CARNARIA. 



99 



would seem to be not uncommon 

 true Phocie.'] 



The Monk (Pelagius, F. Cuv.) — 



Also possesses four incisors to each jaw ; but the grinders form obtuse cones, with a slightly marked 

 process before and behind. There is one in the Mediterranean, 



Ph. monachiu, Gm., from ten to twelve feet in length. It is particularly found among the Grecian and Adriatic 

 Isles, and was probably the species best known to the ancients . 



[The IIalkets {Halicharus, Nilsson). 

 Grinding teeth of the upper jaw simple ; those of the lower with an inconspicuous tubercle before and 

 behind. Muzzle deep and obliquely truncated : the head flat, and brain comparatively very small. 



H. gryphus, Nils., a species nearly as large as the Bearded Seal, inhabits the Baltic and British seas, where it 



Its intelligence has been observed to be very inferior to that of the 



The Hoodcap (Stemmatopus, F. Cuv.). 



Four superior, and two inferior incisors; the grinders compressed and slightly three-lobed, supported 



by thick roots. 



Ph. a-istata, Gm. ; Ph. Iconina, Fabr.— A species attaining a length of seven or eight feet, with loose skin upon 

 the head, which can be inflated into a sort of cowl, and is drawn over the eyes when the animal is menaced, at 

 which time the nostrils also are puffed out like bladders. From the Arctic Ocean. 



Finally, 



The Myroungas (Macrorldnus, F. Cuv. ; [Cystophora, Nilsson,] ) — 



Possess, with the incisors of the preceding, obtuse conical molars (fig. 39) [but massive canines], and 



muzzle lengthened into a short moveable proboscis. The 

 largest known Seal is of this subgenus ; the 



Ph. leonina, Lin. — Twenty to twenty-four feet in length [sometimes 

 thirty, according to English measure, and of great proportionate 

 bulk]. Brown, the muzzle of the male terminated by a wrinkled 

 snout, which becomes inflated when the animal is angry. It is common 

 in the southern latitudes of the Pacific Ocean, and of great request for 

 the quantity of very superior oil with which it abounds. 



Those with external ears, 



The Otaries (Otaria, Peron), — 

 Fiit. 39— Teeth of Myroun K a. Are worthy of being formed into a separate genus, inasmuch 



as, besides the projecting auditory conch, the four middle upper incisors have a double cutting edge (a 

 structure not hitherto remarked in any other animal) ; the exterior are simple and very small, and the 

 four inferior forked: the molars are all simply conical. The toes of their anterior swimming-paws 

 [which are placed far backward] are almost immoveable ; and the membrane of their hind feet is 

 prolonged into a flap beyond each toe : all the nails are thin and flat. 



Ph.jubata, Gm. (.Sea Lion of Steller, Pernatty, 

 &c, but not of Anson, which refers to the My- 

 rounga; the latter being also the .SV« MV/of Per- 

 natty), From fifteen to twenty feet [French]) and 

 more, in length: the neck of the male covered 

 with more frizzled and thickly-set hairs than 



tl nil the other parts of the body. From the 



South Pacific. 



[The Falkland Otary, or Fur Seal of com- 

 merce (('. Falklandia, Desm.)— Remarkable for 

 the great disproportionate size of the sexes (if, 

 indeed, the same docs not apply to all its con- 

 geners) ; the fall-grown male, according to 

 WeddeU, measuring 6 ft. 9 inch.; the female 

 only 3£ feet, it Is polygamous, in the proportion of 

 one male to about twenty females. The fur is 

 an esteemed article of commerce; and so abun- 

 dant was the species formerly in various locali- 

 ties, thai for a period of lift] years, not less than 

 1,200,000 skins were annually obtained from a 



Slngl Hf. 40.— TV 





