ll"* 



2 Soiitlicfu Cross. 



». WtMl.ltiir.s Scul, or the Kiilse Loopanl-Seal {Lcptony- 



'\w True U'(.i.iir<l-Sual {(h/morhium IrpUmjjx), and 



!;.„,. S-al ((h.um,loph»-n rossi). All tlit'sc are at home on the 



.f iho exlreiiK' S».uth I'olar rei^'ions, probably at all portions 



... ....^ .iiva. n re-ion where neither tlie Elephant-Seal nor any 



of Fuiretl Seal are known to exist. Three of them are not 



tl to the iM\ck-ice, but have l)een found elsewhere ; the single 



•ion bein^ Koss's Seal. No other mammal has ever been 



bnui-ht from tl>e Anfaretic, and it is highly unlikely, in spite of 



. stat^Miieiits to the contrary, that any remarkably new form 



..J : lUan life, at least among the Pinnipeds, remains to be 



Of the alK>ve.-nientioned four species the earliest to attract the 



ntlontion of Zoologists, and perhaps the best known to science at the 



pn'sent day, is the Ix'<tpard-Seal, a species which was first recognised 



a-H (listlMct by De lilainville in 1820. In 1822 appeared the first 



iiolict? of Wtnldell's Seal in the shape of a short description by 



1*1 " .Taiueson in * Weddell's Voyage to the South Pole/ to be 



fnlinwcii by its correct description in binominal terms by Lesson in 



IS'JG. Next in order comes the Crab-eating Seal, discovered by the 



French exjiedition of 1837-1840. This species formed the subject of 



two plates in .lacciuinot's and Pucherau's 'Atlas,' published some 



time lH!lwt>en 1842 and 1844. Lastly, Ross's Seal was discovered 



by Sir .lanie-s Clark llosr, during his voyage of 1839-1843, and was 



by l)r. J. E. (Jray in his account of the ' Zoology of the 



\ 1 H.M.S. " Erebus" and " Terror" ' published in 1844. Sir 



•' fxjtedition obtained specimens of each of the four species, 



*»' "".^ly (Iniy's work bec-ame, and still remains, the standard 



d' , '11 of them all. It contains in fact the first written descrip- 



liMfi Mf th.' Cralnoating Seal and of lioss's Seal, and the first 



«i iii»tion of Weddell's Seal. 



1S44 until the nineties, practically no specimens, except 



t home by sealers, reached our museums; and even the 



' shan- of the .spoil, ulthough fortunately described by 



. U liiiiiii Turner in 1S8S, was meagre enough. 



!• •, .„.! ...,,. rising then, that while we actually knew nothinu 



>nd habits of any of the four species, two of them 



1 » and lto.Hs's Seals) might, until a year or two ago, have 



•ind elaime*! justly, to l)e considered amongst the rarest and 



ly known of all Mammals. ( )f the latter species, in fact, 



I mens were known to exist. A third skin, 



^ uu uuuc atucncu lu which luis disappeared, is preserved, as Prof. 



