108 THE FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



If they have twins, I have failed to discover a single instance of that character. I also failed to notice a malformed 

 pup or a monster anywhere among the multitudes under my observations, from July until the middle of November 

 every season. I think this somewhat noteworthy, as it presents, perhaps, better than any other exhibition in the 

 animal kingdom, the survival of the fittest in the struggle for existence; for these bulls, by their own evolution, 

 permit only the strongest and most perfect of their kind to stamp their impress on the coming generations.* 



20. EEPBODUCTION OF THE SEA-LION. 



Reproduction of the sea-lion {Eumetopias Stelleri). — The remarks which I have just made descriptive of 

 the generative organs of the fur-seal, apply to those of the sea-lion, with this exception, that the male Eumetopias 

 is an animal twice the size and bulk of the male Callorhinus. The female Eumetopias is not nearly so small in 

 physique, when compared with the male of her kind, as is the female CallorMnus — she is fully half the stature and 

 weight of the male. They, too, land for birth and copulation precisely as the fur-seal does, only they are few and 

 scattered as to numbers, much more timid, and difficult to observe. The minutice, however, of gestation, fecundation, 

 and the birth of their young, so far as I could see, is simply that of the fur-seal, and nothing more ; although I believe 

 that the young sea-lion takes to the water earlier and freer than the young fur-seal, of which I have spoken at length 

 heretofore. Perhaps it is quickened for this pelagic preparation by the excessive timidity of its nature, though, as a 

 pup, like the fur-seal, it is stolid and indifferent to man ; but when it appears the coming season, as a yearling, its 

 apprehension and fear are in marked contrast with that comparative disregard of our presence, manifested by the 

 yearling fur-seal. 



Scratching seals mistaken for coition. — The coition of the sea-lion, like that of the fur-seal, is very 

 violent, and long sustained. Even the sluggish natives, familiar as they are with this feature in the great swarm 

 of animal life surrounding them, will always pause, sit down, and wait, if they detect this animal preparatory to 

 and during the process of generation. At a little distance from them, on the deck of a vessel, the vibratory motion of 

 their flippers, the bobbing or quivering of their shoulders just protruding as they expose themselves above the water, 

 suggests to the mind of the superficial observer the act of copulation ; when, in fact, the seals are as far from that 

 performance as can be well imagined.t 



21. REPRODUCTION OF THE WALRUS. 



Reproduction of the walrus (Odobcenus obesus). — As I have enjoyed remarkable advantages to study 

 herds of those old walrus which repair to Walrus islet, adjacent to St. Paul, it makes me unhappy to think that 

 among their number I had no view of the females or their young; the latter, for some good reason or other, never 

 consorting with the former at this place. At least the natives assured me that in all their experience, and that of 

 their ancestry, they never found a female there. I am told, however, when the egging-party from St. Paul 

 made its regular annual journey to this walrus rock, during the last season, several females were found and 

 one was shot, the first examples of their sex seen in this locality; hence, I am unable to give any information as to 

 the reproduction of these animals. I wish, however, only to call attention to the remarkable and extraordinary 

 development of the male organs of this animal, so closely allied to the Otariidw. For instance, in order that I may 

 be understood, the male walrus, when fully grown in length, though nearly as thin osteologically and morphologically, 

 as the sea-lion, possesses an immensely greater girth and relatively increased weight; but the penis of the walrus 

 has an enormous bone for its foundation, nearly two feet in length, with a transverse diameter at its base of 

 almost three inches, tapering slightly to a point, where it ends in a rough, bony nodule, over an inch in diameter. 



* A trained observer, Kunilein, who passed the winter of 1877-'78 in Cumberland sound, and, speaking of this feature in the Ringed 

 Seal (Phoca fwtida), says "there is usually but one young at a birth; still twins are not of rare occurrence, and one iustance camo under 

 my observation where there were triplets ; but they were small, and two of them probably would not have lived had they been born." 

 [Ludwig Kunilein: Bulletin U. S. National Museum, No. 15, p. 58, Washington, 1879.] I quote this explicit statement in this 

 connection, because the female generative organs in the Otariida; do not differ to any sensible degree from those so well known in tho 

 Phocidw of that sex, though there is a very marked differentiation between the procreative organs of the males. Hence, it would seem 

 only natural for twins to be born of fur-seal mothers; and, very likely it does repeatedly take place on the rookeries of the Pribylov 

 islands, in spite of my failure to detect the result. I have personally witnessed the parturition of hundreds of fur-seal mothers, never 

 seeing more than one pup born to each mother; yet, when a million are born here at simultaneous intervals between the 14th of June and 

 the 20th of July every year, as a rule, my record is too slight numerically for authoritative settlement of the question. I commend its 

 further investigation to the resident agents of the Treasury Department and the Alaska Commercial Company. It is an interesting and 

 highly important subject for careful study and determination — no other single, inquiry is more so. 



tThe fur-seal and sea-lion are both sorely annoyed by a species of tick or louse — a Pcdiculus — which infests those small semi-haired 

 spots back of the ears and within the armpits of their fore-flippers; they spend a very large portion of their time, while on land, and even 

 in the- water, by scratching these vermin. This action on land is precisely effected, and enjoyed, as our dogs do when exterminating fleas: 

 the hind-flippers are used to reach all parts of the seal's body anteriorly ; while the fore-flippers are rubbed over the small of the back with 

 great unction. While in the water, however, the seal scratches itself more with its fore-hands; and in thus rubbing itself, half or 

 almost wholly submerged, the bobbing of its back and hind-flippers above the surface has given rise to the erroneous idea of pelagic 

 coition. 



