FUR-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 



175 



"counted in their mindt;.' (Hearing 

 No. 14, pp. 935-937, July 25. 1912. ) 



Evermann swears that no man 

 has ever been able to truly tell the 

 seal's age, as a yearling, 2-year- 

 okl, etc. 



Dr. Evermann. No one knows iiud uu 

 one ever has known the age of any seal 

 on the seal islands, barring, of course, the 

 pups of the year that have not yet left. 

 When a pup is born on the islands, so 

 long as it stays there you know its age. 

 but when it leaves in the fall and comes 

 back again the next season, you do not 

 know absolutely whether it is the pup 

 born in the preceding summer or one born 

 two or three simimers preceding. 



(In the hearing on H. R. 1()571, House 

 Committee on Foreign Affairs, .Tanuarv 3. 

 1912. page 48.^ (Hearino: No. 14. p. 930. 

 Julv 25,1912.) 



Evermann does not know the 

 age of one seal on the islands, yet 

 he is able to count them all by 

 ages ! 



Mr. Elliott. Again, in the hearing on 

 H. U. ir)571. House Committee on Foreign, 

 Affairs, .Tanuary 3, 1912, page 48, he says: 



" No one knows and no one ever has 

 known the age of any seal on the seal is- 

 lands, barring, of course, the pups of the 

 year that have not yet left . When a pup 

 is born on the island, so long as it stays 

 there you know its age, but when it leaves 

 in the fall and comes back again the next 

 season, you do not know absolutely 

 whether it is the pup born in the pi'eced- 

 ing summer or one born two or three sum- 

 mers preceding." 



H'." tells you, and he told them, that he 

 did not know a 3-year-old from a 1 -year- 

 old or a 1 -year-old from a 2-year-old, and 

 "that no man knows." Now. what does 

 he do? The next day before that com- 

 mittee, January 4, 1912, page 129, Dr. 

 Evermann says: 



"At the end of the killing season of 

 1910; that is, after the 12,922 surplus male 

 seals were killed, this was the census of 



1911 — then, if that were true, and if Mr. 

 Elliott's contention were true, there 

 should not be a single seal on the islands 

 in 1911, should there? Biit we look and 

 see, and if we find any there we count 

 them. (Hearing No. 14, pp. 935, 936, 

 July 25, 1912.) 



But, the next day he returns, 

 and is able to tell the ages of 

 each and everv seal in the herd! 



Mr. Elliott. He tells yoii, and he told 

 I hem, that he did nut know a 3-year-old 

 from a l-year-old or a 1-year-old from a 

 2-year-old, and "that no man knows." 

 Now. what does he do? The next day 

 before that committee, January 4, 1912, 

 page 129, Dr. Evermann says: 



■'At the end of the killing season of 

 1910, that is. after the 12.922 surplus male 

 seals were killed, this was the census of 

 the herd : Bulls, active with harem, 1,381 ; 

 bulls, idle and quitters. 303 (those are 

 surplus bulls): half bulls, 2.336: 3-year- 

 old bachelors. 1.200; 2-year-old bachelors, 

 4,500; yearling bachelors, 11,441." 



Oh. he can count them now! 



"Male pups, 21,725." 



Oh. lie counts them down to 5! 



' • Yearling bachelors, 1 1 ,441 ; male pups, 

 21,725; breeding cows, 43,450; 2-year-old 

 cows, 12,124; yearling females, 11,441: 

 female pups, 21,725, making- a total of 

 131,626." fHearing No. 14, p. 930, Julv 

 25, 1912.^ 



He classifies them as "green 

 forms," ''red forms," etc., and 

 then counts these "forms" of 

 various color! 



Dr. Evermann. May 1 .say just a word? 



The Chairman. Yes. 



Dr. Evermann. My statement on page 

 48 is absolutely correct, and anyone can 

 see that it is correct when 5t)u consider it 

 for a moment. \Ye know the ages of the 

 pups that are born. say. this year on the 

 island: we know their ages as long as they 

 stay under observation, but when they 

 leave in the fall and we see nothing more 

 of them until the next spring it is perfectly 

 evident that it is impossible for anybody 

 to pick out any .seal next spring and iden- 

 tify it with any particular seal which was 

 on" the island the year before unless it has 

 a distinguishing mark u])on it, and the.se 

 pups have no distinguishing mark, of 

 course. You could say that all of the 

 books in this room of that color [indicat- 

 ing] were black and that all of some other 

 color were red. and so on. That would 

 answer our purposes for classification; 

 yet in this case we know it is not true, be- 

 cause this book is not black. And in the 



