ISM H.AL l.IFi: ON THE 1'lMIllLoF ISLAM'S. 



t u'ent lemen wi:o handled flic North 1'aeiiic collection, up to and includ- 

 ing lli' year l^-W. and all agreed that the skins were nearly all from 

 females. It may not lc out of ]>lacc to explain that the saialler value 

 of ! be female seal, especially a ft er the 1 irt h of her pi i p. is in a measure 

 (hie to the v. eariiiL: 'of tiie fur around the teats. The amount of mer- 

 chantable fur beini: reduced to that extent, makes it necessary tor the 

 handlers of skins to observe carefully whet her pelts are male or female, 

 as well as their .general condition. 'I 1 hey make a complete classification, 

 and beinu experts in their business are not likelv to make mistakes. 

 Theo. T. Williams. 



STATE or CALIFORNIA, 



('Hi/ <'// ('(unittf it/' Xtiii /-Y'O/r/.vro. .v.v.- 

 Maurice Windmiller. having 1 been duly sworn, deposes and says: My 

 a.u'e i> H>: 1 ri side in San I-Yancisco; my occupation is that of a furrier. 

 I have been en^a^ed in the fur business all my life, and my father was 

 a furrier before me. I am an expert in dressed and undressed, raw. and 

 made-up furs, and also a dealer and manufacturer in the same. 1 have 

 bought and examined lar^e numbers of fur-seal skins during the last 

 twelve years caught by sealing schooners both on the American and 

 llnssiun side of the North Pacific and IJering Sea. and I can easily dis- 

 tinguish one from t he other. 



The Iviissiaii seal is a smaller seal, and the fur is not as close as the 

 fur of the Alaska seal, nor as ^ood <jiiality. They are an entirely dif- 

 ferent h; -I'd I'P;:M those on the American side, and their skins have pecu- 

 liar characteristics by which it is not difficult to separate them. In 

 examining and purchasing seal skins from the schooners in their raw 

 state ; hu\c observed that !H per cent of their catch are females. L 

 kno\\ that to be a fad because the heads of the females are smaller, 

 the bellies larger, and the teats can be plainly seen. The teats show 

 more plainly when ! lie skin is dressed and dyed. In examining the 

 Reals taken by sealing schooners 1 have found mo t of them perforated 

 with shot. iiiakiiiL-; them much less valuable thereby. Formerly more 

 of them used to be killed with a riile. which did not injure the skins 

 as i u c h . 



MA IKK'K W INDMILLKK. 



S'i .::;! '- : ; V< HJK. 



( ">'>i <>/' \< it- r< ./'/;. x.v: 



,I(i-' pi i I > . . ' i ' , ' ; d 1 1 ! \' s\\'iri i . sa \'s t ! ia t he is < i \ ea rs o! 



a '.' e. ;i n't; : i ,{' the I nit ed States, and a I'esiden i of 1 irookly n. in the 

 St a t e ol \ 01 k : thai he 1 1 a - 1 >e< n eu u i 'j,cd i n I he busi ness ol dress- 



ii'ii'aiid d \ ei f'ii -eal skins eonl innously for lil i '. i en yeai 1 - past, and 

 , to thai lime, at intervals diiriii'j' the \\-li !( lime he has been 

 e ','_;;_< d i : ; 1 n i ! i less. < In i 1 1 1 14 a perio< 1 of some ii ft \'- odd years, he has 



