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THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



they leave in November or December, they stx'ike boldly southward ^ to the 

 latitude of San Francisco, and then turn and work gradually northward, 

 reaching the islands in June. Here the fur seal passes the summer, a large 

 portion of the time on land, for of all amphibious mammals the fur seal 

 most truly deserves that name, and here it rears its young, or rather here 

 its young is reared, for the mother seal shows no maternal spirit towards 

 its little one other than to nurse it. 



It may seem strange that on our coasts the fur seal should l)e found only 

 on two small islands and that on the Asiatic side it should })e confined to a 

 few isolated islets, but this is probably due to its habits. A creature that 

 spends at least a quarter of its time on land, where it is readily killed, must 

 have offered an easy prey to primitive hunters, and so centuries ago it 

 became restricted to islands unvisited by man.' 



The fur seal long ago would have been swept out of existence but for 

 the fact that the breeding grounds are carefully guarded, and while the herd 

 is but a tithe of its former size, it still comprises many thousands. If 

 pelagic sealing can be brought to an end, the seal herd will recuperate 

 rapidly, even though the death rate is high and not more than half the seals 

 born in any one season live to return the next. Whether or not this desirable 

 end can be brought about remains to be seen, and some of us are not very 

 hopeful. The policy of many members of the present generation seems 

 based on the famous dictum of Sir Boyle Roche, " Why should we do any- 

 thing for posterity, what has posterity ever done for us?" and immediate 

 profit is an ever-present stumbling block in the path of conservation. 



' The females and young do this, the old males for the most part winter in the Gulf of 

 Alaska, and are the first to return to the islands in the spring. 



- We have a parallel case in the great auk which was found at one or two places and was 

 promptly exterminated. 



It is pelagic scaling which is disastrous to the herds, not land killing wliich can he con- 

 trolled and includes only bacliolor seals 



