poets found no difficulty in transforming them, in imagination, into tritons, sirens, nereids, etc., and making them the companions of Neptune. The tales of mermaids and mermen, by modern sailors, are usually caused by them, though the manatus may sometimes be the cause of the illusion. Several species have a fine, close fur. Others, like the common seal, have only coarse hair. The skins of these, when dressed with the hair on, are used to cover trunks, to make gloves, soldiers' caps, etc. The skins of the sea-bear, or fur-seal, are extensively used for gentlemen's and ladies' sets, and for various other purposes. The

original color of the fur varies from black, through brownish red to ash-colored; and the dyer gives it whatever tint the market requires. The skins have long hairs, black, brown, or gray, which are taken out before the fur is in a condition to use. The number of seals of all

kinds, now taken yearly, is not far from 1,000,000.

A few years ago, a large number of skins, of what was then called in Britain the common fur-seal of commerce, was obtained from the islands of the Southern Ocean. Instead of taking a moderate number, and allowing the supply to be kept up, those engaged in the business made an indiscriminate slaughter of the animals, and in a few years

nearly exterminated them. In South Shetland, it was estimated that they killed 320,000; in the Island of Desolation, or Kerguelen, more than 1,000,000; and in South Georgia 1,200,000. The fur of this seal is

of a uniform brownish-white color above, and of a somewhat deep brown beneath. The fur-skin of this valuable animal is prepared in a peculiar manner. The long hair which conceals the fur is first removed, by heating the skin, and then carding it with a large wooden knife. The fur then appears in all its perfection, and was formerly much used in Europe for linings and borders of cloaks and mantles, for caps, etc.

But by far the most valuable fur that passes under the name of seal is that of the sea otter, or Alaska seal, which, while it has the habits of the seal, forms a connecting link between it and the otter. A large portion of this fur is obtained from two islands, St. Paul and St. George, in latitude about 564° north, in the Sea of Behring or Kamtchatka, about 250 miles northwest of the peninsula of Alaska. These islands were sold by Russia to the United States as a part of

the Alaska territory. When, in 1869, General George H. Thomas was sent by our government to examine and report upon the country, he estimated the fur-bearing seals, or sea-otters, seen each summer on these islands, at from 5,000,000 to 15,000,000, lying in the rookeries, and covering hundreds of acres. For the last fifty or sixty years, the Russian Government had limited the number of skins to be taken yearly to some 80,000 or less. As General Thomas recommended that the hunting and killing of these animals should be regulated by law, Congress, in 1870, adopted substantially the Russian system; and in a few weeks the Alaska Company, of which Hon. Henry P. Haven,

of New London, Connecticut, is a prominent owner and influential officer, leased from the United States the islands of St. Paul and St. George. The company contracted to pay a rent of $55,000 per annum, and a revenue tax of $2.624 on each fur-seal taken and shipped from the islands. Two United States officials are stationed on each of these islands to see that the company complies with the conditions of the lease, and to count the skins as they are shipped to San Francisco, where they are again counted by the custom-house officers. The number taken annually must not exceed 100,000. The catch in 1872 amounted to 96,069 skins. The sea-otter is the boldest swimmer of the amphibious tribe, for troops of them are met with 300 miles from land. When holding a fore-paw over their eyes, in order to look about them with more distinctness, they are called sea-apes. They are exclusively found in the North Pacific Ocean and on its borders, between the 49th and 60th degrees of latitude; and, although living mostly in the water, they are occasionally found on land very far from

the sea. Their fur is exceedingly fine, close, soft, and velvety, perfectly black in full season, but at other times of a shining, deep sepia, or of a rich chestnut-brown. The longer hairs are silky and glossy, but not very numerous, and are easily removed. The Chinese prize the fur of the sea-otter so highly that formerly they paid for the skins from sixty to seventy-five dollars each; but they value them somewhat less now. It still remains the choicest, most expensive, and most fashionable, fur of its kind in the market for gentlemen's sets, ladies' sacques, turbans, boas, muffs, etc., and consequently all inferior furs that resemble it are made to imitate it.

Otters are fierce, wild, and shy, nocturnal in their habits, live much in the water, and feed upon fish, which they catch with great dexterity. They love to sport by sliding down a bank of snow in winter,

or clay in summer, especially when they can, at the bottom, plunge into water. The Canadian otter has long, glossy hair, of a dark color, and an inner fur, close, fine, and soft, of a deep, rich liver-brown. If the fur on any part of the skin lacks the right color, it is brought to the requisite tint by dyeing. The fur is much esteemed, and is used. for caps, collars, gloves, etc., though much of it is exported to Europe. The number of otters taken yearly is supposed to be about 40,000.

Beavers have a broad, horizontally-flattened, and scaly tail, a webbed hind-foot, and a general form which is admirable for swimming. They live mostly in and near the water, in large companies,