I 



1898;] The Fur Seal Saved at L.ast 



tantamount to an act of war, and the subsidy given 

 by the Japanese Government an unfriendly act 

 pardonable only on the ground of ignorance. The 

 whole affair, therefore, tended to bring the long- 

 drawn-out controversy to a head, for it put Canada 

 as well as the United States on the defensive, and 

 ultimately led to the admirable protective treaty 

 signed by all four nations on December 15, 191 1, 

 with which I shall shortly deal. 



It was early in 1898, during the joint conference, 

 that I first met Laurier. A man of most charming sirWUfrid 

 address, lovable character, and keen mind, a very ^''""'''' 

 able and interesting personality, in face and figure 

 he seemed a child of fortune; or to put it somewhat 

 differently, he looked like a particularly handsome, 

 amiable French priest. In his public career he showed 

 both courage and firmness, and after the political 

 reaction of some years later, held his own as pro- 

 [ gressive leader of the Canadian Liberals. 



My respect for Mitsukuri grew with every day, KakiM 

 as I found him always just, thoughtful, and un- '^'^f-^'' 

 prejudiced; moreover, in our scientific tastes we sirange 

 had much in common. As a special offering he had °f^''"s 

 brought me a young specimen of the teguzame or 

 goblin shark, a most extraordinary and fantastic 

 fish with a long, flat blade at the end of the snout 

 like that of the Mississippi River paddlefish — 

 Polyodon — but wholly different from any other 

 living shark. It proved of great interest to pale- 

 ontologists as it belongs to a type — Scapavo- 

 rhynchus — supposed to have become extinct with 

 the Eocene, and to it I gave the generic name of 

 Mitsukurina. 



C:6o5 1 



