FAMILY P I N N A T A. FIN-FOOTED. 



29 



the Bengal Cat (F. Javanensis), native of Java ; and the Manul, from Mon- 

 golian Tartary. 



MEGALOTIS the Fennec. Of the Fennec there is but one known species 

 (M. Brucii), and this has been formed into a distinct genus by Illiger. 

 From the examination of one of the specimens now in the Zoological 

 Museum, Mr. Yarrell is convinced that it is a true Cams. 



PARADOXURCS. This genus resembles the Civets in the form of its teeth, 

 but is distinguished from them by its more close-set form and by the pecu- 

 liar arrangement of the tail, which, when rolled up only partially, the ex- 

 tremity exhibits the appearance of the prehensile tail of some American 

 Monkeys, but if the curling be continued, the whole tail down to the root 

 curls in a spiral form. The soles of the feet are tubercular, and the animal 

 treads on nearly the whole length of the foot, and has therefore some ana- 

 logy to the Raccoons. 



The species Musang (P. Typus) is twenty inches in length ; tail twenty- 

 two inches. In Java it is very destructive among the coffee plantations, 

 where it is called the Coffee Eat ; but its ravages are compensated by its 

 propagating the coffee plant in various parts of the forests and especially on 

 the declivities of fertile hills, thereby affording to the natives of the western 

 districts of Java no inconsiderable harvest without trouble on their part. 

 Schinz and Fisher include the Delundung or Felis Graalis of Horsefield in 

 this genus, but Cuvier places it among the Genettes. 



PROTELES. The name applied to this genus refers to its being furnished 

 with five anterior toes instead of four like the Hyaena, in which the thumb 

 is entirely deficient or at least only rudimental ; and though it in this re- 

 spect resembles the Civets, it differs from them in the proportional form of 

 the fore limbs, in which it corresponds with the Hyasias. It is remarkably 

 characterised by the shortness of its hind limbs, giving to the animal its 

 peculiar gait, which has necessarily great influence on its habits. They are 

 nocturnal, and are very dexterous in burrowing like the Fox, always, how- 

 ever, taking care to have numerous entrances to their hole. When angry, 

 they bristle up their fur over the whole body. They run pretty quickly. 

 They are found in the interior of Caffraria, and are so rare that they do not 

 appear to be known to the natives. 



Family FIN-FOOTED ; Pinnata. 



This family is characterised by feet so extremely short that on land they 

 barely assist the animal to crawl with, but in the water they serve as fins : 

 this circumstance, combined with their general conformation, renders them 

 expert swimmers. They come on land to suckle their young, or to enjoy 

 the glowing rays of the sun. They are known as Amphibious Animals. 

 The term Pinnata is from the Latin pinna, " a wing of a bird," or " a fin of 

 a fish." 



ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES. 



Genera. 



PLATE 9. 



Species. 



Common Name. 



Phoca Vitulina Common Seal. 



Otaria Nigra Black Otary or Seal. 



Trichechus - - - Vosmarinus - - - - Walrus. 



CHARACTERS OF THE GENERA. 



1. PHOCA (Gr. ^IWKIJ, a sea-calf). Four or six incisive teeth in the upper, 

 and two or four in the lower jaw, all pointed ; cuspid teeth conical and 

 slightly curved; molar teeth twenty-two or twenty-four, triangular, and 

 cutting or pointed ; muzzle and lips large ; nostrils capable of being per- 

 fectly closed, in one species extensible into a kind of trunk ; whiskers large 

 and numerous; external ears deficient; body covered with short, coarse 

 hair, lengthy, and tapering towards the tail, which is short; legs hardly 

 projecting from the trunk ; the feet five-toed, and the toes included in 

 membrane forming fins, with their pointed nails at the edge. 



2. OTARIA (Gr. ouc, (iroc, an ear). Distinct though small auricles or ex- 

 ternal ears ; incisive teeth, above, six, of which the middle four have a double 

 cutting edge, whilst the outer are single and smaller, below, four, forked, 



molar simply conical ; membrane of the hind feet expanded into a kind of 

 lobe reacliing beyond each toe ; nails flat and slender. 



3. TRICHECHUS (Gr. 0pi, hair, and l^w, I have). Muzzle obtuse, and 

 upper lip cleft ; in the upper jaw four incisive teeth, the middle two very 

 small and deciduous, the outer larger, cylindrical and obliquely truncated 

 inwards ; cuspid teeth krge, projecting downwards, cylindrical, pointed, 

 slightly curved, and their inner edge grooved longitudinally ; in the lower 

 jaw, neither incisive nor cuspid teeth ; molar, ten in the upper and eight in 

 the lower jaw, short, cylindrical, truncated ; no auricles ; body lengthy, fat, 

 and tapering towards the tail, which is little more than a fold of skin ; feet 

 five-toed, the toes connected with membrane, and forming paddles or fins ; 

 on the fore feet the inner toe or thumb is the longest, on the hind, the inner 

 and outer are much longer than the intermediate ones, and both hind 

 paddles are directed backwards, and approximated ; claws short ; four ven- 

 tral teats. 



PINNATA. DESCRIPTION OF THE SPECIES. 



PHOCA Seal. Seals differ but little from the Otaries ; the principal dif- 

 ference being in the absence of the auricle, and in the shortness of the 

 membrane of their fins. Their habits are very similar, living together in 

 large herds, principally passing their time in the seas, and only coming 

 ashore for any continuance during the time occupied by whelping and 

 bringing up their young. For this purpose they migrate in large herds from 

 the frozen Polar regions to warmer, desert shores, and laving there effected 

 their object, return again to the colder climes for which they are especially 

 adapted, being covered with a large quantity of fat, which, as with the 

 Whales, protects their animal heat from being destroyed by the extreme 

 cold to which they are continually subjected. They feed almost entirely on 

 fish, which they take by diving ; and in order to facilitate their operations, 

 the front of the eye is flattened somewhat like that of fishes, which enables 

 them to see better beneath the water than indeed they can above it. They 

 possess also, by a peculiar contrivance, the power of closing their nostrils so 

 as to prevent the entrance of the water ; and their external auditory pas- 

 sage is of such form as to preclude its admission there. They are generally 

 harmless and inoffen- 

 sive, except when pro- 

 voked, and are then 

 much more dangerous 

 at sea than ashore, as i| 

 when in the water their 

 motions are active, but 

 on land the bulkiness 

 of their bodies and the 

 form of their limbs, adapted to little more than swimming, prevent them 

 from moving quickly. 



They have been divided into the following subgenera: 1. The Caloce- 

 phala, large skull and short muzzle. The Common Seal (P. Vitulina). 

 From five to six feet in length. The appearance of the skin varies accord- 

 ing as it is wet or dry : when the Seal first leaves the water, the head, the 

 upper part of the body, the hind limbs, and the tail are slaty-grey, but on 

 the sides is varied with little round spots on a paler and yellowish ground, 

 of which tint are the under parts. When dry, the grey marking is seen 

 only along the mesial line, and sometimes there are also irregular spots on 

 the body of the same colour, but generally the rest of the body is entirely 

 yellowish. They are found in most parts of the world. They feed on all 

 kinds of fish, and are themselves very good food. If taken young, they are 

 easily tamed, will answer to their names when called, and appear as much 

 gratified with their master's caresses as a Dog. To the Greenlanders, Seals 

 are, as it has been well said by Crantz, " more needful than Sheep to us" 

 the flesh supplying them with food ; their fat with oil both for cooking and 

 for light ; of the tendons they make thread ; of the skins of the entrails they 

 make windows, tent-curtains, and shirts, and train-oil bottles of the maw ; 

 with the skins they cover their boats and tents, and formerly, when they 

 could not procure iron, they converted the bones into all kinds of instru- 



Seal. 



