49 



KiTovi Rookery. 

 [August 8. Examined by F. A. Lucas and D'Ar(;y AV. Thompson.] 



" No. 31. Female, fat; stomach contaiuiug nearly a quart of milk; lungs normal, 

 crepitating; no bruises visible: gall bladder full of orange-colored bile; intestines 

 full ot dark, shining, liuid excrement; lower intestine inflamed. Intestine taken 

 to village and carefully examined. Inflammation of bowels. 



"No. 35. Male, in fair condition; lungs normal; liver also, the latter somewhat 

 light in color (due to I'at); gall bladder empty; intestines and kidneys normal; 

 stomach empty, containing a few hairs. Cause of death not aj)parent. 



• 



Keef Rookery. 



[August 8. Examined by F. A. Lucas and D'Arcy "VV. Thompson. 



"No. .50. Female, good condition, fat; no inflammation of peritoneum; viscera 

 normal, with excejition of kidneys, Avhich were soft and decomposed. Inflamma- 

 tion of kidneys probably brought about by a blow on the back. 



LuKANiN Rookery. 

 [August 9. Examined by D. S. Jordan.] 



*'No. .5.5. Female, enuxciated. Found dying, gasping and convulsed with spasms, 

 and killed for examination. Stomach empty ; no fat about body; viscera normal, 

 but intestines full of dark gri'enish fecal matter. Starvation. 



"Note. — The syni])tom8 given above are those which have been asciibed to 

 sunstroke. 



GENERALIZATION. 



"To sum up the evidence condensed in the two tables, it may be said that early in 

 the season deaths are numerous, and are almost solely due to trampling. By the 

 middle of August the pups are so large and the conditions have so changed that 

 under natural conditions deaths are rare. For the great mortality which has pre- 

 vailed of late years in August. September, and October, starvation, resulting from 

 the killing of females at sea, is the sole cause. 



"Another thing is also apparent — that contagious diseases play no part in the 

 destruction of young seals. The only epidemic that has raged on the rookeries is 

 an ei)idemic of ((uarrelsonie bulls which sweeps o\er the breeding grounds with 

 great regularity and remorseless severity. 



AiitopKies of 103 pup scala made hetwcen AiKjnst 5 and August 14. 



Cause of death not obvious ' 6 ! Drowned 14 



Inflammation of lungs 1 Starved and trampled 7 



Inflammation of kiuuevs 1 Starved 24 



Inflammation of bowels 2 



Falling from clifls 3 



Crushed beneath falling rocks 3 



Trampled 42 



Total 103 



Autopsy of 17 pup seals made hetiveen August 15 and September 8. 



Inflammation of bowels 1 



Trampled 1 



Starved 15 



Total 17 



"The number of dissections might have been increased almost indefinitely by taking 

 those pups wliich died of starvation after August 15, but after that date only two 

 were seen which had not obviously starved to death. The 15 examined above were 

 evidently starved, but they were dissected in order that there might be no question 

 as to the cause of their death. 



List of dead pups ohtained for dissection. 



St. Paul : 1 St. Paul : 



Lagoon 2 \ Zapadni 17 



Lukanin 3 Tolstoi 36 



Gorl>atch 9 ! St. George: 



Polovina 9 North Rookery 1 



Reef 13 i 



Vostochni 15 Total 122 



Kitovi 17 I 



742.3 4 



