Mr. Martin, in his eulogy of the beaver (Castorologia, 1892), describes the rapid diminution of numbers in Canada, largely as the result of careless greed, but also through the spread of colonisation. He believes that by the end of the century, none will be found except in museums. Their rarity in Europe is well known.
[Note 32] p. 136.—Export of skins.
Radloff notes, in 1884, that the yearly sale of furs at the Irbitsch fair amounts to between three and four millions of roubles.
[Note 33] p. 144.—Velvet of antlers.
An account of the various ways in which pounded antlers and the vascular velvet were once used in medicine will be found in Prof. W. Marshall’s recent Arzenei-Kästlein, Leipzig, 1894.
[Note 34] p. 147.—The Elk.
The elk (Alces machlis) is the largest of the land animals of Europe, and is the same as the “moose” of Canada.
[Note 35] p. 150.—Rouble.
This varies from 3s. 8d. to 3s. 10d., but is usually reckoned as 4s. Of the kopeks, afterwards referred to, a hundred go to the rouble.
[Note 36] p. 161.—Brick Tea.