GENERAL HISTORY AND SYNONYMY. 577 



laris and Pallas's Phoca largha are the same. Temminck has 

 given a detailed description of the six skins above mentioned 

 as received from Japan, and also of fragments of the skull re- 

 moved from the skins of the young individuals. He notes 

 especially the wide range of color- variation presented by his 

 skins, each of which differs considerably from all of the others, 

 the variations being greatest in the adult examples. He gives 

 the length of the largest adult specimen as about five feet, and 

 that of the young as two and a half to three feet. He de- 

 scribes one skin as having exactly the markings represented in 

 Choris's figure, and says it has a close resemblance to' certain 

 varieties of the Kinged Seal. The coloration of these specimens, 

 as described, presents nothing incompatible with their refer- 

 ence to either Phoca fcetida or Phoca vitulina-, both of which 

 species occur in the region in question. 



The fragments of the skulls are not described in detail, but 

 he says they serve to show that the skull of his Phoca nummu- 

 laris greatly resembles that of the u Phoque a croissant, no tarn - 

 ment par la configuration de la region interorbitaire, qui est r 

 par devant, plus large que dans le crane du Phoque annele". 

 Quant au systeme dentaire," he continues, "il n'offre pas la 

 moindre disparity de celui du Phoque a croissant et du Phoque 

 annele." He states his conclusion as follows : " Ce Phoque est 

 en quelque sorte interme'diaire entre le Phoque & croissant 

 (Phoca oceanica) [Phoca groenlandica, auct.] et 4e Phoque 

 annelle", (Phoca hispida, Schreber, Saugth., Ill, p. 312, n. 6, 

 Tab. 86 ; Phoca foetida, Miiller, Prodr., p. 8 ; Phoca annellata, 

 Mlsson, Skand. Fauna, I, p. 362) ; car il offre beaucoup d'ana- 

 logie avec le premier par la configuration de son crane, notam- 

 ment par celle de la region interorbitaire ainsi par celle de ses 

 dents, tandis qu'il se rapproche davantage du second par son 

 systeme de coloration."* 



Temminck's specimens have also passed under the inspection 

 of Dr. Gray, who says: "This species [Gray's "Pagomyst 

 nummularis," 1864, his " Pagomys ? Largha", 1866] is only known 

 from some skins and three fragments of skulls in the Leyden 

 Museum. My excellent friend, Professor Schlegel, the ener- 

 getic Curator of the Leyden Museum, has most kindly sent to 

 me for examination and comparison the fragments of skulls 

 above referred to : they consist of the face-bone and the-lower 



* Fauna Japon., Mam. Mar., p. 3. 

 Misc. Pub. No. 12 37 



