216 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Far-Seals 



this country and deposited in this museum by Capt. Weddell, 

 the enterprising navigator who visited the Antarctic regions in 

 1823. They are both females, and were prepared in Edinburgh 

 and described by Mr. R. Hamilton in this Journal (as referred 

 to in the former paper), who observes that "the personal 

 observation of Capt. Weddell enabled him at once to identify 

 the [Phoca] falMandica with his Fur-Seal " (see Ann. Nat. 

 Hist. 1838, vol. ii. p. 91). I do not find it stated whence 

 Capt. Weddell procured these specimens ; it is only said that 

 " he encountered the Fui'-Seal in South Georgia, among the 

 South Orkneys, and in much greater numbers in the South 

 Shetland Islands, which he was the first to discover " {iUd. 

 p. 84-85) ; and he expressly states that the only Seal inhabit- 

 ing the last-named islands is the Fur-Seal ; so that probably 

 the specimen he gave to the Edinburgh Museum came from 

 either South Georgia or the South Shetlands. 



I wrote to my friend Mr. Thomas C Archer, the Director of 

 the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Arts, to ask him if he 

 would kindly send me a few hairs from one of these Seals ; he 

 most readily acceded to my request by return of post, accom- 

 panied by an offer to send one of the Seals to the Museum for 

 examination, if I wished it. As the hairs alone showed that 

 the Seal was not like any other of the South-American Seals 

 that I had described in my former paper, being most like 

 those of the Seal to which I had referred it, but still appearing 

 rather harsher, I most gladly accepted his very kind and 

 liberal offer. 



I was much pleased, when the specimen arrived, to find that 

 it evidently is the same as my ArctocejyJiahcs falklancUcuSy and 

 that my reference to Mr. R. Hamilton's description and figure 

 was correct. The fur in this specimen is considerably darker 

 and harsher than in that in the British Museum ; but this may 

 arise from the animal having been stuffed and exhibited for 

 many years, and, perhaps, collected at a different time of year. 

 In every other respect, both as to the form and size of the 

 limbs (which are small compared with the size of the body) 

 and the distribution of the colours, they agree. 



This animal, which was brought from the Antarctic Ocean, 

 may formerly have inhabited the Falkland Islands, and, like 

 the Sea-Elephant fomid there by Pernetty, have been destroyed 

 or driven away. The Sea-Leopards {A. Hooker i) were 

 broiight from the Antarctic Ocean as well as fi'om the Falk- 

 lands. 



If that was the case, it may be the Falkland-Island Seal 

 of Pennant and the Phoca Hauvillii that Cuvier described, as 

 I formerly believed. There are no other Fur-Seals now 



