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VERTEBRATA. 



THE UOODED SEAL. 



This species is found on the coasts of Greenland and of North America down to the United 

 State?. It especially haunts the open sea, and is said chiefly to visit the land in April, May, and 

 June. They are found for the most part on large ice-islands, where they sleep without precau- 

 tion; and occur in great numbers in Davis's Straits, where they are stated to make two voyages a 

 year, in September and March. They depart to bring forth their young, and return in June very 

 lean and exhausted. In July they proceed again to the north, where they appear to procure 

 plenty of food, for they return in high condition in September. The crested seal is said to be po- 

 lygamous, and to have its young on the ice. Its bite is formidable, and its voice is stated to re- 

 semble the bark and whine of a dog. When surprised by the hunter, it weeps copiously. Among 

 themselves they have fierce encounters, and inflict deep wounds in the conflicts, with their claws 

 and teeth. 



This is one of the species pursued by the seal-hunters, and together with the Rough Seal, fur- 

 nishes the greatest number of skins taken to the markets of Great Britain. The natives of the 

 coasts of Greenland, Labrador, <fec, clothe their women with the skins of the young, and cover 

 their boats and houses with the skins of the old ones. They head their hunting-spears with the 

 teeth, and Mow up the stomachs into fishing buoys. 



Genus MACRORHINTJS : Macrorkinus of F. Cuvier. — Of this there is one species, the Sea 

 Elephant and Elephant Seal of the English ; the Phmjuc a trompe of Boron ; the -Elephant marin 

 of tie- French, and Bottle-nose of Pennant; the M. proboscideus of naturalists. The animals of this 

 species are remarkable for the nose of the male being prolonged into a kind of proboscis, which 

 respires violently when the creature is excited, and is elongated in the form of a tube about a foot 

 long when it is preparing for attack and defense. "When the animal is in a state of repose it is 

 shrunk, and the proboscis is flaccid, giving the face a large and puffed appearance. The female 

 is not provided with this ornamental feature. This species is found in the southern hemisphere. 

 both in the Atlantic aid Southern Oceans, between 35° and 55° south latitude, at KergueL 

 Land, South Georgia, Juan Fernandez, South Shetland Islands, and Falkland Islands. A few arc 

 captured near the Cape of Good Hope, and on the coasts of Chili and Patagonia and New Hol-v 

 land. 



Tin- enormous animal, which, to use the expression of Mr. Lizars, "compared with any ordi- 

 nary seal three or four feel long, appears like an elephant when compared'to a sheep," owes its 

 name to its size and bulk, most probably, quite as much a- to the proboscis with which the male. 



