16 THE GENUS ODOB^ENUS. 



equivalent to the Cete of Linne (Syst. Nat., ed. x, 1758). Linne, 

 in 1758, first introduced ArtedFs genus Trichechus, at which 

 time lie placed in it only the Manatee, Dugong, and Steller's 

 Sea Cow, leaving the Walruses still in Phoca. His diagnosis 

 of the genus* embraced none of the distinctive characters of 

 the Walrus. In 1766 (12th ed., Syst. Nat.), he transferred the 

 Walrus from Phoca to Trichechm, making it the first species 

 of the genus. The diagnosis, though slightly changed ver- 

 bally, has still little, if any, reference to the characters of the- 

 Walruses, unless it be the phrase " Laniarii superiores solitarii,"t 

 which is equally applicable to the Dugong, and is not at all the 

 equivalent of " Phoca dentibus canines exsertis, " previously 

 ascribed to the Walrus in former editions, when the Walruses, 

 were placed under Phoca. Hence, to whatever the generic 

 name Trichechus may be referable, it certainly is not pertinent 

 to the Walrus. This being settled, the question arises, What 

 generic name is of unquestionable applicability to the Walruses ? 

 Here the real difficulty in the case begins, for authors who 

 admit the inapplicability of Trichechus to this group are not 

 agreed as to what shall be substituted for it. Scandinavian 

 writers, as Malmgren (1864) and Lilljeborg (1874), and Peters 

 (1864) among German authorities, have for some years employed 

 Odobcenus, a name apparently originating with Linne (as Odole- 

 nus) in 1735, and adopted in a generic sense by Brisson in 1756. 

 A modified form of it (Odontobcenus) was also employed by Sun- 

 devall in 1859. Gill, in 1866, and other recent American writers, 

 have brought into some prominence the name Rosmarus, first 

 used in a generic sense by Klein in 1751, by Scopoli in 1777, by 

 Pallas | in 1831, and by Lamont in 1861 ; while the great mass 

 of English and Continental writers still cling to Trichechus. 



The genera Odobenotherium and Trichechodon, based on fossil 

 remains of the Walrus, have also been recently introduced into 

 the literature of the subject, the former by Gratiolet in 1858, and 

 the latter by Lankester in 1865 ; but these (especially the first) 



*"Dentes primores nulla, laniarii superiores solitarii, molares ex osse 

 rugoso utrinque inferius duo. Labia gemiata. Pedes posteriores coadimati 

 in pinnam." Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, 1758, p. 34. 



tThe second diagnosis of Tricliechus is, in full, as follows: "Dentes primo- 

 res nulli utrinque. Laniarii superiores solitarii. Molares ex osse rugoso 

 utrinque ; inferius duo. Labia geminata. Pedes posteriores compedes co- 

 adunati in pinuam." Syst. Nat., ed. xii, 1766, i, p. 48. 



i Zool. Eosso-Asiat., vol. i, 269. 



Seasons with the Sea-horses, pp. 141, 167. 



x 



