Ma/nfiialia. 49 



of a beautiful pale mottled grey colour, darker on the back and lighter 

 on the belly, and varying in intensity in different individuals." The 

 streaks are so well represented in the reproductions of Dr. Cook's 

 photographs publislied both in his own book and in Dr. Piacovitza's 

 paper, that I cannot help regarding them as highly characteristic 

 of tlie species. Mr. Bruce compares Ommatophoca with Lobodon, 

 to which, he states, " in form and size " it is " very like." This 

 remark about an animal which has V)een described by Dr. Eacovitza 

 in such vivid language as so highly distinct from all the other 

 species makes me suspect that Mr. Bruce may have been mistaken 

 in his identification of Boss's Seal, 



Unfortunately no skins of Ommataphoca were entrusted to me 

 for examination by Dr. Eacovitza. The skins secured by Mr. Hanson 

 were in salt, and not in a condition suitable for description. 



From the account of Dr. Eacovitza, Ommatophoca would appear 

 to be of very remarkable form. It is, he says, "le plus 

 phoque des phoques, car chez lui toute forme de quadrupede a 

 disparu. Son corps n'est plus qu'un sac fusiforme pourvu de 

 membres tres reduits " — a description completely borne out by 

 Dr. Cook's photographs, as well as by Mr. Borchgrevink's note 

 (op. & loc. cit.), that the body of the first specimen of his supposed 

 new species " was not unlike that of the ordinary Seal, but the neck 

 was of more than ordinary thickness, and under the chin it extended 

 to a great round muscular purse. The head was short and broad, the 

 eyes large and protruding, and the mouth short. The eyes were 

 somewhat slanting. It had six front teeth in the upper jaw, two in 

 the under jaw, but no back teeth." ^ The four skins brought home by 

 the ' Bdfjica ' are those of an animal distinctly smaller than the other 

 three species. Their total length, measured from the tip of the nose 

 to that of the tail, reaches only from 4 feet 4 inches to 4 feet 

 10 inches (1400 millimetres). The thick and hairy tail presents no 

 characteristic features, having a length of about 4 inches (100 milli- 

 metres). The flippers, as in the other species, are completely 

 covered with hair. They are decidedly smaller than those oi Lohodon 

 or Lcjjtonychofes. The fore-flippers carry five, the hind two to five, 

 in the latter case rudimentary, claws. The greatest length is, for 

 the fore-flippers 9 to 12 inches (300 millimetres), for the hind 10 to 

 12 inches (300 millimetres). It is due to those who have worked 

 only at the type skin to say that, like them, in examining it, I have 

 completely failed to find any traces of claws on the hind-flippers. 



' See Mr. Hanson's account of the capture of tliis specimen, as recorded in his 

 jirivate ' Diary ' {infra, pp. Hii). — R. B. S. 



