ZOOI.OC.ICAL SOCIl'IV BL'LLKIIN 



3°7 



brouglil forward occasionally as capacity to 

 perform is developed. (July the simplest 

 tricks are taught at first. The seals are 

 trained, however, without being entirely 

 tamed, as the trainer desires that they shall 

 remain active and spirited ; the best results 

 can not be secured with an animal that has 

 been made timid or bad-tempered. The tem- 

 per of even a well-trained seal may continue 

 a trifle uncertain, and even the trainer him- 

 self is liable to be bitten if he gets too close. 

 Its instinct to defend itself by biting remains 

 strong. While trained seals go through their 

 work in a happy style, clearly entering into the 

 spirit of it, all performers must be stimulated 

 by frequent feeding. The piece of fish in the 

 trainer's hand thus becomes the idea behind 

 it all. 



Sea-lions have a lively curiosity. On the 

 stage and in their quarters they are full of 

 fun and mischief. When allowed liberty the) 

 pry about the premises, overturning various 

 articles, playing with the rubber hose and en- 

 gaging in general romping after the fashion 

 of dogs. 



Private rehearsals are not necessary with 

 trained seals when performances are being 

 given daily in public. 



The appetite of the seal is enormous. Cap- 

 tain Woodward supplies his nine animals with 

 about one hundred and fifty pounds of fish 

 dail\', which is cleaned and dressed before 

 being given to them. One light meal is, of 

 course, served on the stage as a stimulus to 

 gooil work. 



When questioned as to the eflfect of train- 

 ing on the life of the animals. Captain Wood- 

 ward maintained that trained animals live de- 

 cidedly longer in captivity than those kept 

 without training. One of his sea-lions has 

 been on duty for nine years, and. judging 

 from its size when captured, it is now thirteen 

 years old. Several of them have been at work 

 for six or seven years. The small harbor- 

 seals when trained, live apparently as long as 

 the sea-lions. This argument is entirely rea- 

 sonable. The necessity for activity in captive 

 seals is fully appreciated at the .\quarium, 

 where several naturally lively individuals lived 

 many years, whic the lazy, sleepy kinds did 

 not last long. 



The mental capacity of the harbor-seal is 

 apparently as good as that of the sea-lion, but 

 its limited activity out of water naturally re- 

 stricts its accomplishments imder the hand of 

 the trainer. 



There are at the present time onlv four 

 or five bands of trained seals and sea-lions in 



existence, several of these having been edu- 

 cated by Captain Woodward and afterward 

 sold to other exhibitors. 



Captain Woodward's headi[uarters arc at 

 die entrance of Shoreham Harbor, near 

 r.righton, England, where there is a large 

 fenced enclosure which is flooded each day 

 by the tide. The animals are provided with 

 a resting place, and a shed which they use at 

 night. Their surroundings at Shoreham Har- 

 bor are made as natural and comfortable for 

 them as possible. 



\\'ith a view to testing the memories of his 

 troupe. Captain Woodward has occasionally 

 allowed sea-lions a three months' rest in the 

 freedom of their enclosure, and then given a 

 satisfactory public performance without a re- 

 hearsal. 



It has just been announced that he has sold 

 his last troupe of seals and will abandon his 

 profession of animal training to undertake 

 the work of an evangelist in London, a work 

 in which he feels it his dutv to engage. 



On July 31 the Aquarium received an un- 

 usually large specimen of the Manatee or Sea- 

 cow, [Maiuiliis latirostris). 



It was presented by Mr. A. W. Dimock, of 

 Marco. Fla.. and was transported free of 

 charge by the Florida East Coast Railway 

 Company and the Clyde Steamship Company, 

 through the courtesy of (ieneral Traftic Man- 

 ager Beckwith, of St. Augustine, and (jeneral 

 Manager Egcr, of New York. 



The animal had unfortunately been injured, 

 ])robably previous to capture, and died eight 

 days after it arrived at the .Xeiuarium. It was 

 turned over to the American Museum of Na- 

 tural History in Mr. Dimock's name. 



An autopsy showed that its death was due 

 to general septicemia. There were three large 

 ]nis-cavities in the body. Otherwise the animal 

 was in good condition except for abrasions 

 of the skin received during transportation. 



The animal was apparently of considerable 

 age. It weighed nine hundred anil ten pounds 

 and was ten feet four inches long. It was not 

 observed to take food at any time while in the 

 .\quarium. Mr. Dimock then presented an- 

 other manatee, six feet long, which at the pres- 

 ent time is doing well. 



Since the last issue of the BrLLExix the 

 .\quarium received its usual summer collec- 

 tion of fishes from the Bermuda Islands, in- 

 cluding many of the brilliantly colored species 

 peculiar to these tropical waters. The collec- 

 tion contained two large speciTiiens of the 

 green nioray. c. H. t. 



