90 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Sub-family c. Trichecina. 

 TRICHICUS. (Gr. Qpl^ Hair ; c^w, I have.) 



Rosmarus (Lat. Rosemary), the Walrus, or Morse. 



The WALRUS inhabits the northern seas, but has been 

 known to visit our coasts. Three instances of this have 

 happened, one in 1817, one in 1825 at the Orkney Isles, and. 

 a third in 1839 at the mouth of the Severn. The most 

 remarkable point in the Walrus is the great length of two of 

 its upper teeth, which extend downwards for nearly two feet, 

 and resemble the tusks of the elephant. They furnish very 

 fine ivory, and are extensively used by dentists in making 

 artificial teeth, as teeth made from them remain white much 

 longer than those made from the tusks of elephants. These 

 tusks are used by the Walrus for climbing the rocks or heaps 

 of ice, and also for digging up the sea-weeds on which the 

 animal mostly subsists. It will also eat shrimps and young 

 seals. 



The Walrus is often hunted for the sake of its oil, its flesh, 

 its skin, and its teeth. It is generally found in troops, and 

 if one is wounded, its companions rush to its rescue and 

 attack the enemy with their sharp tusks, which they have 

 bean known to drive through the bottom of a boat. Their 



