174 COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



200 whicli, in consequence of such action, has of late, 

 and from the necessities of the case, resulted in tbe 

 taking of a considerable proportion of females from the 

 existing surplus of that sex. 



CHIEF BASIS OF ALLEGATIONS ON THIS POINT IN UNITED 

 STATES CASE, ESSENTIALLY INCONCLUSIVE. 



The assertion in the United States Case as to the pro- 

 portion of females in the pelagic catch, rests chiefly on the 

 evidence of furriers, who have examined the skins in the 

 condition in which they reach them, that is to say, without 

 the heads or extremities, and stretched out of their origi- 

 nal form. While it is no doubt quite possible for these 

 gentlemen to correctly distinguish as to sex a certain pro- 

 portion of the larger skius, from the colour of the fur and 

 other indications, yet there is so large a number of skins, 

 more particularly skins of seals under 3 years, which pre- 

 sent absolutely no distinctive characters in this respect, 

 that the estimates of furriers cannot be regarded as trust- 

 worthy. It is further to be remarked that, in the course of 

 their business, furriers have never had to consider the 

 question of sex at all, which in no way enters into their 

 calculations. They do not buy or sell by sex, and it is 

 never mentioned in trade catalogues, so that therefore their 

 retrospective statements are not based upon any trade 

 classifications, but are merely surmises. 



NUMBER OF FEMALES IN PELAGIC CATCH WHICH COULD 

 POSSIBLY BE GRAVID SHOWN TO BE SMALL. 



Appendix, p. With reference to the question of the number of gravid 

 ^'^' females comprised in the North-west Catch, attention is 



called to the Table prepared by Messrs. P. E. Poland and 

 Son, the well-known London fur merchants, in which they 

 analyze the sizes of the whole ISTorth-west Catch from the 

 year 1873 to the present time*. From this Table, it will be 

 seen that about 42 per cent, of the ISTorth-west Catch, after 

 deducting therefrom all outside skins such as the Japanese 

 skins taken on the Asiatic coast, are skins of animals too 

 young to be bearing- females, and the balance {58 per cent.) 

 which, so far as size goes, might be those of bearing- 

 females. It is admitted in the United States Case that 15 

 per cent, of the entire catch consists of males. This reduces 

 the proportion of gravid females to less than 50 per cent. 

 Further, to arrive at a fair estimate of the projjortion 

 which could be actually gravid when killed, this percentage 

 amount must be reduced by one-half, because at least one- 

 half of the North-west Catch is taken in the fall, long after 

 all the females have given birth to their pups, thus making 



the highest possible total of gravid females in the 

 201 North-west Catch to be about L>5 per cent., without 



making any allowance for barren females. 

 The above calculation assumes, without admitting, the 

 correctness of the figures put forward by the United States 

 Case. If the more moderate^ and, it is submitted, more 



