Few kinds of animals furnish a pelt of suitable weight and pliability, and all of them differ widely in elegance of texture, delicacy of shade, and fineness of overhair; and these differences determine their place in the catalogue of merchandise. These few animals are not very prolific, and many of them attain their greatest beauty in wild and uncultivated regions. To this remark there are some notable exceptions; being thus few in kind, and limited in quantity, the extinction of the several choice varieties might be expected through the persistent energy of the trapper. But here the fickleness of fashion steps in, and does for the fur trade what the law of supply and demand does for the more staple articles of commerce. Fashion, fastidious and fickle, neglects the use of certain kinds for a season; the market price of the pelt no longer repays the outfit of the trapper; the hunt is intermitted, and in two or three years the animal regains its numbers and strength. The annual collection of furs is thus subject to ceaseless change; but the following. may be relied on as an estimate correct enough for all prac tical purposes. [The table and the principal facts here given, are from Encyc. Brit.,' 9th ed.] FtRICH, JOSEPH vox, 1800-76; a painter and contemporary of Cornelius and Over beck. HS first attempt at composition was a sketch of the Nativity for the festival of Christmas in his father's house. He lived to see the day when, becoming celebrated as a composer of Scriptural episodes, his sacred subjects were transferred in numberless repetitions to the roadside churches of the Austrian state, where humble peasants Ulu, learned to admire modern art, reviving the models of earlier ages. F. has been fairly
described as a "Nazarene," a romantic religious artist whose pencil did more than any other to restore the old'spirit of Darer and give new shape to countless incidents of the Gospel and scriptural legends. He was a master of the art of arrangement, and in form, movement, and expression his power was considerable. His drapery, if peculiar, was perfectly cast. Endowed with creative genius, he lacked skill as a colorist. Among his well-known works are illustrations to the "Lord's Prayer;" the "Triumph of Christ;" the " Road to Bethlehem;" the " Succession of Christ according to Thomas 11. Kempis;" and the " Prodigal Son." The latter especially is remarkable for the con stant recurrence of the allegorical spirit of evil. F. studied under Bengler in the academy of Prague in 1816. His earliest inspirations were derived from the prints of Darer and the Faust of Cornelius. In 1834, he was made custos and in 1841 professor of composition in the academy at Vienna. In 1854-61, he produced the vast series of wall paintings which cover the inside of the Lerchenfeld church at Vienna. In 1872, he was pensioned and made a knight of the order of Franz Joseph.