At present it may be worn by any one: the modes of ornamenting it, however, as it is worn on state occasions, serve still to distinguish the sovereign and the rank of the peers, peeresses, judges, etc. Only the robes of the royal family can be trimmed with ermine thickly spotted with black paws of the Astrakhan lamb. The use of the ermine fur is restricted in Austria to the imperial family; and it also distinguishes the sovereigns of Germany, Portugal, and Russia. The ermine is little used in the United States. The value of the skin is from $1 to $3.-The fur of the black fox is exceedingly rare; a single skin commands a higher price than that of any other animal, except perhaps the sea otter. The color is a glossy black with a silvery grizzle on the forehead and flanks. It is found in the N. W. part of the United States, in British North America, and in the arctic regions, the choicest specimens coming from Canada and Labrador. But few skins are obtained, and these command enormous prices; single specimens have been sold in London for £80, and there was exhibited at the world's fair in that city in 1851 a pelisse belonging to the emperor of Russia, lined and trimmed with this fur and valued at £2,000. The largest demand is in Russia, where it is worn by the nobility, and in China. The fur is fine and downy, and is used chiefly for ladies' sets and for trimmings, it being specially adapted as a trimming for velvet.

A muff and boa of black fox fur are valued at from $200 to $500. In natural history and in commerce the black fox is known also as the silver fox; but among furriers and purchasers a marked distinction is made between a skin having black and one having silver fur, the difference being chiefly one of color. While the former has the appearance above described, the latter presents a rich, glossy, silvery color. The price of an average black fox skin is about $80, and of the choicest about $200; when the fur has the silvery appearance, it is valued at only about half as much. While these two grades are recognized by the London dealers, the number of skins bought and sold is generally classed under the head of silver fox. Next in value is the fur of the cross fox, the choicest skins being valued at about $10; it is used for the same purposes as the preceding, and also for the finest kinds of carriage robes. The white fox {vulpes lago-pus) is very abundant in the arctic regions. Its color is white in winter, and brown, gray, or bluish in summer. The fur is long, fine, and woolly; it is used for ladies' sets, dress trimmings, and sleigh robes.

The price of an average skin is about $2 50, and of the choicest about $5. They are mostly exported to Europe. Other varieties of fox furs of less value are those of the blue, the red, the kitt, and the gray fox. The furs of the two last named are extensively used in Turkey and Greece for linings for robes, etc. The skins of the red fox go chiefly to Germany, Poland, and Greece. The fur of the fisher, a North American animal much resembling the fox, is rich and soft and of a dark brown or blackish color. It is not much used in the United States, but is generally sent to Germany, Poland, and Russia, where it is used for linings of more costly furs, for trimmings, and ladies' apparel. The tail is also used for trimmings, and frequently as an ornament for the cap, especially at marriage festivities in Poland. The skins of the fisher are worth from $10 to $20 each.-The use of fur-seal skins has recently increased to such an extent that it is now one of the leading furs of Europe and America. In England it is a staple article for ladies' jackets. In Russia it is much used for linings, and in the United States it has become fashionable for both ladies' and gentlemen's wear.

The total number of fur-seal skins annually obtained is about 160,000. They are found in small numbers on the E. coast of Asia, on the W. coast of South America, and in the South Atlantic and Indian oceans; but most of the vast resorts of former years in the Southern ocean have disappeared, and the race has been nearly exterminated by indiscriminate killing. The chief source of supply is now the islands of St. Paul and St. George, about 300 m. from the coast of Alaska, where seals resort in great numbers from May to November for the purposes of reproduction, rearing their young, and shedding their coats of hair. During this season the shores for miles are lined with millions of these animals, of which about 100,000 are annually taken. The seal skins, when taken from the animal, are simply salted, and in this condition sold to the manufacturers, who clean, dress, and dye them; the process taking about four months, and involving a vast amount of labor and skill to bring them into a proper condition to be made into garments. In the process of manufacture each skin is handled more than 200 times before it is turned out in a state suitable for the furrier's use.

The natural color of the fur, which underlies the coarse hair or outside covering, is a dirty cinnamon, and the skins are dyed 12 to 18 times to bring them to the dark bronze or jet-black usually worn. The great amount of skilled labor required to perfect them adds materially to the cost. Thus the average price of raw skins is about $13 each, and of dressed about $21. The choicest specimens of the latter are valued at about $65. Sacques made of seal skin for ladies command prices varying from $100 to $400. This is the only standard fur which is improved by being dyed; in all other cases this process is used to palm off an inferior fur for one of superior grade. But the fur of the seal is not only made more beautiful in color by being dyed, but it is changed from a curly to a straight condition, and acquires a rich velvety quality. The chief establishments for the preparation of seal skins are in London, and employ a large capital and numerous workmen. The knowledge of the dye used is kept a strict secret. There is but one establishment of this kind in the United States (in Albany, N. Y.), and this is of limited capacity.