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WOMBAT, KOALA
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See also:WOMBAT, See also:KOALA Or AUSTRALIAN See also:BEAR.—See also:SiZe 20XI2 in. Has See also:light See also:grey or See also: See also:Special grease is then rubbed in and the skin placed in a See also:machine which softly and continuously beats in the softening mixture, after which it is put into a slowly revolving See also:drum, fitted with wooden paddles, partly filled with various kinds of fine hard sawdust according to the nature of the furs dealt with. This See also:process with a moderate degree of See also:heat thoroughly cleans it of See also:external greasy matter,
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and all that is necessary before manufacturing is to gently tap the fur upon a leather See also:cushion stuffed with horsehair with smooth canes of a flexibility suited to the strength of the fur. After dressing most skins alter in shape and decrease in size.
With regard to the merits of See also:European dressing, it may be fairly taken that See also:English, See also:German and See also:French dressers have specialities of excellence. In See also:England, for instance, the dressing of sables, See also:martens, foxes, otters, See also:seals, bears, lions, tigers and leopards is first See also:rate; while with See also:skunk, mink, See also:musquash, chinchillas, beavers, See also:lambs and squirrels, the Germans show better results, particularly in the last. The pelt after the German dressing is dry, soft and See also: The skins arrive simply salted. Af ter being See also:purchased at the See also:auction sales they are washed, then stretched upon a hoop, when all blubber and unnecessary flesh is removed, and the pelt is reduced to an equal thickness, but not so thin as it is finally rendered. Subsequently the hard top hairs are taken out as in the case of otters and beavers and the whole thoroughly cleaned in the revolving drums. The close underwool, which is of a slightly wavy nature and mostly of a See also:pale drab colour, is then dyed by repeated applications of a See also:rich dark brown colour, one coat after another, each being allowed to thoroughly dry before the next is put on, till the effect is almost a lustrous black on the top. The whole is again put through the cleaning process and evenly reduced in thickness by revolving See also:emery wheels, and eventually finished off in the palest See also:buff colour. The English dye for seals is to-See also:day undoubtedly the best; its constituents are more or less of a trade See also:secret, but the See also:principal ingredients comprise See also:gall nuts, See also:copper dust, camphor and See also:antimony, and it would appear after years of careful watching that the See also:atmosphere and particularly the water of See also:London are partly responsible for good and lasting results. The See also:Paris dyers do excellent work in this direction, but the colour is not so durable, probably owing to a less pure water. In America of See also:late, strides have been made in seal See also:dyeing, but preference is still given to London work. In Paris, too, they obtain beautiful results in the " topping " or colouring Russian sables and the Germans are particularly successful in dyeing See also:Persian lambs black and foxes in all blue, grey, black and See also:smoke See also:colours and in the insertion of white hairs in See also:imitation of the real silver fox. Small quantities of good beaver are dyed in See also:Russia occasionally, and white hairs put in so well that an effect similar to sea See also:otter is obtained. The process of inserting white hairs is called in the trade " pointing," and is either done by stitching them in with a See also:needle or by adhesive caoutchouc. The Viennese are successful in dyeing See also:marmot well, and their cleverness in colouring it with a series of stripes to represent the natural markings of See also:sable which has been done after the garments have been made, so as to obtain symmetry of lines, has secured for them a large trade among the dealers of cheap furs in England and the See also:continent. Manufacturing Methods and Specialities.—In the olden timesthe Skinners' See also:Company of the See also:city of London was an association of furriers and skin dressers established under royal See also:charter granted by See also:Edward III. At that See also:period the See also:chief concern of the See also:body was to prevent buyers from being imposed upon by sellers who were much given to offering old furs as new; a See also:century later the Skinners' Company received other charters empowering them to inspect not only warehouses and open markets, but workrooms. In 1667 they were given See also:power to scrutinize the preparing of rabbit or cony wool for the wool trade and the See also:registration of the then customary seven years' See also:apprenticeship. To-day all these privileges and See also:powers are in See also:abeyance, and the See also:interest that they took in the fur trade has been gradually transferred to the leather-dressing See also:craft. The work done by English furriers was generally good, but since about 1865 has considerably improved on See also:account of the influx of German workmen, who have See also:long been celebrated for excellent fur work, being in their own See also:country obliged to satisfy officially appointed experts and to obtain a certificate of capacity before they can be there employed. The French See also:influence upon the trade has been, and still is, primarily one of See also:style and See also:combination of colour, See also:bad See also:judgment in which will See also:mar the beauty of the most valuable furs. It is a recognized See also:law among high-class furriers that furs should be simply arranged, that is, that an See also:article should consist of one fur or of two furs of a suitable contrast, to which See also:lace may be in some cases added with See also:advantage. As illustrative of this, it may be explained that any brown See also:tone of fur such as sable, See also:marten, mink, black marten, beaver, See also:nutria, &c., will go well upon black or very dark-brown furs, while those of a white or grey nature, such as See also:ermine, white See also:lamb, See also:chinchilla, blue fox, silver fox, See also:opossum, grey See also:squirrel, grey lamb, will set well upon seal or black furs, as Persian lamb, See also:broadtail, astrachan, caracul lamb, &c. White is also permissible upon some light browns and greys, but brown See also:motley colours and greys should never be in contrast. One neutralizes the other and the effect is bad. The qualities, too have to be considered—the fulness of one, the flatness of the other, or the coarseness or fineness of the furs. The introduction of a third fur in the same garment or indiscriminate selection of colours of See also:silk linings, braids, buttons, &c., often spoils an otherwise good article. With regard to the natural colours of furs, the browns that command the highest prices are those that are of a bluish rather than a reddish tendency. With greys it is those that are bluish, not yellow, and with white those that are purest, and with black the most dense, that are most esteemed and that are the rarest. Perhaps for ingenuity and the latest methods of manipulating skins in the manufacturing of furs the Americans See also:lead the way, but as fur cutters are more or less of a roving and See also:cosmopolitan See also:character the larger fur businesses in London, See also:Berlin, See also:Vienna, St See also:Petersburg, Paris and New See also:York are guided by the same thorough and comparatively advanced principles. During the period just mentioned the tailors' methods of scientific See also:pattern cutting have been adopted by the leading furriers in See also:place of the old See also:chance methods of fur cutters, so that to-day a fur garment may be as accurately and gracefully fitted as See also:plush or See also:velvet, and with all good houses a material pattern is fitted and approved before the skins are cut. Through the See also:advent of German and American fur sewing-See also:machines since about 1890 fur work has been done better and cheaper. There are, however, certain parts of a garment, such as the putting in of sleeves and placing on of collars, &c., that can only be sewn by hand. For straight seams the machines are excellent, making as neat a seam as is found in See also:glove work, unless, of course, the pelts are especially heavy, such as bears and See also:sheep rugs. A very See also:great feature of German and Russian work is the fur linings called rotondes, sacques or plates, which are made for their See also:home use and exportation chiefly to Great See also:Britain, America and France. In See also:Weissenfels, near See also:Leipzig, the dressing of Russian grey squirrel and the making it into linings is a gigantic See also:industry, and is the principal support of the place. After the dressing process the backs of the squirrels are made up separately from the under and thinner white and grey parts, the first being known as squirrel- ' back and the other as squirrel-See also:lock linings. A few linings are made from entire skins and others are made from the quite white pieces, which in some instances are spotted with the black See also:ear tips of the animals to resemble ermine. The smaller and uneven pieces of heads and legs are made up into linings, so there is absolutely no See also:waste. Similar work is done in Russia on almost as extensive a See also:scale, but neither the dressing nor the work is so good as the German. The See also:majority of heads, gills or throats, sides or See also:franks, paws and pieces of skins cut up in the fur workshops of Great Britain, America and France, weighing many tons, are chiefly exported to Leipzig, and made up in neighbouring countries and See also:Greece, where labour can be obtained at an alarmingly See also:low rate. Al-though the sewing, which is necessarily done by hand, the sections being of so unequal and tortuous a character, is rather roughly executed, the matching of colours and qualities is excellent. The enormous quantities of pieces admit of good selection and where See also:odd colours prevail in a lining it is dyed. Many squirrel-lock linings are dyed blue and brown and used for the outside of cheap garments. They are of little See also:weight, warm and effective, but not of great durability. The principal linings are as follows: Sable sides, sable heads and paws, sable gills, mink sides, heads and gills, marten sides, heads and gills, Persian lamb pieces and paws, caracul lamb pieces or paws, musquash sides and heads, nutria sides, See also:genet pieces, See also:raccoon sides or flanks, fox sides, kolinski whole skins, and small rodents as See also:kaluga and See also:hamster. The white stripes cut out of skunks are made into rugs. Another great source of inexpensive furs is See also:China, and for many years past enormous quantities of dressed furs, many of which are made up in the See also:form of linings and Chinese loose-shaped garments, have been imported by England, See also:Germany and France for the See also:lower class of business; the garments are only regarded as so much fur and are reworked. With, however, the exception of the best white See also:Tibet lambs, the majority of Chinese furs can only be regarded as inferior material. While the work is often cleverly done as to matching and manipulation of the pelt which is very soft, there are great objections in the odour and the brittleness or weakness of the fur. One of the most remarkable results of the European intervention in the Boxer rising in China (tgoo) was the absurd See also:price paid for so-called " See also:loot " of furs, particularly in mandarins' coats of dyed and natural fox skins and pieces, and natural ermine, poor in quality and yellowish in colour; from three to ten times their value was paid for them when at the same See also:time huge parcels of similar quality were warehoused in the London docks, because pure' asers could not be found for them. With regard to See also:Japanese furs, there is little to commend them. The best are a See also:species of raccoon usually sold as fox, and, being of close long quality of fur, they are serviceable for boas, collars, muffs and carriage aprons. The sables, martens, minks and otters are poor in quality, and all of a very yellow colour and they are generally dyed for the cheap trade. A small number of very See also:pretty See also:guanaco and See also:vicuna carriage rugs are imported into See also:Europe, and many come through travellers and private See also:sources, but generally they are so badly dressed that they are quite brittle upon the leather See also:side. Similar remarks are applicable to opossum rugs made in See also:Australia. From See also:South See also:Africa a quantity of See also:jackal, See also:hyena, fox, See also:leopard and sheep karosses, i.e. a peculiarly shaped See also:rug or covering used by native chiefs, is privately brought over. The skins are invariably tanned and beautifully sewn, the furs are generally See also:flat in quality and not very strong in the hair, and are retained' more as curiosities than for use as a warm covering. Hatters' Furs and Cloths and Shawls.—The See also:hat trade is largely interested in the fur piece trade, the best See also:felt hats being made from beaver and musquash wool and the cheaper sorts from nutria, hare and rabbit wools. For See also:weaving, the most valuable pieces are See also:mohair taken from the See also:angora and vicuna. They are limited in quantity and costly, and the trade depends upon various sorts of other sheep and See also:goat wools for the bulk of its productions Frauds and Imitations.—The opportunities for See also:cheating in the fur trade are very considerable, and most serious frauds have been perpetrated in the selling of sables that have been coloured or " topped "; that is, just the tips of the hairs stained dark to represent more expensive skins. It is only by years of experience that some of these colourings can be detected. Where the skins are heavily dyed it is comparatively easy to see the difference between a natural and a dyed colour, as the underwool and top hair become almost alike and the leather is also dark, whereas in natural skins the See also:base of the underwool is much paler than the top, or of a different colour, and the leather is white unless finished in a pale reddish tone as is sometimes the case when See also:mahogany sawdust is used in the final cleaning. As has been explained, sable is a See also:term applied for centuries past to the darker sorts of the Russian Siberian martens, and for years past the same term has been bestowed by the See also:retail trade upon the American and Canadian martens. The baum and See also: Garments made of sealskin pieces and Persian lamb pieces are frequently sold as if they were made of solid skins, the term " pieces " being simply suppressed. The London Chamber of See also:Commerce have issued to the See also:British trade a See also:notice that any misleading term in advertising and all attempts at deception are illegal, and offenders are liable under the Merchandise Marks See also:Act 1887. The most usual misnaming of manufactured furs is as follow:—Musquash, pulled and dyed . Sold as seal. Nutria, pulled and dyed . Sold as seal. Nutria, pulled and natural . Sold as beaver. Rabbit, sheared and dyed . Sold as seal or electric seal. Otter, pulled and dyed. . Sold as seal. Marmot, dyed .. . Sold as mink or sable. See also:Fitch, dyed . .. . Sold as sable. Rabbit, dyed .. . Sold as sable or French sable. Hare, dyed . Sold as sable, or fox, or See also:lynx. Musquash, dyed . Sold as mink or sable. See also:Wallaby, dyed .. . Sold as skunk. White Rabbit . . . Sold as ermine. White Rabbit, dyed . Sold as chinchilla. White Hare, dyed or natural . Sold as fox; foxaline, and other similar names. Goat, dyed Sold as bear, leopard, &c. Dyed manufactured articles of all kinds Sold as " natural." White hairs inserted in foxes and sables Sold as real or natural furs. Kids Sold as lamb or broadtails. American sable Sold as real Russian sable. Mink Sold as sable. T'la Preservation of Furs.—For many years raw sealskins have been preserved in See also:cold storage, but it is only within a See also:recent period, owing to the difficulty there was in obtaining the necessary perfectly dry atmosphere, that dressed and made-up furs have been preserved by freezing. Furs kept in such a condition are not only immune from the ravages of the larvae of See also:moth, but all the natural See also:oils in the pelt and fur are conserved, so that its colour and See also:life are prolonged, and the natural deterioration is arrested. Sunlight has a tendency to bleach furs and to encourage the development of moth eggs, therefore continued exposure is to be avoided. When furs are wetted by See also:rain they should be well shaken and allowed to dry in a current of See also:air without exposure to See also:sun or open See also:fire. Where a freezing See also:store for furs is not accessible, furs should be well shaken and afterwards packed in See also:linen and kept in a perfectly cool dry place, and examined in the summer at periods of not less than five See also:weeks. See also:Naphthalene and the usual malodorous powders are not only very disagreeable, but quite useless. Any chemical that is strong enough to destroy the life in a moth See also:egg would also be sufficiently potent to injure the fur itself. In England moth life is practically continuous all the See also:year See also:round, that is, as regards those moths that attack furs, though the destructive See also:element exists to a far greater extent during See also:spring and summer. See also:Comparative Durability of Various Furs and Weight of Unlined Skins per Square See also:Foot. The following estimates of durability refer to the use of fur when made up " hair outside " in garments or stoles, not as a lining. The durability of fur used as linings. which is affected by other conditions, is set forth separately. Otter, with its water hairs removed, the strongest of furs for external use, is, in this table, taken as the See also:standard at too and other furs marked accordingly: The Precious Furs. Points of ' Weight Durability. in oz. per sq. ft. Sable 6o 22 Seal 75 3 Fox, Silver or Black 40 3 White 20 3 Ermine 25 14 Chinchilla . 15 1z Sea-otter (for stoles or collars) too 44-, The Less Valuable Furs. Points of Weight Durability. in oz. per sq. ft. Sable " topped," i.e. top hairs coloured 55 22 tinted, i.e. fur all coloured, 50 22 Baum Marten, natural 65 2; tinted 45 24 Stone Marten 40 2; Nutria 27 34 Musquash, natural 37 34 water hairs removed, sheared 33 34 and seal finished. . Skunk 70 21—,-, Mink 70 3a Lynx, natural 25 2; tinted black 20 2q Marmot, tinted to 3 Fox, tinted black 25 3 blue 20 3 .. . . .. 37 3 Opossum Otter (with water hairs) too 4 (water hairs removed) . 95 3 s Beaver (water hairs cut level with fur) 90 4 (water hairs removed) . 85 3i c See also:Moleskin . 7 14 Persian Lamb 65 34 Grey „ 30 3 Broadtail 15 2; Caracul Kid to 34 Lamb 15 34 Squirrel 25 1'-h Hare 5 ta Rabbit 5 24 ' Stout, old-fashioned boxcloth is almost the only See also:cloth that (after a soft, heavy lining has been added to it) affords even two- Quantities of Fur needed, in Square Feet. The " Paris See also:Model " figure is the basis of these estimates for ladies' garments, the standard measurements being height 5 ft. 6 in., See also:waist 23 in., bust 38 in. Sq. Ft. (approximate). Straight See also:stole a length (just below the waist See also:line) . 24 Straight stole 4 length (just below the See also:knee) . . 31 Stole, broad enough at the See also:neck to See also:cover the top of 5 See also:arm length . . The same, full length (to hem of skirt) . . 6 See also:Eton jacket, without See also:collar . 13 See also:Plain cape, 15 in. long . 62 Deep cape, 30 in. long . 15 Full cape with broad stole front, ; length . 15 See also:Inverness cape (to knee) . . 25 See also:Double-breasted, straight, semi-fitting coat, covering hips . . 16 Double-breasted sacque jacket, 36 in. long, full sleeves 20 Points of Weight Durability. in oz. per sq. ft. Otter (the water hairs removed) . . too 3; Beaver „ 90 3;a Mink 90 34 Sealskin 75 3 Raccoon 75 4z Persian lamb or astrachan . . 70 34 Sable 65 22 Musquash 55 3z Nutria 40 34 Grey Opossum 40 3 Wallaby 30 34 Squirrel 30 1 4 Hamster 15 t 4 Rabbit to 2q Durability and Weight of Linings for Ladies' Coats or Wraps. Sable gills, the strongest fur suited for ladies' linings, is taken as the standard. Points of Weight Durability. in oz. per sq. ft. Sable gills too 28 Sable 85 2Z Sable paws 64 t s Ermine 57 14 Squirrel back 50 1 4 Squirrel heads 36 22 Squirrel lock 21 1; Hamster 10 % Rabbit 7 14 24 Durability and Weight of Motoring Furs made up with Fur outside. Otter with the water hairs, the strongest fur suited for motoring garments, is taken as the standard. Points of Weight Durability. in oz. per sq. ft. Otter (with water hairs) too 4 Sealskin, See also:marble. 8o 3 " Flair Sealskin " (tinted) with water 75 34 hairs (a special variety of seal) . 65 41 Raccoon 35 2A Russian See also:Pony thirds as much See also:protection against cold as does fur. It weighs 4.273 oz. per sq. ft. more than the heaviest of coat-furs, and is so rigid as to be uncomfortable, while the subtileness of fur makes it " See also:kind " to the body. Same, 30 in. long . 18 Same, 22 in. long . 15 Long, full, See also:shawl cape with points at back and front, well below knee. . . 15 Shorter shawl cape . . 16 Motoring or See also:driving coat, a length. . 22 Motoring or driving coat, full length . 27 Weight and Durability of Furs for Men's Coat Linings. Otter with the water hairs removed, the strongest fur suited for linings, is here taken as the standard. Durability and Weight of Furs for Rugs and Foot-sacks. Points of inWoz.eightper Durability. sq. ft. See also:Wolverine too 6 Bear (black or brown natural) 94 7 Bear (tinted black) 88 72 Beaver 88 4 Raccoon 77 42 Opossum 61 3 See also:Wolf 50 62 Jackal 27 41 Australian Bear 16 6 Goat 11 4s Wolverine, the strongest fur suited for rugs and foot-sacks, is taken as the standard. For a rug about 20 to 25 sq. ft. of fur are needed, for a foot-See also:sack 141. (W. S. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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