66 COMPARATIVE ANATOMY OF 



well remarks, " The whiskers are very sensible por 

 tions of the sense of touch. Those hairs placed on 

 each side of the mouth, and at the corner of the eye, 

 communicate with nerves which are remarkable for 

 their size, and to which, as I have often convinced 

 myself, the slightest impression communicates an 

 immediate sensation." So is it, we believe, with 

 the other senses ; which we consider wonderfully 

 adapted to both elements. Thus Buffon remarks 

 of the Monk- Seal, on land, " It had a very acute 

 hearing, since even at a distance it never failed to 

 obey or respond to its master's voice; and thus 

 Captain Scoresby, " Seals appear to hear well under 

 the water; music, or particularly a person whist- 

 ling, draws them to the surface, and induces them 

 to stretch out their necks to the utmost extent, so 

 as to prove a snare by bringing them within the 

 reach of the shooter/' And Weddell, " Their sense 

 of hearing is acute, and also their sense of smell'' 

 It is on account of this last sense, that the Green- 

 landers always endeavour to approach them against 

 the wind. And were we to judge of their taste 

 by the keenness with which they relish their food, 

 few animals possess it in equal perfection. The 

 greatest gourmand's teeth do not water at the anti- 

 cipation of the richest feast, as do theirs in expec- 

 tancy of their common food. " A copious saliva," 

 says M. F. Cuvier, " fills and flows from their mouth 

 during deglutition, and not less so the moment 

 the Seal perceives its prey."* 



Mammif. Sept. 1819, p. 5. 



