4 The Scottish Naturalist. 



and somewhat incurved. The two upper external incisor teeth 

 are nearly half as large as the canines, which they closely re- 

 semble in shape ; the latter are pretty large, not much com- 

 pressed, and curved inward. The molars are close together, 

 small, compressed, the crowns short, trenchant, and somewhat 

 elliptical ; the enamel distinctly wrinkled or plicated vertically. 

 The last of the upper, and the two last of the lower series, are 

 slightly tubercular at the edges; the first and last above are the 

 smallest. All the molars have short roots implanted into shallow 

 sockets on the alveolar margin of the jaws ; the fourth and fifth 

 of the upper side, and the fifth of the lower, have each two 

 short, roundish, diverging fangs or roots ; the third and fourth 

 below, and the third above, have a slight groove down the 

 middle on the outside. 



Of the seven skulls of this species of seal from Greenland, 

 described by Dr. Gray,* it would appear, on the whole, that 

 our specimen comes nearest — so far as the roots of the molar 

 teeth are concerned, to those of the skull No. 4 of his last. As 

 observed by him, however, the root of the grinders is very liable 

 to variation in this genus. He also states that he has not 

 observed any similar variation in the teeth of any other seal, 

 and still believes that the form of the roots affords a good char- 

 acter in most of the genera. 



The mandible is narrow at the symphysis, from which each 

 ramus diverges, when looked at from below, in a nearly straight 

 line to the condyle. The horizontal rami have fairly developed 

 thickish round lower edges, not thin and inflected. There is, 

 strictly speaking, no notch at the posterior margin, the lower edge 

 of the bone at this point is slightly protuberant, and bent inward 

 into a not very prominent lobe, situated considerably in advance 

 of the condyle. The hinder ramus ascends to an oblique angle. 

 The coronoid is a slender, narrow process, its front edge follows 

 that of the ramus, it is not recurved at the extremity, and 

 approaches closely to the condyle. 



The other bones of the skeleton do not appear to differ 

 so materially in form from those of the other seals likely 

 to be met with on our coasts as to call for any special 

 remarks, at least on the present occasion. It may, how- 



* Proceedings, Zool. Soc., 1849 ; and Cat. Seals and Whales, 1866. 



