Miscellaneous. 479 



can scarcely consider him as competent to judge of its merits or de- 

 merits. 



With regard again to the scientific characters of the animal as 

 they are given in the body of the paper, Mr. Gray desiderates further 

 information respecting "the teeth, the whiskers, the ears, and vari- 

 ous other parts." But of "f the teeth " I could say nothing, my de- 

 scription being taken from the stuffed specimens of the animal desti- 

 tute of the crania ; of " the whiskers," I stated that " the whiskers 

 are brownish-black, five rows being present;" of " the ears," that 

 n they are black, narrow and pointed, one inch in length, and situate 

 5 inches 6 lines from the tip of the snout ; " and of the other parts 

 and members of the animal I gave descriptions and measurements 

 so detailed as might have exposed me to the risk of being considered 

 needlessly prolix. In common with Mr. Gray, I regretted the abs- 

 ence of the crania, and professed to give the specific characters only 

 " so far as my opportunities permitted." 



But while my description was thus avowedly and necessarily de- 

 fective — in regard more especially to the teeth and crania — I am 

 happy to think that it is still amply sufficient to satisfy the leading 

 and immediate object of Mr. Gray's inquiries, which is whether the 

 Fur Seal is the same with his " Leptonyx Wedellii." Whatever else 

 is done by my description, it at least establishes (as Mr. Gray him- 

 self observes), that the Fur Seal " is an Otary or Eared Seal." Now 

 upon turning to the description of his " Leptonyx Wedellii" referred 

 to by him, as contained in the ' Magazine of Natural History ' for 

 1837, I find, according to the statement there given, that it belongs 

 to a group which have " grinders with many roots, ears none, toes 

 simple, soles and palms hairy." The Fur Seal then being ** an 

 Otary or Eared Seal," and the Leptonyx Wedellii having " ears none,'* 

 how is it possible that they should be the same animal ? It will be 

 observed too, that the Leptonyx Wedellii has " soles and palms hairy,'' 

 whereas my description of the Fur Seal bears, " the under portion of 

 both extremities — to the extent of two -thirds of the anterior, and 

 nearly the whole of the posterior — are naked, being quite destitute of 

 both hair and fur." There are other marks of obvious distinction ; 

 but when it appears that the one seal is an Otary and the other not, 

 it may justly be deemed superfluous to insist on any other distinctive 

 features ; and Mr. Gray's immediate purpose may be held to be suf- 

 ficiently attained. — Robert Hamilton. 



CURIOUS HABIT OF EARTH-WORMS. 



While staying at Whitley, near North Shields, Mr. Fryer pointed 

 out to me that the worms (Lumbrici), which are abundant on the south 



