154 
Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinhiergh. [sess. 
Preliminary Account of Natural History Collections 
made on a Voyage to the Gulf of St Lawrence and 
Davis Straits. By Mr Alexander Rodger, University 
College, Dundee. Cominimicated by Professor D’Arcy W. 
Thompson. 
(Read May 15, 1893.) 
[In February 1892, by the kindness of Messrs David Bruce & Co., 
Dundee, my assistant, Mr Alexander Rodger, obtained a berth on 
board the whaler “Esquimaux,” and proceeded with her on her 
usual sealing and whaling voyage. Mr Rodger was provided with 
dredges, tow-nets, and other appliances, and was instructed to use 
all diligence in the collection of Natural History specimens, both 
vertebrate and invertebrate. The course of the ship and the 
business of her people could not be interfered with for such a 
purpose, but, by his own industry and the great kindness of the 
master, Captain Jeffery Phillips, Mr Rodger’s results have proved 
very considerable, and compare well with those of some more costly 
expeditions. — D. W. T.] 
The ship, after reaching St John’s, made two voyages in quest of 
seals, the first to the East Coast of Newfoundland between the 
Funk Islands and the Straits of Belleisle, the second to the West 
Coast by way of the Gulf of St Lawrence. Many Scotch ships pass 
every year on these voyages in the close vicinity of the Funk 
Islands, famous as an old breeding-ground of the Great Auk ; but 
the hurry of the sealing voyage renders it hopeless to expect that 
they should stop and make search for the numerous remains that 
are still to be found. On the first sealing trip (10th to 24th March) 
no invertebrates were collected, but skeletons, skulls, and various 
viscera were obtained of Hooded Seals {Cystophora cristata)^ Harp 
seals {Plioca greenlandica), Pussies or White-coats, i.e.^ the young 
Harps before the change of coat at about three weeks old, Bedlimers, 
or Harp seals of the first, second, or third season, that is to say, be- 
fore their breeding period and while the fur is spotted and the harp 
upon their back is still incomplete. Another stage of the Harp 
seal is distinguished by the sealers under the name of Cats, young 
