MONK SEAL. 189 



this is perhaps the species best known. It fre- 

 quents the southern shores of Europe, and has fre- 

 quently been examined by those who are compe- 

 tent to the task. Considering its habitat, and the 

 old descriptions which remain, it is probably the 

 species which was most familiar to the ancients. A 

 property which was ascribed to its skin may be 

 regarded as a striking exhibition of the extent of 

 superstition, and of conscious guilt and timidity. 

 By the undaunted Romans the skins of these Seals 

 were considered as an efficacious preservative against 

 lightning; and hence tents were constructed of 

 them, under which they sheltered themselves dur- 

 ing thunder storms. It is also mentioned by Sue- 

 tonius, that such was the Emperor Augustus* dread 

 of lightning, that, while at his usual place of resi- 

 dence, he resorted to a vaulted retreat under ground, 

 on the approach of thunder ; and when on a journey, 

 he never travelled without carrying along with him 

 one of these skins.* 



For the description of this species we turn to the 

 lively pen of Buffon, and the minute details of M. F. 

 Cuvier. The former has given a particular description 

 of a male, and the other of a female, which were at 

 different times exhibited to the public. Both were 

 taken in the Adriatic, and they agreed exactly in 

 their general appearance ; as did a third, captured in 

 the same Sea, which was examined by Baron Cuvier 

 in the Museum of Turin. 



* Sec Memoir on Thunder by M. Arago. Edin. New Phil. 

 Journ. vol. xxvi. 



