l-HE LEAKNED SEAL. 181 



CHAPTER XX. 



EDUCATED SEALS — TAME FISH, ETC. 



AT the Zoological Gardens in London, and at several places 

 -Ol. on the continent, seals have been exhibited which had 

 been taught to perform a number of tricks. The first " learned 

 seal ^^ which appeared in this country was one exhibited first at 

 Barnum'fc: old Museum, on the corner of Broadway and Ann 

 street, and afterward in various parts of the country. Ned, as 

 he was called, was quite a philosopher in his way, and submit- 

 ted gracefully to the change from his secluded haunts on the 

 icy shores of Greenland, to the excitements of a public life. 



Seals are naturally docile and intelligent, but skill in grinding 

 a hand-organ is scarcely a gift which comes by nature, and even 

 in the case of Ned it was necessary to stimulate his musical 

 taste before he became an adept on that instrument. This stim- 

 ulus was the same as that to which we owe the curb-stone per- 

 formances of modem EomaBs— hunger. 



He had before this learaed of his own accord to come up out 

 of the water on the appearance of his keeper. He was kept in 

 a large tank, or box, one half of which held the water, while the 

 other half was iloored over forming a platform on which he was 

 exhibited. From this platform an inclined plane, formed of 

 planks, l^d down into the water. Around the edge of the tank 

 and platform a wooden railing extended, and in one corner of 

 this enclosure was kept a tin box containing the fish with which 

 ihe seal was fed. When the seal was first exhibited his keeper 

 was in the habit of taking a fish from this box at each half-hourly 

 exhibition, and tossing it to the seal who would come partly 

 out of the water and open his mouth to catch it when he saw it 

 in the keeper's hand. This box had a lid to prevent Ned helping 

 himself, and the seal soon learned that the noise of opening the 

 box was followed by his getting a fish ; so before long it was 

 only necessary to tap on the lid to make him come up on the 

 platform. 



There was one trick which Ned invented himself, and used to 

 perform to his own great satisfaction. He always liked to 

 be able to see his keeper, but visitors often crowded around the 

 tank so Tnuch as to obstruct his view. When this happened, 

 Ned had a way of beating vigorously about in the water and 

 splashing the oflfending spectators so that they were glad to 

 withdraw to a more respectful distance. This afforded consid- 

 erable fun to the attaches of the museum, who had discovered 



