The darker sorts of mink, musquash, raccoon and wolverine are more valuable than the paler skins.
The two best-known species, so much alike in size, form, colour and habits that, although they are widely separated geographically, some zoologists question their specific distinction, are P. lutreola, the Norz or Sumpfotter (marsh-otter) of eastern Europe, and P. visors, the mink of North America.
The caribou, moose, antelope, mountain sheep, beaver, otter and mink are scarce.
The Viennese have been particularly successful, and their method has been to dye the skins a good brown and then not put in the dark stripes, which exist in sable and mink, until the garment or article is finished, thus obtaining as perfectly symmetrical effects as if the articles were made of small skins instead of large ones.
As illustrative of this, it may be explained that any brown tone of fur such as sable, marten, mink, black marten, beaver, nutria, &c., will go well upon black or very dark-brown furs, while those of a white or grey nature, such as ermine, white lamb, chinchilla, blue fox, silver fox, opossum, grey squirrel, grey lamb, will set well upon seal or black furs, as Persian lamb, broadtail, astrachan, caracul lamb, &c. White is also permissible upon some light browns and greys, but brown motley colours and greys should never be in contrast.