SUMMARY OF THE EVIDENCE. 237 



ing and dyeing sealskins. He says that if one thousand Copper Island 

 skins were mingled among ninety-nine thousand Alaska skins, it would 

 be possible for any one skilled in the business to extract nine hundred 

 and fifty of the Copper Island skins and to separate them froni the 

 ninety-nine thousand and fifty of the Alaska catch, and vice versa. 



Mr. N. B. Miller (ibid., p. 199). Mr. Miller was at the time of testi- 

 fying an assistant in the scientific department of the United States Fish 

 Commission steamer Albatross. He had made five cruises in Alaskan 

 waters j he says: 



The seals of the Commander Islands are grayer in color and of a 

 slighter build throughout the body. The bulls have not such heavy 

 manes or fur capes, the hair on the shoulders being much shorter and 

 not nearly so thick. The younger seals have longer and more slender 

 necks apparently. I noticed this difference between the seals at once. 



Mr. John J. Phelan (ibid., p. 518) was a citizen of the United States 

 and a resident of Albany, N. Y. He was 35 years of age at the time of 

 giving his deposition, and since the age of eleven had been in the fur 

 business. His practical and active experience was very large during 

 those twenty-three years. He had noticed the difference in the seals, 

 both in their raw state and during the processes of dressing. He 

 explained minutely the point of difference. 



Mr. Henry Poland (ibid., p. 570) was a subject of Her Majesty 

 and the head of the firm of P. P. Poland & Son, doing business at 

 110 Queen Victoria street, in the city of London. The firm of which 

 he was a member had been engaged in the business of furs and skins 

 for upwards of one hundred years, having been founded by his great- 

 grandfather in the year 1785. His judgment, evidently, is entitled to 

 great respect. He corroborates the other witnesses, and says that the 

 three classes of skins are easily distinguishable from each other by any 

 person skdled in the business. He had personally handled the sam- 

 ples of the skins dealt in by his firm, and would have no difficulty in 

 distinguishing them. In fact, the skins of each of the tlnee classes 

 have different values and command different prices in the market. 



Mr. Charles W. Price (ibid., p. 521) is a very expert examiner of raw 

 fur-skins, of San Francisco. He had been engaged in the business 

 twenty years when he was examined by the Commissioners of the United 

 States; he had had a large practical experience. He gives the points 

 of difference between the Pussian and American skins, and states, 

 as did Mi*. Poland and other witnesses, that the seals on the Pussian 



