VALUE OF ANIMALS.
Nobody doubts their general value, as nobody doubts the value of sunlight; but a more practical appreciation may be felt of their moneyed value if we look at that aspect of the question in some of its details.
We quote from a hand-book published for the South Kensington Museum:—
"CLASS I.—Animal Substances employed for Textile Manufactures and Clothing. Division I. Wool, Mohair, and Alpaca. Division II. Hair, Bristles, and Whalebone. Division III. Silk. Division IV. Furs. Division V. Feathers, Down, and Quills. Division VI. Gelatin, Skins, and Leathers.
"CLASS II.—Animal Substances used for Domestic and Ornamental Purposes. Division I. Bone and Ivory. Division II. Horns and Hoofs. Division III. Tortoise-shell. Division IV. Shells and Marines. Animal Products for Manufacture, Ornaments, etc. Division V. Animal Oils and Fats.
"CLASS III.—Pigments and Dyes yielded by Animals."—Division I. Cochineal and Kermes. Division II. Lac and its applications. Division III. Nutgalls, Gall Dyes, Blood, etc. Division IV. Sepia, Tyrian Purple, Purree, etc.
"CLASS IV.—Animal Substances used in Pharmacy and in Perfumery." Division I. Musk, Civet, Castorem, Hyraceum, and Ambergris. Division II. Cantharides, Leeches, etc.
"CLASS V.—Application of Waste Matters. Division I. Entrails and Bladders. Division II. Albumen, Casein, etc. Division III. Prussiates of Potash and Chemical Products of Bone, etc. Division IV. Animal Manures—Guano, Coprolites, Animal Carcases, Bones, Fish Manures, etc."
From a table of the value of imports of animal origin brought into the United Kingdom in the year 1875, we take a few items:—
"Live animals, £8,466,226. Wool of various kinds, £23,451,887. Silk, manufactures of all kinds, £12,264,532. Silk, raw and thrown, £3,546,456. Butter, £8,502,084. Cheese, £4,709,508. Eggs, £2,559,860. Bacon and hams, £6,982,470. Hair of various kinds, £1,483,984. Hides, wet and dry, £4,203,371. Hides, tanned or otherwise prepared, £2,814,042. Guano, £1,293,436. Fish, cured or salted, £1,048,546."
The value of the domestic stock in Great Britain and Channel Islands, in 1875, is stated to have been:—
"Horses, 1,349,691 at £16, £21,587,056. Cattle, 6,050,797 at £10, £60,507,970. Sheep, 29,243,790 at £1 10s., £43,865,685. Swine, 2,245,932 at £1 5s., £2,807,415. Total, £128,768,126."
"When we find," says the compiler of the statistics from which we have quoted, "that the figures 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 may be estimated at 160,000,000 lbs., 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."
Simmonds: Animal Products, p. xix.