MAMMALIAN GALLERY. 



Fig. 7. 



Northern Fur-Seal ( Callwliinus ursimis), rf and $ ; after Elliot. 



all Eared Seals seem to be polygamous. Of the numerous species, 

 one of the most worthy of mention is the Fur-Seal (Callorhinm 

 ursinus), of the North Pacific, from which most of the seal- 

 skins sold are obtained. It may be observed that the coats of the 

 stuffed specimens do not show any resemblance to the "seal-skin " of 

 thetrade; in the latter only the soft under-fur of immature andfemale 

 specimens is preserved, all the long coarse hairs having been 

 removed. 



Intermediate in many respects between the Eared and True 

 Seals are the Trichechida, containing but a single species, Triche- 

 chus rosmarus, the Walrus, which lacks external ears, but uses 

 its hind limbs after the manner of the Eared Seals. In one 

 respect, however, it is quite unique namely, in its possession of 

 enormously long and powerful canine teeth, or " tusks/' which 

 project downwards far below the lower jaw, and are used for fight- 

 ing, for climbing from the water on to the ice, and for digging on 

 the sea-bottom for the shell-fish and crustaceans on which this 

 species chiefly lives. Its range extends all round the North Pole, 

 along the edges of the ice-fields. 



In the Phocida, or True Seals, the adaptation for an aquatic 



