265 



URSINE SEAL. 



Phoca Ursina. P. nigrkans, naso jimo, capite auriculato, pedibut 



anteriorilus pinniformibus. 

 Eared blackish Seal, with flattish nose, and fore feet shaped like 



fins. 



Ursus marinus. Steller nw. act. Petrop. z. p. 331. /. 15* 

 Ursine Seal. Pennant Quadr. p. 281. 



THIS is one of the larger seals, growing to the 

 length of eight feet, and weighing eight hundred 

 pounds. The female falls far short of the size 

 and weight of the male. The body of this spe- 

 cies is of a very thick form, somewhat conical or 

 decreasing towards the tail : the greatest circum- 

 ference is about five feet, and near the tail about 

 twenty inches : the nose projects like that of a 

 pug dog, but the head rises suddenly : the nos- 

 trils are oval, and divided by a septum : the lips 

 thick : their inside red and serrated : the whiskers 

 long and white: the teeth lock into each other 

 when the mouth is closed : in the upper jaw are 

 four cutting-teeth, each bifurcated : on both sides 

 is a small sharp canine-tooth, bending inwards: 

 near that another larger: the grinders resemble 

 canine-teeth, and are six in number in each jaw: 

 in the lower jaw are also four cutting-teeth and 

 two canine, but only four grinders in each jaw : 

 in all thirty-six teeth : tongue bifid : eyes large 

 and prominent : iris black : pupil emerald-green. 

 The eyes are furnished with a fleshy membrane 

 with which they may occasionally be covered: 

 the ears are small and sharp-pointed ; hairy with- 



v. I. P. IT. 18 



