PRINCIPAL CAUSES OF DEATH. 89 



slope a rock of a bundredweigbt might easily be set in motion, and roll into a pod of 

 sleeping pups with fatal efl'ect. A practical example oi" the ease with which pups may 

 be killed iu just this way was seen while making the final count of Tolstoi, when a 

 bowlder, dislodged by moving seals, rolled into a " pod " of pujis, killing two of them 

 and bruising others. 



Among the causes of death not given in the table is the biting and mauling of 

 recently born pups by the cows, and the maltreatment of older ones by salacious bach- 

 elors. A pup obtained on Copper Island by Mr. Barrett-Hamilton had, according to 

 the diagnosis of the surgeon of H. B. M. S. ^^mrtan, died ft'om erysipelas induced by a 

 bite on tliehead, and on Northeast Point two pups were seen with suppurating wounds 

 on the back whose ultimate recovery seemed somewhat problematical. Several young 

 pups were seen bearing fresh and ugly scars of recent bites, and during a visit to 

 Kitovi on July 13 Dr. Stejneger and myself witnessed the following ill treatment of 

 a very young pup: "A recentlj^ born pup was very badly pulled about by the cows. 

 At one time it was pulled by three cows at once, one having hold of its head, another 

 of a hind flipper, and the third by the skin of the side. It was pulled back and forth 

 in this manner for some time, but when last seen was alive." 



There was no apparent reason for this brutal treatment save the vicious nature of 

 the animals, which snap at one another on small i^rovocation. Later in the season, 

 when the harems have broken xip, bachelors also woriy the pups for pure devilment, 

 jiast as big boys torment little ones, some of the youngsters being pretty roughly han- 

 dled, and some found whose death could be ascribed to no other cause. A large male 

 pup, badly bitten, was seen on the reef, the external oblique muscle being cut through 

 and the skin torn oft" half the right side of the abdomen, the flaj) trailing on the ground. 

 Although alive and active, such a wound must eventually have resulted in death, and 

 the animal was killed. iSTo case of sunstroke was observed, and none has probably 

 ever occurred, although seals might be killed by the sun just as they might be killed 

 by lightning. The vSymptoms ascribed to " sunstroke," " nervous jerking of the limbs, 

 followed by convulsions and death," are the symptoms of the later stages of starva- 

 tion, and were seen and noted by Dr. Jordan, Mr. Townsend, and Mr. Clark.' 



To sum n\} the evidence accumulated during the summers of 1897 and 1898, it may 

 be said that under natural conditions the vast majority of deaths among young fur 

 seals are due to the parasitic worm Uficinaria, whose ravages have j)robably borne a 

 direct ratio to the number of seals and condition of the rookeries. Next comes starva- 

 tion from causes at present not definitely known, and then follow small losses from 

 various diseases and accidents. A few of the newly born are accidentally tramjjled 

 under foot, a few are killed by their vicious relatives, and some perish from other 

 causes, so that all in all the total number of deaths before the young leave the island 

 of St. Paul is not far from 10 per cent of the number born, St. George with its free- 

 dom from Uncinaria faring much better. What follows after the migrating thousands 



• Two of these are recorded in the ■ Journ.al as follows: "A little pup lies gasping, with spasms 

 like hiccough for each breath. She is killed. A small female pup, very lean. The right lung con- 

 gested, hardly crepitating; left lung normal ; other organs likewise. Stomach wholly empty. Lower 

 part of small intestine full of greenish fecal matter. Absolutely no fat. 



"A large ieniale pup, greatly emaciated, was found lying gasping and jerking with spasms. 

 Another case of sunstroke, so called. It has passed a quantity of dark matter, like coal tar (a sure 

 sign of starvation), and its lower intestines were full of the same fluid. The organs were in a normal 

 condition. Not a trace of fat." 



