THE AMPHIBIOUS CARNIVORA. 63 



Museum at Bristol. Peron says of the Proboscis 

 Seal, " We usually found in the stomachs fungi, 

 stones, and gravel ;" and Dr Parsons " In the sto- 

 mach of the Great Seal there were about four pounds 

 of flinty stones." We have not met with any satis- 

 factory explanation of this phenomenon ; and we 

 shall decline all speculations concerning it. 



But we must bring these remarks on the physical 

 constitution of the Amphibia to a close, by a very 

 few hints concerning the nervous system, and more 

 especially the senses. 



The prevailing statement in the works on Natural 

 History is, that the brain is much developed in this 

 group, and the cerebellum comparatively still more 

 so. Judging from an examination of crania, we 

 should say, that this organ appears to vary very 

 considerably in different species, and that while in 

 all it is rather large, in some it is remarkably so. 

 This perfectly corresponds with the degree of acute- 

 ness and intelligence which is nearly universally 

 allowed them. Weddell observes that in instinct 

 they are little inferior to the dog ; and subjoins a 

 remark which ought not to be forgotten, that their 

 sagacity in water much exceeds that which they 

 manifest on shore. With this fact in view, it is 

 curious to observe how some Naturalists, having pro- 

 cured a few Seals, and placed them in a most unna- 

 tural state of domestication, to which they submitted 

 with wonderful placidity, have, after minute obser- 

 vation, concluded that they were sparingly endowed 



