GENERAL HISTORY. 291 



later (see infra, p. 293), appear to be not as yet satisfactorily 

 determined. As Zalophus caMfornianus has not yet been detec- 

 ted on the American coast north of California, its occurrence 

 on the Asiatic coast seeins hardly to be expected. 



GENERAL HISTORY. This species has hitherto been believed 

 to be free from any serious complications of synonymy, and to 

 have been first brought to the notice of the scientific world by 

 M'Bain in 1858. The only synonym hitherto quoted has been 

 Otaria stelleri, "Schlegel" (/. e., Temminck), which Dr. Peters* 

 stated, after an examination of the original specimens preserved 

 in the Leyden museum, to be identical with the 0. (lillevpU of 

 M'Bain. A re-examiuatiou of the subject, in the light of much 

 new information and material, shows that the first notice of the 

 species was published by Choris in 1822, under the name of 

 "Lion marin de la Califoruie,'' who gave a rather poor figure 

 of it in plate XI of his chapter entitled "Port San-Francisco et 

 ses Habitants." As already stated under the head of Eume- 

 topias stelleri, his only reference to it in the text of this chapter 

 is as follows: "Les rochers, dans le voisinage de la bale San- 

 Francisco sout ordinairement converts de lions marins, pi. XI." 

 In his account of the Aleutian Islands, however, he again refers to 

 it, and clearly indicates its characteristic external features. He 

 says: "Ces auimaux [Lions marins] sont aussi tres-cominuus an 

 port de San -Francisco, sur la cote de Califoruie, on on les voit 

 en noinbre prodigieux sur les rochers de la baie. Cette espece 

 m'a paru so distinguer de ceux qui frequenteut les iles Aleou- 

 tieunes ; elle a le corps plus fluet et plus allonge, et la tete plus 

 fine : quant a le couleur, elle passe fortement an brim, taudis 

 que ceux des iles Aleontieunes sout d'uue couleur plus grise, 

 out le corps plus roud, les uiouvemeuts plus difficiles, la tete 

 plus grosse et plus epaisse; la couleur du poil des moustaches 

 plus uoiratre que celui des iles Aleoutieunes."t 



The importance of this reference turns upon its being an explicit 

 indication of the character of his "Lion inarm de la Californie," 

 the subject of "PI. XI"; this being, as is well known, the basis 

 of Lesson's Otaria californiana, which has hitherto been re- 

 ferred to Eumetopias stelleri, but -which is really the same as 

 the so-called Zalophus gillesp.ii. Lesson says: "Cette espece, 

 d'apres la figure de Choris, a le pelage ras, uniforinernent fauve- 

 brunatre, les moustaches pen fournies ; le niuseau assez pointu ; 



*Monatsb. Akad. Berlin, 1866, p. 669. 

 tVoy. pittoresque, Iles Al^outiennes, p. 15. 



