258 ARGUMENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The act of coition takes place upon laud, which by reason of the for- 

 mation of the genital organs is similar to that of other mammals. It is 

 violent in character and consumes from five to eight minutes. 



This statement is not a mere affirmation unsupported by authority 

 It is based in part upon the evidence of which we here give abstracts: 



Mr. Joseph Stanley- Brown (Appendix to Case of the United States, 

 Vol. II, p. 14), a geologist by profession, and as such employed in the 

 United States Geological Survey, says: 



Pelagic coition I believe to be impossible. The process upon land by 

 reason of the formation of the genital organs is that of a mammal, is 

 violent in character, and consumes from five to eight minutes. The 

 relative sizes of the male and female are so disproportionate that coition 

 in water would inevitably submerge the female and require that she 

 remain under water longer than would be possible to snch an am- 

 phibian. I have sat upon the cliffs for hours and watched seals beneath 

 me at play in the clear water. It is true that many of their antics might 

 be mistaken for copulation by a careless observer, and this may have 

 given rise to the theory of pelagic coition. I have never seen a case 

 of the many observed which upon the facts could properly be so con- 

 strued. 



Mr. John M. Morton, United States shipping commissioner at San 

 Francisco, went to Alaska in 1870, arriving at St. Paul Island in Octo- 

 ber. He remained until the close of the season in the following year. 

 In 1872 he visited all the trading posts of the Alaska Commercial Com- 

 pany. The summer of 1S73 he spent on the Island of St. George. In 

 1875 and 1870' he again visited and spent both summers on St. Paul 

 Island. lie was at all times greatly interested in observing the move- 

 ments and habits of these animals, and scarcely a. day passed that he 

 did not visit one or more of the rookeries. During the seasons of 

 1877 and 1878, while serving in the capacity of special Treasury Agent, 

 he devoted his best attention and study to this subject. 



This is his language in his sworn deposition which appears at page 

 G7, Volume II, of the Appendix to the Case of the United states: 



I desire also to express my belief concerning the seal life that the 

 act of copulation ran not be successfully performed in the water. Those 

 who have witnessed its accomplishment on the rookeries must coincide 

 with snch opinion. A firm foundation for the support of the animals, 

 which the ground supplies and the water does not, is indispensable to 

 oppose the pushing motion and forceful action of the posterior parts of 

 the male which he exerts during the coition. The closest observation 

 which I have been able to give to the movements and habits of the 

 seals in the water has furnished no evidence to controvert the above 

 opinion. 



