According to an American Consular Report, the results of the fishing during the season 1913 were satisfactory. The total number of seals captured was 272,965, which were valued at £98,800. The number of skins exported was 212,285, valued at £64,300, of which the United States of America bought 151,355, the United Kingdom 60,754, and Canada 176. The porpoise, or sea hog, has a very useful hide which, when dressed, makes a tough leather suitable for laces. The hides of other cetaceous mammals, such as the whale and narwhal, are convertible into useful leather. The British "porpoise" laces are generally made from the skin of the white whale (_beluga_). DEFECTS OF RAW HIDES AND SKINS A remarkable feature of the leather trade is the great waste due to the careless preparation of a large number of hides and skins. Naturally, owing to their greatly increased value in recent years, there has been a decided improvement, but much loss occurs every day from damage to hides which ought to be avoided. The chief faults are in flaying and curing, but there are other important defects due to natural causes. Bad flaying may be due (1) to cutting holes in the hides or skins; (2) to "scoring" or "siding" (_i.e._, cutting into the hide without going completely through), this generally occurring in the flanks or sides which are the most difficult parts of the hide to remove from the carcase; and (3) to mis-shaping the hide, which ought to be left square. Any or all of these defects may be found in a single hide. Despite the active work of several proprietors of hide markets and the tanners' federations the proportion of badly-flayed hides in England constitutes a serious loss, which, however, may not fall directly on either the butcher or the tanner, for the former may save in wages by employing an inexperienced slaughterman, while the tanner pays a reduced price for the hide.