Ermines shows white tails on a black ground.
Erminois shows black tails on a gold ground.
Erminites is the same as Ermine, but each black tail has one outer red hair on each side.
Pean shows gold tails on a black ground.
Counter Vair has the skins differently arranged.
Potent is like Vair, but the skins are differently shaped, like thick T's.
Counter Potent has the Potent skins differently arranged.
The heraldic lines, dots, and furs should be learnt, as they must be understood and are continually met with in heraldic works of late date. The tincture lines do not show on English Royal book-stamps until the time of George II., and on earlier book-stamps the want of any indication of colour is a great element of doubt in the attribution of coats-of-arms to particular persons, in the absence of assistance from marks outside the shields, coronets, helmets, crests, and the like.
An heraldic heiress is a lady whose father is armigerous but leaves no son. In such a case the lady's coat, if she married, would be shown on an escutcheon of Pretence placed in the centre of her husband's coat, and may be shown as a quartering on the coats-of-arms of her children.