26 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[FEBRUAr.Y 1, 1894. 



siderable diflBculty. The eases in point, which are but 

 repetitions of old events, however, suggest the necessity of 

 providing against penalties for unintentional infringement, 

 and the desirability of having more accurate surveys. 



A circumstance deserving of note in connection with 

 these islands is that the pelagic hunters, not finding 

 enough to pay expenses, quickly deserted them, from 

 which, however, it must not be inferred that there was 

 any diminution in the number of seals hauled up upon the 

 rookeries. One ^•isitor to the islands stated that he had 

 seen more seals in 1893 than he had ever seen previously, 

 and, but for the arrangement with the English not to 

 take more than thirty thousand, double that number 

 might have been secured. It was, however, added that, 

 in addition to the thirty thousand, there were thirty-two 

 thousand more pelts of seals which had been killed the 

 previous autumn. 



Assuming the statement to be correct, this autumn 

 killing is apparently a new departure sufficing to confirm 

 the necessity of strictly limiting the number of animals 

 that may be taken on the land. 



The attitude of Japan towards pelagic hunting is difficult 

 to understand. Km'opeans who left Japanese ports for 

 the purpose of hunting sea otters, in 1881, discovered small 

 rookeries of seals upon the Kurils. As these were left 

 unguarded, they were regularly visited until the seals were 

 exhausted. During this period the authorities in Japan 

 not only prevented their own people from engaging in the 

 newly-discovered industry, but so many obstacles were 

 thrown in the way of Europeans that a fleet of about 

 seventeen vessels, in 1803, had dwindled down to two or 

 three. At this juncture the effects of the Behring Sea 

 regulations drove the sixty or seventy vessels to which we 

 have referred to the Western Pacific. Had their number 

 been smaller, judging from the reception they received, 

 they might have shared the fate of the pioneer fleet which 

 had its birth in Yokohama. 



Attempts were made to remove the Japanese who had 

 shipped on board these vessels in America. A man-of-war 

 was despatched to watch their movements, and newspapers 

 had references to pirates and poachers who ought to be 

 sunk or driven oG the coast. Although a certain section 

 of the Japanese showed displeasure at the advent of a 

 foreign fleet, it may be inferred that when later in the 

 season some forty vessels put into the harbour of Hakodate 

 to ship their catches, to obtain provisions, and to spend 

 their money, the storekeepers felt satisfied. 



Up till recently the policy of Japan in these matters 

 seems to have been detrimental to itself. By not having 

 taken efficient means to protect its own rookeries, these have 

 disappeared. The Japanese, either on their own accoimt 

 or in conjunction with Europeans, have been debarred 

 from exploiting wealth near their own coasts, while sealers 

 from other coasts have not been encouraged to winter and 

 refit in Japanese waters, which, with sixty ships, means 

 an expenditure of at least half a million dollars. So far 

 as is publicly known, the only persons who can have 

 benefited are the owners of the northern rookeries, the 

 seals from which at the smallest computation annually 

 consume six million tons of fish in the waters near Japan. 



Although the pelagic sealer may feel that in waters 

 where regulations have been applied his career is now- 

 ended, the fleet seems likely to be increased to one 

 hundred or one hundred and fifty sail, and we may conclude 

 that the result of the venture in 1893 ofl" the coast of Japan 

 proved satisfactory. The best catches were made in April 

 and May, when one vessel, hunting with seven boats, on 

 one day secured two hundred and sixty-eight seals. In 

 June, although the seals (which are then moving north- 



wards) are plentiful, foggy weather reduces the number of 

 days when boats can venture far from the vessels. In 

 Jul}', excepting for those that choose to linger outside the 

 thirty mile limit of the northern islands, hunting is over. 



The total catch for 1893 was from sixty to seventy 

 thousand. Forty thousand of these were shipped from 

 Japan : the remainder were taken to the American coast. 



The casualties have been numerous, arising from 

 boats getting lost in the fogs, an unexpected breeze 

 preventing them from regaining their ship, from which 

 they may have ventured ten or fifteen miles, and from 

 other causes. Some crews left their ships and have not 

 since been seen ; others, after a pull of one hundred or one 

 hundred and fifty miles have reached Japau ; others have 

 been found in an exhausted condition on the northern 

 islands. 



The pelagic hunter, who risks both life and capital, 

 cannot be said to make his money without enduring great 

 hardships and facing many dangers. Whether he should 

 be allowed to exist is a matter for discussion, but if the 

 decision is in his favour — and he represents a large capital, 

 a large force of men, and a considerable revenue — it is 

 clear that regulations to guide his movements should be 

 somewhat more lenient than those already promulgated 

 in connection with the Behring Sea. 



SOME EXTINCT ARGENTINE MAMMALS. 



By R. Lydekkek, B.A.Cantab. 



IN the article published La the last issue of Knowledge, 

 under the title of '" A Land of Skeletons," we 

 brought under the notice of our readers some of the 

 leading peculiarities of the living and extinct faunas 

 of South America in general and of Argentina in 

 particular, while something was said as to the geological 

 features of the latter country. From the limits of our 

 space we were, however, unable to make any mention of 

 the structural peculiarities of the fossil mammals which 

 are found so abundantly in the superficial formations of 

 the Argentine, and since it is impossible to have an 

 adequate idea of the interest attaching to this fauna 

 without some acquaintance with the anatomy of a certain 

 number of its representatives, we propose in the present 

 communication to take into consideration the leading 

 features of a few of the most remarkable tvpes of one great 

 group. As these animals are known solely by their bones, 

 it is, of course, impossible to avoid the introduction of a 

 certain amount of anatomical details, although we shall 

 endeavoin- to put these in as popular and least repellant 

 manner as possible. 



As mentioned in the article referred to, among all the 

 fossil mammals of Argentina some of the most remarkable 

 are the extinct ungulates, or hoofed mammals, which, 

 exclusive of the horses, deer, guanacos, and elephants, 

 belong to groups almost unknown in any other part of the 

 world.' Before going further we must, however, remind 

 our readers that the existing ungulates are divided into 

 four groups or sub-orders, distinguished from one another 

 by the structure of their feet. Of these the elephants, 

 or proboscideans, as we have had occasion to mention 

 in an article on that group, are specially characterized 

 by having five toes to each foot, and by the two rows 

 of bones in the wrist and ankle being arranged one above 

 another in a linear manner ; while the huckle-bone, or 

 astragalus, of the ankle articulates with the leg-bone by 

 a flat surface. On the other hand, in both the odd-toed or 



* During tlio Plpistocono a few sroiindsloths and glyptod nts 

 entered Xortli Ami'ric-i. 



