688 GENUS HALICHCERUS. 



"Embryo masculus, pilosus quidem, sed tarn subtiliter, ut 

 facile existimaretur depilis. Color pallidior, nee nisi in dorso 

 maculosus. Jam spectabilis mystax, & superciliis respondentes 

 sylvulae. Digiti pedum distincti. Ungues visendi . . . " 

 (1. c., pp. 64-71). 



The plate (pi. vi, Libr. iii) accompanying Albinus's memoir 

 gives (fig. 1) a side view of the animal ; a half front view (fig. 

 2) of the head, with the mouth wide-open, displaying the den- 

 tition ; a view (fig. 3) of the posterior end of the body from 

 below, showing the genital opening, the tail, and hind flippers ; 

 a diagram (fig. 4) of the genito-anal orifice ; a claw (fig. 5) of 

 one of the anterior digits, and (fig. 6) one of the rnystacial 

 bristles of natural size. Even in the large figure the tricuspid 

 character of the molar teeth is seen, while in the enlarged view 

 of the head this is still more distinctly shown. In this the 

 five molars, both above and below, of the right side, are repre- 

 sented as small, distinctly three-pointed, the middle point the 

 longest, while the teeth are separated by slight intervals, the 

 dentition thus in every respect agreeing unmistakably with 

 that of Phoca fcetida. The large figure shows also the first 

 claw of the fore limb to be the largest, another distinctive char- 

 acter of Phoca fcetida. It consequently follows that if Pusa is 

 tenable in a generic sense it must be held for Phoca fcetida, in 

 place of Pagomys of much later date, by those who would, gen- 

 erically, separate Phoca fcetida from the other Seals. The con- 

 dition of the foetus also points to Phoca fcetida^ which has its 

 young early in March. 



Houttuyn's description, and consequently Miiller's, to which 

 Scopoli refers, is merely a loose abridged version of that given 

 by Albinus, in which they omit to state that the length given 

 includes the outstretched hind flippers. They also describe the 

 molar teeth simply as being pretty sharp ("de Kiezen zelfs 

 eenigermaate scherp," Houttuyn; "die Backenzahne ziemlich 

 scharf," Miiller), and speak of the fcetus as being nearly naked 

 ("en was nog byna kaal," Houttuyn; "fast kahl," Miiller), but 

 in no other point is there any noteworthy discrepancy. Albi- 

 nus 2 s account of the foetus shows it to have been nearly mature, 

 and the date of the dissection being given by Houttuyn as the 

 24th of February, is, as already noted, further proof that the 

 species was not Halichcerus grypus. 



It is barely possible that the specimen figured and described 

 may have been Phoca grcenlandica ; the large size alone favors 



