SEALS ; SEAL SKINS. These singular animals are captured eagerly, in seas and on coasts where they abound, for the sake of various useful services which they render. The species called the Elephant Seal, which is principally met with in the southern hemi sphere, is the object of an extensive fishery, maintained for the sake of its skin and oil ; and vast numbers are destroyed. The skin, though not valued for its fur, is extensively used for carriage and horse har ness on account of its thickness and strength. The oil obtained is clear and inodorous, and is said never to become rancid, nor to give out any disagreeable savour in cooking. The quantity afforded by a large seal amounts to 1400 or 1500 lbs., for the blubber is often a foot deep. It is prepared like that of whales, excepting that the operation is per formed on shore. This oil is employed in England chiefly in the manufacture of cloth ; it is used to a considerable extent in China.
Many other species are valued for the skin, which has a beautiful fur when the animal is young. The Walrus, which is a species of seal, is highly valued ; the tusks, the skin, and the oil are all commerciallyvaluable; and the flesh is esteemed by the natives of Arctic regions.
Salted seal skins have recently been im. ported from Northern Europe, under circum stances which could not have occurred before the repeal of the Navigation Laws. Upwards of 45,000 were recently imported in one vessel from Denmark.
There were 753,141 seal skins imported in 1847; and 706,2G7 in 1848—chiefly from the Hudson's By Territories. They are used in making caps, and for various other purposes.