568 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXrV. No. 878 



credit : Italy, 58 per cent., Spain, 40 per cent., 

 France but 20 per cent., Mexico, 33 per cent, 

 and South America, 31 per cent. India, 

 China and Africa all make creditable gains, 

 but Australasia appears to be at a standstill. 



The changed political conditions in Europe 

 are reflected in the fact that Turkey appears 

 in the list for the first time and in the consid- 

 erable gains in the Balkan states. On the 

 other hand, the inroads of despotism are evi- 

 dent in the significant entry " Suspend," after 

 not a few noted and promising names in the 

 official staffs of the Russian universities. 



It is inevitable that omissions, errors and 

 inequalities of standard vcill creep into such 

 a work, where the editor so necessarily is de- 

 pendent upon voluntary assistance. The 

 American section seems especially to have 

 needed critical revision, for it contains nu- 

 merous antiquated entries, inequalities in 

 representation, and some positive errors. The 

 Rockefeller Institute is, for example, credited 

 to Chicago ! One also misses in this new edi- 

 tion, the very helpful subject index of special- 

 ists of the earlier editions. The size of the 

 volume would have been somewhat increased 

 thereby, but the increased cost would have been 

 more than compensated for by the greater use- 

 fulness of the work to the specialist seeking 

 the names of his fellow-workers. The citation 

 of specialty in connection with the alphabet- 

 ical index of names would be a welcome addi- 

 tion to the work. In spite of these minor de- 

 fects, however, the work will be exceedingly 

 useful to every biologist and naturalist who 

 seeks information regarding the organization 

 and personnel of the various departments of 

 the biological sciences throughout the learned 

 world. 



Charles Atwood Kofoid 



University of California 



IRE PBIBILOF FUB SEAL HEED AND THE 

 PMOSFECTS FOB ITS INCBEASE^ 



After more than twenty years of active 

 operation, the pelagic sealing industry has 

 been brought to an end, as the result of a 



^Eead at the forty-first annual meeting of the 

 American Fisheries Society, October 3, 1911. 



convention which has been signed by represen- 

 tatives of the United States, Great Britain, 

 Russia and Japan, and ratified by the Senate 

 of the United States. 



The contracting parties have agreed to pro- 

 hibit their vessels from engaging in pelagic 

 sealing and to close their ports against all 

 vessels connected in any way with the opera- 

 tions of pelagic sealing. It is not necessary 

 in this connection to go into the details of the 

 seventeen articles of the convention, which is 

 to continue in force for a period of fifteen 

 years from December 15, 1911. 



The total loss of seals from the North 

 Pacific herds through pelagic sealing since its 

 inception may be placed at about three mil- 

 lions. As a large proportion of this catch 

 consisted of females, the disastrous effect upon 

 .the breeding stock of the Pribilof and Com- 

 mander Islands will be readily appreciated. 



The fur-seal industry, both at sea and on 

 land, was for many years the subject of almost 

 continuous international controversy, and the 

 Pribilof herd especially has been studied long 

 and carefully by commissions selected chiefly 

 from the ranks of British and American nat- 

 uralists. 



The facts respecting the fur seal's habits, 

 migrations, food, breeding, growth, age, num- 

 bers, anatomy, enemies, etc., etc., as arrived at 

 by the commissions appointed to study the 

 subject in general, afloat and ashore, can not 

 reasonably be questioned. They are based 

 upon prolonged inquiry by representatives of 

 the two countries most interested, and have 

 been mutually accepted only after the keenest 

 possible criticism from both sides. 



The natural history of the fur seal is now 

 better understood in detail than that of any 

 other wild mammal. These investigations, 

 commenced about twenty years ago, have 

 yielded much new information, and, with the 

 cessation of pelagic sealing, we are now ready 

 to apply scientific methods to the rehabilita- 

 tion of the small herd remaining on the Pribi- 

 lof s with full confidence as' to the result. 



The polygamous habit of the fur seal is the 

 principal fact with which we have to deal in 

 considering any scheme of management of 



