ANIMALS' TOILETTES* 



THE sailor's fancy that pictured the mermaid 

 sitting on a rock with ' a glass and a comb ' in 

 her hand was not quite the myth it seems. Weary 

 of male companionship, he painted the bright-eyed 

 seals as sea-maidens. But if for * glass' we read 

 ' fan,' we may take it as a true account of the seal's 

 toilette. These harmless and affectionate creatures, 

 have, fixed to their front flipper, a neat little comb, 

 with which, when resting on the rocks, they care- 

 fully arrange and smooth the fur on their faces. 

 But the Northern fur-seals are very sensitive to 

 heat ; and when assembled in the rookeries on the 

 Pribilov Islands, both old and young may be seen 

 in thousands, lying on their sides, and fanning 

 themselves with their fore-flippers. The writer 

 noticed that Barnum's showman had taken advan- 



* This chapter, almost in its present form, was originally written for the Spectator 

 in 1893. It was quoted at length in various American papers, without reference to 

 the source from which it came, and the writer found a portion of it quoted in Mrs 

 Brightwen's book, More About Wild Nature, and attributed to an American Journal. 



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