaten by the in-
habitants of some of the northern coasts where it is caught.
Hans Egede says, " His flesh as well as the fat, has no bad taste,
and when it is marinated with vinegar and salt, it is as well tasted
as any pork whatever ; " the fins also and the tail pickled or
soused, are very good eating. Some of the internal membranes
are used for windows, and some as bed-curtains ; the sinews
furnish the best sort of strong thread.
The Ddphinapterus leucas, Pall., yields about 32 Ibs. of oil : in
some of the Russian seas the weight of blubber obtained is
from 600 to 1000 Ibs.
CHAPTER XIV.
MARSUPIALS AND THEIR USES.
The Wombat Opossums, Australian and American Various species
of Kangaroos, Wallabies and Wallaroos, hitnted for their skins
and flesh Kangaroo-leather Fur cloaks Smaller marsupials
Bandicoots Koala or native cat, kangaroo rat, Q^c.
AUSTRALIA is distinguished by a large number of pouched
animals, which are now extinct in almost every other part of the
world ; except in America, where a few species still exist. They
are considered to be the oldest mammals known.
At a rough estimate there are no marsupials known in
Australia. The existing species are of moderate growth, for the
largest do not exceed two hundred pounds in weight ; they are
divided into carnivorous or flesh-eating, and herbivorous or grass-
eating sections, with a few genera of mixed feeders.
THE WOMBAT (Phascolomys Wombat}, of which there are several
varieties in Australia, sometimes called the native pig, is a burrowing
animal, feeding chiefly upon roots. It is stout and heavy-bodied,
and is generally about three feet in length. Its fur is very coarse
and its skin tough. Its flesh, although red and coarse in appear-
ance, resembles that of a pig in flavour, and is usually cooked by
the colonists as they would cook fresh pork. In some places the
wombats are very numerous, and as they burrow near the surface,
the blacks easily find the course of their underground passage by
striking the earth and listening to the sound. By this means
they trace out the animal, which they forthwith unearth and
knock on the head, and, as is usual with them, roast it. The
wombat is easily taken alive and domesticated.
OPOSSUMS. The family of the Carpophaga (the Phalanger
398 OPOSSUMS.
tribe), has its stronghold in the southern portions of Australia,
in particular on the south-east coast.
The common opossum (Phalangista vulpind) has the widest
range, and is found in almost every part of Australia. The dark-
coloured, ring-tailed Phalanger (P. viverrina) is found on the
southern and western coast, and on the plains of the interior. A
species of Cuscus inhabits the extreme north, where the handsome
little Belideus arid is also found. Bdideus sciurus extends from
the southern portions of Queensland to Rockhampton and Port
Denison. The great flying phalanger (Petaurista Taguanoides]
is shot only for his skin.
The opossums, of which there are several varieties, are very
numerous in the open forest and brush lands j their habitation is
the hollows of large trees, from which they rarely venture out except
.at night. Shooting opossums is a very favourite sport for moon-
light nights, when a great many may be killed by one whose eye
is quick at detecting them, and whose skill as a marksman is
sufficiently good to bring them from their elevated perches. To a
person who is well accustomed to its use, a long-barrelled pistol
is better for this purpose than a gun, first, because it is a more
portable article in scrambling through the brushwood, and
secondly, because it is frequently necessary to fire at a point
immediately above the head of the sportsman. The presence of
the opossums may be detected by a peculiar shrill crypto which
they give utterance, or by the marks made by their claws in
ascending the trees. The opossum seldom weighs more than five
or six pounds. His flesh is good, but is not much used by the
settlers ; it affords to the blacks, however, the largest portion of
their animal food, as they are able to get the opossum with com-
parative ease, by climbing the tree on which it abides. A good
dog will scent an opossum most readily ; the more readily indeed,
because he generally gets the carcase of the little animal as his
share of the spoil, the sportsman contenting himself with the skin.
When the bushman's dog points out the locale of an opossum,
OPOSSUMS.
399
the dog's master will often amuse himself by storming the dwell-
ing of the concealed animal and capturing him at once ; if he is
in the hollow of a limb, the limb is cut off, and he is speedily
turned out ; if he is in the body of a hollow tree the interior of
which is accessible near the root, a fire is lit below, and the poor
a, The Woolly Kangaroo {Macropus laniger}^ with young protruding from
the "Marsupium." b, Opossum (Didelphys ornata).
opossum is compelled either to come out and face his enemies
or to be suffocated he chooses the former alternative, and is
shot.
The Virginian opossum (Didelphys virginiana}, one of the
largest and most robust of the genus, is eaten in the Southern
States of America, and is said to be white and well tasted, but its
ugly tail is enough to put one out of conceit of the fare.
The Gamba, or saraque, another of the species, is considered a
delicate meat by some in Brazil, while by others it is regarded
400 SPECIES OF KANGAROO.
with repugnance ; the axillary glands have to be extracted before
it can be eaten.
About twenty years ago opossum skins first came into demand
to be made into furs for ladies, and large quantities were brought
into Buffalo city from Pennsylvania and Ohio, selling at about 2s.
a-piece. In the Museum Collection of furs there are skins of the
Australian and American opossums and of the kangaroo.
KANGAROOS. There is no family of marsupials so largely re-
presented and so widely distributed as the Poephaga, or kangaroos.
They are found from Tasmania to New Guinea, and from the
shores of the Pacific to those of the Indian Oceani They are
more or less nocturnal in their habits, shy and timid, and some
as fleet as the wind. The female is provided with a pouch con-
taining four teats, and produces one young at a time, though now
and then two have been taken from the same pouch. The larger
species are represented by the common great grey kangaroo
(Macropus major] on the south and east side of Australia, and in
the interior, by Macropus ocydromits, on the west coast, whilst
another large kangaroo, Osphranta antelopinus, is found in the far
north. The fine red kangaroo (Osphranta riff us) inhabits the
plains of the interior, almost from east to west, never approaching
the coast ; while Osphranta robustus is only found in the moun-
tainous district of the eastern parts.
Mr. George Masters states that a very large and savage species
of kangaroo is said to inhabit some of the mountain ranges about
Spencer's Gulf, in South Australia. There are also reports from
various travellers that large kangaroos, far exceeding in size any
known species, exist to the north in the interior of the country.
At present, however, no specimens of these large creatures have
come to hand. The smaller species of the genus Halmaturus
are more restricted in their habitat ; still, some roam over a very
large extent of country. Peculiar to the east coast is the black
wallaby (Halmaturus ualabatus), the only species found near
Sydney. Further north occur H. ritfaollis, principally on the
SPECJES OF KANGAROO. 401
Clarence River, and on the borders of Queensland, another hand-
some wallaby, H. dorsalis, makes its appearance. H. parryii is
also found in the northern districts of New South Wales. H.
panna inhabits the semi-tropical Illawarra district, as does also
the Pademelon wallaby (ff. thetidis). In South Australia, we find
H. Greyi, and H. Derbiaiws* On the west coast, H. hatitmanni,
H. parma, H. brachyitrits, and the fleet and handsome H. ma-
nicatus. In Tasmania, H. Billardieri, and H. Bennetii occur.
Each part of the Australian coast has also one or more different
kinds of Pdrogale or rock wallaby, namely : P. penicillata, P. lon-
gicauda, and P. inornata in New South Wales, P. xanthopus in
South Australia, P. latcralis in West Australia, and P. brachyurus
and P. concinna on the north-west coast.
The genus Onychogalea, or nail-tailed kangaroo, has a similar
distribution. O. franata is peculiar to the plains of the interior,
and found from the eastern slopes of the coast range, to the
junction of the Darling River, where O. lunata first appears, and
extends within a short distance of the west coast. Another
member of this genus, O. ungiiifer, inhabits the north-eastern por-
tion of the continent. Many varieties (they can hardly be called
species) of the genus Lagorchcstes, or hare kangaroo, roam over the
vast plains of the interior, where also the burrowing Bcitongias or
Jerboa kangaroos are principally found; the genus Hypsiprymnus,
or rat kangaroos, inhabit the forests and scrubs.
There are a great many species of kangaroo, but the variation
is not so much in appearance as in size and in their places
of resort. The forester is the largest of the family, and is
frequently found of two hundred pounds weight. The large
males of this species are generally called the " old man kan-
garoo " by the colonists, and by such of the aborigines as have
a smattering of English ; an accomplishment, by-the-by, which
few of them are without. The wallaby and the pademelon are
much smaller, the former inhabiting rocky grounds, and the latter
being found exclusively in what is termed brush lands. The
D D
402 FLESH OF THE KANGAROO.
average weight of the wallaby is about twelve or fourteen pounds,
and that of the pademelon about nine or ten pounds. The
kangaroo rat seldom weighs more than three or four pounds, and
is found in various localities, even in the most barren scrub. It
is not, as its name would import, anything of the rat species ; but
a perfect kangaroo in miniature. The rock wallaby is found in
large numbers on many of the small islands near the coast, as
well as the main land. One species, the Jerboa, or Kangaroo
Mouse, discovered by Sir Thomas Mitchell, is not larger than the
common field Mouse.
Chxropus occidentalis are very good eating (Krefft). The flesh
of the short-nosed bandicoot (Perameles obesula) is delicious,
especially when done in the native style, that is, the hair removed,
and the game roasted upon the coals. The flesh of the great red
kangaroo (Osphranta riifus) is very palatable, and preferable to
that of Macropus major. The flesh of the nail-tailed kangaroo
(Onychogalca lunatd} is white and well tasted. That of the hare
kangaroo (Lagorchestes leporoides] is delicious. That of the kan-
garoo rat (Bettongia rufescens) is also very palatable. It is less
sought for than his larger relatives, except by the sawyers and
splitters, to whom these animals yield many a fresh meal during
their sojourn amidst the heavily-timbered flats and ranges. They
are very numerous, but are seldom seen in the day time. At
night, however, with the exercise of due caution they are easily
shot. The plan which is found most successful is the following.
Strew ashes or white sand over a small space of ground, so as to
form a light-coloured spot upon which the dark forms of the
kangaroo rats may stand out in relief amidst the surrounding
darkness. At some distance as far as possible, consistent with
the clear discernment of the animal, and with the certainty of
the shot the sportsman must crouch down, having his gun
pointed towards the white spot, and resting on a log or a forked
stick. A little maize or some broken bread strewed over this
white spot will attract the animals to it, and the hidden sportsman
FLESH OF THE MARSUPIALS. 403
can hardly fail to secure one or more at a single shot. His
movements, however, must be very slow and silent, and if he is
concealed by a bush or a fallen tree, so much the better, for
these little animals are very wary.
The flesh of all the kangaroos is good. The fore quarters,,
indeed, of the larger animals are somewhat inferior, and are
usually given to the dogs; but from the hinder quarters some
fine steaks may be cut. These, cooked in the same manner as
venison collops, are, to most palates, very little inferior to the
latter. The flesh of the large kangaroo, as well as that of the
wallaby, is often dressed in the shape of a hash, and in this form,
also, it is excellent. Mr. Gould asserts the excellence of kan-
garoo venison as a meat for the table. But the most admired
part of the kangaroo is his tail. This is of enormous size in pro-
portion to the rest of the body, the tail of a full-grown forester
usually weighing ten or twelve pounds. It makes a superb soup,
very much superior to ox-tail. The wallaby too is most commonly
used for soup. The pademelon when cooked like hare affords a
dish with which the most fastidious gourmand might be satisfied ;
the flesh of the kangaroo rat resembles that of a rabbit, and it eats
best when cooked in the same manner ; the last-mentioned animal
is but little eaten, except by thorough bushmen, owing to the pre-
judice excited by the unfortunate name which has been bestowed
upon it, but those who have once conquered this prejudice usually
become fond of it.
Mrs. Millett, in her work "An Australian Parsonage," states that
kangaroo venison still retains an honoured place at all tables in
the interior. " The usual price of the meat, whilst in season, is
2\d. the pound, and the hind quarters and tail alone are cooked
the other parts of the animal falling to the share of the dogs.
Being very dry meat it requires as much basting as a hare, and is
generally eaten with the accompaniment of fat pork. A larded
oin of kangaroo is a real dainty. - The tail makes a splendid soup r
which is very nutritious, and also capital stews and pasties : in fact,
D D 2
404 HUNTING THE KANGAROO.
it is far superior to ox-tail for all culinary purposes. If kangaroo
is dressed like jugged hare the deception is complete ; and the
plan also answers well of salting a piece of the loin and hanging
it up the chimney to dry in the smoke until it becomes hard
enough to be grated like Hamburg beef."
From the hind quarters of a huge forester, an animal which often
weighs 200 Ibs., some capital steaks may be cut, which, when cooked
in the same manner, are very little inferior to venison collops.
The taste of the flesh of the full grown animal may be compared
to lean beef, and that of the young to veal. They are destitute of
fat, if we except a little occasionally seen between the muscles and
integuments of the tail. The colonial dish, called a steamer ; consists
of kangaroo meat dressed with slices of ham. The liver, when
cooked, is dry and crisp, and is considered a substitute for bread.
The larger kangaroos, which inhabit the open forest lands and
the plains, are usually taken by coursing ; a kind of sport in
which, owing to the nature of the country and of the animal
pursued, the horses, dogs, and huntsmen have generally their work
to do. The kangaroo bounds off at a pace which requires his
pursuers to use their best speed in following him, and the great
height to which he can spring, enables him to clear all ordinary
impediments to his progress. For the most part, therefore, his
course is straightforward, through thick and thin, and in anything
of a difficult country, more especially in some of the mountain
regions, none but a good steed and a good rider can follow with
any chance of success ; the stock-horses bred in the colony are
admirably adapted to this kind of service. Kangaroo hounds are
also bred and trained in the colony by the lovers of this sport, and
a good deal of training, indeed, is necessary; for the kangaroo,
besides the speed and the peculiarity of his course, is a much
more formidable antagonist to the canine race, and even to their
biped masters, than would at first sight appear. The pademelon
is sought for by the sportsman,- either alone or aided by a good
dog, and is brought down by the gun. A good deal of experience
KANGAROO LEATHER. 45
in bush-craft, however, is necessary for the acquisition of sufficient
skill and quickness in this kind of shooting, owing to the rapidity
with which the animal, on being alarmed, bounds away through
the underwood to the concealment which the underwood affords
him, and to the irregularity of his course. Old bushmen, never-
theless, are very successful in this sport, when they think fit to
pursue it, and the blacks are peculiarly skilful in capturing and
killing the pademelon after their own fashion.
"Boomers" (forester kangaroos) sometimes stand seven feet
high. The average weight of a bush kangaroo is about eighteen
to thirty pounds; the wallaby is still less. The latter are taken
in large numbers, by means of wire snares. Their skins, when
dried in the sun, fetch from one shilling to one shilling and six-
pence each. Great numbers of kangaroos are slaughtered every
year for their skins alone, and the hunters make good wages.
They increase so fast when unmolested, as to interfere with the
profits of the grazier. Kangaroo skins have become an important
article of commerce. They make the toughest and most pliable
of leather for boot uppers, the best of morocco, and are used for
whips, gloves, &c. So far back as 1849, 12,500 kangaroo skins
were exported from Western Australia. An export duty of one
shilling is levied on them. 40,590 were imported into Melbourne
in 1871, from the other colonies. Kangaroo skins (green) sell in
South Australia at from js. to 45^. the dozen, and wallaby skins
at TOJ. to 25.5-. the dozen. Mr. James Farrell, of Melbourne, was
awarded a premium of ^100 by the Victoria Government some
ten years ago for the industrial application of kangaroo skins, and
they have now become an important article of traffic, for experts
declare that they make the toughest and most pliable leather in
the world. Boot uppers of this material are said to be both
comfortable and durable. Of these skins some are exported in their
raw state, and others are locally dressed and manufactured. 7,000
kangaroo^skins were lately imported into San Francisco for tanning.
As showing the present great demand for skins, occasioned by
4 o6 KANGAROO SKINS.
the progress of furriery in Australia and in England to which
country there has of late sprung up and largely developed an
exportation of pelts in the rough state it may be mentioned that
during the past five years the skins of the native Australian
animals have advanced in value about sevenfold, so that kangaroo
skins, which could formerly be bought for from 3^. 6d. to 8>s. per
dozen, are now sold at from 20^. to 60^., and the coatings of
wallabies now fetch from 36.5-. to 48^. a dozen instead of 48 pence.
And it is the same with regard to opossum and nearly all other
skins. Furriery, of course, has not alone caused this advance.
There are now hundreds of thousands of native pelts exported to
the English leather-merchants and furriers. One leading firm in
Melbourne sends about 40,000 or 50,000 dozen away every
season, and a London merchant, with whom they trade, recently
offered to take a million skins at a price a trifle below their then
marketable value. These facts will give some idea as to the vast
number of skins annually sent from Australia.
The natives of Australia make cloaks of the skin of the
kangaroo. It requires three kangaroo skins to make a large, full
cloak, such as one of those worn by the women ; and the skins
of the female kangaroo are preferred, those of the males being
considered too thick and heavy. The skins are prepared by first
stretching them out, and pegging them down on the ground in
the shade. The women then with a native knife scrape off all
the soft inner parts, and afterwards rub them well to soften them
with grease and wilgi, or clay. To form the cloak, the skins are
sewn together with the dried sinews of the tail of the kangaroo,
or when these are not at hand, with a kind of rush (Thysanotus
fimbriatus). The cloak is worn with the hairy side inwards.
The " Goulburn Herald " mentions the result of an annual
battue made in 1876, by a party who were out for nine days in the
mountains with guns on the Boorombi ranges on the Murrum-
bidgee, and brought home the skins of 1806 wallabies (Hahna-
tums sp.\ and 23 wallaroos (Osphranta robust us).
BANDICOOTS. FUR RUGS. 407
Wallaby skins are very plentiful further north. It was stated in
the Queensland Catalogue of the Vienna Exhibition, that there
would be no difficulty in procuring a supply of 2,000 per week ;
" waxed," they are worth, in the colony, like the black grained
kangaroo skins, 4^. 6</. per lb.; dressed with the fur on, 2s. 6d. each.
Of the BANDICOOTS, there are several species. In South
Australia there are two found, Perameles fasdata, and P. obesula.
The flesh of the rabbit-eared species (P. lagotis) is sweet, and
resembles that of the rabbit, by which name it is known in Western
Australia. Most of these Australian animals are clothed with rich
and beautiful fur, and the conversion of this material into articles
of dress and ornament affords profitable employment. A well-
finished carriage rug of the Tasmanian black opossum is an article
of luxury that it would be difficult to surpass, whether in usefulness
or elegance. The animal known as the koala or native bear
(Phascolarctos anereus\ the native cat (Dasyurus\ the wallaby
(Halmaturus\ kangaroo rat (Hypsiprymnus), and some others, all
supply the Australian furrier with valuable material, which he
converts into men's caps, coats, waistcoats, &c., and into ladies'
muffs, cuffs, and other articles of wear. The largest of the brush-
tails (Phascogale penidllatd) is found in almost every part of
Australia, near the coast districts at least.
Fur rugs, of beautiful softness, close and warm, and often of
elegant appearance, are annually made in thousands of the skins of
the opossum (Phalangista vulpina) and the native cat (Dasyurus
Vtverrmus), not only as carriage wraps but for use instead of
blankets by the great number of people whose business leads
them to sleep in the open air.
A good waterproof rug of sixty skins can be had in Australia for
2 or ^3. Considerable purchases of opossum skins have of
late years been made to send to England for the manufacture of
gloves. Liberal prices have been offered by shippers, and it is
hoped that this may induce some of the unemployed to turn their
attention to procuring them. The opossum has for many years
4 o8 AUSTRALIAN TRAPPERS.
past been a great nuisance in the wooded country and hilly
districts throughout the colonies. The white gum trees in many
localities have been almost destroyed by them, and the injury they
do to gardens, orchards, vineyards, and wheat crops is astonishing.
The Australian trapper carries on profitably in several parts of
the country his lonely occupation ; and several hundreds of men
pass six months of the winter season in capturing, for the sake of
their furs, the opossum, native cat, and flying squirrel. The
principal scene of the labours of these adventurers is the im-
mense expanse of open woodland country that borders the arid
plains of the Adelaide desert, and after passing Horsham, on the
Wimmera, the solitary tents of these wandering sons of Nimrod
may be seen at intervals of several miles. The method generally
used to trap the unsuspecting varmint is by the old figure of
four trap, a heavy weight being attached to the upper covering,
which, on losing the support of the treacherous piece of wood,
previously baited, falls heavily on the unfortunate animal, killing
it instantly ; the skins by this method are uninjured. The trapper
has generally each day 40 or 50 traps to attend to, leaving them
baited every evening, and going round the following morning to
gather the trophies of the chase ; of course he is compelled to be
satisfied if only half of his traps have proved successful. The
animals are then skinned, and the skins pegged out with the fur
inside to the smooth bark of a gum tree, for the purpose of drying,
and afterwards are packed away in bundles to be forwarded at
the end of the season to Melbourne, where, we understand, good
skins will fetch from $d. to 4^. each, a successful trapper being often
able, after paying all expenses, to clear 40 or ^50 by his trip.
INDEX.
AFRICAN cattle
ivory
Albumen, Blood .
Alpaca
wool .
Ambergris
Angora goats
PAGE
. 80
33 2
. 1 68
. 66
. 66
390
50
Animals, live, value of those im-
ported . .... xvi
Animal Products Collection,
origin of ... xiii
- substances, value of the
exports xviii
Antarctic whale . . -387
Antelope tribe . . . . 199
Arab horse .... 309
Arctic whale . . . 387
Arnee buffalo . . . .103
Asses in Persia . . . . 325
- value of in Ireland . . xix
Austrian cattle . . . . 91
BACON and hams shipped from
the United States 352, 353
our imports of . . 349
Badgers 255
Baleen (and see whalebone) . . 388
Bandicoots .... 407
Bats 290
Baum, or wood martin . . 260
Bearskins . . . 214,248
Beaver 214
- skins, imported by the
Hudson's Bay Company 294
"Bend, "a side of leather . . 155
Berkshire pig .... 350
Biltong, dried venison . . . 201
Bisons 97
Bizcacha or Vizcacha . . . 293
Black bear .... 249
Black fish oil . . . 384, 385
Bladder, uses of . . 168, 360
Blood albumen . . . .168
uses of . . . 168
Blubber, whale .... 384
Blue fox skins . . . . 247
Bondon cheese . . . .128
Bone buttons . . . . 146
Bones, composition of . . 145
- imports of . . . . 133
- statistics and uses of . 145
Bookbinding . . . . 161
Bovine race . . . 77
Bovines, divisions of . . . 84
Brahmin bull . . . .96
Bristles .... 358, 362
our imports of. . 349, 365
Brush-making materials . . 365
Buckhorn . . . . . 181
Buffalo, name misapplied to bison 97
- milk . . . .101
robes 99
Buffaloes .
Bullock waggons .
Bullock's bungs
weasands .
Bushbok .
Bush cat or tiger cat
ICO
86
167
167
201
229
4io
INDEX.
, PAGE
Butcher's meat, composition of . 108
"Butt," a rounded hide . . 155
Butter, artificial . . . . 123
consumption of . .118
foreign supplies . . . 118
fluid .... 124
- our foreign imports . .125
CACHALOT, or sperm-whale 381, 389
Camel and its products . . 69
- flesh ... . . . 74
- l^ir . . . 73, 75
Canadian porcupine . . . 292
Caravans of camels . 73
Carcase, mode of cutting up by
butchers . no
I'AGE
Cheshire cheese . . . . 126
Chetah, or hunting leopard . 230
Chinchilla . 294
Civet cats . ... 232
Classification of Animal Products
Collection . . . xiv
of mammals . . . i
Comb manufacture . . .139
Couguar . . . . . 225
Cowhair . . . . . 175
imports of . . . . 133
"Crop," a full hide . .155
Cross fox . . 246, 247
DAIRY products . . . . 116
Deer hair, description of . .185
Carnivorous mammals . . . 222
sinews, uses of . iSS,
*jy
196
Carpet manufacture . . -49
skins ....
183
Cased skins . . . . . 215
- prices of . .
214
wolfskins . . . 244
- tribe ....
177
Cashmere shawls . . . . 54
Devon cattle . . . .
88
Castoreum . . . 296
Dogs, economic products of
241
Cat skins 218
numbers in various coun-
tribe . . . .223
tries . ...
240
Cats, wild and common . . 230
skin gloves
59
Cattle as food producers . -77
sledges . . . .
238
boiling down in Australia 174
- tribe ....
236
- British breeds of . . 88
Dolphin
393
- Continental breeds of . 90
Draught oxen ....
86
in the British Colonies 80 Dray and waggon horses . .
307
statistics of in various Dried meat ....
114
countries . 79
Dromedary
70
value of in the United
"Dubbers," hide bottles .
124
Kingdom . . . xix Dugong
374
Caw . . 2cn I flesh
376
Charqui, or jerked beef . 69, 1 14 oil . * . . .
Of
377
Cheddar cheese . . . . 126 skins ....
379
"Cheeks and faces," definition of 155
Dunlop cheese . . . .
126
Cheese, foreign imports . .129
Dutch butter ....
122
production in various
cheese . ...
126
countries . . . 130
varieties of . .126
EDENTATA ....
291
INDEX.
411
Eland 199
Elephant, Asiatic . . . . 337
Elephants, extinct . . . 342
Elephants . . ... 328
- flesh . . . 338, 347
skin 346
Elk 177
- horns . . . . 182
Ermine or stoat . . . 258
prices of . . . . 214
Esquimaux dogs . . . 238
"Estancia," a cattle farm . .114
FINNER whale .... 387
Fisher . . . . 214, 259
Fitch, or polecat . . 217,257
Fleeces, average weight of .11
Fleshings . . . . .171
Food products, value of the
imports . . . . xvi
supplies, our foreign . 108
Forester, a large kangaroo
401, 404-5
Fossil elephants . . 328, 342
- ivo^y . . 344
Foxes, varieties of . 245
Fox skins 217
imports of by the
Hudson's Bay Company . 247
- prices of . . 214
value of . . . 245
French bristles . . . . 364
Fur seal . ... 212
of commerce . .273
prices of . . . 214
varieties of . .277
Furs, the four noble . . . 209
and skins, exported from
the United States . 216
and the fur trade . . 206
relative prices of . 214,217
statistics of . 216, 218,
220, 221
PAGE
GAMBA 399
Gambier and Cutch . . . 159
"Gargetan," what . . . 369
Gaur head . . . 97
Genet or Spanish cat . . . 234
Ghee or Indian butter . .124
Giraffe 204
Gloucester cheese . . .126
Glove manufacture . . . 58
Glue, statistics of production . 170
- pieces 171
Glycerine from lard . . . 362
Gnu ...... 203
Goat, commercial products of . 56
skins .... 218
extensive imports
of . . . . 61
Goats, numbers in various coun-
tries .... 56
- tribe 50
value of in Ireland . . xix
- wool 51
Goldbeaters' skin . . .167
Goose skins 218
Grampus 393
"Graye," old English name for
a badger 210
Greenland whale . . . 386
Gris or petit gris . . . . 210
Guanaco 68
Guinea pig 293
Gut and bladder . .166
HAEMOGLOBIN .
Hair, human
Hamster .
Hare kangaroo .
Hares .
. 169
. . I
. 298
401, 402
. . 304
Head-matter, or spermaceti . 390
Hedgehog .... 290
Herbivorous marine mammals . 373
Hereford oxen . . . . 88
Hides, average weight of . .154
412
INDEX.
Hides and skins exported from
India . . . . 158
imports of . . . 133
value of the annual sup-
plies . . . . 153
varieties of . .152
Hippopotamus flesh . 37
- hide . . . .371
- teeth . . . . . 371
Hog-fish, a name for the porpoise 393
Hogs, wild of Brazil . . . 366
Hogskins . . ... 362
Hog trade of America . . 352
Horn books 136
buttons . . . .143
- comb manufacture . .139
definition of . . . 134
- lanterns . . . . 135
manufacturing applica-
tions of . . .138
pressers and horn-workers 135
Horns and hoofs . . . . 133
from India . . .136
Horses, breeds of . . 307
demands of for cavalry
and war purposes . 312,317
exported from Australia . 316
Great Britain . .312
from Russia . -313
in various countries . .,310
value of in the United
Kingdom . . . xix
Horsehair . . . .318
cloth . . . . 321
gloves . . . 322
- imports of . . 323
manufacture . . 320
- hides, statistics of . .318
- tails .... 323
Horses, value of those exported . xviii
Hudson's Bay Company's furs,
statistics of . . . . 216
I lump-backed whale. . . 388
I'AGE
' Hungarian cattle . . .91
| INDIAN ivory . . . . 340
ware . . 340, 346
\ Irish butter 120
' Isabella bear .... 254
Ivory, African . . . . 332
British imports . . 342
sources of supply . . 335
statistics of imports . . 342
trade in . . . . 341
JAGUAR 2^7
Jersey cattle . . . .88
Jevraschka . . . 299
Jimmel or burden camel . . 70
KANGAROO flesh . . . . 403
leather .... 405
Kangaroos, various species of . 400
Kaross or skin cloak . . . 202
Kidderminster carpet . . 50
Kid skins . . . . . 61
Kips . . . . . . i 56
Kitt fox . . . 246, 247
Koalo, or native bear . . 407
" Koork," a kind of goat's wool 55
LAM AN TIN .... 380
Lapland wire . . . . 196
Larch bark . . . .159
Lard . . . 352, 354, 360
- oil . . . . 361, 362
our imports of . . 349, 361
Leaf lard . . . . .361
Leather bottles . . . . 63
manufacture . . .158
miscellaneous applications
of .
Leopard -
Limerick gloves .
Lions
flesh eaten .
163
227
59
223
225
INDEX.
PAGE
Live stock in the United King-
dom ..... xix
Llama tribe . . . . . 65
Lynxes . . . . 214, 231
MAMMALS, presumed number of i
Mammoth ... . . 328
elephants . . . 344
extinct . . . . 344
Manatee .... 378, 379
Manatu's skin, walking-sticks
of 380
Manufactures, Animal, value of
exports . ... xviii
Margay ..... 229
Marmots . . . . 298
Marsupials and their uses . . 397
Marten . . . . . 214
skins, statistics of imports 25 7
Meat, consumption in various
countries . . .112
- supply from cattle . .106
Mehari, or saddle camel . . 70
Merinoes 19
Milk, consumption in the United
Kingdom . . .117
- various kinds . . . 116
Mimosa bark . . . .159
Mink . . . . 214, 258
Monkeys 288
Moose or elk . . . . 188
Mountain goat of America 58, 214
Mules and asses . . . 323
in various countries . 326
Mungo or shoddy . . . 47
Musk deer . . . .197
imports of . . . 198
ox 106
Musk rat 296
Musquash. . . .212, 296
Mutton, range of prices . . 6
Myrobalans . . . .159
Mysore ox . . . . . 96
NAR, a kind of camel .
Narwhal, or sea unicorn
Natal, ivory from
Neat cattle
Neat's foot oil
PAGE
69
391
336
78
150
Newfoundland seal fishery, value
of 265
Northern fur seals . . . 279
Nutria skins .... 300
OAK bark .
Ocelot
Offal of cattle, uses of .
Opossums .
159
. 229
. 165
397
Otters . ... 214, 218
- land .... 261
sea 262
skins, imports by the
Hudson's Bay Company 261
Oxen, value of those in North
America . . . .82
Ox-hide, uses of . . . . 81
PACA ..... 4 293
Pangolins, or scaly ant-eaters . 292
Panther . . . 214, 226
- American . . . 227
Parchment and vellum . . . 160
Parmesan cheese . . . .128
Pashum, or shawl wool . . 55
Peccaries of America . . . 366
Pepsine . . . . .132
Perfumes, animal . . xv
Picker waste . . . .172
Pigments and dyes, Animal . . iii
Pigs in the United Kingdom . vii
exported from Russia . -359
of Russia . . . . 358
our imports of . . . 349
products of, imported . . 349
skins 362
trade of Russia . .358
various breeds of. . 349, 350
414
INDEX.
Pine marten
Polar bear
hare
Polecat
259
. 250
304
218, 256
Porcupine, or spiny ant-eater . 291
Pork, large consumption of, in
France . . -359
our imports of . . . 349
shipments from America . 352
Porpoise, black and white . . 393
flesh . . . 394, 396
leather . . . . 394
oil 393
Poultry, value of, in Ireland . . xix
Puma, or Couguar . . . 225
Purree, or Indian yellow . .102
P. Y. C., definition of . . 149
QUAGGA, flesh of .
326
RABBITS 218
and their uses . . . 300
their increase in Australia 303
Racoon . . . .214, 247
Rag wool . . . . . 47
" Range," definition of . . 155
Rat, kangaroo . . . . 401
Rats 298
Red fox 246
Reindeer tongues . . .194
uses of . . . . 191
Rennet 130
Rheebok 201
Rhinoceros hide . . . 367
horn, carved . . . 368
applications of . 369
species of ... 366
Right, or Greenland whale
38i, 387
Russian supply of bristles . . 365
of hides . . . 154
of tallow . . . 148
bristles .... 363
PAGE
SABLES 261
Saladero, a slaughter-house . 114
Salami, or pork sausages . . 360
Scrivelloes . . . 335, 346
Sea elephant .... 284
lions . .... 277
otters. .... 262
Seal blubber, yield of oil . . 269
oil and seal skins, statistics
of 272
Seals and the seal fishery . . 263
flesh .... 270
"Serons," what . . . . 81
Sheep, British breeds of . -9
foreign breeds of ..17
number in the United
Kingdom in 1875 . xix
in 1874 . . 5, 12
in Great Britain in
1876 ... 6
in various countries . 6
in the British Colonies 12
products of. . . . 4
skins . . . 44, 218
value of in the United
Kingdom . . . xix
Shoddy manufacture . . . 47
Shorthorns . . . .88
Siffleur, a marmot . 214, 299
Silver fox . . . 245, 247
Skin bottles 62
Skutch 172
Slaughter-houses, vast, in America 355
Soap 151
Souslik 299
South African ivory . . 336,
Southern fur seals . . . 282
whale . . . . 388
Sperm whale .... 389
Spermaceti . . . 383, 389
Springbok. . . . .201
Squirrel . . . . 214
Squirrels and their uses . . 305
INDEX.
Statistics of imports of animal
products . . xvi
exports of do. . . xviii
- bristles . . 362, 365
buffaloes . . 100-106
- butter do. . 118, 125
- camels . . 73
- cattle in various coun-
tries . . 79, 158
cheese . . . 129
dogs . . . 240
- furs . 216,220,221,247,
261, 294
goats in various coun-
tries . . -56
- hides . . . 153, 158
- horse hair . 319,323
- horses in various coun-
tries . . . . 310
- ivory . 335, 336, 337,
340, 342
- lard. . . . 361
- live stock in theUnitecl
Kingdom . . xix
- meat consumption . 107
- milk do. . .117
mules and asses . .326
- musk imported. . 198
- pork and bacon 349, 352,
353, 358
rabbits . . .301
seals . . . . 272
- sheep in the British
colonies . .12
sheep in various coun-
tries . . . . 6
- tallow . . .148
woollen manufactures
exported . . . 24
wool imports into the
United Kingdom . 9
wool produce of the
world 8
Statistics of swine in various coun-
tries . . . 365
spermaceti . . . 390
whale fishery . 382, 383
f whalebone . . . 387
Suint, or yolk in wool . . 42
Sumach 159
Susel ..... 299
Swedish gloves . . . . 196
Swine, products of . . . 349
statistics of, in various
countries . . . 365
value of in the United
Kingdom . . . xix
varieties of . . 349-351
Swiss cheese. . . . . 128
TALLOW, imports of . . . 133
from cattle boiled down
in Australia . . . 150
our foreign imports of .148
- trade in . . . .147
Tanning materials, value of the
imports . ... xviii
substances . . .159
Tapestry carpets . . . . 50
Tapir 366
Tatoo 291
Teeth of elephants . 330, 334, 336
of wild animals, applica-
tions of . . . . 244
Textile manufactures, substances
used in . . . xiv
Thibet bear . . . .254
Tiger 226
Town tallow . . . . 149
Traction elephants . . . 337
Tripe dressers . . . .166
Tush a, dark goats' wool . . 55
Tusks, large elephants' . . 334
VAIR, a squirrel
Valonia
209
159
INDEX.
Vellum, uses of .
Vicuna
Virginian opossum
PAGE
1 60
69
399
WALLABIES . . . 491, 402
Wallaroos . . ... 406
Walrus, or sea-horse . . . 284
Waste substances, application of xv
Weasels .... 218^258
Whalebone . . 382, 383, 385
applications of . 388, 389
Whale fishing, British . . . 382
flesh .... 384
oil . . . 382, 383, 384
white, or porpoise . . 393
Whales, numbers killed . .381
Wild animals, prices of live . 223
beasts, destruction by . . 226
Wolverine or glutton. . 214,256
Wolves, devastations by . . 242
Wool, characteristics of 13
chemical composition of
classifications of .
36
I'AGE
Wool, foreign imports . . . 24
imports of into the United
Kingdom ... 8
Merino . . . . 7
produce of the world . 8
producing animals . . 4
washing . . . 38
Woollen manufacture, sub-divi-
sions of 46
Woollen manufactures of Great
Britain 22
Woollens, value of the exports . 24
Wombat 397
Worsted manufacture . . . 49
YAK, or grunting ox . . .103
hair and tails . . . 106
Y. C., definition of . . .149
Yungan 376
ZEBRA, flesh of. . . . 326
Zizil 299
THE END.
BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO., PRINTERS, WH1TEFRIAKS.
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
Fine schedule: 25 rrnfi nn fint dfliMMWd
v'^i^L. 50cer
DEC 8
1990
NOV 211990
AU62 1
LD 21-100m-12,'46(A2012sl6)4120
I. rl I ns < I ...
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
