SOME REMARKABLE TYPES 51 



of small service when on land. Only the fore-limbs indeed are 

 ever used during this time, the hind-limbs having lost the power 

 of being turned forwards or of taking any part in the support 

 of the body, as may be seen in Fig. 15. 



The teeth of the seal are peculiar in that there are no specially 

 modified " cheek-teeth " such as are met with in cats and dogs, 

 and other flesh- and fish-eating animals related thereto. But 

 such teeth are not needed, since the prey is swallowed whole and 

 not torn in pieces first. 



Seals are to be met with occasionally on the south coast of 

 England, but they are common along parts of the Scottish and 

 Irish coasts. 



The " eared-seals " or " sea- lions " differ from the seals just 

 described, being less modified or less " specialised " in that, 

 among other things, they retain traces of an outer ear, and can 

 turn the hind-limbs forwards so as to aid in walking when on 

 land. The " fur-seals " from which the sealskin sold by furriers 

 and milliners is obtained are " eared-seals." 



A word about " sealskin " fur. This is furnished by the 

 " eared-seals." But the fur of commerce represents, not the 

 outer coat seen on the living animals, but the close-set, velvety 

 under fur, which in these seals is remarkably well developed. 

 The outer portion of the fur is composed of rather coarse hair, 

 and this must all be removed by the furrier before the fur is 

 ready for market. An under fur of this kind is developed by a 

 number of different animals, as, for example, in the beaver and 

 the North American musk-rat. The skins of this latter indeed 

 are commonly treated like the skins of the sea-lion, when the 

 resultant under-fur is sold for real " sealskin " ! 



So far, in the animals dealt with in this chapter, attention 

 has been drawn to the sum of all their characters and 

 peculiarities, rather than to any special feature. But habits of 

 observation in children will be materially quickened if their 

 attention is drawn towards certain everyday aspects of animal life 

 which commonly pass unnoticed, because too familiar to seem to 

 call for comment. 



Take the question of locomotion. The fact that mankind 



