28 Proceedings. 



we have now come, is divided into two groups — those living 

 on land, which have their digits separate, as the Cats, Dogs, 

 and Bears ; and those living in water, which have their digits 

 joined together by skin, forming a kind of webbed foot ; such 

 are the Seals. They are all characterised by their teeth, 

 which have a very bloodthirsty appearance. 



In one kind of Seal — the Walrus — the upper canine teeth 

 have become ridiculously prominent, though their look belies 

 their nature, as in the ordinary way the Walrus is a harmless 

 beast, and uses them as pick-axes with which to disinter the 

 shcU-fish at the sea-bottom, though when attacked they use 

 them with terrible effect as offensive weapons. There are two 

 other kinds of Seals— the Sea Lion, or Eared Seal, and the 

 Common Seal. The Sea Lion is able to use its hind limbs 

 for walking on land, which it does in somewhat ungainly 

 fashion, as these limbs strongly resemble a pair of hands 

 fastened together by the front of the wrists. The Common 

 Seals, when they want to move, are obliged to set up a kind 

 of gallop, and they have to execute this on then' stomachs, so 

 it is not very easy or graceful. 



Now, a great deal has been written about the Proboscidea, — 

 the Elephants, — some of which you have no doubt read, so I will 

 merely mention that the Indian and African kind are not now 

 regarded as belonging to the same genus, the African being 

 called the Loxodon, from its peculiar teeth. The wise-looking 

 head of the Elephant is, sad to state, a sham, as his intellectual- 

 looking forehead does not cover brains, but only spongy bone, 

 the brain being contained in a comparatively small hollow. 



I will pass by the Eodeuts, or gnawing animals, among 

 which are the Eabbits, Porcupines, Squirrels, and Mice, 

 which follow the most diverse habits of life, although they are 

 all characterised by the possession of sharp -cutting front 

 teeth, or "incisors." 



The next order — the Insect-eaters — includes the Hedgehog, 

 the so-called Shrew-mouse, which is not a Mouse at all, and 

 the Mole. From personal and, I may add, painful experience, 

 I differ from those who maintain that the Hedgehog's spines 

 are used only for defensive purposes, for one which I kept in 



