200 DIVISION I. VF,i;Ti:r,i!AL AxniALS.— class i. mammalia. 



hot springs, where the ice is broken, to wlilcli spots tlicy resort, ami bask or 

 sleep ill the sun. The hunters are quite familiar with tiiese phices, and put 

 tiicmselves into slight sledges, un whirls they lioist a wiiite sail. The seals, 

 taking this for a floating island of iee, are not alarmed, and approach. 

 They are thus surprised and shot, and many of tiiem are captured." 



The Greenlanders adopt still another plan, hunting the seal on the ice, 

 tin-ough which these creatures frequently Ijreak holes for the purpose (if 

 breatiiing. Near this hole the hunter seats himself on a stool, protecting 

 his feet from the cold ice by a seal skin, or some other substance, and waits. 

 " \Vhen the seal comes and puts its nose at tlie hole, he jiierces it instantly 

 with his liarjioon, then breaks the hole larger, draws the seal out, and kills 

 it." Sometimes, again, if the hunter sees a seal lying near its hole ujjon the 

 ice, he slides along on his belly towards it, wags his head and grunts like a 

 seal, and the poor animal, thinking it is one of its innocent companions, lets 

 him come near enough to pierce it with his long lance. 



It is by no means an agreeable task to describe the different mcfliods 

 dcxised by man to effect the destruction of an animal so trustfid and harm- 

 less, and which, by so many traits of character, solicits our sympathy and 

 forbearance ; still less jilcasant is it to reflect that sailors often forget their 

 own manhood, and sport with the dying agonies of these creatures, and kill 

 them out of pure wantoimess, although they plead for pity, Avith cries and 

 tears, as if they were endowed with the sensibilities of human beings. 



We now proceed to descrilie such of the genera and species as will offer 

 to the reader ibe most comprehensive view of the characters and peculiarities 

 of the wliole group. 



The Pliocida^ arc ranged bv naturalists in two divisions : the Phoca', or 

 True .Se:ds, which are destitute of external ears, and tjie Otarics, which are 

 furnished with these organs. The True Phocic, which we shall first con- 

 sider, have no external ears ; their feet are enveloped in the integuments, and 

 formed for swimming ; the anterior very short, and the posterior in a line 

 with the body ; the incisors, intended for cutting merely, vary from six to 

 four in the upper jaw, and from four to two in the lower; the molars are 

 furnished with small cutting points ; the toes are webbed, and armed with 

 sharp claws. 



Genus CALocEPirALUS. The generic name, which designates the species we 

 arc aljout to describe, is a compound Greek word, signifying a beautiful head, 

 and is applied to the animals of this genus on account of the great size of 

 the cranium and shortness of the snout. Their brain is equal in size to that 

 of the highest order of monkeys, hence their great intelligence and capacity 

 for domestication. Tiie nostrils do not extend beyond the mouth, and the 

 mamnuv^ of the females are four. 



