lengthwise of the body. We later found that the crosswise brand healed more 
rapidly and the scar was less$ubject to cracking, while the lengthwise brand 
was more easily seen (figs. 2 and 3). In a follow-up study, Palmer rated the 
survival of certain brand scars as follows: 

Satisfactory Poor Undetected 
2-year males; 
lengthwise brand; 
size of sample, 266 87% 13% << 
3-year males; 
crosswise brand; 
size of sample, 733 70% 15% 15% 
The satisfactory brands were readily seen in the field; the poor brands 
required close examination; the undetected brands were overlooked until they 
reached the inspection table in the blubbering shop, | 
. In 1944 we estimated the size, to the nearest one-quarter inch, of the 
brand scars on 100 males three and fourm years old. The scar on both age 
classes was commonly about 0.5 by 1.5 inches. We considered only the naked 
scar on the freshly killed, unskinned animal; not the surrounding fringe of 
tan or reddish fur, 
Number Range in area, Mean area, 
examined square inches square inches 
3-year olds 85 . 0 to 2,25 0.73 
4-year olds 15 0 to 3.13 0.75 
These figures show that the scar on the bachelor is only half the size 
of the original brand on the pup. Evidently the skin contracts as the scar 
tissue grows. When, however, the pelt of the bachelor is forcibly stripped 
from the warm, freshly killed animal, the brand scar stretches and often splits 
open, On living seals that are driven across country the brand scar occasion- 
ally appears to be cracked and raw. When the branded pelt is washed, blubbered, 
Salted, and put through the score or more stages of processing the brand scar 
disintegrates quite completely, leaving an unsightly hole. 
A well made hot-iron brand is a permanent scar, Of 2,742 fur seals 
branded as pups in 1902, nine were seen later at age 17, seven at age 18, four 
at age 20, and three at age 21. A word of caution is necessary. A supposed 
brand mark may occasionally be a scar resulting from a natural injury. We reel, 
however, that the chances are slight of a natural scar imitating both the 
location and appearance of a brand scar, — 
26 
