CARNARIA. 71 



These animals live on fish; always eat in the water, and c'ose their nostrils 

 when they dive by a kind of valve. They remain a long time under water; 

 there is a large venous sinus in the liver, which must assist them in diving, 

 by rendering respiration less necessary to the motion of the blood. Their blood 

 is very abundant and very black. 



PHOCA, properly so called, or without external ears. 



The true Phocse have pointed incisors ; all the toes enjoy a certain degree of 

 motion, and are terminated by pointed nails planted on the edge of the 

 membrane which unites them. 



They are subdivided, from the number of their incisors. The CALOCE- 

 PHALA (Fr. Cuv.) have six above and four below; such is the 



Phoca vitulina, Lin. (The Common Seal.) From three to five feet in 

 length ; of a yellowish grey, more or less shaded, and spotted with brown, 

 according to its age; sometimes brownish, with small yellow spots. When 

 very old it becomes whitish. Common on the coast of Europe in great herds. 

 It is also found far to the north ; we are even assured that it is this species 

 which inhabits the Caspian Sea, and the great fresh water lakes of Russia and 

 Siberia, but this assertion does not appear to be founded on an exact 

 comparison. In fact, the European seas contain several Phocae, which have 

 long been confounded, some of which are perhaps mere varieties of the others. 



STENORHINCUS, Fred. Cuvier. 



Four incisors above, and four below, the molars deeply notched into three 

 points. 



One species only is known, and that is from the Austral seas PA. leptonix, 

 Blain. Size of the barbata ; greyish above, yellowish beneath ; nails small. 



PELAGUS, Fred. Cuvier. 



Four incisors also, above and below; but their grinders are obtuse cones, 

 with a slightly marked heel before and behind. There is one of them in the 

 Mediterranean. 



Ph. monachus, Gm. (The Monk.) From ten to twelve feet in length, of 

 a blackish brown, with a white belly. It is particularly found among the 

 Grecian and Adriatic Islands, and is, most probably, the species best known 

 to the ancients. 



STEMMATOPUS, Fred. Cuvier. 



Four superior incisors, and two inferiors, grinders compressed, slightly trilo- 

 bate, supported by thick roots. Such is the 



Ph. cristata, Gm. (The Hooded Seal.) Seven or eight feet long; apiece 

 of loose skin on the head, which can be inflated at the pleasure of the animal, 

 and is drawn over the eyes when it is menaced, at which times the nostrils 

 also are inflated like bladders. From the Arctic Ocean. 



Finally, the MACROBHINUS (Fr. Cuv.) has the incisors of the preceding, 

 obtuse conical molars, and the muzzle resembling a short moveable proboscis, 

 or snout. The largest seal known is of this subgenus; the 



Ph. leoninh, Lin. (The Elephant Seal.) From twenty to twenty-five feet in 

 length ; brown; the muzzle of the male terminated by a wrinkled snout, which 



