of the Falkland Islands and Southern America. 101 
The furs of the different species of Fur-Seals are exceedingly 
different in external appearance, especially in the younger 
specimens, or when the fur is in its most perfect condition. In 
most species the hairs are much longer than the under-fur ; 
they are flat and more or less rigid and crisp. In others the 
hairs are short, much softer, scarcely longer than the soft 
woolly under-fur ; in these species the fur is very dense, stand- 
ing nearly erect from the skin, forming a very soft elastic coat, 
as in O. falklandicus and O. Stellert. ‘The hair of O. nigres- 
cens is considerably longer than that of O. cinerea, but not so 
harsh, the fur of the half-grown O. nigrescens being longer, 
sparse, flat, rather curled at the end, giving a crispness to 
the feel; while the hairs of the very young specimens are 
abundant, nearly of equal length, forming an even coat that is 
soft and smooth to the touch. 
- Difficult as it is for the zoologist to distinguish the species 
by their external appearance, the skins of the different species 
of Fur-Seals are easily distinguished. by the dealers, even 
when they are wet, showing that the practical fellmonger is in 
advance of the scientific man in such particulars, as the dealers 
in whalebone were in regard to the distinction of the species of 
whale by their baleen (see Zool. Erebus & Terror). 
At the Dyster, Nalden, & Co. public sale of Cape Fur-Seals 
they are subdivided into large, middling, and small “ wigs”’. 
(these are males with a mane), ‘ middlings” and “smalls” 
(females and young males), large, middling, and small “ pups” 
(these are half-grown), and black “pups” (very young ani- 
mals). They are imported salted in casks. 
The longer hairs of the Fur-Seals are very slender and 
Te at the basal half of their length, and thicker and | 
arker at the upper half, and often have a white tip. The 
basal half is subcylindrical, the upper half is flat, tapering at 
each end. The absolute length of the hairs and the length as 
compared with the length of the under-fur differ in the various 
species. Judging from the old and young specimens of A.n7- 
grescens, the hairs seem to be longer, both absolutely and rela- 
tively to the under-fur, in the young than in the adult animals. 
The hairs of the Hair-Seal are shorter, flat, channelled 
above, and gradually tapering from the base to the tip, merely 
contracted at the insertion into the skin. The breadth of the 
hairs seems to vary in the different species ; and in the younger 
specimens there are to be observed some soft hairs like the 
under-fur of the Fur-Seals. 
The Falkland Islands is a sealing-station, and is the home 
of several species, the southern Sea-Bear (Otaria jubata) 
and a Hair-Seal (O. Hookert) being found there, as well as the 
