On the Pliocidee oftlie Greenland Seas. 395 
venting the congelation into ice, or breaking it as soon as 
formed. It is impossible for the seal to pierce the ice after 
being formed to any thickness, as has been theoretically 
alleged, by keeping its warm (?) nose to the ice, thus melting 
out the hole. Unfortunately for this hypothesis, the nose 
is quite cold ; but even allowing the temperature of the 
muzzle capable of performing this feat, where could the 
animal rise to breathe during the process ? It would not 
venture to break through by force, as the nose is proverbi- 
ally the seal's mortal point. Their fondness for music is 
taken advantage of by the hunters, to the destruction of 
the listeners. Many wonderful stories are told regarding 
the affection which they bear to their young, and, with the 
exception of the " Bladdernose," they appear to have little 
or no combativeness in their nature. In the Greenland sea, 
the " Mountebank shrimp," Gamarus arcticus, forms the 
staple food of the seals. 
The number of seals taken yearly by the British and 
Continental ships (principally Scotch, Norse, Dutch, and 
German), in the Greenland seas, when they get among them, 
will average upwards of 200,000, the great bulk of which 
are young " Saddlebacks." When they have arrived at their 
maximum quality, 80 will yield a ton of oil ; otherwise the 
general average is 100 to the ton. In 1859, good oil sold at 
about L.33 per ton ; add to this the value of 100 skins at 
5s. each, and the whole will amount to L.58 sterling. 
From this simple calculation, a very good estimate may 
be formed of the commercial value of the Greenland seal 
fishery ; for, supposing 2000 tons of oil to be about the 
annual produce, and assuming L.58 as the value per ton, 
inclusive of the skins, the whole produce of the fishery will 
amount yearly to L.116,000 sterling. 
There seems little doubt, notwithstanding the additional 
protection which the northern seals receive from the ice, 
that, before many years have elapsed, the seal fisheries in 
Greenland must share the fate of those in other parts of the 
world, and become extinct as a source of commercial value. 
The sealing fleet meets about the end of February in 
