e ratios are those evolved by nature, and,
as such, should be wellnigh perfect. Below is appended a table of the
results obtained.

WEIGHT OF CERTAIN ANTARCTIC BIRDS IN RELATION TO WING AREAS

(Stated in pounds per square foot of wing surface)

Each is the mean of several determinations by Laseron

Giant petrel........... 3.5
Albatross ........... 2.4
Antarctic petrel......... 2.1
Skua gull ........... 1.6
Snow petrel ........... 1.1
Wilson petrel........... 0.6

Values from a book of reference quoted for comparison

Bat ........... 0.1
Sparrow ........... 0.4
Wild goose ........... 1.7

During the winter, for a long period, no seals ventured ashore, though
a few were seen swimming in the bay. The force of the wind was so
formidable that even a heavy seal, exposed in the open, broadside-on,
would be literally blown into the water. This fact was actually observed
out on the harbour-ice. A Weddell seal made twelve attempts to land on
a low projecting shelf--an easy feat under ordinary circumstances. The
wind was in the region of eighty-five miles per hour, and every time
the clumsy, ponderous creature secured its first hold, back it would be
tumbled. Once it managed to raise itself on to the flat surface, and,
after a breathing spell, commenced to shuffle towards the shelter of
some pinnacles on one side of the harbour. Immediately its broad flank
was turned to the wind it was rolled over, hung for a few seconds on
the brink, and then splashed into the sea. On the other hand, during the
spring, a few more ambitious seals won their way ashore in high winds;
but they did not remain long in the piercing cold, moving uneasily from
place to place in search of protecting hummocks and finally taking to
the water in despair. Often a few hours of calm weather was the signal
for half a dozen animals to land. The wind sooner or later sprang up and
drove them back to their warmer element.

Under the generic name, seal, are included the true or hair seals and
the sea-bears or fur seals. Of these the fur seals are sub-polar in
distribution, inhabiting the cold temperate waters of both hemispheres,
but never living amongst the polar ice. The southern coast of Australia
and the sub-antarctic islands were their favourite haunts, but the
ruthless slaughter of the early days practically exterminated them. From
Macquarie Island, for example, several hun