113 



Again I read from the same volume to prove what I have said about 

 the sense of hearing, touch, and smell that seals possess (pages 05 and 

 66) : 



The truth is, the eye of the Amphibia is a perfect study and would 

 well repay a lengthened description. It is very large and quite spher- 

 ical; sclerotic or outer membrane is very peculiar, inasmuch as it has a 

 soft and thin zone around its middle, thickly covered with muscles, 

 whilst both before and behind it is thick and almost caitilnginous. 

 The precise use of this structure lias not yet been discovered, though 

 Blumenbach has thrown out the idea that it may enable the seal to see 

 both in air and water. Kosenthal so far confirms this opinion by hav- 

 ing observed that the mechanism is peculiar to those animals which 

 live in a dense medium, such as water; that the remarkable thickness 

 of the coat is found in those animals in which the orbit is not wholly 

 osseous, and that some fishes have the sclerotic nearly cartilaginous. 

 With regard to the ear, it ought not to be forgotten that fishes, with 

 no external ear or aperture, have in their native element an acuteness 

 of hearing which, according to some respectable authorities, far exceeds 

 our own, and Eosenthal states that the auditory nerve of the seal is 

 very large. Eespecting the sense of touch, we shall here quote M. F, 

 Cuvier, who well remarks : "The whiskers are very sensible portions 

 of the sense of touch. Those hairs placed on each side of the mouth 

 and at the corner of ohe eye communicate with nerves which are 

 remarkable for their size, and to which, as I have'often convinced myself, 

 the slightest impression communicates an immediate sensation." So 

 it is, we believe, with the other senses, which we consider wonderfully 

 adapted to both elements. Thus Bufibn remarks of the monk seal on 

 land* "It has a very acute hearing, since even at a distance it never 

 failed to obey or respond to its master's voice ; " and thus Capt. Scoresby : 

 "Seals appear to hear well under the water. Music or particularly a 

 person whistling draws them to the surface and induces them to 

 stretch out their necks to the utmost extent, so as to prove a snare by 

 bringing them within the reach of the shooter;" and Weddell: "Their 

 sense of hearing is acute, and also their sense of smell." It is on 

 account of this last sense that the Greeidanders always endeavor to 

 api^roach them against the wind. And were we to judge of their taste 

 by the keenness with which they relish their food — few animals possess 

 it in equal perfection. The greatest gourmand's teeth do not water at 

 the anticipation of the richest feast as do theirs in expectancy of their 

 common food. "A copious saliva," says M. P. Cuvier, "fills and flows 

 from their mouth during deglutition, and not less so the moment the 

 seal perceives its prey." 



As to their breathing, I will read from pages 56, 67, and 58, where 

 the following is stated : 



Having thus noticed that the external structure of these Amphibia is 

 admirably adapted for their watery element, and yet made wonderfully 

 conformable to their requirements on land, we proceed to remark that 

 their vital functions also are strikingly fitted for their peculiar exigen- 

 cies. Their respiration, as might readily be inferred, differs consider- 

 ably from what is observed in most other animals. Even the air i^as- 

 sages undergo a change which ought not to be overlooked. We refer 

 particularly to the nostrils, whose state, unlike that of other qiiad- 

 11495 M 8 



