INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 799 



Mr. McGuire. That was the batch of skins that you just now 

 spoke about? 



Mr. Elliott. No, sir; different batch and different day. There 

 is no record of it in his official journal — not a word. 



Mr. McGuire. Now, I will ask you whether you heard the testi- 

 mony of the witnesses from the department, including the testimony 

 of Dr. Everniann ? 



Mr. Elliott. I heard that all. 



Mr. McGuire. In which they told of their experiments and said 

 that the skins were lighter after salting ? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir; they ought to be lighter if they are dried 

 and swept; they dried them and swept all the salt off of them, and 

 all of the blubber "welts," too. 



Mr. McGuire. You know that is not his testimony. That is not 

 the testimony of the witnesses from the department. 



Mr. Elliott. Well, they took the salt off. 



Air. McGuire. You said they dried them. 



Air. Elliott. Oh, that is what it means. Let us get the exact 

 testimony, and we will get it right. 



Air. McGuire. But you said "If they were dried." 



Air. Elliott. They must have dried them, to get them in that 

 shape. 



Air. AIcGuire. Then, in your judgment, they dried them ? 



Air. Elliott. Ch, they were dried in the manipulation. 



Air. AIcGuire. Is that the batch of skins that you had up there ? 



Air. Elliott. No. sir. I will show you. Let me show you what 

 they did. No wonder they were lighter. In Hearing No. 14, pages 

 974 and 975, July 29, 1912, also appearing on page 135 of Hearing 

 No. 1 of this session, Dr. Everniann says: 



Dr. Evermaxn. Last year, -when Mr. M. C. Marsh, naturalist, fur-seal service, went 

 to the Pribilof Islands he was instructed to make certain investigations, one of which 

 was to determine by actual experiment the effect that salting has upon the weight 

 of fur-seal skins. He made a very careful investigation of the matter, and his report 

 has just been received. It is so interesting and valuable that I wish to put it in the 

 record. His investigation settles the question conclusively and for all time. It 

 shows that salting causes fur-seal skins to lose weight. The report is as follows: 



""The average loss of weight for the whole 60 skins is 0.63 pound, or 10 ounces. 

 This is an understatement of the average loss of weight, which, I believe, is at least 

 an ounce greater. The reason is that it is practically impossible to mechanically 

 remove all the salt from the skins before reweighing. They were shaken, swept, 

 and brushed, but a few grains and crystals of salt were always left adhering to each 

 side of the skin. Obviously, it would not do to wash them off. By more carefully 

 cleaning a few of the reweighed skins and then again weighing them, I estimate this 

 residual salt to average an ounce or something more." 



Air. AIcGuire. That is Dr. Evermann's testimony? 



Air. Elliott. That is Dr. Evermann's testimony coving the experi- 

 ments made by Air. Marsh "last year," meaning 1911. 



Air. AIcGuire. They swept and brushed them ? 



Air. Elliott. Yes, sir. 



Air. AIcGuire. And could not get the salt off ? 



Air. Elliott. No; they could not get "every grain" they say. 

 Now, in doing that, they certainly "dried" them in the very act of 

 hard sweeping and stiff brushing them. 



Air. AIcGuire. That is your judgment. 



Air. Elliott. Well, that would necessarily dry them. 



