248 PHOCIDiE. 



dentition. It agrees with Ph. vitulina in the deep 

 angular emargination of the bony palate, but differs in 

 the form of the ascending processes of the interinaxilla- 

 ries, which run to a point up the sides of the nasals ; in 

 the posterior palatine foramena opening on or behind the 

 suture, instead of on the maxillary bones ; and in the 

 grinding teeth being placed in a straight line, and not 

 obliquely. 



This is a northern species, being especially abundant, 

 according to Dr. R. Brown, between 76° and 77° north 

 latitude. Parry met vvith it as far north as 82°. In 

 Greenland it is principally met with in the north, though 

 numbers are also killed in the southern settlements; in 

 Davis Strait it is very plentiful among icebergs and in 

 the great ice-fjords. Nilsson states that it is found in 

 Lake Saimen in Finland, and in Lake Onega, and he 

 regards the Seal of Lake Baikal as a variety of this 

 species, differing only in its more uniform grey colour, a 

 determination which is confirmed by Herr Radde, who 

 figures and describes the Baikal form in his " Reise im 

 Siiden von Ost-Siberien." The Ringed Seal is found on 

 all the Scandinavian coasts, both Atlantic and Baltic, and 

 was traced by Nilsson as far south as the Channel, whence 

 there are specimens in the Paris Museum. 



The claims of this species to be admitted to the British 

 Fauna rest principally on the occurrence of one speci- 

 men on the Norfolk coast in 1846, the skull of which 

 was presented to the Norwich Museum by Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney. This skull was sent for examination to Prof. 

 Flower in 1871, and was identified by him as belonging 

 to this species in the '' Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society " for that year. According to Mr. Southwell, 

 the Seal was bought in the flesh in a perfectly fresh con- 

 dition in the fish-market of Norwich, and was stated to 



