HARD WICKE 'S S CIENCE - G OSSIP. 



79 



attached to the slide by a weaJc solution of gum, and 

 when dry, mounted in Canada balsam. 



In order to detect the minute iluid and glass 

 cg.vities, an amplification of about doo linear is 

 desirable. Mr. Sorby states that the Messrs. Beck 

 constructed for him a low angle i (75° angle of 

 aperture), which performed admirably. 



"In studying loose and unconsoUdated sands and 

 clays, little or nothing can be learned respecting the 

 stmctural arrangement of the particles. Our atten- 

 tion must be almost entirely confined to their mineral 

 nature, external form, and internal structure. 



" The examination of a comparatively recent deposit 

 may be extended into comparatively remote epochs, 

 and in a similar manner the study of the ultimate 

 constituents of the very oldest stratified rocks might 

 enable us to form some opinion respecting the nature 

 of still earlier rocks, of which no other record remains. 

 This appears to me to be a question of so much 

 interest, and its solution so dependent on microsco- 

 pical investigations, that I venture to bring it before 

 you in some detail, even although the conclusions 

 have a more direct bearing on geology than on those 

 branches of science which usually claim the attention 

 of this Society." F. Kitton. 



EARED SEALS. 

 By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S. 



Hon. Secretarj' of the Norfolk and Norwich 

 Naturalists' Society. 



WIDELY distributed on the lonely shores and 

 islands of both hemispheres of the globe, 

 are found certain animals known as Sea Lions and 

 Sea Bears : they belong to the order Pinnipedise, and 

 are closely related to the true seals (Phocid^), and 

 Walrus (Trichechus) ; from both of which they are 

 distinguished by the possession of an external ear ; 

 hence the family to which they belong is appropriately 

 named OtariidiZ. Unlike the true seals, which seem 

 to have the head set upon the body, almost vidthout a 

 neck, the eared seals possess a long and remarkably 

 flexible neck and body ; and their limbs are so modified 

 as to admit of being used in progression on dry land, 

 with the body raised from the ground. Instead of 

 the short stiff hair of the true seal, they are covered 

 with a coat of coarse hair, longer in some parts of the 

 body than in others, and at the base of which, in some 

 species, is found a thick soft coat of under fur, which, 

 when properly dressed, forms the beautiful " seal- 

 skin " so much prized by the fair sex when made into 

 jackets, &c. These are called Fm- Seals or Sea Bears. 

 Those in which the under fur is not present are called 

 Hair Seals or Sea Lions. Mr. J. W. Clark, of Cam- 

 bridge, in an excellent paper on the " Sea Lions," 

 delivered at the Zoological Society's Gardens on 

 April 22, 1875 (forming one of the "Davis Lec- 

 tures"), and published in the Contcinporaiy Revirju for 

 December, 1875 (to which I am much indebted for 



what follows), remarks, that he strongly suspects it 

 will turn out, when the subject has been thoroughly 

 investigated, that all the Otarias have under fur at 

 some pei-iod of their lives. Dr. Gray, in his catalogue 

 of the " Seals and Whales in the British Museum," 

 has divided the family into nimierous genera and 

 species, in some cases upon very slight grounds. 

 Mr. Clark, however, is of opinion that in the present 

 state of oiu- knowledge it would be better to retain 

 the originial genus, Otaria, as founded by Peron in 

 1 81 6, under which he includes all the species which 

 have been made out with certainty, and which he con- 

 siders do not exceed nine or ten in'number, remark- 

 ing, however, that as we become better acquainted 

 with the family the number will probably be increased. 



Various species of Eared seals are found widely 

 scattered over the seas of the world : commencing in 

 the north, with the Prybilov Islands, in Behring's Sea, 

 the Aleutian Islands, they extend southward to Cali- 

 fornia and the Galapagos Islands ; round Cape Horn 

 and the adjacent islands to the river Plate ; the 

 Cape of Good Hope, the far-off shores of Kerguelen's 

 Land, and the coasts of Australia and New Zealand. 

 The range of some species is very extended ; that of 

 others more or less restricted. Space will not allow 

 of my noticing each member of this interesting family, 

 but I will select two individuals, which will fairly 

 illustrate the habits and appeai-ance of the whole. 



The best known of the fur seals is the Northern 

 Sea Bear, Otaria ttrsina, which, although almost 

 entirely confined to the islands of the Prybilov 

 group in Behring's Sea, is there at the proper season 

 of the year found in great numbers. The male, 

 which reaches its full size at the age of six years, 

 measures about nine feet in length, and is dark brown 

 or nearly black in colour, with a grayish tinge about 

 the head, neck, and anterior parts ; the ears in both 

 sexes are pointed and slanting backward. The fe- 

 male arrives at maturity at the age of four years, and 

 does not reach above half the size of the male ; her 

 colour is silver-gray, becoming darker with age. The 

 young are black at first, which changes to silvery- 

 gray ; the under fur is very silky and of a reddish- 

 brown colour. A single young one is produced at a 

 birth, which takes place about the middle of July. 

 In addition to the value of the skin, each fur seal 

 yields a gallon and a half of oil, and the flesh is said 

 to be very good eating. Of the general appearance 

 of the animal the accompanying drawing (fig. 70) will 

 convey a more correct idea than would along description. 



The limbs are encased in a coating of tough 

 bare skin, which extends beyond the ends of the 

 toes of the hind flipper, the toes themselves being 

 nearly equal in length, and the three middle ones 

 armed with claws. The fore flipper has the thumb 

 the longest, and the other digits decreasing rapidly in 

 length give it a very fin-like appearance contrasted 

 with the square margin of tlie hinder extremity : 

 there are no claws present on the fore flippers. The 



