May 6, 1875] 



NA TURE 



other species, a fuU-giown male being hardly more than 

 four feet lonf^. It is probable that it is identical with one 

 of the New Zealand Fur Seals, described by Dr. Gray as 

 Otaria cinerea. If this should turn out to be the case, it 

 will have a wider range than any of the others of the 

 group. 



There is certainly another species of Sea Lion on the 

 coast of New Zealand, called Hooker's Sea Bear— Otaria 

 hoekeri. Its only certain habitat is the Aucklands, It is 

 a large species, the males about six feet long, the females 

 proportionately smaller. Though these New Zealand 

 coasts and islands, together with the coasts of the main- 

 land of Australia, have been visited and surveyed in 

 every direction by English expeditions, no one has ever 

 thought of preserving specimens for museums, so that we 

 really know less about the seals of our colonies than we 

 do about those of foreign coasts. Thus there is certainly 

 a large species on the west coast of Australia, at the 

 group of islands called Houtman's Abrolhos, described 

 by Dr. Gray as Neophoca lobafa. We are almost equally 

 ignorant about the Sea L ons of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 The species from that locality living in the Gardens — 

 Otaiiapusilla — is a very small one with an excellent fur. 

 The Antarctic Sea Lion — Otaria antarctica (Gray) — is 

 also from the Cape. This completes the number of 

 species of Otarias, which may be thus tabulated : — 



Otaria 



Antarctica ( ^"^^"^ South Africa and the adjacent islands. 



Filklinl'ca I '^'^^"^ Cape Horn and the adjacent islands. 



Japonica 



Stelleri 



Ursina 



Hooka-i 



from the North Pacific. 



Lobata 



from Australia and New Zealand, 



In some respects intermediate between the Sea Lions 

 and true Seals, is the Walrus, an animal with the head 

 flattened in front, the upper lips with long stiff whiskers, 

 the two enormous tusks, the short bull-like neck, and the 

 vast carcase. Stuffed specimens err in being too distended 

 and smooth, all the natural wrinkles being removed. The 

 hair is thin and short. The attitude resembles in the 

 main that of the Sea Bear, as do the limbs, the thumb 

 being the longest digit, and the hind feet directed forward. 

 There are no external ears, but a fold of skin above the 

 auditory opening. The eyes, destitute of lashes, are 

 deeply set. The tusks, developed in the female as well 

 as in the male, never exceed twenty-six inches in length, 

 including the imbedded root of six inches. The creature 

 is omnivorous. It is becoming very scarce in its favourite 

 haunts, on account of the indiscriminate way in which it 

 is slaughtered. Upwards of i,ooo are still taken annually 

 in the neighbourhood of Spitzbergen. Formerly it was 

 found at Bear Island and on the coast of Finmark. It is 

 still found on the east coast of Greenland, on the west 

 shore of Davis' Straits, about Pond's, Scott's, and Howe 

 Bays. In 1775 they resorted, to the number of over 7,000 

 a year, to the Magdalen Islands, at the mouth of the St. 

 Lawrence, and the English once had a fishery at Cape 

 Breton. It can be mentioned only as a straggler to our 

 coasts. 



Every part of the animal is of value— the tusks, the 

 hide, and the flesh. The word Wah'iis means " Whale 

 Horse," Ross being the Danish for a steed. Morse is 

 Russian. The Greenlandcrs call it Awii/c, a name derived, 

 it is said, from the cry of the young animal. 



Seals are in a state of far less confusion than Sea Lions, 

 The species are numerous, Dr. Gray recognising fourteen 

 species and thirteen genera. As a basis for classification, 

 the number of incisor teeth, together with the shape of 

 the hands, leads to a very natural arrangement of the 

 family. Following this, we find that four incisors above 

 and four below unite the four Seals of the Southern 



Ocean with the Mediterranean Seal. The six northern 

 species, again, have all six incisors above, and four below, 

 their hands being like those of the "Bearded" and 

 " Common " Seals. Lastly, four incisors above and two 

 below separate off those very remarkable forms, the 

 "Bladder Seal" of the north and the mighty "Sea 

 Elephant " of the south, which have the further point in 

 common of a remarkable development of the nasal pas- 

 sages. The Sea Leopard — or Leopards, if there are really 

 two — together with the Crab-eating Seal, which ought 

 most probably to be united in the same genus with them, 

 inhabit the Antarctic Ocean. In the last-named species 

 the molar teeth are remarkably modified. 



The fourth Antarctic Seal is that called Ommatophoca 

 tossi — Ross's Large-eyed Seal, known only from specimens 

 procured from Sir J. Ross's Antarctic Expedition. The 

 next species we come to is the Monk Seal {Monachus 

 albiventcr), which inhabits the Mediterranean and the 

 Island of Madeira. 



Of the " Hooded Seal," or " Bladder Nose," till a few 

 days ago a fire male specimen was living in the Society's 

 Gardens. The length attained ranges between seven and 

 twelve feet. Though a true seal, it has the power of using 

 the fore-feet to walk on land to a certain degree. The 

 nose is broad and flat, and in the male the upper wall of 

 the nostril is so loose that it can be blown up at will into 

 a hood. The use of this curious appendage is not 

 known. Its habits are migratory. It is found in South 

 Greenland, rarely in Iceland and Norway, never now at 

 Spitzbergen, The nearest ally to this seal is the " Sea 

 Elephant," described by Anson in 1742, from Juan Fer- 

 nandez. It has been recorded to be thirty feet long. The 

 nostrils of the male are prolonged into the remarkable 

 appendage which has been the origin of its name, "■ Pro- 

 boscis Seal," the tubular proboscis being, when inflated, a 

 foot in length. 



Round the English coast there are two species of 

 seals that are tolerably common, the Common Seal 

 {Phoca vitiilina) and the Great Grey Seal {Phoca gry- 

 phits). The former frequents both sides of the North 

 Atlantic, Spitzbergen, Greenland, and Davis' Straits. 

 The latter species is far rarer in this country. It is not 

 found in Polar waters nor in the Mediterranean Sea, 

 where the former exists. Further north we come to three 

 other seals, the Bearded Seal {P. barbatd), the Greenland 

 Seal {P. granlajtdtca), and the Ringed Seal (P.hispidd) ; 

 the two latter sometimes appear on our coasts as 

 stragglers. 



The lecturer concluded by remarking on the necessity 

 for some international agreement to prevent the destruc- 

 tive effects of the short-sighted policy now adopted in 

 seal-hunting. 



{JTo be continued^ 



ON LIGHTNING PI CURES 

 T^HE letter headed " Struck by Lightning," and signed 

 -*- " D. Pidgeon," contained in Nature, vol. xi. p. 405, 

 is valuable, and the more so because it is unaccompanied 

 by any theory. Formerly, when ramified marks appeared 

 on the persons of men or animals, they were always 

 referred to some near or distant tree, of which the marks 

 formed "an exact portrait." Thus, in the Times of Sep- 

 tember 10, 1866, is an account of a boy who had taken 

 refuge under a tree during a thunderstorm, having been 

 struck by lightning, and on his body was found " a per- 

 fect image of the tree, the fibres, leaves, and branches 

 being represented with photographic accuracy." 



In a paper read by me before the British Association 

 at Manchester in 1861, I attempted to show that such 

 ramified figures are not derived from any tree whatever, 

 but represent the fiery hand of the hghtning itself. Very 

 instructive tree-like figures may be produced on sheets of 

 crown glass by passing over them the contents of a Ley- 

 den jar. For this purpose the plates (those I used were 



