898 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVI. No. 939 



areas rocky uncinariasis can probably be made 

 and kept negligible. 



Not so vulnerable are the rest of the nat- 

 ural losses and most of them are beyond the 

 reach of any preventives man can apply. Star- 

 vation is perhaps still the most serious of 

 these, but at least a close second are the con- 

 stant and typical cases of asphyxia neona- 

 torum, or suffocation of the new born, a 

 hitherto unidentified fatality among the 

 seals. This is an early loss, begins with the 

 first births and of course ceases promptly with 

 the last. Eighteen per cent, of the dead pups 

 examined before the middle of August were 

 thus asphyxiated, but as the autopsies did not 

 begin (save for two cases) until July 23, 

 when the height of the season was well 

 passed, the indicated death rate of 2.3 per 

 thousand is much too low. Pups dead of 

 asphyxia neonatorum are promptly recognized 

 by the presence of meconium and complete 

 pulmonary atelectasis, or lungs without air. 

 The meconium is made up of the products of 

 metabolism of the fetus, accumulated in the 

 large intestines during gestation, and is voided 

 soon after birth. A few cases have only par- 

 tial meconium and incomplete atelectasis. 

 The immediate cause of the failure to estab- 

 lish breathing is inferred to be obstruction by 

 the fetal membranes. Most pups are born 

 more or less invested by parts of what was 

 the bag of waters. The cow delivering her 

 pup instantly proceeds to tear off the caul with 

 her teeth, but she does not always succeed 

 until after the pup is dead. The dead pups 

 seldom show adhering membranes but one 

 striking example, found on St. George la- 

 land by Mr. Clark, is significant. The caul 

 was intact, fitted perfectly the whole head 

 and effectually sealed the respiratory pas- 

 sages. Usually the little victims never get 

 their first breath. Trampling or overlying at 

 the critical moment probably prevents breath- 

 ing in a few cases independently of the fetal 

 membranes. There is no evidence that any of 

 the pups examined was dead before birth. 



In 1896 and 1897 this species of suffocation 

 must have ranked third, or possibly second, in 

 importance. Many of the earlier dead of 

 those years, which were seen lying largely in- 



accessible in the heart of the harems and in- 

 ferred to belong with the losses from Unci- 

 naria, were probably suffocated at birth. It is 

 characteristic of this loss that many of the 

 dead are found in the original area of the 

 harem as first formed, and all of them di- 

 rectly on breeding grounds. The pups die on 

 the spot where born. Deaths from this 

 cause will continue indefinitely, the defect in 

 seal obstetrics being remediable by nature 

 alone. But the loss may perhaps not increase 

 much faster than pari passu with the growth 

 of the herd, which is not the case with un- 

 cinariasis and apparently not with starvation 

 and other losses. Roughly speaking there are 

 now one third to one half as many breeding 

 seals and young as in 1896; but the pup loss 

 is one seventh and the adult loss one fifth that 

 of 1896. As the various well-known losses 

 have decreased in a much faster progression 

 than the decrease of the herd, they may be ex- 

 pected to increase with its growth with corre- 

 sponding rapidity, though the matter is to 

 some extent influenced by such controllable 

 factors as the proportion of bulls to cows. 



The death of adult breeders is mainly from 

 fighting, accidents of pregnancy and of other 

 kinds. During the season of 1912 this loss 

 was about 30 as against 159 in 1896. 



An incidental discovery of less importance 

 but of much interest, was made by Mr. Clark 

 and the writer during the counting of the 

 pups. It has been supposed that the ability to 

 swim is not a birthright of the fur seal pup 

 but an acquirement gained by diligent prac- 

 tise in August. The stampeding into the sea 

 and ready swimming early in August of 

 hundreds of pups which had never before been 

 in the water, and corroborative observations, 

 show that the pup can swim just as soon as it 

 acquires sufficient strength and can manage 

 its limbs. M. C. Marsh 



U. S. Bureau op Fisheries, 

 St. Paul Island, Alaska 



MEMOEIAL OF A CENTENARY 

 The interest of the annual meeting of the 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 

 was enhanced by the presentation of an ad- 

 vance copy of the fifteenth volume of the 



