THE SEA ELEPHANT. 55 



lu the British Museum series are three skulls with the normal number and 

 arrangement of cheek teeth, but also the following, which is irregular in this 

 respect : — • 



No. 334c. Ross Expedition. I. ^~^ C. ^ "~ \ P.C. i^li. 

 '■ 1 — 1 1 — 1 5 — 4 



To these may now be added : — 



No. 26. Young 9 . Macquarie Island. ' Discovery ' Collection. 



I. iz^, C. i=i, P.C. ^^^. 

 1 — 1 1 — 1' 5 — 4 



No. 37. Young ad. <? . Cape Eoyds, McMurdo Sound. ' Discovery ' Collection. 



I.^-^^ C. 1^^, P.M. izii, M. ll^. 

 1 — 1 1-1 4 — 4' — 



From such evidence of variability, I think it is fair to consider that the food is 

 managed mainly by the canines and incisors, and that the post-canines are in a state 

 of degeneracy, and will shortly disappear. There is little or no evidence of wear in the 

 teeth of specimens 334a, 334c, and 334g of the B.M. collection. The specimen 

 which we obtained in McMurdo Sound, No. 37, was considerably larger than any 

 that we saw in the Macquarie Islands. It was, as I have said, a half-grown male. 

 The following measurements were taken in the flesh immediately after death : — 



Total length from nose to tip of tail, along the curve of the back ... ... 106 inches. 



Girth under the fore flippers ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 96 inches. 



Girth at the position of the penis ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 62 inches. 



Girth at extremity of fore flippers as they lay along the sides ... ... ... 96 inches. 



Its colour was a yellowish grey, darker dorsally, and pale ventrally — a good deal 

 lighter altogether than that of the Macquarie specimens. As usual, there were no 

 markings. The teeth were well developed, and .showed no signs of wear. Nevertheless, 

 the post-canine teeth of No. 94.11.17.1 (B. M. Coll.) show abundant evidence of long 

 wear, this specimen having been taken from an old male. 



Of the two examples obtained in the Macquarie Islands, No. 43 of the ' Discovery ' 

 Collection was a young male and No. 26 a young female. In neither were the teeth 

 fully developed nor were the sutures of the skull united. In No. 43 the length from 

 nose to tip of tail is 81 inches, a length some 1 7 inches greater than that of the female. 



In colour both are of a uniformly dull buff or brownish-grey all over the upper 

 parts, gradually paling on the sides to a lighter tone of the same colour underneath. 

 The darkest shade is along the middle line of the back. The colour and tone of the 

 fore and hind limbs are intermediate between the deeper part of the back and the 

 lighter part of the belly. There are no spots or markings. 



Terminating each digit in the fore limb is a long and narrow semi-cylindrical nail 

 of a dark brown or blackish colour, measuring in the Antarctic example from 1 ,^; inch or 

 8 cm. in length, and extending half its length in each case beyond the digit itself. 

 The depth of the interdigital space between the fourth and fifth is decidedly greater 



