TECHNICAL HISTORY SPECIES. 433 



&c., under A'arions Eskimo names, but wbicli lie was unable to 

 decipber. Ilr. Fleiscber, Colouibestyrer of Jacobsbavn, bas 

 aided me in resolving- tbese : 



" 1. iSiriuJdol; baving a long snout and a body similar to 

 Phoca grcenlandica, perbaps P. ursina. Tbis is apparently some 

 Eskimo perversion, if interpreted properly; for I am assured 

 tbat it is only tbe name of tbe Eider Duck [Somateria mollis- 

 sima). [In bis memoir in tbe ' Skrivter af Xaturbistorie- 

 Selskabet' (vol. i, part ii, p. 163) it is called ' Sviinsselen {Phoca 

 porcina) ', and be refers to it sucb diverse creatures as Molina's 

 ' Phoca porcina'' and Pennant's 'Bottle-nosed Seal,' and devotes 

 nearly four pages to its consideration.] 



"2. Imah-uJculliaj a Seal witb a snow- wbite coat, 'tbe eye pre- 

 senting a red iris, probably P. Icporina^ is a rare albino of tbe 

 Netsilc {Pagomys foetidus). Tbe meaning* of tbe word is tbe Sea- 

 bare. [In tbe 'Skrivter' (1. c. p. 168) tbis is called 'S^ebaren 

 {Phoca leporina)\ of wbicb Lepecbin's 'Phoca leporina^ and 

 Scbreber's 'sibiriscbe Seebund' are cited as synonyms.] 



"3. Atarpialc or atarpelc, 'tbe smallest species of Seal, not ex- 

 ceeding tbe size of tbe band, of a wbitisb color, and a blackisb 

 spot of tbe form of a balf-moon on eacb side of tbe body.' Tbis 

 description does not correspond to tbe meaning of tbe word, 

 wbicb is ' tbe Brown Seal'. [Tbis in tbe ' Skrivter' (1. c. p. 169) 

 appears as tbe 'Xiende Art, Atarpiak', witbout a Latin name or 

 synonyms.] Hr. Fleiscber tbinks tbat it is only a mytb, as is 



"4. KongcsteriaJc [not mentioned in tbe 'Skrivter'], wbicli 

 bas, ' according- to tbe description given by tbe natives, some 

 resemblance to tbe Sea-ape described by Mr. Heller '. Tbis is 

 one of tbe nortbern mytbs."* 



In 1792 appeared Kerr's "Animal Kingdom", tbe title-page 

 of wbicb states it to be "A translation of tbat part of tbe Sys- 

 tema Naturae, as lately publisbed by Professor Gmelin of Goet- 

 tingen, togetber witb numerous additions from more recent 

 zoological writers and illustrated witb copper plates." In tbis 

 work (pp. 121-128) nineteen species appear under tbe generic 

 name Phoca, witb five additional varieties, among wbicb we find 

 tbe real origin of quite a number of names currently attributed 

 to mucb later autbors. Tbe species and varieties bere enumer- 

 ated are tbe following, tbe new names being distinguisbed by 

 tbe use of tbick type: 1. Phoca ursina; 2. P. leonina (=Bot- 



*Proc. Zool. Soc. LoBclon, 1868, p. 360; Man. Nat. Hist., etc., Greenland, 

 pp. 31, 32. 



Misc. Pub. No. 12 28 



