5. ZALOPHUS. 27 



as the Arctocephalus nigrescens, and which Dr. Peters calls 0. falTc- 

 landica. 



I sent a piece of the fur of this Seal to Dr. Peters to be compared 

 with the fur of 0. PhiUppii. He observes, " They appear to be 

 quite different ; the wool of 0. falHandica is fair and has more 

 similarity in colour to the young of 0. cinerea. The wool of 0. 

 Philijppii is entirely ferruginous red, and the longer hairs are stiffer 

 and have a much shorter grey tip than in 0. falklandicaJ' 



6. Arctocephalus ? nivosus. Cape Hair-Seal. B.M. 



Fur very short, close-pressed, black, varied with close, small, 

 often confluent, white spots ; underside of the neck with a few 

 scattered white hairs ; belly red-brown (nearly bay) ; hairs short, 

 thick, of one colour to the base ; under-fur none, except a very few 

 hairs on the crown of the head. Skull unknown. 



Arctocephalus ? nivosus, Ann. ^ Mag. N. H. 1868, i. p. 219. 



Inhab. Cape of Good Hope. B.M. 



Length of skin nearly 8 feet ; but stretched and flattened. 



Dr. Murie (P. Z. S. 1869, p. 108) says that this is only a variety, 

 seasonal, sexual, or of a different age from the specimens hitherto 

 obtained. 



Mr. Allen adopts this view, never having seen the specimen, but 

 changes the phrase into " a previously known species " (Bull. Mus. 

 Comp. Zool. ii. p. 18) ; but neither of them mentions the species to 

 which he refers it. 



But surely Mr. AUen does not mean that it is only a variety of 

 the skins which were received with it from the Cape of Good Hope ; 

 for, if that were the case, the species would belong to one of his sub- 

 families, and the variety to the other. 



In the form and length of the hair it is very different from Areto- 

 cephalus antarcticus ; and it is almost destitute of under-fur, except 

 on the crown of the head. 



Tribe lY. ZALOPHINA. 



Grinders | . |^, large, thick, in a close continuous series ; the fifth 

 upper in front of the back edge of the zygomatic arch. 



In the younger skull the grinders are placed rather further back, 

 the hinder part of the upper grinder being behind the back edge of 

 the zygomatic arch. The grinders all single-rooted, as the last or 

 sixth grinder in each jaw, which is generally two-rooted, is absent. 

 The face of the skull is considerably produced, and the forehead is 

 flat. 



Zalophina, Grag, Ann. ^ Mag. N. H. 1869, iv. p. 269. 



5. ZALOPHUS. 



Palate concave, narrow in front, wider at the line of the last 

 grinder, and then contracted behind. The hinder nares narrow, 



