104 COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



ERRONEOUS USE OF THE WORD ''HERD." 



Before entering into any detailed examination of the 

 subject dealt with in this Chapter, it is desired to draw- 

 attention to the nse here and elsewhere made of the word 

 "herd" as applied to the fur-seals of the eastern part of 

 the North Pacific. This, it is submitted, is a term which 

 connotes characters entirely foreign to the known habits 

 of the animal. If at any time possible to describe the fur- 

 seals as forming a "herd," this can only be when it is found 

 aggregated u])on the breeding-islands; and even then, in 

 any recognized nse of the term, it could be made to apjdy 

 only to any individual breeding-rookery or hauling-ground, 

 of which upon the Pribyloft" Islands alone there are many. 



120 TERM WHOLLY INAPPLICABLE TO FUR-SEALS OF 



EASTERN PACIFIC. 



Seo Captain It is therefore simply an abuse of language to apply 



Brftlsh ^Ca8e,'°p. tlus siuglc term even to the seals when upon tiie numerous 



^^liritish c ^^^^ separate breeding colonies of the Pribyloft' Islands, 



missiouers' Re- and mucli more so to attempt to denote by it the same 



221^222'^'^''" '^^'^" aiiimals Avhen, during the greater part of each year, they 



are found to be scattered over an extent of ocean which 



stretches from the vicinity of the Pribyloft' Islands to the 



coast of California — some 3,000 miles — and, to a lesser 



extent, from one side of the North Pacific to tlie other. 



No evidence has been adduced such as to warrant the use 



of this term, and the justification of its employment will 



be sought in vain in the. facts brought forward in the 



Keports of the Commissioners of either the United iStates 



or Great Britain. 



NATURALISTS DRAW NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN FUR- 

 SEALS OF TWO SIDES OF NORTH PACIFIC; THOUGH 

 THESE HAVE LONG BEEN WELL KNOWN. 



As bearing upon the general contention above stated, it 

 may in the first place be pointed out that naturalists gen- 

 erally, including those who have devoted special attention 

 to the subject, and who- have been most critical and minute 

 in their work of comparison and separation, have up to 

 the present time found no reason to draw any distinction 

 between the fur seals taken in the eastern and western 

 parts of the North Pacific. The seals so found have been 

 universally included under a common specific name, and 

 no difference even of a sub-specific order has been found 

 to be tenable as between them. Thus, after referring to 

 the comparative want of knowledge of the otaries of the 

 Southern Hemisphere, Professor J. A. Allen writes: 



" ■Monograph Those of the Northern are much better known, the only doubts still 

 of North Anicri- existinjj: having relation to those of Japan. Respectiny; all the others, 

 p. 205. ' there has been for the last eight years an almost perfect unanimity of 



. ' opinioU; so far as the question of species is coiicernecl. 



