THE " GENUS PUS A" OF SCOPOLI. 687 



of his time, but a well- trained observer ; his description alone 

 would show beyond doubt that the species was not Halichcerw. 

 Houttuyn's account seems to have been in part based on that 

 of Albiiius, but includes statements that lead one to suppose it 

 may have been in part based on his own original notes. To 

 show that the species was not Halichcerus grypus, but beyond 

 doubt Phoca fcetida, I quote portions of the description given 

 by Albinus: * "Delecta ad me est phoca, capta in vicino inari, 

 [North Sea] longa pedes sex & dimidium, ab ore ad extremes 

 pedes postiores usque: ex quo reliquae dimensiones in figura 

 subjecta (a) invenientur ; in quo forma bestiae cum cura expressa. 

 Venter autem plenior, eo quod gravida erat, embryonem con- 

 tinenslongitudinispedalis. . . . Labium superius ab utraque 

 parte nasi in magnum globum modice protuberans ; in quibus 

 pilorum species, similitudine felis, quadrupedumque aliarum 

 multarum. . . . Latiores quam crassiores, ab utraque parte 

 plani, marginibus rotundis. Per marginum longitudinem veluti 

 serrati, eminentiis ovatis per sinus lunatos distinctis. Bespond- 

 ent mar gin es sibi invicem, sinus sinibus eminentiae emineutiis : 

 itaque tanquain per intervalla constricti, quadam nodorum inter- 

 niediis locis specie. A principio margines recti. . . . Dentes 

 in maxilla superiore sex continui in parte priore, quorum medii 

 quatuor minores. Inde, sed modico interjecto intervallo, quod 

 canini inferiores subeant, caniui, adunci, inaximi omnium. 

 Post hos in lateribus maxillares ab utraque parte quinque, 

 parvi, veluti tricuspides, mucrone medio majore. Infra maxil- 

 lares totidem, & canini, sed primores tanttimmodo quatuor, 

 ostendentibus praesepiolis, e quibus excussi fuerant. . . . 

 In ventre post umbilicuni mammaruin notae geminae, foramina 

 referentes, extremi digiti auricularis capacia. . . . Pili, 

 quibus corium tectum, breves, tenues, laeves, a capite directi 

 ad caudam, pedesque extremos. . . . Color iis ad fulvuni 

 vergens, maculis fuscis toto corpore crebris. In ventre & pec- 

 tore color pallidior. Cauda & pedes postici toti fusci, sine 

 maculis, praeterquam ad digitorum exortum, ubi in exteriore 

 parte maculae fulvae, parvae, paucaeque. Fusci quoque pedes 

 antici, sed tainen extrinsecus aliquantum maculosiores. Omnes 

 ex interiore parte sine maculis fusci, pilis mollioribus. 



* B. S. Albini Academicarum Annotationum Liber TertiuS. Continet ana- 

 toinica, physiologica, pathologica, zoographica. Leidae. Apud J. & H. 

 Verbeek, Bibliopolas. CIOIOCCLVI [1756]. Caput XV. De phoca. Liber 

 iii, pp. 04-71. 



