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LION
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LION.—Size 5 to 6 ft. long. These skins are found in Africa, Arabia and part of India, and are every year becoming scarcer. They are only used for floor rugs, and the males are more highly esteemed on account of the set-off of the mane. Value, lions' Do to £too; lionesses' £5 to X25. LYNx.—Size 45X20 in. The underwool is thinner than fox, but the top hair is fine, silky and flowing, 4 in. long, of a pale grey, slightly mottled with fine streaks and dark spots. The fur upon the flanks is longer and white with very pronounced markings of dark spots, and this part of the skin is generally worked separately from the rest and is very effective for gown trimmings. Where the colour is of a sandy and reddish hue the value is far less than where it is of a bluish tone. They inhabit North America as far south as California, also Norway and Sweden. Those from the Hudson Bay district and Sweden are the best and are very similar. Those taken in Central Asia are mostly used locally. For attire the skins manufactured in Europe are generally dyed black or brown, in which state it has a similar appearance to dyed fox, but having less thick underwool, and finer hair flows freely. The finest skins when dyed black are used very largely in America in place of the dyed black fox so fashionable for mourning wear in Great Britain and France. The British Hussar busbies are made of the dark brown lynx, and it is the free silky easy movement of the fur with the least disturbance in the atmosphere that gives it such a pleasing effect. It is used for rugs in its natural state and also in Turkey as trimmings for garments. Value I3s. 6d. to 56s.