390 ARTICLE BY DR. J. A. ALLEN. 



ade. (1800-70) about 30,000 barrels wore reported as taken, nearly all 

 of which came tVom the two last-named islands. The sa)ne is true of 

 the decade from 1870 to 1880, but the amount of oil declined for this 

 period to about 30,000 barrels, the decline being- especially niaiked to- 

 ward the close of the decade. It has been stated that during ftfty years, 

 beginning with the year 1837, not less than 175,000 barrels of sea-ele- 

 phant oilwere obtained from Kerguelan Land and Heard Island. As 

 in later years, young of all ages as well as adults were taken, regard- 

 less, also, of season and condition, the number of sea-elephants annually 

 destroyed at these seal islands must hav<» been in the neigliborhood of 

 40,000 individuals, or a total of probably over L>,000,000. 



At these islands certain extensive l)eaches are described as being in- 

 accessible from the water on account of the boisterous seas which con- 

 stantly prevail, Avhile ])recii)itous cliffs render it impossible to transport 

 the oii from these beaches to the vessels. Here great nnml>ers of sea- 

 elephants annually haul up in security to breed, thus preserving the 

 species from exterminati(ui, which donbtless otherwise would long since 

 have overtaken them. 



More or less sea-elepliant oil has been taken annually since 1880, 

 but the amount is small in comparison with the earlier 

 o/serEie'jSa'nts*^**'*' JGars, owiug to thc iucrcasiug scarcity of the sea-ele- 

 phants. 

 The oil is chielly used for softening wool, and for other purposes in 

 the manufacture of cloth, for which it is esi)ecially ada]>ted. 



The above relates only to the o])erations of Americans, and even for 

 these the published statistics aie far from com])lete (given i)rin('ipally 

 by A. Howard Clark in Goode's " Fishery Industries of tlie United 

 States"). When we add to this the enorm(»us nund>er of sea-ele]>hants 

 that have fallen a prey to sealers of other nationalities, it is not a matter 

 for surprise that these animals have long since been practically extinct, 

 commercially speaking, except at the tew points where the physical 

 surroundings afford them protection from their /»hnman enemies. 



GENERAL SUMMARY. 



Of the thirty-one species above enumerated two are walruses, twelve 

 are eared-seals (fur-seals and sea-lions), an<l seventeen are earless 

 or true-seals. Of this number only the walruses, the fur-seals, the 

 Sea Elephants, and four or hve of the common seals have ever been 

 hunted for their commercial products, the otiiers being too few in niim- 

 liers or of too little value commercially to render ])ursuit of them protit- 



T. . ■ . ;, , ■„ able. In all cases where the killing has been unre- 



TJnrestricted Kill- , . , -, , . ,. . . , ,-, • i 



hig always leads to strictcd aud indiscriminate the species have sooner or 

 exterraiuktion. j.^^^,^. j^,,^g,^ ^^rouglit to the vcTge of extermination, the 



period required for their extirpation varying with the accessibility of 

 their haunts. 



The small remnants still left of the former great herds of walruses 

 owe their preservation largely to their high Arctic habitat, these ani- 

 mals quite early disappearing from the more accessible parts of their 

 former ranges. 



The great rookeries of fnr-seals formerly found on many of the re- 

 mote islands of the southern hemisi)liere and also about 

 Southern Fur s°.i.s."* tlic coasts and adjacent islands of the soiitliern por- 

 tionsof the southern coiit iiiciits, were, oiu^ after another, 

 practically wiped out of existence dining the lirst half of the [U'esent 

 century, the supply of seal fur during recent years having (jome almost 



