PUR-SEAL INDUSTRY. 85 



Bone. — The initial sliipments of old bone were made from the 

 Prihilofs in 1917. The first shipment was made on the Roosevelt 

 leaving the islands in August. The bone was delivered at Seattle and 

 sold to Elmon A. Geneste, representing the Union Meat Co., of North 

 Portland, Oreg. The shipment amounted to 32,170 pounds, and the 

 Bureau received from Mr. Geneste $321.70, or at the rate of $20 per 

 ton. Natives were paid $179.68 for collecting the material. The 

 balance, $142.02, was deposited in the Treasury. 



The second shipment amounting to 161,400 pounds was made on 

 the Roosevelt leaving the islands in December. The material was de- 

 livered to Brady & Co., of Seattle, at that place in January, 1918. 

 The price at which it was sold was $30 per ton, the gross amount 

 being $2,421. From this there were deductions of $333.18 for 

 wharfage, labor in unloading, etc., at Seattle. There was also 

 deducted the sum of $807, paid 55 natives at the islands, who received 

 one-half cent per pound for bone collected. Thus the net amount to 

 be turned into the Treasury was $1,280.82. 



In order that bone might be transported in more compact form, 

 thereby economizing space on the Roosevelt, two small crushers were 

 shipped to the islands. Delivery was made at the islands too late in 

 the year to permit the grinding of bone shipped in 1917. 



Intestines. — A small quantity of salted fur-seal intestines were 

 shipped from St. Paul Island on the Roosevelt in December, 1917. 

 Samples of the intestines were submitted to the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry and to the trade. Preliminary tests made with the view of 

 utilizing them for sausage casings were not promising, but observa- 

 tions made in tlie course of these tests suggested their suitableness for 

 sutures, violin strings, tennis rackets, etc. Ordinary so-called catgut 

 of commerce is made from intestines of sheep. Intestines from fur 

 seals are thinner and stronger than those from sheep. 



Oil and gelatine. — Steps were undertaken to ascertain what possi- 

 bilities lay in the extraction of oil from seal carcasses. Kettles for 

 use in trying out oil were sent to both St. Paul and St. George Islands, 

 but it may be that any open-kettle process is unsuited for the work. 

 A trial was made on St. Paul Island, using a pressure cooker sent 

 there for experimenting in the canning of seal meat. The blubber, 

 weighing 18 pounds 6 ounces, left on an average fall 3-year-old male 

 seal after removal of the pelt in the regular manner, was minced and 

 cooked for two hours under 19 pounds of steam. The product was 

 then pressed under a small press, yielding 7 pounds 12 ounces of oil, 

 4 pounds 2 ounces gelatine solution, and 6 pounds 6 ounces residue. 

 Experiments indicate that 1 to 2 gallons of oil, 3 to 8 pounds gelatine, 

 and 30 to 90 pounds of animal meal may be obtained from each seal. 

 A fur-seal fhpper weighing 42 ounces yielded 18 ounces transparent 

 gelatine, 2 ounces oil, 16 ounces solids, and 6 ounces of water after 

 cooking two hours under 17 pounds of steam; all four flippers of an 

 average-sized 3-year-old fur seal Idlled in December weighed 6 

 pounds. Tests made with blubber sliipped from the Pribilofs in 

 1916 indicated 30 per cent of oil by weight in one case and 38 per 

 cent in another. 



Shoulders. — A barrel of corned fur-seal shoulders was also sliipped 

 from St. Paul Island on the Roosevelt in December, 1917. The fol- 



