of tJie Falkland Islands and Southern America. 101 



The furs of the different species of Fur-Seals are exceedingly 

 different in external appearance, especiallj in the younger 

 specimens, or when the fur is in its most perfect condition. In 

 most species the hairs are much longer than the under-fur ; 

 they are flat and more or less rigid and crisp. In others the 

 hairs are short, much softer, scarcely longer than the soft 

 woolly under-fur ; in these species the fur is very dense, stand- 

 ing nearly erect from the skin, forming a very soft elastic coat, 

 as in 0. falklandicus and 0. Stelleri. The hair of 0. nigres- 

 cens is considerably longer than that of 0. cinerea, but not so 

 harsh, the fur of the half-grown 0. nigrescens being longer, 

 sparse, flat, rather curled at the end, giving a crispness to 

 the feel ; while the hairs of the very young specimens are 

 abundant, nearly of equal length, forming an even coat that is 

 soft and smooth to the touch. 



Difficult as it is for the zoologist to distinguish the species 

 by their external appearance, the skins of the different species 

 of Fur-Seals are easily distinguished by the dealers, even 

 when they are wet, showing that the practical fellmonger is in 

 advance of the scientific man in such particulars, as the dealers 

 in whalebone were in regard to the distinction of the species of 

 Avliale by their baleen (see Zool. Erebus & Terror). 



At the Dyster, Nalden, & Co. public sale of Cape Fur-Seals 

 they are subdivided into large, middling, and small " wigs " 

 (these are males with a mane), " middlings " and " smalls " 

 (females and young males), large, middling, and small " pups " 

 (these are half-grown), and black "pups" (very young ani- 

 mals). They are imjjorted salted in casks. 



The longer hairs of the Fur- Seals are very slender and 

 pale-coloured at the basal half of their length, and thicker and 

 darker at the upper half, and often have a white tip. The 

 basal half is subcylindrical, the upper half is flat, tapering at 

 each end. The absolute length of the hairs and the length as 

 compared with the length of the under-fur differ in the various 

 species. Judging from the old and young specimens oiA.m- 

 grescenSj the hairs seem to be longer, both absolutely and rela- 

 tively to the under-fm-, in the young than in the adult animals. 

 The hairs of the Hair-Seal are shorter, flat, channelled 

 above, and gradually tapering from the base to the tip, merely 

 contracted at the insertion into the skin. The breadth of the 

 hairs seems to vary in the different species ; and in the younger 

 specimens there are to be observed some soft hairs like the 

 under-fur of the Fur-Seals. 



The Falkland Islands is a sealing-station, and is the home 

 of several species, the southern Sea-Bear {Of aria jiihata) 

 and a Hair-Seal ( 0. Hookeri) being found there, as well as the 



