feet wide, and 6 feet long; (2) a gasoline blowtorch with a special firebox 
and a rack for supporting the irons; (3) six branding irons, each with a 
straight handle 16 inches long and a rectangular head 0.5 x 1 x 2 inches; 
and (4) a wire brush for cleaning the iron after each application. 





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Figure 1,--Branding fur seal pups on St. Paul Island, Alaska, September 19, 
1940. 
The gasoline torch heated the irons at a rate of six per minute. The 
proper working temperature of the iron was a dull red heat, almost hot enough 
to ignite the fur. A colder iron gummed up the fur instead of disposing of 
it in smoke and created smoldering fumes which annoyed the workmen, 
Tables of three sizes were tried. On a table lower than 24 inches the 
men could easily swing the seals into position but they could not bend over 
the struggling animals without suffering fatigue. 
Branding was carried out in the following steps: The crew surrounded a 
group of several hundred seals resting on the beach and drove them in a narrow 
file for a few hundred paces to level ground. The adult seals, faster moving, 
gradually took the lead in the procession, whereupon the men pinched off the 
file behind them and obtained a "pod" or detachment of pups. Two "watchmen" 
kept the seals from straying. A "carrier" selected a seal from the pod, 
grasped it by the hind flippers and dragged it to the table. He glanced at 
the genital region of the seal to ascertain its sex, then swung it belly-down 
on top of the table, A "holder" instantly grasped the fore flippers and 
pinned them to the table with his palms. Another holder pulled the chin of 
the seal over the edge of the table so that the wrinkles in the back of the 
neck were eliminated. All workers wore leather gauntlets and rubber boots 
for protection from the quick, needle~sharp teeth of the pups, but in spite 
of these precautions, there was a high casualty in clothing, not to mention 
3 
