422 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



Treasury agent (Captain Bryant), with an assistant on St. 

 Paul Island, and another on St. George, who sees that the law 

 of Congress and the regulations of the Treasury Department 

 are complied with. Upon Captain Bryant's recommenda- 

 tion, Congress has lately directed that the proportion of ani- 

 mals to be killed on the respective islands be left to the dis- 

 cretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, provided that the 

 maximum of 100,000 be not exceeded. It is found that not 

 more than ten to fifteen thousand skins of the first quality 

 can be obtained on St. George, while St. Paul will yield more 

 than seventy-five thousand without any danger of affecting 

 the general supply. Although the full number has hitherto 

 been taken by the Alaska Company from St. George, yet 

 more than half the skins were of inferior quality, and brought 

 much less than the average price. 



Congress has also authorized the appointment, by the Treas- 

 ury Department, of a commission to proceed forthwith to the 

 North Pacific and investigate the natural-history and geo- 

 graphical distribution of the fur seals. He is to be accompa- 

 nied by an officer of the navy, whose more especial duty will 

 be to look into the affairs of the Alaska Commercial Compa- 

 ny. Mr. Henry W. Elliott has been selected as the Treasury 

 agent, and Lieutenant Maynard by the Navy Department. 



THE FREXCH FISHERIES. 



In the JRevue Maritime et Coloniale for March, 18*74, we 

 find a summary of the sea-fisheries of F ranee for the year 

 1872. This has not been prepared with the same care as in 

 previous years, and fails to give the tables of aggregates of 

 the different fish taken at the several stations, as well as of 

 the men and boats employed. All the figures, however, show 

 a gratifying increase as compared with former statements : 

 the total products amounting in value to more than 74,000,000 

 francs, being an increase of 4,000,000. As 1871 was the best 

 year since 1817, when the statistics were first collected, the 

 exhibit is very satisfactory to French political economists. 



The yield for 1872 would have been still greater but for a 

 decided decrease in the herring-fishery. This, according to 

 the article referred to, was due to two causes: the first, that 

 a large stock was carried over from the previous year in con- 

 sequence of the competition produced by the large yield from 



