FEEDING OF THE SEALS. 161 



Of pups killed for examination during- September and October some were found 

 to contain from one to two quarts of rich milk, the result in each case of a single meal. 

 That the mother seal, an animal averaging 70 pounds in weight, should continue for 

 upward of four months to nourish her young in this manner without feeding is suffi- 

 ciently absurd on the face of it. But the results of Mr. Townsend's and Mr. Lucas's 

 examination of adult females taken on the feeding grounds in Bering Sea, proves 

 absolutely that the nursing females go to sea to feed. 



THE ABSENCE OF EXCREMENT. 



In support of the theory that the females do not leave the rookeries to feed while 

 their pups are dependent upon them, the British commissioners of 1891-92 cited the 

 "absence of all excrement on the breeding places." What the investigators of 1891-92 

 did or did not see we do not know, but during the past two seasons excrement was 

 seen in quantities both on the breeding grounds and on the hauling grounds, as were 

 also spewings containing the bones and flesh of fish. It is true that the aggregate 

 amount of excrement seen is small in proportion to the number of animals, but this is 

 due in all probability to the fact that the fur seal digests its food for the most part, if 

 not wholly, before coming ashore, and as a natural result most of the excrement is 

 voided in the water. 



THE SUPPOSED NONFEEDING OF FEMALES. 



A second proof adduced in support of the nonfeeding of the females was that no 

 food had been found in the stomachs of the limited number of these animals examined 

 up to that time. It was known that the stomachs of the bachelors were found to be 

 empty at all times during the season. It was further absolutely known that the adult 

 bulls fasted during the breeding season. From analogy to the bulls and from the 

 absence of food in their stomachs it was assumed in a general way that the bachelors 

 also fasted, and by carrying the chain of analogy one step farther it was assumed that 

 the cows fasted also. 



THE ABSENCE OF FOOD IN STOMACHS. 



It is true that the stomachs of adult animals of all classes are wholly devoid of food 

 when examined on laud. Investigations on this score were made in 1896 and 1897 on a 

 large number of bachelors and many cows. Some of the latter were killed immediately 

 on coming ashore expressly to throw light on the question. But no food was found, 

 not even in the stomach of a cow found choked to death on a fish bone. These 

 facts, however, can not be expected to weigh against the conclusive evidence of the 

 stomachs of both females and bachelors taken on the feeding grounds in August. 

 That the fur-seal bull should fast is necessary. He comes on laud in the spring 

 loaded down with blubber in preparation for it, and grows excessively thin before 

 the season is over. The cows and bachelors show no such provision. They maintain 

 an even and moderate condition throughout the season. They could not do so if 

 they fasted. 



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