11 Southern Cross. 



the back, the under surface being of a general yellowish colour." 

 Dr. Eacovitza characterises it as being " a pelage gris-fer niouchete 

 de taches rondes de couleur jaune." Of the specimens l:)rought 

 home by the ' Belgica,' the younger (No. 891), is slaty grey above, 

 with the under side both of the body and of the flippers dirty white. 

 The colour of the back and belly is separated by a fairly distinct line 

 of demarcation, whicli runs from the base of the hind- to that of the 

 fore-flippers, and thence to the nose, the upper lip being white like 

 the under surface. A number of dirty-white spots running obliquely 

 from front to rear on the flanks are arranged almost in rows, and 

 give the impression of being discontinuous streaks. 



The under side of an older specimen (No. 893) is far yellower. 

 It is, however, so soiled that the mixture of various tints of dirty 

 yellow which it presents to the view are well-nigh indescribable. A 

 mixture of dirty yellow and slate-grey colouring is so arranged on 

 the chest as to produce a pattern which may be described as mottled. 

 The under side of the jaw is without spots. 



In build this Seal is, judging from the photographs of Dr. Cook 

 and Dr. Eacovitza, more slender than Lobodon. The last-named 

 naturalist states that it is larger than Lobodon, and in that case the 

 head should be proportionately smaller. It is relatively longer and 

 more slender, and lacks the blunt nose of Lobodon. 



Distinguisliing characteristics of skull. — Both the skull and 

 skeleton of Weddell's Seal have been described in detail by Sir 

 William Turner in his report on the Seals collected by the ' Challenger ' 

 expedition (pp. 20-28). The skull has neither great size nor remark- 

 able teeth to mark it off at a glance from those of the other Seals of 

 the Antarctic seas. Yet Lobodon, which is of very similar size, is 

 the only form with which it could possibly be confused. Even here, 

 however, there are several obvious points of difference, and Lej)- 

 tonychotes (apart from its simple teeth) may be at once distinguished 

 by the proportionately greater breadth of its brain-case and the high 

 and narrow anterior portion of the skull, as well as by the shorter 

 palate. The under jaws of the two animals are also characteristic, 

 that of Lobodon being far deeper, stronger, and more massive, than 

 that of Leptonychotes. 



Sex. — We know next to nothing as regards any difference that may 

 obtain between the sexes. The only skull labelled as that of a female 

 which I have examined, is No. 895 of the ' Belgica ' collection. In this 

 the canines are smaller than are those of the males of the same col- 

 lection, and, if this distinction be borne out by a series of specimens, 

 all the skulls in the British Museum will prove to be, as I have 



