ROUGH OR BRISTLED SEAL. 167 



Rough Seal. No representation of it, however, 

 has ever been published in this country, and little 

 has since been added to its history either by English 

 or French Naturalists, though Baron Cuvier men- 

 tions he was in possession of two crania of the spe- 

 cies which were sent from Copenhagen. 



We cannot, therefore, do better than first present 

 the description of the author of the Fauna Green - 

 landica, He states tliat it is the smallest of all the 

 species which are found in the Northern regions, 

 scarcely ever exceeding four and a half feet in 

 length, and usually reaching only four feet, with a 

 perpendicular height of ten inches. The head is 

 short and round, the muzzle extending to about 

 one-third of the whole head. The whiskers are 

 white, with a few black hairs ; they are sharp, com- 

 pressed, and a good deal curved at their extremities; 

 the eyes are small, the pupil white, and the iris brown. 

 The body is almost elliptical and slender ; the back 

 somewhat gibbous ; the belly flat, especially near the 

 fore paws ; the hair is thick set, somewhat erect, 

 rather long, soft and fine, with curly wool at its root. 

 The colour is on the back brownish, intermixed 

 with white spots, and on the abdomen is white, 

 with a few brownish spots ; the young are almost 

 without spots, but have the back of a somewhat 

 livid colour, with the belly white. The old have 

 the most distinct markings, and in them the snout 

 is almost naked, with few or no hairs. The old 

 males have a most disgusting smell, which annoys 

 even the Greenlander. 



