NATURAL HISTORY. 



153 



of all the animals with which I am ac- 

 quainted our jet-black-snow-white skunks 

 are certainly the most conspicuous. Either 

 in the woods, with their ever shifting shad- 

 ows, on the brushy uplands, or on the 

 prairies, no small mammal at rest ever 

 catches my eyes so quickly as does a skunk. 

 But the doom of the skunk is sealed. His 

 fur is now in fashion (under various names 

 not its own). It is good, durable, reason- 

 able in price, and when the black dye has 

 " knocked the spots " out of it, even a 

 skunk catcher would have hard work to 

 recognize it without an introduction. 



W. T. Hornaday. 



THE WEST INDIAN SEAL. 



For 50 years zoologists have believed 

 the West Indian seal (Monaclus tropicalis) 

 totally extinct, and that not even one 

 stuffed skin survived, as a record of its 

 form and pelage. In 1844, however, a skin 

 came to the National Museum, from Cuba. 

 Then, in 1887, Mr. Henry L. Ward and 

 Professor Ferrari Perez, of the Mexican 

 National Museum, re-discovered the spe- 

 cies, alive but fast asleep, on some tiny 

 islets called the Triangles, in the Gulf of 

 Campechy, about 50 miles from the coast 

 of Yucatan. These naturalists collected 

 about a dozen good specimens, which have 

 been distributed among our largest mu- 

 seums. 



Three weeks ago Mr. Cobb, of Pensa- 

 cola, Fla., walked into the office of the New 

 York Zoological Society, and offered to 

 deliver any reasonable number of live seals, 

 of this species, for a modest consideration 

 in cash. It appears that on April 20, the 

 fishing smack " Maude Spurling," of Pen- 

 sacola, Captain Thos. Miner, visited the 

 Triangles, and found there about 35 seals. 

 Of these Captain Miner picked up 2 and 

 carried them aboard his vessel, but killed 

 none! 



The seals lay asleep on the beach, so 

 tame and sluggish that the .whole colony 

 might easily have been killed with clubs. 

 This is just as they were described by Mr. 

 Ward. The largest of the seals were about 

 7 feet in length. 



The pair abducted by Captain Miner 

 reached Pensacola alive and in good con- 

 dition, and created a great sensation. They 

 have been bought by men who will exhibit 

 them at the Nashville Exposition. Four 

 specimens have been ordered, of Captain 

 Miner, for the Washington Zoological 

 Park. Dr. Bean immediately ordered 3 for 

 the New York Aquarium, and Captain 

 Miner has gone to procure them. 



The West Indian seal is not a handsome 

 animal, nor is it endowed with an over- 

 supply of intelligence. As for activity, it 

 cannot spell the word. Its color is a uni^ 



form, dull gray, except where its back is 

 green with moss and algae. Its head is 

 coarse and homely, and its voice — well, it 

 lacks culture. Inferentially it may be said 

 there must be some tired fis'h around the 

 Triangles, or Monaclus tropicalis would 

 surely starve to death. But what will our 

 3 think of life in New York, after they shall 

 have found out what it is like? 



FEEDING SUGAR TO A WILD BEAR. 



The brave and fearless frontiersman is 

 not alone in opportunities to come in con- 

 tact with the wild beasts of the forest. 

 There is an estimable lady in this city who 

 fed sugar, from her own fair hand, to as 

 fine a specimen of female bear as was ever 

 seen among the mountains of the West. 

 Bruin weighed 600 pounds and had a fur as* 

 sleek and glossy as velvet. It had not been 

 5 minutes since she had left her cubs in the 

 vast pine groves, on one of the mountain 

 sides, within -the borders of the Yellow- 

 stone National Park. 



It came about in this way: This female 

 black bear makes a practice of entering the 

 hotel office, at Old Faithful geyser, in the 

 upper basin, Yellowstone National Park, 

 every evening between 8.45 to 9.15 o'clock. 



Of course every one takes the story with 

 a large grain of salt, on hearing it; especi- 

 ally that bruin should be so prompt in mak- 

 ing her calls. After spending 2 days at the 

 geysers, paint pots, etc., in the Fire Hole 

 basin, we proceeded to the Upper basin, 

 where are situated the Giant, Giantess, Old 

 Faithful and many other wonders. 



The first thing on our programme, for 

 our first evening at this point, was to prove 

 the truth or falsity of the bear yarn, and 

 promptly at 8.30 p.m. we all entered the 

 hotel office. We took our seats and formed 

 a circle. The manager of the hotel left the 

 door open, and we noticed he filled his 

 pockets with loaf sugar and cake. Promptly 

 at 9 p.m. the beautiful specimen of the bear 

 family entered and walked to the centre of 

 the circle of visitors. She sat down on her 

 haunches and was fed by the hotel keeper 

 and by the lady referred to. Bruin lives in 

 the wild forest; has never been caged or 

 chained, and we were told she had 2 cubs; 

 also that she drove all other bears from the 

 locality, and had been coming into the of- 

 fice to get her sweets every evening for 2 

 seasons. She has never heard the report 

 of a gun, and it would not be well for any 

 one to attempt to harm her. The hotel 

 keeper does not make a practice of allowing 

 others to offer Bruin sugar, cake, etc., but 

 Mrs. E pleaded so hard, for the privi- 

 lege of feeding a real live bear, that he gave 

 her a handful of loaf sugar and the lady 

 fed the bear. 



L. M. Earl, Salt Lake City, Utah. 



