220 



FUR-SEAL HERD OF ALASKA. 



working proportion. So long as the 

 harems do not on the average exceed this 

 there is no reason to suppose that the 

 number of bulls is too small. One bull to 

 50 or 60 cows is not too high an average, 

 but in 1896 and 1897 there was 1 bull on 

 the average to every 35 cows. There was 

 in one case over 100, but the bull could 

 not hold them, and a good many got away. 

 Some of the harems also were very small. 

 I checked that off a little by getting the 

 opinion of breeders as to what might be 

 the relative number under control of the 

 animals. One estimate is that 1 ram is 

 sufficient for 50 ewes and that 1 bull is 

 sufficient for 25 cattle. WTien running at 

 large 1 stallion is sufficient for 20 to 40 

 mares, but when under control the num- 

 ber may be much larger, well on toward 

 100. And that is in a state of domestica- 

 tion where polygamy is artificial. Here 

 we have polygamy brought about by nat- 

 ural conditions and where there is no 

 danger of overestimating the number of 

 females to males. (Hearing No. 12, p. 709, 

 May 16, 1912, H. Com. Exp. Dept. C. 

 and L.) 



Lucas swears that he did not 

 advise Osborn to write a foolish 

 letter: 



Mr. Elliott. That is right? The other 

 gentleman, Mr. Townsend, does. Did 

 you inspire the letter which Henry Fair- 

 field Osborn, president of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, wrote to 

 Chairman William Sidzer? 



Dr. Lucas. I did not. Kindly note. 

 Mr. Elliott asked if I inspired that letter. 



The Chairman. Do you know any- 

 thing about it? 



Dr. Lucas. Only after it was written. 



The Chairman. Were you in consulta- 

 tion about it with anyone? 



Dr. Lucas. No; my advice was not 

 asked. 



How long would a herd of cattle hold its 

 numbers if all the breeding was put into 

 only 10 days of every year — from July 10 

 to 20 — and only 1 bull living to serve 100 

 cows? WTiat would 1 ram do with 100 

 ewes? What would a stallion do with 100 

 mares? \Miat, if only half that number to 

 serve? 



^Tiy that service would fail; and at the 

 best, would be feeble to impotent after 

 a short day or two of demand. (H. W. 

 Elliott to" Secretary Redfield, May 4, 

 1913, Dept. of Commerce Bldg.) 



But Osborn says Lucas gave 

 him the advice upon which the 

 foolish letter rests : 



Mr. Elliott (reading): 



"The American Museum of 

 "Natural History, 

 "Office of the President, 

 ''New York, January 22. 1912. 

 "Dear Sir: As president of the Amer- 

 ican Museum of Natural History, I have 

 been securing the advice of the expert 

 zoologists of this institution, especially of 

 Dr. Frederic A. Lucas, who is a trained 

 authority on the fur-seal question. I de- 

 sire to protest against the proposed amend- 

 ment to the fur-seal bill (drafted by the 

 State Department), which amendment 

 provides a 15-year closed season on male 

 seals. This amendment, should it be- 

 come law, would exterminate the great 

 seal herd of the United States, and is 

 founded upon ignorance of the first prin- 

 ciples of breeding under natural condi- 

 tions and of the artificial conditions 

 which have been brought about on the 

 islands through prolonged and fateful 

 pelagic sealing. 



"I am, very respectfully, 



"Henry Fairfield Osborn, 

 ''President. 

 "Hon. William Sulzer, 



" Chairman House Committee on 

 Foreign Affairs, House of Rep- 

 resentatives, Washington, D. C. 

 ' ' I am strongly in favor of the bill itself. ' ' 



