or SABLE Animal, in zoology, a creature of the weasel-kind, called by authors mustela zibellina. See MUSTELA.

SABLE Trade, the trade carried on in the skins or furs of sables: of which the following commercial history was translated by Mr J. R. Forster, from a Russian performance on that subject by Mr Muller.

"Sable, sobel, in Russian; zobel in German. Their price varies, from 1l. to 10l. sterling, and above: fine and middling sable-skins are without bellies, and the coarse ones are with them. Forty skins make a collection called zimmer. The finest sables are sold in pairs perfectly similar, and are dearer than single ones of the same goodness; for the Russians want those in pairs for facing caps, cloaks, tippets, &c. the blackest are reputed the best. Sables are in season from November to February; for those caught at any other time of the year are short-haired, and then called medzobelli. The hair of sables differs in length and quality: the long hairs, which reach far beyond the inferior ones, are called os; the more a skin has of such long hairs, the blacker they are, and the more valuable is the fur; the very best have no other but those long and black hairs.

Motchka is a technical term used in the Russian fur-trade, expressing the lower part of the long hairs; and sometimes it comprehends likewise the lower and shorter hairs: the abovementioned best sable furs are said to have a black motchka. Below the long hairs are, in the greater part of the sable-furs, some shorter hairs, called podosie, i.e. under-os; the more podosie a fur has, the less valuable: in the better kind of sables the podosie has black tips, and a grey or rufly motchka. The first kind of motchka makes the middling kind of sable furs; the red one the worst, especially if it has but few os. Between the os and podosie is a low woolly kind of hair, called podfada. The more podfada a fur has, the less valuable: for the long hair will, in such case, take no other direction than the natural one; for the characters of sable is, that notwithstanding the hair naturally lies from the head towards the tail, yet it will lie equally in any direction as you strike your hand over it. The various combinations of these characters, in regard to os, motchka, podosie, and podfada, make many special divisions in the goodness of furs: besides this, the furriers attend to the size, preferring always, ceteris paribus, the biggest, and those that have the greatest glofs. The size depends upon the animal being a male or a female, the latter being always smaller.

The glofs vanishes in old furs: the fresh ones have a kind of bloomy appearance, as they express it; the old ones are said to have done blooming: the dyed sables always lose their glofs; become less uniform, whether the lower hairs have taken the dye or not; and commonly the hairs are somewhat twisted or crisped, and not so straight as in the natural ones. Some fumigate the skins, to make them look blacker; but the smell, and the crisped condition of the long hair, betrays the cheat; and both ways are detected by rubbing the fur with a moist linen-cloth, which grows black in such cases.

"The Chinese have a way of dyeing the sables, so that the colour not only lasts, (which the Russian cheats cannot do), but the fur keeps its glofs, and the crisped hairs only discover it. This is the reason that all the sables, which are of the best kind, either in pairs or separate, are carried to Russia; the rest go to China. The very best sables come from the environs of Nertchinsk and Yakutsk; and in this latter district, the country about the river Ud affords sometimes sables, of whom one single fur is often sold at the rate of 60 or 70 rubles, 12l. or 14l. The bellies of sables, which are sold in pairs, are about two fingers breadth, and are tied together by 40 pieces, which are sold from 1l. to 2l. sterling. Tails are sold by the hundred. The very best sable-furs must have their tails; but ordinary sables are often cropped, and 100 sold from 4l. to 8l. sterling. The legs or feet of sables are seldom sold separately: white sables are rare, and no common merchandize, but bought only as curiosities: some are yellowish, and Sable are bleached in the spring on the snow."

heraldry, signifies "black;" and is borrowed from the French, as are most terms in this science; in engraving it is expressed by both horizontal and perpendicular lines crossing each other. Sable of itself signifies constancy, learning, and grief; and ancient heralds will have it, that it is compounded with

| Or. | Honour. | | Arg. | Fame. | | Gyl. | Respect. | | Azu. | Application. | | Ver. | Comfort. | | Pur. | Austerity. |

The occasion that introduced this colour into heraldry is thus related by Alexander Nisbet, p. 8. The duke of Anjou, king of Sicily, after the loss of that kingdom, appeared at a tournament in Germany all in black, with his shield of that tincture, fonde de larmes, i.e. besprinkled with drops of water, to represent tears, indicating by that both his grief and loss.