1 lU FAUNA AMERICANA. 



Total number of teeth, thirty-two; viz. six inci- 

 sors above, four below; two canine and twelve 

 molars in each jaw on both sides; head long, de- 

 pressed; snout very prominent; whiskers gray, 

 slightly compressed and undulating in the middle, 

 sharp towards the point; eyes, ears, tongue, and 

 feet, like those of the common seal; hair very 

 short, incumbent, brilliant. 



Habit. Feeding on fish, particularly the Salmo 

 arcticus ; copulate in the month of July ; the fe- 

 males bring forth in the month of March, or be- 

 ginning of April, generally one, rarely two at a 

 birth, on the ice at a distance from land. 



Inhabit the coasts of Greenland, from whence 

 they depart in the month of March, and return in 

 May; depart again in the month of July and re- 

 turn in September ; they also visit Spitsbergen. 



Species. 



4. Phocafeiida, Mull, prodr. 8. Phoca hispida 

 Schreb. tab. 86. Erxleb. Bodd. Gmel. Phoque 

 neifsoak, Buff. hist. Nat. suppl. tom. 6. 



Char. Essent. Six incisors above, four below ; 

 general colour a pale brown, varied with white 

 above, dirty white beneath; hairs erect; nails 

 strono;. 



Dimensions. (According to Fabricius,) total 

 length, upwards of four feet and a half. 



Description. Dental system similar to that of 

 the common seal ; head short, rounded ; length of 



