these creatures of the sea. So far, except when
they have been captured and kept for purposes of show in menageries,
man's relations to the seals have been purely destructive; he has
incessantly hunted them. Yet certain species of them remain singularly
willing, we may say desirous, of claiming friendship with their
persecutors. As elsewhere noted, wounded seals behave in a curiously
appealing way towards their assailants. When in captivity certain of
the species show a remarkable friendliness and a capacity to receive
training. No other wild animals, except perhaps the elephants, exhibit
so great a fitness for profiting from contact with man.

Although our knowledge as to the habits of seals is still very
imperfect, it appears likely that the greater part of the species have
the habit of resorting to certain places during the breeding season, and
that the individuals after the manner of certain fishes return at that
time to their native shore. If this be true, as there is good reason to
believe it is, it should not be a matter of grave difficulty, provided
the maritime nations would abet the experiment, to establish seal
colonies composed of the several promising forms at fit points in the
circumpolar seas. There is reason to suppose that with ordinary decent
treatment the animals would become to a great degree accustomed to men,
and that it might be possible to accomplish selection enough of the
individuals which were left to breed, to develop the already valuable
characteristics of the fur. In the present disgraceful condition of our
relations to these animals it will be but a few years before we shall
have to lament the extirpation of several species, including the most
interesting members of the group.

Looking upon the questions of man's future on the earth in a large
way, we see that there are reasons why the animals of the high north,
particularly those which obtain their food from the sea, should be
protected from extermination. There is a great area of country in that
part of the world which is not adapted to the occupation of any of the
species which have as yet been domesticated. If this portion of the
world is ever to prove fruitful in other ways than through its
mineral stores, it will be by the creatures which are adapted to its
climate and other conditions. At the present rate of increase in
numbers, the population of the world will, in the course of two or
three centuries, begin seriously to press upon