EARED-SEALS. 497 



is plain that they can be of no use for purposes of mastication. 

 Indeed the Otaria, having caught its prey, holds it in its mouth by 

 means of its powerful canines and incisors, and, raising its head, 

 swallows it whole. When it has caught a fish too large to be thus 

 disposed of, it has been seen to give its head a sudden twist, so as 

 to break off a portion, which it swallows rapidly. It then dives 

 into the water, picks up the other portion, and repeats the tearing 

 process until the last fragment is devoured." 



The habits of nearly all the various species of the otaria are 

 somewhat similar. The Pribylov Islands, which are included in 

 the Alaska group, now in the possession of the United States, are, 

 with the Falkland Islands, the chief resorts of the fur-seals during 

 the summer months. They assemble at these places in immense 

 numbers for the purpose of breeding. 



In 1880, Mr. Henry W. Elliott made a report on the Seal 

 Islands of Alaska to the American Government,* which contains 

 most curious and entertaining information on the fur-seal, furnished 

 from actual observation. And to those who are unable to obtain 

 access to this formidable-sized volume of Government reports, a 

 few quotations from his work will no doubt be interesting. In 

 fact it is almost impossible to write correctly about these animals 

 without constantly referring to his wonderfully graphic and minute 

 monograph. The opening remark draws attention to the slight 

 amount of information that existed regarding these strange animals, 

 prior to the present decade. 



" During the progress of the heated controversies that took place 

 pending the negotiation which ended in the acquisition of Alaska 

 by our Government," he writes, " frequent references were made to 

 the fur-seal. Strange to say, this animal was so vaguely known at 

 that time, even to scientific men, that it was almost without repre- 

 sentation in any of the best zoological collections of the world. 

 Even the Smithsonian Institution did not possess a perfect skin 

 and skeleton. The writer, then as now, an associate and collabo- 

 rator of this establishment, had his curiosity very much excited by 

 these stories, and in March, 1872, he was, by the joint action of 

 Professor Baird and the Secretary of the Treasury, enabled to 

 s See "Tenth Census of the United States, 1880," vol. viii. 



K k 



