64 BULLETIN 73, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



DESCRIPTION OF A YOUNG BERING ISLAND SPECIMEN. 



Doctor Stejneger has very kindly placed in my hands his original notes on the 

 young individual examined by him in Bering Island June 5, 1883 (Cat. No. 142,188) 

 and they are given below in full : 



When the news reached me that a small "plavum " was found dead ashore at the North Rookery of 

 Bering Island, 1 immediately ordered dogs, and arrived at the jilace in company with the "starost." 

 The carcass was found lying on the very beach where the fur seals during the summer occupy the ground. 

 As the bulk of the seals had not yet arrived, only a few "sikatschi " were seen in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood, but it was reported that they had retired from the place on account of the smell of the putrefied 

 body, as it was thought. The natives, fearing that it would drive the seals from the rookery altogether 

 if left on the beach any longer, were very anxious to get it away as fast as possible, and it was only with 

 some hesitation that they would allow one to stand on the rookery long enough to take a few measure- 

 ments. The animal was quite a young one, and I conjectured that it had died immediately after having 

 been born, as I think there were some remains of the umbilical cord. Hardly any of the bones were 

 fully ossified. Under these circumstances, it was out of the question to have the whole skeleton pre- 

 served, as the dismembering and the separation of the putrified flesh from the bones and cartilages 

 would require more care and consequently more time than the natives were willing to allow. I was 

 therefore glad to secure the head and some of the neck vertebra?. Even that tried their patience, as 

 the head was going to separate into its single bones and the not yet united component pieces, and con- 

 sequently needed special care and attention. 



The carcass was lying with the back upward, this visible part being uniform black, and still in 

 such a state as to allow of measuring. The lower surface was in a very advanced state of decomposition. 

 Part of the belly was torn away, together with the entrails, and the genitalia and anus were not to be 

 found. As stated above, I think that 1 could recognize the umbilical cord attached to a tatter of the 

 skin. Of course, measurements of the lower side and of the circumference of the body, except at the 

 narrowest place of the tail, could not be taken. 



Table of dimensions. 



Meters. 

 Total length from tip of upper jaw to notch of caudal fin, along the middle of the 



back, without, however, following the angle between beak and forehead 4. 81 



From tip of upper jaw to fore border of spiracles 53 



From fore border of the spiracles to fore border of dorsal fin 2. 63 



Length of dorsal fin 29 



Height of dorsal fin 11 



From hind border of dorsal fin to the beginning of the caudal fin 93 



From the same point to notch of the caudal fin 1. 36 



Distance between the tips of the lobes of the caudal fin 91 



Depth of the angle of the posterior margin of caudal fin 20 



From tip of upper jaw to the angle of mouth 36 



From the same to anterior angle of eye 475 



Diameter of eye opening. . .■ 06 



From eye to eye over the spiracle 59 



Distance between ends of spiracle 08 



Length of beak from the forehead 23 



Breadth of the beak at the forehead 18 



From tip of upper jaw to anterior insertion of the pectoral fin 80 



Pectoral fin along the anterior border 51 



Breadth of pectoral fin a at the insertion 20 



Circumference of tail at its narrowest point, just before the caudal fin 62 



oThe pectoral fin rather straight, of equal breadth, and abruptly ending. 



