PHOCID.E. 



PHOCIDJE. 



soo 



from the thin medium of air into the thicker one of the eyes, 



The Auditory Nerve in the Seal U very large, and though the 

 auricular aperture i* closed by a mechanism somewhat similar to that 

 which abate the nostrils in order to protect the internal parts of the 

 organ from the uuuseq nances of the great pressure of the water when 

 th* animal it ia deep*, U is evident that Seals bear very well even 

 under water. The tense* of taste, smell, and touch, are all well 

 developed in the Pkonda. 



The student will find several preparations illustrative of the anatomy 

 of the Seal* in the Museum of the Boys! College of Surgeons. 



The following are the genera into which the Linnajan genus Phoca 

 ha* been divided : 



CulHfltalt IF. CUT.). Molar* formed principally of one great 

 point placed in the middle, one smaller situated below, and two, also 

 smaller, placed posteriorly. Cranium convex on the sides, flattened on 

 the top : alight rugosities, instead of occipital cristcc. 



C. nlmlimtu. This i* the Phoca vtiulina of Linntcus ;. Le Veau 

 Harm and Phoque Commun of the French ; Vecchio Marino of the 

 Italians ; Lobo Marino of the Spanish ; Meerwolf and Meerhund of 

 the Germans ; Zee-bund of the Dutch ; Sail-bund of the Danes ; Sial 

 of th* Swede*; Common Seal and Sea-Calf of the English; and 

 Koetrboo of the Welsh. 



The ground-colour of the hair or skin, when the animal is alive 

 and dry, is pale whitish-gray with a very slight tinge of yellow; 

 when just out of the water and wet, the ground-colour is ash; after 

 death, and, as seen in museums, the ground-colour is pale yellowish- 

 gray, the oil having penetrated the skin, and rendered the hair of 

 a more yellow hue. The body above is clouded and marbled with 

 blackish-gray. Space round the eyas and muzzle, sides of the body, 

 all the lower parts and the feet, pale grayish, becoming nearly white 

 hmesUi. There is some brown on the muzzle and upper part of the 

 tail ; whiskers moderate, undulated. Claws black, and rather strong. 

 Length from 3 to 6 feet 



U inhabits the northern seas generally, the coasts of England, France, 

 Ac. It is comparatively scarce on the southern coasts of Britain now, 

 bat still haunt* the estuary of the Tee*. 



Dental Formula : Inoitors, 2 ; Canines, ?"~ 1 ; Molars, S ~ 5 = 34. 

 4 11 5 5 



V 



Tttth of Cmlottflalut. 



Mr. Farrington, then of Dinas in Caernarvonshire, wrote thus to 

 Pennant : " The teals are native* of our coasts, and are found most 

 frequently between Llyn in Caernarvonshire and the northern parts of 

 Anglesey; they are seen often towards Carreg-y-Moelrhon, to the west 

 of Bardsey, or Tnys Enlli, and the Skerries, commonly called in the 

 British language Ynys-y-Moelrhoniad, or Seal Island. The Utiu 

 name of this amphibious animal is Phoca ; the vulgar name is sea-calf, 

 and on that account the male is called the bull, and the female the 

 cow, but the Celtic appellative i* ' Moelrhon,' from the word ' moel,' 

 bald, or without ears, and ' rhon,' a spear or lance. They are excellent 

 swimmers and ready divers, and are very bold when in the sea, swim- 

 ming carelessly enough about boat* ; their dens or lodgments are in 

 hollow rocks or caverns near the sea, but out of the reach of the tide. 

 In the summer they will come out of the water to bask or sleep in 

 the sun, on the top of large stones or hivers of rocks, and that is the 

 opportunity our countrymen take of shooting them ; if they chance to 

 escape, they hasten towards their proper element, flinging stones and 

 dirt behind them as they scramble along, at the same time expressing 

 their fears by piteous moans ; but if they happen to be overtaken, they 

 will make a vigorous defence with their feet and teeth till they are 

 killed." 



Dr. Borlase, in a letter dated October, 1763, gives the following 

 account : " The seals are seen in the greatest plenty on the shores of 

 Cornwall in the months of May, June, and July. They are of different 

 sizes ; some as Urge as a cow, and from that downwards to a small 

 calf. They feed on most sorts of fish which they can master, and are 

 seen searching for their prey near the shore where the whistling fish, 

 wraws, and polacks resort. They are very swift in their proper depth 

 of water, dive like a shot, and in a trice rise at fifty yards' distance, so 

 that weaker fishes cannot avoid their tyranny except in shallow water. 

 A person of the parish of Sennan saw not long since a seal in pursuit 

 of a mullet (that strong and swift fish) ; the seal turned it to and fro 

 in deep water as a grayhound does a hare ; the mullet at last found it 

 had no way to escape, but by running into shoal water; the teal 

 pursued, and the former, to get more surely out of danger, threw 

 itself on its side, by which means it darted into shoaler water than it 

 could have swum in with the depth of its paunch and fins, and so 

 escaped. The seal brings her young about the beginning of autumn ; 

 our fishermen have seen two sucking their dam at the same time, at 

 she stood in the sea in a perpendicular position. Their head in swimming 

 is always above the water, more so than that of a dog. They sleep on 

 rocks surrounded by the sea, or on the less accessible parts of cliffs 

 left dry by the ebb of the tide, and if disturbed by anything, take care 

 to tumble over the rocks into the sea. They are extremely watchful, 

 and never sleep long without moving, seldom longer than a minute ; 

 then raise their heads, and if they hear or see nothing more than 

 ordinary, lie down again, and so on, raising their heads a little, and 

 reclining them alternately in about a minute's time." 





Common Seal (Oalociphalui n/ulinia). 



The Real-hunters in Caithness assured Pennant that their growth is 

 no sudden, that in nine tides from their birth they will become an 

 active as their parents. On the coast of that county immense cavern* 

 open into the sea, and run some hundred yards beneath the land. 

 These are the resort of seals in the breeding-time, where they remain 

 till their young are old enough to go to sea, which is in about six or 

 seven weeks. The first of these caves, say* Pennant in continuation, 

 is near the Ord, the last near Thruumter. Their entrance is BO narrow 

 as only to admit a boat; within they are spacious and lofty. Into the 

 mouths of these caverns the seal-hunters enter about midnight in the 

 month of October or the beginning of November, and having rowed 

 ip as far as they can, land. Each of them being provided with a 

 bludgeon and properly stationed, they light their torches, and make a 

 great noise. This brings down the seals from the recesses ol the 

 avern in a confused body with fearful shrieks and cries. The men at 

 irnt are obliged to give way for fear of being overborne, but when the 

 int crowd i* passed, they kill as many as straggle behind, chiefly .the 

 roung, by striking them on the nose. When the slaughter is over, 

 .hey drag the seals to the boats. This is described as a most hazardous 



