VOL. XI, PP. 175-178 JULY 1,1 897 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON A NEW FUR-SEAL OR SEA-BEAR (ARCTOCEPHALUS TOWNSENDI) FROM GUADALUPE ISLAND, OFF LOWER CALIFORNIA. BY C. HART MERRIAM. During the recent international discussion respecting the seals of Bering Sea, the matter of the distribution of the Northern Fur-seal (Callorhinus ursinus) lias received closer attention than heretofore, and questions have arisen as to the southernmost range of the species in the past. It had heen known for many years that colonies of fur-seals inhabited parts of Guadalupe and the San Benito Islands, off the coast of Lower California, and these seals were commonly assumed to be the northern species the same that breeds in such numbers at the Pribilof Islands in Bering Sea. But it seemed to me a violation of the known laws of geographic dis tribution that a species adapted to the arctic climate and cold waters of Bering Sea, and even there requiring constant fogs to protect it from the feeble rays of the sun, should be able to breed under clear skies on the subtropical islands of Guadalupe and San Benito. During the sessions of the Bering Sea Joint Commission, in February and March, 1892, I made bold to express the opinion that the fur-seal which breeds on these islands would prove to be, not the northern species belonging to the genus Callorhinus^ but a southern species belonging to the genus Arctocephalus. No specimens were at hand for examination, but through the co operation of the Department of State and Fish Commission I was enabled to send a small boat, in direct charge of Mr. C. H. Townsend, on a special mission to Guadalupe Island. Mr. Townsend sailed from San Diego on May 14, 1892, reached Guadalupe on the 16th, and remained there until the 27th. He 41 BIOL. Soc. WASH., VOL. XI, 1897 (175)
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