NEED OF A NATURALIST IN CHARGE. 343 



It has not been our purpose to give an exhaustive treatment either of the history 

 or habits of the blue fox, but to point out the necessity and desirability of a serious 

 and systematic study of the subject. As we have seen from the table of annual 

 catches of foxes, for nineteen of the years of Eussian control the average number of 

 skins was 1,800 a year. This number, at the rate which the lessees now pay the 

 natives for fox skins, would yield a sum of $9,000 annually, which is no insignificant 

 matter to the Government in providing for the natives. It is to be supposed also 

 that with proper management and care the output of the herd might be made still 

 greater than it has ever been in the past. 



We have had occasion to recommend that the fur-seal herd be placed in charge 

 of a trained and capable naturalist, in order that its needs and possibilities may 

 become the object of systematic study and care. The problems connected with the 

 blue-fox herd demand equally such attention and furnish an additional field for 

 study. 



