For this great reduction in numbers there is but one cause--a cause plain, self-evident, and undeniable--and that is the slaughter of breeding-females at a rate largely in excess of the rate of increase. While other causes have been assigned, none of them is worthy of the slightest consideration in explaining the decline. Even in 1893 it was evident, to all capable of forming an opinion, that pelagic sealing was the sole known cause of the decline of the fur-seal herds. It was also evident that as an industry it must be self-destructive, since, if permitted to exist on any scale which would make it profitable, it must destroy the herd on which it operated.--_"Lessons of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration," by President David Starr Jordan, in Forum._ THE PEACH. WILLIAM KERR HIGLEY, Secretary of The Chicago Academy of Sciences. The peach (_Amygdalus persica, L._), is one of our most important and best-known fruits. It is not found in the wild state, in its present form, though in some localities it propagates itself, having escaped from cultivation. It is probably a native of China, where it has been cultivated for centuries and where it is said to reach its greatest perfection, although Darwin holds that the evidence seems to indicate that the wild almond of Persia is the original source of the cultivated almond, the peach, and the nectarine. The specific name _persica_, has its origin in the fact that the peach was obtained from Persia, both by the Romans and the Greeks. Dr. Willis tells us that "it was introduced into Italy from Persia by the Romans, in the reign of Claudius Cæsar. It was introduced into Great Britain during the sixteenth century, and thence brought in 1680 by the settlers of Virginia to America." The number of varieties seems to be unlimited. Over four hundred have been catalogued, though less than one hundred of these are constant. The nectarine is considered a variety and closely related to the peach and the plum, the apricot, and the cherry. The tree itself, when bearing its beautiful rose-colored, five-petaled flowers, is highly ornamental. It seldom grows higher than twenty feet and its branches form a symmetrical top. One very ornamental variety produces double flowers and bright, shining leaves, but no fruit. This valuable plant is generally placed in the family _Rosaceæ_, which includes many species of economic and ornamental importance. Besides those already mentioned, here belong the rose, the strawberry, the raspberry, the blackberry, the apple, the pear, and the quince, as well as many beautiful wild forms. The thousand or more species usually classed in this family may be readily separated into distinct groups, to which are given distinct family names by some authorities. Thus, the peach, the cherry, the plum, and the almond, which resemble each other in regard to the structure of their fruits and in their chemical constituents, may be placed in a family by themselves.