139 



COMMON SEAL OF THE FRENCH 

 COAST. 



PLATE III. 



Phoca vitulina, Linn. Phoque Commun of the French, L 

 Veritable Veau Marine, F. ^uv 



AFTER having thus dwelt at some length upon 

 what we regard as the true Vitulina of the British 

 shores, we shall next introduce to notice that variety 

 which Baron Cuvier has selected* as the type of the 

 genus, and which M. F. Cuvier denominates " Le ve- 

 ritable veau marine! 9 This animal, if the true Ph. vi- 

 tulina, should of course have the same essential cha- 

 racters with the one we have just left ; and any ap- 

 parent differences should be only temporary and in- 

 significant, the consequences of youth, age, &c. 

 Having had no opportunity of examining the iden- 

 tical variety selected by Cuvier, we cannot decide 

 if the two in every essential character coincide. 

 From the examination of the plates, we should be 

 d to suspect that they differ ; and this suspicion is 



* Oss Foss. t. v. p. 200 



