PEOF. T. SALVADORF, DR. LEOPOLD VON SCHRENCK. 423 



quite admit that it is absolutely necessary to adopt some measures for 

 the preservation of the seal heards. 



No doubt the free pelagic sealing is a cause, which will act to tlie 

 destruction of the seal heards, and to that it must be put a stop as soon 

 as possible. But, at the same time, I think that the yearly killing- of 

 about 100,000 young males ou the Pribilof Islands must have some 

 influence on the diminutions ot the heards, especially preventing the 

 natural or sexual selection of the stronger males, which would follow, 

 if the young males were not killed in such a great number. So that, 

 with the stopping of the pelagic sealing, I think that, at least for a few 

 years, also the slaughter of so many young males in the Pribilof 

 Islands should be prohibited. 



I remain, very truly yours. 



Prof. T. Salvadori. 



Reply of Dr. Leopold Von Schrenck, Member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, St. Peters 



burgi Russia. 



St. Petersburg, April if, 1892. 

 Dear Sir: Having read with eager and critical attention the me- 

 moir you have addressed to me upon the condition of the Fur Seal 

 rookeries on the Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea, the causes of decrease 

 and the measures necessary for the restoration and permanent preserva- 

 tion of the seal herd, I can not but completely agree with you in con- 

 sidering the conclusions and recommendations you arrived at quite 

 justified and necessitated by the facts. I am also persuaded that the 

 pelagic sealing, if pursued in the same manner in future, will neces- 

 sarily end with the extermination of the Fur Seal. 

 Very truly yours, 



Leopold von Schrenck, 

 Member of the Inqjerial Academy of Sciences, St. retcrsbnrg. 



Mr. C. Hart Merriam. 



Reply of Dr. Henry H. Giglioli, Director of the Zoological Museum, Royal Superior Institute, 



Florence, Italy. 



Firenze, 19 Via Eozmana, U 2d May, 1892. 



Dear Sir: Tears ago, in November, 18G7, I had the good fortune to 

 be able to visit an extensive " rookery" of one of the South Pacific Eared 

 Seals, the well-known Otaria jiihata; it was during my voyage round 

 the world on the '•'■Magenta.''^ The rookery in question lies just behind 

 Cape Stokes in the Gulf of Peuas, on the southern coast of Chile, and 

 is the one seen by Darwin during his memorable voyage in the '■'■ Beagle. ^^ 

 I shall never forget that day, when my astonished gaze rested on 

 hundreds of these Eared Seals lying about in every attitude of repose 

 on the beach and rocks of the shore, or gracefully, and without show- 

 ing the slightest fear, performing the most acrobatic evolutions in the 

 water round our boat. That day I had my first experience of these 

 singular creatures, and from that day dates the special interest I have 

 ever since taken in the study of the life-history of the Otariidpe, which 

 is one of the most marvelous in zoology. 



In the spring of 1880, whilst Commissioner for Italy at the grand 

 " Fischerei-Au'istellung " held at Berlin, I first had occasion to admire, 

 iu the United States exhibit, the beautiful and spirited drawings of 



