NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 61 



brings forth its young in any part of the ocean it may be in, seldom having 

 more than one at a time, never more than two. 



Formerly this species was found in great numbers along the coast of Upper 

 Californhi. The ships cruising for them kept in a belt of water extending 

 about one hundred miles from the land and closing in with the shore. 



The frequent passing of steamers and the large increase in the number of 

 sailing vessels on the coast seems to have driven them from these feeding 

 grounds, and consequently at the present time this old cruising ground is 

 nearly abandoned. In their capture the bomb-gun and lance is used by 

 American whalers in addition to the ordinary hand harpoon and lance. 

 Greene's gun is much used by English colonial whalers in addition to the old 

 method. 



IX. PINXEPEDIA.— THE SEA-ELEPHANT. 



Macrorhinus angustirostris, Gill. 



Proceedings of the Essex Institute v, 1866. 



Proceed. Chicago Ac. Nat. Sci. ? loc. 



A species of seal was in former years found along the coast from Cape St. 

 Lazarus to Point Reyes, herding on sandy or shingle beaches in great numbers, 

 and were known as the sea elephant. This animal, in form, resembles the 

 common seals, only materially differing in its mammoth proportions. Fre- 

 quently those unacquainted have mistaken " rookeries " of sea-lions for 

 elephants. 



The extreme length of the oldest males will average fourteen or fifteen feet ; 

 the longest we have ever seen measured twenty-two feet from tip to tip, but 

 frequently individuals have been met with that gave seventeen to eighteen 

 feet from extreme end of trunk to that of posterior flippers. Its color is a 

 light brown, when the hair is grown to full length ; but immediately after 

 " shedding " it becomes of a leaden color, similar to the land elephant. The 

 hair on the body is very short and thin : about the under side of the neck in 

 the oldest males, the animal appears to undergo a change with age, the hair 

 falls off, the skin thickens and becomes wrinkled, the furrows crossing each 

 other, producing a checkered surface, and sometimes the throat is more or 

 less marked with white spots. Its proboscis extends from opposite the angle 

 of the mouth forward (in the large males) about fifteen inches when the ani- 

 mal is in a state of quietude, and the upper surface appears ridgy ; but when 

 it makes an excited expiration the trunk becomes more elongated and the 

 ridges nearly disappear. The average thickness of the skin that covers the 

 body is fully equal to that of the largest bullock. The mouth is furnished 

 with teeth similar to those of the Sea-Lion, the lower and largest canines 

 being from four to five inches long, the exterior portion conical, and present- 

 ing a smooth surface, the part imbedded in the jaw slightly curved and ridgy ; 

 the whole tooth is nearly solid, a small cavity only appearing at the lower end. 

 The females average ten feet between extremities and are destitute of the 

 proboscis, the nose being like the seals, except that it projects considerably 

 more over the mouth. The canine teeth are shorter, smoother below the 

 sockets, larger at the base and hollow nearly to the upper point. The sailors 

 on one voyage not having a supply of pipes, made them of cow-elephants 

 teeth, and the quills or leg-bones of the pelican; the former furnishing the 

 bowls and the latter the stems. 



Our observations on the Sea-elephant show that they were found in much 

 larger numbers from February to June than during the other months of the 

 year: but more or less were on shore at all seasons upon their favorite 

 beaches, which were about Santa Barbara, Cerros, Guadaloupe, St. Bonites, 

 Natividad, St. Roque and Ascension islands, and a few of the most inaccessible 

 points on the main land between Ascension and Cerros. The first seen of 

 them would be coming up out of the water near the beach, then crawling up 



1869.] 



