Word: fur
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...long ago, the furrier was one of U.S. retailing's most endangered species. Badgered by conservationists, women began passing up their cherished minks, muskrats and marmots, settling instead for fake furs-or none at all. Then came the recession, and buyers began to balk at purchasing coats-no matter what they were made of-that had three-and four-figure price tags. Fur sales in specialty shops and department stores across the U.S. plunged, and many firms went out of business altogether. In just two years, nearly half of the 2,000 fur wholesalers and suppliers clustered in Manhattan...
...furs, and their dealers, are coming back. Industry-wide sales for 1975 are expected to reach their highest level (about $525 million) since the postwar boom 25 years ago. Fur sales have grown more dramatically this year than sales of any other kind of outerwear, and still astonished dealers are barely able to meet demand. Says Beverly Hills Furrier Mac Dicker: "It's unreal. I've been in the business for 30 years and never seen anything like...
Until the 20th century, the platypus was scientifically known as Paradoxus because it is such a baffling creature. It lays eggs, has a toothless bill and its feet are webbed. But it also has fur and a diaphragm, the females suckle their young, and the males have foreskins--all of which are characteristic of mammals. The platypus was discovered in Australian backwaters by westerners in 1797, long after aborigines had cultivated a spiritual respect for the creature. When the first specimens were shipped to England, scientists tried to pry off the bill, because they were convinced it was a graft...
...platypus has adapted to its environment through a minor evolution of specializations. Its powerful claws allow it to dig its burrow; its thick fur allows it to maintain an aquatic existence; its musculature allows it to scramble over land, paddle through water, and close its eyes while underwater; and its extremely sensitive bill allows it to find food below the surface. Temple-Smith says, "When we were rowing about at night, the sound of the paddles would attract the animals...
...applause swell for past dramas: Ike before worshipful masses in Seoul; Kennedy firm-jawed at the Berlin Wall; L.B.J. staring down Aleksei Kosygin at Glassboro; Nixon clinking glasses in the Great Hall with Chou Enlai, then eating Wheaties in the Kremlin; Ford grinning beneath his fur hat in the snows of Vladivostok with Leonid Brezhnev. Worthy acts. But the world changes...