FAMILY PHOCID.€:. 53 



General Assembly, to encourage the destruction of wild-cats ; and in 1745, it was still found 

 necessary to renew this act. At present, it is believed that they are entirely extirpated from 

 this and the adjacent counties. They are still found in the more northern and western counties, 

 in the wooded districts, where they prey upon birds and the smaller quadrupeds. 



FAMILY VIII. PHOCID^. 



Teeth various. Feet short and fin-shaped, not free, the phalanges being enveloped in the 

 teguments. Hind feet horizontal. Rarely leave the water. Piscivorous. 



Obs. Some of the species are of great bulk, and all contribute in various ways to the wants 

 of mankind. I am acquainted with the type of but one genus within this State. 



GENUS PHOCA. Cuvier. 



Head rounded. No external ears. Eyes very large. Feet with five toes, connected by a 

 thick membrane. Mammce two, pectoral. Tail short and thick. Teeth of three kinds : 

 Incisors, | ; canines, | ; cheek teeth, -f | = 34. Cheek teeth trenchant, many-lobed. 



Obs. To this genus, as restricted by Cuvier, belong at present about thirteen species, more 

 or less perfectl}- indicated. The difficulty of examining the individuals of this family must be 

 very great. A recent English writer states, that " Utile more is known of the Common Seal, 

 " though an inhabitant of our own seas, than of those which are met with in the most distant 

 " latitudes." 



THE AMERICAN SEAL. 



PhOCA eONCOLOR. 

 PLATE XVIII. FIG. a.— (STATE COLLECTION.) 

 Phoca vituUtw ? Mitchill, Am. Month. Mag. Vol. 3, p. 357. 



Characteristics. Uniform dark slaty grey. Young, entirely light yellow. Length, four feet. 



Description {of a female caught in the Sound near Sands' Point.) Body elongated, cylin- 

 drical, tapering gradually from the chest to the tail. Head broad and rounded, with the 

 muzzle broad and truncated. Nostrils sublunate, 0'8 long. Tongue deeply emarginate at 

 tip, and ciliated in the notch. Auditory opening 1 " 5 behind the eye, with a small mammillary 

 elevation about 0'2o high on its anterior border. Whiskers white, with short bevels on the 

 edges ; disposed in five or six rows, the posterior stoutest and longest ; from 4 - 6 in a group 

 above, and somewhat behind the eye. In repose, the web of the fore feet extends almost to 

 the tips of the claws ; these are 1 • 5 long, gi-adually decreasing in size from the anterior : 

 claws robust, flattened, incurved. When the web is extended, the edge is slightly webbed. 



