THE PEDRO SEAL. 309 



There are nails only on the fore paws, those of the 

 hinder being rudimentary. The eyes are large, black, 

 and full, and the irides crimson. 



" When the specimen from which these notes were 

 made first arrived, it was very lively, and so sensible 

 to the slightest touch, that however lightly the hand 

 might be placed on the fur, it felt the contact, and 

 moved rapidly away, jerking the whole body forwards. 

 When left unmolested it was playful. It ploughed 

 the water with the nose, and snorted as it drew the 

 head out. It grunted like a pig, and barked, growled, 

 and snarled, like a dog. It was fond of turning upon 

 the back and lying dozing. In this posture it slept 

 and basked in the sun. It refused all food, and lived 

 four months without eating. Symptoms of dulness 

 only appeared in the last month, when it was found 

 to be labouring under some disease of the head ; and 

 when it died it was discovered to have become totally 

 blind, the dark pupil of the eye having disappeared, 

 together with the crimson colour of the iris. It was 

 surprisingly fat, notwithstanding its long fast. The 

 fat was four inches thick, and yielded four gallons 

 of oil. It was a male, but the organs of generation 

 were not externally perceptible. This organisation 

 is accordant with the peculiarities of the Seal tribe : 

 in the female the teats are concealed in the skin, and 

 the lacteal fulness swells with the rotundity of the 

 body, so that the animal does not suffer pain or 

 inconvenience when crawling on land ; and the bifid 

 termination of the tongue, another peculiarity, is an 

 adaptation which enables the young of the Phocidcs 

 to seize the nipple under comparatively difficult cir- 



