WEST INDIAN SEAL. 333 



The mandible presents some remarkable peculiarities. The condyle 

 is very low, being on a level with the alveolar border of the Jaw. The 

 coronoid process is well developed and is strongly reflected. The lower 

 border of the horizontal ramus is straight. The length of the symphysis 

 is contained three and a half times in that of the jaw ; the symphysis 

 itself is very thick. The fnriow below the condyle, in which the ex- 

 ternal pterygoid muscle is inserted, and which is so strongly marked 

 in most seals, is scarcely apparent in the specimen under consideration. 



Dental formula as follows: J.|; C. i; M. f x2 = 32. The line of 

 I he upi)er incisors is straight. The outer incisors are much larger than 

 the inner ones. Both pairs are uuicuspidate. The inner pair has a 

 slightly marked cingulum internall.^, while the cingulum is strongly 

 developed in the outer i)air The superior canines are short, stout, and 

 rugose, and bear a rounded ridge posteriorly. The second and third 

 molars are set very obliquely, the anterior end being turned inward. 

 The first and fourth molars are less oblique, the fifth not at all. The 

 second, third, and fourth molars are ai)])roximately equal in size, the 

 first somewhat and the fifth decidedly smaller. All the molars are very 

 rugose, and, except the fifth, are furnished with an obtuse central cusp, 

 supported before and behind by a smaller accessory cus]). The fifth 

 molar has no accessory cusps. The cingulum is strongly developed in 

 all the molars, and, except in the first, ends anteriorly and posteriorly 

 in a small denticle. Only the i)osterior denticle is present in the first 

 molar. Except between the first and second molars interspaces are 

 wanting. The first molar rests against and is half internal to the 

 canine. The molars are two-rooted, except the first. 



The lower incisors are smaller and more obtusethan the upper incisors: 

 the inner pair smaller than the outer, internal to the latter, and decum- 

 bent. The short canines have a i)Osterior and two internal vertical 

 ridges. The description of the superior molars applies equally to the 

 interior series, except that the fifth is larger than the first and somewhat 

 oblique, and that there is no interspace between the first and second. 

 The line of the inferior molars is straighter than that of the superior 

 molars. 



Comparison of M. trojpicalis and M. albiventer. 



If the specimen before us is adult (and the condition of the skull 

 would seem to indicate that it is), the West Indian seal mustl)e consid- 

 erably smaller than M. albiventer. The female of the latter species de- 

 scribed by F. Cuvier (Ann. M^m. d'Hist. Nat.,xx, 1813, p. 387) measured 

 7 to 8 feet* from the extremity of the muzzle to the end of the hind flip- 

 l)er. In the Havana specimen the total length is but 4 feet and 10 

 inches. 



The male monk seal described by Hermann in 1770 differed widely 

 from the animal before us, in that the under parts were very light and 



•French measure. 



