198 PELAGIC SEALING. 



ToHtimony of The first witiiGsses to receive consideration on 



British furriers. 



this point are those who have handled and sorted 

 the "Northwest" or pelagic catch. The skins of 

 males and females can be readily distingnished 

 from each other by those at all experienced in 

 the fur trade. ^ 



Sir George Curtis Lampson, head of the firm 

 of C. M. Lampson & Co., one of the oldest and 

 largest of the London fur houses, states that "the 

 skins of the Northwest catch are largely the skins 

 of female seals." ^ Mr. H. S. Bevington, head of 

 the London firm of Bevington & Morris, fur 

 dealers, which was organized in 1726, says: "The 

 skins of the Northwest catch are at least eighty 

 per cent of them the skins of the female animal," 

 and that prior to and in preparation of his deposi- 

 tion "he carefully looked through two large lots 

 of skins now in his Warehouse for the especial 

 purpose of estimating the percentage of female 

 skins found among the Northwest catch." ^ Mr. 

 Walter Edward Martin, head of the English firm 

 of C. W. Martin & Sons, the largest dressing and 

 dyeing house of fur-seal skins in London, and 

 successors of Martin & Teichmann, gives the 

 percentage of females in the pelagic catch at 



1 George Liebes, VoL II, p. 511; B. H. Sternfels, Vol. II, p. 522. 

 »Vol. II, p. 565. 

 3 Vol. II, p. 552. 



