AMPHIBIAN MILLIONS. 343 



we now see, resembles that met with in such seals everywhere, 

 only possessing that strange peculiarity not shared by any other 

 of its kind, of being positively overbearing and offensive in odor 

 to an unaccustomed human nostril. The rotting, sloughing car- 

 casses around about did not, when stirred up, affect me more un- 

 pleasantly than did this strong, sickening smell of the fur-seal 

 blubber. It has a character and appearance intermediate between 

 those belonging to the adipose tissue found on the flesh of cetacea 

 and some carnivora. 



This continuous envelope of blubber to the bodies of the " hol- 

 luschickie " is thickest in deposit at those points upon the breast 

 between the fore flippers, reaching entirely around and over the 

 shoulders, where it is from one inch to a little over in depth. Upon 

 the outer side of the chest it is not half an inch in thickness, fre- 

 quently not more than a quarter, and it thins out considerably as 

 it reaches the median line of the back. The neck and head are 

 clad by an unbroken continuation of the same material, which 

 varies from one-half to one-quarter of an inch in depth. Toward 

 the middle line of the abdominal region there is a layer of relative 

 greater thickness. This is coextensive with the sterno-pectoral 

 mass ; but it does not begin to retain its volume as it extends back- 

 ward, where this fatty investment of the carcass upon the loins, 

 buttocks, and hinder limbs fades out finer than on the pectoro- 

 abdominal parts, and assumes a thickness corresponding to its 

 depth on the cervical and dorsal regions. As it descends on the 

 limbs this blubber thins out very preceptibly ; and, when reaching 

 the flippers, it almost entirely disappears, giving way to a glistening 

 aureolar tissue, while the flipper skin finally descends in turn to 

 adhere closely and firmly to the tendinous ligamentary structures 

 beneath, which constitute the tips of the swimming-palms. 



The flesh and the muscles are not lined between or within by 

 fat of any kind : this blubber envelope contains it all, with one 

 exception that which is found in the folds of the small intestine 

 and about the kidneys, where there is an abundant secretion of a 

 harder, whiter, though still offensive-smelling fat. 



It is quite natural for our people when they first eat a meal on 

 the Pribylov Islands to ask questions in regard to what seal-meat 

 looks and tastes like. Some of the white residents will answer, 

 saying that they are very fond of it cooked so and so ; others will 

 reply that in no shape or manner can they stomach the dish. An 



