EXTERNAL CHARACTERS. 27 



ish in outline, but much longer than broad, with the muzzle 

 abruptly truncated and somewhat bilobed by the depression 

 surrounding the nasal opening. The lower jaw is pointed and 

 narrow anteriorly. The upper* lip is heavily armed with thick, 

 strong, pellucid bristles. The nostrils are somewhat crescentic 

 in shape, placed vertically, with the upper part more expanded 

 than the lower, and hence bear some resemblance to two com- 1 

 mas placed with their convex surfaces toward each other. The 

 eyes are situated rather high up, about midway between the 

 muzzle and the occiput. The ear is wholly destitute of a pinna, 

 forming merely an orifice on the side of the head in a deep fold 

 of the skin. The most prominent facial character in the adults 

 is, of course, the long protruding upper canines, which extend 

 12 to 15 or more inches beyond the rictus. The neck is short, 

 being only about as long as the head ; it gradually thickens 

 toward the body, into which it insensibly merges. The body is 

 exceedingly thick and heavy, presenting everywhere a rounded 

 outline, and attaining its greatest circumference at the shoulders, 

 whence it gradually tapers posteriorly. The tail is scarcely, if 

 at all, visible, being enclosed within the teguments of the body. 

 The fore limbs are free only from the elbow ; as in the Pinnipeds 

 generally, they are greatly expanded, flat, and somewhat fin- 

 like, but with much more freedom of motion than is the case i 

 the Phocidce. They are armed with five small flat nails, placed 

 at considerable distance from the end of the cartilaginous toe- 

 flap. The first or inner digit is slightly the longest, the others 

 being each successively a little shorter till the fifth, which nearly 

 equals the first. The hind limb is enclosed within the tegu- 

 ments of the body nearly to the heel ; the free portion when t 

 expanded is fan-shaped, but when closed the sides are nearly 

 parallel. The first and fifth digits are considerably longer and 

 larger than the middle ones, the fifth being also rather larger 

 than the first. They are all provided with small nails, placed 

 at some distance from the end of the toe-flap. The soles of both 

 fore and hind extremities are bare, rough, and " warty," and 

 the dorsal surface of the digits as far as the proximal phalanges 

 is also devoid of hair. In the young and middle-aged, the body 

 is rather thickly covered with short hair, which, however, is 

 thinner and shorter on the ventral surface of the neck and body 

 and on the limbs than elsewhere. It is everywhere of a yellow- 

 ish-brown color, except on the belly and at the base of the flip- 

 pers, Avhere it passes into dark reddish-brown or chestnut. The 



