48 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 
ciates, Stejneger, Lucas, Clark, and Moser, who completely deny the 
sense and intelligence of my work. [Stejneger, least of all, should be 
heard. He has had just nine days’ experience and knowledge of the 
Pribilof herd on the seal islands of Alaska.] Doctor Jordan came 
down in 1896, after spending forty-three days on the islands for the 
first time in his life (never having seen a fur seal heretofore or having 
known anything about one), with three propositions which he called 
‘*discoveries:” First. That the fur seal bulls naturally trampled their 
young to death, and that that was the chief cause of the check upon 
their life, so that it would not increase above a certain figure in a state 
of nature. 
Sécond. That he had got a complete and successful scheme to put the 
pelagic sealer out of business by branding the female seals. 
Third. That he had secured a perfect agreement with the Canadians 
to suppress pelagic sealing; that he had this understanding with his 
British associates. [See letter to Senator Perkins, U.S. Senate, Cong. 
Record, Feb. 28, 1897, p. 2619. ] 
Next year Doctor Jordan ‘‘ discovered” that the pups were not tram- 
pled by their parents to death, because a certain scientist in the Depart- 
mentof Agriculture found, after examining the specimens of ‘‘ trampled 
pups” which had been brought down to Washington from the islands, 
that it was due to the ravages of an intestinal worm! and now, after 
he had modified this ‘‘ scientific” blunder of himself and associates in 
1897, by charging this ‘‘ chief check upon the increase of seal life in a 
state of nature,” to the sand worm (uncewarda), which Doctor Stiles had 
found as the real cause of death. Now, this sand worm itself has 
disappeared from the islands and has not been noticed there since 
1900, so the ‘‘scientifie” checks of Doctor Jordan and his associates 
“discovered” in 1896 and 1897 have evaporated into thin air—a 
sporadic worm, and that, too, only found on the sandy areas, less than 
‘one twenty-fifth of the breeding ground area. 
In 1896, in November, I remonstrated with Doctor Jordan and 
urged him not to make this unfortunate blunder go into cold type, and 
cited my personal knowledge (in 1872, 1873, 1874) of the utter nonsense 
of his claim; but he persisted, and it appears in extenso in his prelimi- 
nary oo of November 7, 1896. (Treasury Doc. No. 1918, pp. 45, 
46, 47. 
Not satisfied, however, with this publication, he insisted on having 
his scientific associates announce the ‘‘ trampled pup” discovery to the 
scientific world by means of a paper read before the Biological Society 
of Washington, January 4, 1897. It was duly done and publicly 
indorsed by all of these gentlemen then. I alone, that evening, when 
it was read, entered my denial of its truth; that denial was heard by 
ee Stiles, and he proceeded to investigate with the result as I have 
stated. 
I therefore object stoutly to the charge made this morning by the 
lessees’ attorney that Doctor Jordan’s scientitic acumen is so over- 
powering in the premises that I am to be regarded as not being pos- 
sessed of good sense when I differ from him. Why, indeed, should 
he be any better judge of what the effect of land killing is than he 
has been of the cause which killed these pups in 1896? 
Also, what about this branding of seals, which he publishes in 
this same preliminary report (p. 62) as a swift, feasible, and certain 
means of putting the pelagic hunters out of business. He spread the 
