Land Bears — Lynxes— Bats — Squirrels, ^-c. 63 



Ath, Lastly, the seals of the north, of which it is desirable 

 that a series could be obtained, on account of the numerous va- 

 rieties of age and sex presented by the greater part of the spe- 

 cies ; whence the extreme difficulty of determining the latter. 

 Here again, M. Nilsson can render most valuable service, his 

 assiduous researches regarding the carnivorous amphibia hav- 

 ing enabled him to acquire, with a precision seldom attained, 

 an acquaintance with the different species which inhabit the 

 coasts of the Scandinavian peninsula. 



After these large species of mammifera, the zoological in- 

 terest of which exceeds that of all others, we particularly re- 

 commend that attention be paid to the land bears of the noi'th, 

 by reason of the doubts which some authors have conceived 

 respecting the specific unity of the races which Linnaeus com- 

 prehended under the name of Ursus Arctos ; the Ij-nxes of the 

 noi'th ; the bats, and particularly the Plecotus comiitus of Jut- 

 land ; the various genera of insectivora and gnawers, more 

 especially the Pteromys of Europe ; the squirrels, and the 

 compagnols, among which there can be little doubt neAV spe- 

 cies will be found whicli it will be very interesting to compare 

 with their analogues of the north of Russia, so admirably de- 

 scribed by Pallas ; the Lapland owl in its different ages ; the 

 most northern species of the passeres, and all the gallinaceae ; 

 the serpents and batracians of the north, among which species 

 have been noticed which should be peculiar to Scandinavia ; 

 finally, the fishes of the lakes and of the rivers which flow 

 into the Icy Ocean and the White Sea. Among the lower 

 classes of the animal kingdom, all of which will present to the 

 expedition, in their most northern representatives, objects of 

 very great interest, we may particularly indicate the lithodes 

 and other Crustacea of the Arctic Seas, the terrestrial and 

 fresh-water mollusca, and the limited number of lepidoptera 

 which adorn the almost nightless summer of Lapland. Lastly, 

 it will be very useful to make observations on the minute phos- 

 phorescent animals in the northern seas which the expedition 

 must traverse, with a view to complete those which have been 

 so often made, and even in recent times, by the zoologists of 

 the Boniie, in seas so different liy their geogrnphicul situation 

 and temperature. 



