692 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



always been sanguinary battles on the rookeries, but they have been 

 greatly exaggerated. 



The "exceeding peace and dove-like amiability" of the cows and their 

 "attractive, gentle, and intelligent" expression on the following page 

 are relative matters. While the cows do not indulge in pitched battles, 

 they are snaj^pish creatures, uncivil to each other, cruel to pups not their 

 own, and capable of giving their lords much welKdeserved nagging. 



Page 56: The very elaborate and complex method of rookery organi- 

 zation, the selection of their breeding giounds with the "skill of civil 

 engineers," thf* "amiable nature" of the females and the "intelligent 

 courage" of the males dwelt upon by Mr. Elliott in his vivid descrip 

 tion of these animals presupposes a degree of intelligence which the 

 fur seal does not possess. The fur seal has wonderfully developed 

 instincts, but its intelligence (that is, its voluntary or adaptive activity) 

 is relatively low. 



In our preliminary report for 1896 we say: "From the ruthless 

 natural destruction of all seals in which the geographical instinct or 

 the instincts of feeding and reproduction are defective, results the 

 extreme perfection of tbe few instincts which the animal possesses. 

 The life processes of the fur seal are as perfect as clock work, but its 

 grade of intelligence is low. Its range of choice in action is very 

 slight. It is a wonderful automaton and the stress of its migrations 

 will always keep it so. 



" By intellect or intelligence in this sense is meant the power to choose 

 among possible different courses of action. The external influences and 

 internal imjiulses produce certain impressions on the nervous system 

 of the animal. By the automatic instinct the response which follows 

 is directly related to the cause, and there is no choice among responses — 

 so much influence; so much rebound. By the operations of instinct 

 each individual in given conditions will act just as any other individual 

 will. Intellect, however, implies individuality. One animal will choose 

 to do this, another that, adapting action to its special needs or circum- 

 stances. A fur seal will do what its ancestors have had to do to per- 

 fection. If it is led to do other things, it is dazed and stupid." (Jordan, 

 Prel. Kep., 1896, p. 27.) 



Page 56: There is no normal or regular size of the harem. It ranges 

 from 1 to an indefinite number, 75 and even 100 being counted in excep- 

 tional instances. The average at present, with a vast surplus of bulls, 

 is between 29 and 35, and it has probably never varied far from this. 

 The harems, however, aj^pear smaller when counted, because at no time 

 are more than half the cows present at once. The cows are extremely 

 gregarious and crowd closely together on the prefen-ed grounds near 

 the shore. The shrinkage of the rookeries shows itself in the progress- 

 ive abandonment of outlying bulls, those in the preferred districts hav- 

 ing about as many coavs in one year as another. 



Page 58 : The wounds of the fur seal, it is true, heal very rapidly, but 

 not without a scar. There are few adult bulls on the islands that do 

 not show a distinct scar at the angle of the fore flipper, a coveted point 

 of attack in fighting. The bachelors are frequently bitten by bulls who 

 have been shut out from the rookeries by their betters and are occasion- 

 ally included in the drives. On the killing grounds numerous animals 

 are rejected because of a welt or seam in the skin, the result of an 

 imperfectly healed wound. 



Page 59 : The weight of the pup at birth is not, as here stated, "3 to 4 

 pounds," and its "length 12 to 14 inches." The actual weight is from 



