426 FAMILY PHOCID^. 



"Neitsek" bears the name Phoca hispida, between which and 

 Fabricius's Phoca fcetida there is consequently a troublesome 

 <luestiou of priority.* In Schreber's work are first formally 

 introduced into a general systematic treatise, the Siberian Seal 

 and the Casi^ian Seal (based wholly respectively on i)reYious 

 descriptions of the same by Steller and Gmeliiit), and "Der 

 graue Seehund," commonly referred to Halichcerus grypus. 

 Schreber also described, under the head of Phoca, two species 

 of Dtary. His species are the following: 1. Der SeebJir, Phoca 

 nrsina (= Ursus marinns) -, 2. Der glatte Seelo we, P/<ocrt /eom'wa 

 ( = primarily Anson's Sea Lion); 3. Der zottige Seelo we, P/iom 

 Jiihata ( = primarily Steller's Leo marimis, but including also the 

 Southern Sea-Lion) ; 4. Phoca vituUna ; 5. Der graue Seehund 

 {= Erignathus harhafm); 0. Der sibirische Seehund ( P/tom 

 .sibirica); 7. Der caspische ^eehnud {= Phoca casjrica) ; 8. Der 

 Schwarzside {= Phoca, grcenlandica) ; 9. Der rauhe Seehund 

 (named Phoca hispida on the plate); 10. Der Klappmiize 

 (= Cystophora cristata); 11. Der grosse Seehund { = Phoca 

 harhata + H. grypus); 12. Der kleine geohrte Seehund, P/ioea 

 pusilla. These twelve species, excepting the last, all represent 

 valid species, nine of which belong to the present tsimily. 

 He mentions, however, Olafsen's Gramm-Selur as still another 

 "grosse Seehundsart," but does not formally no'^ice it as a spe- 

 cies. His Der grosse Seehund, it should be further noticed, is- 

 based on the Utsuk of Cranz and theUt-Selur of Olafsen, com- 

 bining an account of the habits of the latter with a description 

 of the external characters of the other. 



Olavsen (or Olafsen, as more commonly written), in his account 

 of his travels in Iceland, published in 1772, | repeatedly alludes 

 to the various species of Seals met with in Iceland. As already 

 noticed, Olafsen is quoted by Schreber, and quite frequently by 

 later writers. While he describes quite fully their habits, dis- 

 tribntion, and products, he has very little to say of their external 



* For a discussion of this point see posted under Phoca fcetida. 



+ Schreber's "Der caspische Seehund" is based on the account of the 

 Caspian Seal given by Gmelin in 1770, in the llaird volume (p. 246) of his 

 Reise durch Russland zur Untersuchung der drey Naturreiche. 



1 1 cite here the German edition entitled "Des Bice-Lavmands Eggert 

 Olafsens und des Landphysici Biarne Povelsens Reise durch Island, veran- 

 staltet von der Koniglichen Societlit der Wissenschaften in Kopenhagen 

 und beschrieben von bemeldtem Eggert Olafsen. Aus dem Diiuischen iiber- 

 setzt. Mit 25 Knpfertafeln und eiuer neaeu Charte iiber Island versehen.. 

 Kopenhagen und Leipzig l)ey Heiuecke und Faber, 1774." Zwei Theilen, 1^.. 



