Ui^ 



332 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with air when the nostrils are closed. The marks of distinction 

 between the true seals {Phocidce) and the sea-lions {Otariidce) are 

 very clear. The most obvious mark is the, ears : the true seals 

 have no external ear ; the sea-lions have ears that can be seen very 

 plainly. Hence is derived the scientific name of the family, which 



signifies having ears, or 

 eared. The whole external 

 appearance and the struct- 

 ure of their limbs are also 

 different. The true seal has 

 hardly any neck ; his head 

 and trunk, closely connect- 

 ed, are short, while his loins 

 are of full length ; his body 

 _ is so round that his little 

 hands can hardly touch the 



Fig. Z— The HoovEV St:Ai. (Sfemniafopi/s CI istatvs). ^ 1 . +1 1 1 -fli 



selves are closely bound up with the body, so that hardly more 

 than from the wrist out is free ; and the hind-feet, connected with 

 the tail, are stretched out backward. The confinement of his limbs 

 unfits him for movement on the land, and his progress is nothing 

 more than a series of awkward bumps and wriggles, in which the 

 body is never raised from the ground. His situation is very differ- 

 ent in the water, where he can use his toes like the blades of a 

 screw-propeller, work his body to the right or left, up or down, at 

 pleasure, rise to the surface or dive to the bottom, and, his hands 

 furnishing him an excellent system of steerage, direct his move- 

 ments with admirable precision. 



The sea-lion, having a head with pointed ears, " looking like 

 the head of a dog with his ears cut off," large eyes, whiskers, a 

 long neck, and a body raised upon its hind and fore limbs several 

 inches from the ground, appears upon the land more like a land 

 animal, while it is fully as much at home in the water as the seal. 

 It is much more at home on the land, where its whole body is sin- 

 gularly lithe and flexible, and it can run nearly as fast as a man 

 can, and get along better in a thick bush, can climb rocky ledges 

 and steep, slippery banks. Both in water and on land it assumes 

 a great variety of attitudes. Dr. Murie, describing its motions, 

 says : " At one moment the entire body presents a long, cylindrical, 

 tapering cone ; in another the body seems foreshortened, and the 

 head and neck thrust out turtle-fashion, to a length as astonish- 

 ing as unexpected to any visitor who may chance to be near ; at 

 other times the chest and abdomen become deep, and laterally flat- 

 tened, while the back is arched like that of a defiant cat. And so, 

 waking and sleeping, walking or swimming, there is a ceaseless 

 change of relation in the figure and proportion of the parts. This 



