WARD'S NATURAL SCIENCE BULLETIN. 
11 
ELLIOTTS SEAL ISLANDS OF ALASKA. 
In 1872 Mr. Elliott was despatched to the 
Pribylov Islands for the purpose of reporting 
fully concerning the Fur Seals found there. The 
hook before us contains the results of his observa- 
tions during the seasons of 1872, ’73, ’74 and 
though principally devoted to the history of the 
Fur Seal, includes also that of the various other 
species, which inhabit those islands. Mr. Elliott's 
opportunities for studying the habits of these an- 
imals were superior to those enjoyed by any nat- 
uralist, before him, and that he made good use of 
his time is shown by the large amount of infor- 
mation he has given us concerning their life his- 
tory. But while the book is crowded with what 
is valuable and interesting it is marred by the 
presence of numerous errors and loose statements, 
a few of which we feel called upon to briefly 
notice. And first, we can not forbear alluding to 
the inadequacy of the description of the Fur Seal, 
which is so vague as to be useless for purposes 
of identification. All that is said of the animal, 
applying with almost equal force to several other 
species, besides being scattered over so many 
pages, that it is no easy matter to find it. 
Equally curious is the nfanner in which Mr. 
Elliott insists on the intelligence of the Fur Seal 
while continually adducing evidence to prove its 
stupidity. His chief argument seems to be that 
it is a very intelligent animal because year after 
year it regularly presents itself for slaughter. An- 
imals which witness the killing of their young 
with perfect indifference, do not try to escape 
from danger themselves, and tranquilly remain 
in a vicinity where hundreds of their kind are 
daily slaughtered, do not seem to us as remark- 
able for their intelligence. The common Hair 
Seal (Callocephalus vitulinus), has always appeared 
to us as the wisest of its order, for it is extremely 
cautious in its wild state and in captivity shows 
great aptitude for learning various little tricks. 
Speaking of the Hair Seal reminds us of Mr. 
Elliott’s remarks that “It is so commonly distri- 
buted over the litloral salt waters of the earth, seen 
in the harbors of nearly every marine port, * * * 
that everybody has noticed it.” Such a statement 
as this is simply astounding, for Phoca vitulina is 
rarely found below lat. 40° N. and at the best, is 
not common in the Pacific anywhere. We will 
venture to say that the Eared Seals, to which 
group Callorhimus belongs, are much better 
known than the Hair Seals. At San Francisco, 
Callar, the Guanapa and Chincha Islands, all 
places of great resort, the Eared Seals are both 
abundant and tame, and it is an easy matter to 
study their habits. On the contrary, there is no 
great port where Plioca vitulina is either plenti- 
ful or anvthing but timid. Neither does Phoca 
vitulina form the bulk of the catch of the North 
Atlantic sealers, although this would naturally be 
inferred from what is said on p. 29, the Harp 
Seal, Phoca groenlandice, being the principal ob- 
ject of pursuit. 
Again from a limited number of observations 
on Callocephalus vitulinus , Mr. Elliott proposes to 
refute not only what other writers have said of 
its manner of locomotion, but also what has been 
said of the locomotion of all other Hair Seals. 
Now for many years the Harbor Seal was a neigh- 
bor of ours and we have seen it wriggle leisurely 
along without using its limbs at all. When hur- 
ried, it progresses as Mr. Elliott describes, 
Dr.Murie — P. Z. S. 1870— has carefully described 
the motions of Phoca groenlandica , and his paper 
is accompanied by an excellent illustration show- 
ing a number of its characteristic attitudes. 
We might go on in this manner much further, 
hut think we have said enough to show that our 
charge of frequent errors was well grounded. Be- 
fore leaving the subject however, we wish to call 
attention to one other point, and that, a very im- 
portant one. This is the number of the Fur Seals, 
which, unless we are very much mistaken, Mr. 
Elliott has greatly exaggerated. His estimates 
are based on the number of square feet in the 
“rookeries,” and the amount of space each Seal 
occupies. The males are allowed four feet square 
or sixteen square feet, which must be rather tight 
squeezing for an animal six feet long and weigh- 
ing 400 to 500 lbs. The females (page 50) are al- 
lowed two square feet, on which space “she doubles 
herself by bringing forth her young f The italics 
are ours. Now there is simply a physical impos- 
sibility, since a female Fur Seal is 4 to 4t feet long 
and 12 to 15 inches wide, so that if the females on 
a given area were killed and laid out they would 
cover the space two deep. And this does not in- 
clude the young. 
According to Mr. Elliott, there is room on an 
ordinary bureau top for two female Seals and 
their young! If animals are thus packed together 
in a state of nature we do not think the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals need be 
troubled about the overcrowding of cattle cars. 
The very least that can he allowed is four square 
feet for a female and one foot for a pup or more 
than twice what Mr. Elliott allows them, and this 
in dealing with millions would make a vast dif- 
ference in the total. 
A Remarkable Gathering of Gar Fish. 
One of the most interesting occurrences ob- 
served during a three months’ collecting tour 
on the gulf coast of Texas and the Rio Grande 
border was that which gives rise to this article. 
One bright morning before sunrise we took 
the bridles of our “ Cavallos,” vaulted into our 
saddles and sped away like the wind up the 
banks of the circuitous Rio Grande. We soon 
struck the “ Resacca Bed,” which is the term 
applied to the back-set into the country when it 
is very much swollen in the spring-time, some- 
times rising from thirty to thirty-five feet, and 
overflowing all its banks. 
During its meanderings through the country at 
this time of the year, it very much resembles a 
huge tree, with its various branches covering 
miles of territory, and it is these dried-up 
river-branches that the Mexicans call “Resacca 
Beds.” In these countless basins grows a very 
luxuriant and nutritious grass, grazed upon by 
the numerous herds of cattle and horses. The 
herds follow these beds and feed, as the grass 
rapidly sprouts at the time that the water recedes. 
It often happens that the river in its impetuosity 
forms sand-bars across the outlet of these beds or 
basins. The water remains held in these beds or 
basins either all or a large portion of the year. 
They are thus inland lakes, formed each year by 
the river’s periodical visitations. 
It was to one of these inland lakes that our 
horses were rapidly taking us. After rounding 
tnrn after turn of the bed we knew that the next 
one would he the last, as indicated by the vari- 
ous cattle paths, and that the immense basin we 
were in search of must, in a moment, greet our 
impatient eyes. For we expected to ’find scores of 
water fowl on its^glassy surface— brant and peli- 
cans in particular. We quickly rounded the 
sharp curve of the dense chaparral and the Lake 
was in full view. Surprise immediately followed 
anticipation, for instead of a silvery lake spread- 
ing before us, nothing but a mud hole was visible. 
At this point the bed was about half a mile 
wide, and out in the middle of it, nearly a mile 
distant, lay all that remained of the well known 
pelican pond, a pool, pear-shaped in outline, and 
about seventy-five feet long by twenty five feet 
wide. A few cattle were approaching the pool 
of water, and as they waded into it the smooth 
surface of the pool was suddenly and strangely 
disturbed. 
Raising my field glass to my eyes I plainly 
saw that the disturbance was occasioned by fish 
of some kind, and of immense size. What could 
they he? Was it possible that those objects we 
saw in the air were really fish? That they were, 
and of a kind called Gars or Gar Pike. 
The ground at this point became very uncer- 
tain for the horses. So we led them to the Chap- 
arral, tied them and approached the puddle on 
foot, a task by no means easily accomplished — 
the cracks in the drying mud threatening to 
break our bones Here and there we passed the 
partly decayed and half eaten carcases of the 
dead Gars, their rough, cuirass-like armors were 
scattered on every side. The heads told plainly 
they were Alligator Gars {Lepidosteus platystomus), 
which replaces in the south west the common 
Gar Pike ( Lepidosteus osseus) of the north.- 
We gathered as many as we could of the larg- 
est bony armor-shields and laid them in a line, 
and with these and sticks and brush brought 
from the chaparral we built a walk over the 
glue-like mud to the edge of the treacherous 
pool. 
We could see only the heads of the larger Gars 
above the surface. Singling out two that seemed 
to be the largest, we shot to kill. The commo- 
tion that the two shots -caused startled and as- 
tounded us. 
The whole pool was instantly transformed into 
a mass of fish and mud, which continued to boil 
and seethe some minutes after every shot. 
The strange appearance of this cauldron of 
fish can hardly be described. The fish were 
literally packed together, like sardines, layer 
upon layer, and all that was necessary to set 
them in motion was to fire a shot or two in it; the 
perishing Gars would instantly begin moving. 
The smaller fish would be thrust into the air two 
or three feet, twenty or thirty at once, by the 
larger ones dashing about in every direction, 
throwing the muddy water out at the sides, far 
over the natural limits of the pond; tn this way, 
in their turn, nearly every fish could be seen. 
They would respond to our shots, carrying hith- 
er and thither the killed and wounded, rendering 
it almost impossible to secure the specimens we 
wanted. Now they would be near the edge and 
then in the middle, which was evidently deep. 
There must -have been certainly seven or eight 
hundred fish, varying in size from eighteen 
inches to seven and a half or eight feet long. 
There was one very large one, plainly seen when 
the mass was in motion. It would be carried by 
the struggling creatures ont. to the edge, and if 
we could have reached him we might have been 
able to strand the prize on the muddy margin. 
We shot at him several times, and no doubt hit 
him, but his heavy bony armor turned our shot 
like steel, and had little effect. These shots, 
however, had terrible effect on the smaller ones, 
for the pale yellowish color of the water soon 
assumed a deeper, redder hue. 
We would not he foiled in securing two fine 
specimens, although it was with great effort that 
we accomplished it, after working in The pesti- 
lential pool for four hours in a broiling sun. 
They measured respectively five feet one inch, 
and five feet fen inches long. 
These now repose, one in the museum of Cor- 
nel] University, and the other in the cabinet of 
Professor Ward. They both had large holes shot 
into their hacks near the head, yet they were 
quite lively and would break the strong forked 
ebony sticks with which we wrnre armed, as we 
endeavored to guide them over the slippery mud. 
We were obliged to wade into the dangerous 
mass of starving fish as far as we dared, and 
steer them repeatedly to the narrow end of the 
pool, where, after getting them between our 
forks, they would suddenly realize their danger, 
and with a powerful dash Avould break away and 
be lost in the pool. Another shot, and the body 
would move again, and marking the bloody 
track of the wounded Gar we would wade again 
to the edge, and with our sticks pull it towards 
us, and then by tieing strings around their 
heads, we would drag them to a safe distance. 
In this wav only could they be secured. We did 
not again visit the spot, much to our regret, hut 
we afterwards heard that the entire mass of fish 
lay decaying in the sun, serving as food for the 
prowling beasts and birds of prey. 
It was a sight, never to he forgotten, and one 
not likely to occur again in a long time. 
(From notes taken on the Rio Grande border.) 
F. S. Webster. 
CAST OF A WHALE. 
The biggest thing yet in the way of plaster 
casts is the cast, of a whale taken at Province- 
town by Mr. Palmer, modeler of the Smithsonian 
at Washington, A papiermache fac-simile is to 
be molded from the cast, the entire skeleton of 
the same whale is to be inserted, and the mon- 
ster will be suspended in the museum. To show 
the arrangement of the skeleton, one side of the 
whale is left open. (We have lately bleached 
and prepared the whale skeleton here mentioned, 
and have shipped it to the Smithsonian to be 
used as above mentioned.) 
