22 THE GENUS ODOB.ENUS. 



published in 1873, in which, tinder the heading " The Walrus 

 of Bering Sea, (Eosmams arcticus) " he says: "I write 'the 

 "Walrus of Bering $ra', because this animal is quite distinct' 

 from the Walrus of the North Atlantic and Greenland, differing 

 from it specifically in a very striking manner, by its greater size 

 and semi-hairless skin." 5 " This is all he says, however, respect- 

 ing their differences, no reference being made to the really dis- 

 tinctive features. Thus the matter rested till, in 187G, Gill for- 

 mally recognized two species in his " List of the Principal Use- 

 ful or Injurious Mammals,"! in a catalogue of a " Collection to 

 Illustrate the Animal Resources of the United States" in the ex- 

 hibit of the National Museum at the International Exhibition 

 of 1876, held in Philadelphia. This is merely a nominal list, in 

 which appears, under " Bosmaridcv," the following, which I here 

 fully and literally transcribe : 



ROSMARUS OBESUS, (Illiger,) Gill. 

 The [Atlantic] Walrus. 

 Atlantic Coast. 



ROSMARUS COOKII, (Freniery,) Gill. 

 The [Pacific] Walrus. 

 Paci:ir 



Here is simply a nominal recognition of two species without 

 expressed reasons therefor. In an article on the Rosmaridce, 

 published in 1877, Dr. Gill again says : " Two species appear to 

 exist one (B. obesns] inhabiting the northern Atlantic, and the 

 other (B. Coolri-i) the northern Pacific." \ 



Van Beneden, on the other hand, in 1877, distinctly affirms 

 his disbelief in the existence of two species. In referring to the 

 subject he says: "Nous ne croyons pas que les Morses du de"- 

 troit de Behring different specifiqueinent de ceux de la mer de 

 Baffin ou de la Nouvelle-Zenible, et c'est it tout, a notre avis, 

 que Freniery a essaye de les repartir en especes distinctes 

 d'apres les modifications de leurs dents." He further adds the 

 testimony of von Baer as follows: " Von Baer s'est occupe en 

 1835 de cette question a 1' Academic de St. P6tersbourg et 1'il- 

 lustre naturaliste m'ecilvait, pen de temps avant sa mort, au 

 sujet de la difference legere des Morses, a 1'Est et a 1'Ouest de 



* Report on the Prylrilov Group or Seal Islands of Alaska, 1873 (not paged). 

 Also, Report on the Condition of Affairs in Alaska, 1875, p. 160. 



IThis "List" is anonymous, and is hence, perhaps, not properly quotable 

 in this connection, although its authorship is known to the present 'writer. 



t Johnson's New Universal Cyclopaedia, vol. iii, 1877, p. 1725. 



