

SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 87 



REPLY OK DK. CARLOS IlKIHi. <>K KUEXOS AYKES. 



JUNE 4, 1892. 



SIR: In answer to your circular dated April 2, and directed to Dr. Hermann Bur- 

 meister, I regret to let you know that .same died shortly before the transmission of 

 your circular by D. N. Bertolette. esq. 



Having been namud director of the national museuiu in the place of the deceased, 

 I have read with great interest your report and conclusions about the causes of the 

 decrease and the measures necessary for the restoration and permanent preservation. 

 of the seal herd on the Pribilof Islands, in Bering Sea, and according to your wish I 

 have the pleasure to let yon know that from the standpoint of a naturalist I per- 

 fectly agree with you in considering your conclusions and recommendations justified 

 and necessitated by the facts stated by yon as a result of your special investigation 

 on the above-named islands. 



Very truly, yours, CARLOS BKRG. 



REPLY OF PROF. DR. ALFRED NEIIKING, ROYAL AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE OF BERLIN. 



BERLIN, April 21, 1892. 

 Mr. C. HART MEKRIAM. 



I'nited States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.: 



HIGHLY KSTKFOIKD SIR: I "have carefully read and considered your elaborate 

 and very interesting letter of the 2d instant, which I received yesterday through 

 Mr. John Briiikerhotf. Jackson, secretary of legation of the North American legation 

 in this city, and, in reply, I send yon a statement of my views with regard to its 

 conteutsv 



What you say concern ing the mode of life, and especially the annual migrations of 

 the fur seal (Cal lot-hunts ,trsinus), whose breeding places are the Pribilof Islands, is so 

 clear and convincing, and harrnonixes so perfectly with what has been observed by 

 other reliable scientists, that I fill y agree with your deductions. I am. like your- 

 self, of the opinion th.it the remarkable decrease of fur seals on the rookeries of the 

 Pribilof Islands, which has, of late years, become more and more evident, is to be 

 attributed mainly, or perhaps exclusively, to the unreasonable destruction caused 

 by the sealers wbo ply their avocation in the open sea. The only rational method 

 of taking the fur seal, and the only one that is not likely to result in the extermi- 

 nation of this valuable animal, is the one which has hitherto been employed on the 

 Pribilof Islands under the supervision of the Government. Any other method of 

 taking the northern fur seal should, in my opinion, be prohibited by international 

 agreement. I should, at furthest, approve a local pursuit of the fur seal, where it 

 is destructive of the fisheries in its southern winter quarters. I regard pelagic fur 

 sealing as very unwise; it must soon lead to a decrease, bordering on extermination 

 of the fur seal. 



With great respect, Prof. Dr. ALFRED NKHRING, 



Professor of Zoology in the Royal Agricultural College of Berlin. 



REPLY OF PROF. COUNT TOMMA8O SALVADORI. 



ZOOLOGICAL MUSEUM, Turin, April 25, 1892. 

 C. HART MEKRIAM, 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



Division of Ornithology, Washington, D. C. 



DEAR SIR: I have received your letter concerning the northern fur seal, on the 

 condition of which you have been selected as naturalist to investigate and report 

 by the Government of the United Stales. 



As a whole I agree with you as to the facts and conclusions drawn on your report, 

 although the increasing number of seal skins actually secured and sold, as a result 

 of pelagic sealing shown in your table, does not sufficiently prove, in my mind, that 

 we are already in the period of a decided diminution of the number of living seals. 

 Still, I quite admit that it is absolutely necessary to adopt some measures for the 

 preservation of the seal herds. 



No doubt the free pelagic sealing is a cause which will act to the destruction of 

 the seal herds, 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 on the Pribilof 

 Islands must have some influence on the, diminution of the herds, especially pre- 

 venting 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 stop- 

 ping of the pelagic sealing, I think, 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. 



