218 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Fur-Seah 



that name by Parsons in the Phil. Trans, xlvii. t. 6, and 

 noticed in Pennant's ' Quadrupeds/ ii. p. 274, Dr. Shaw, 

 in his ' Zoology,' i. p. 256, translated the name into Phoca longi- 

 collis, and copied Parsons's figui-e. The name and the form 

 of the front feet are enough to show that it is an Eared Seal ; 

 for the neck of these animals is always long compared with the 

 neck of the Earless Seals or Phocidce. Fischer, in his ^ Syn- 

 opsis,' p. 240, overlooking this character and the description 

 of the front feet, considers it the same as the Sea-Leopard of 

 Weddell {Phoca WeddeUii) from the Antarctic Ocean, an Ear- 

 less Seal. Though the habitat is not given, there can be no 

 doubt, when we consider the geographical distribution of the 

 Eared Seal, that it must have been received either from the 

 southern part of South America or from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, as the animals of the Northern Pacific and of Austi-alia 

 were not known or brought to England in 1686. As no ac- 

 count of the colour of the fur is given, it is impossible to de- 

 termine to which of the species inhabiting these countries it 

 should be referred. It is most probably the Sea-Lion ( Otaria 

 leonina), as that is the animal which is most generally distri- 

 buted and commonly brought to England. The sailors some- 

 times call it the " Long-necked Seal." 



Dr. J. R. Forster, during his voyage with Cook in 1775, 

 observed an Eared Seal at the Cape of Good Hope, which he 

 called Phoca ursina, believing it to be the same he had pre- 

 viously observed in New Zealand. (See Descript. Animal. 

 p. 315). 



The sixth volume of the Supplement to Buffon's Hist. Nat. 

 contains an account of the Sea-Bears of the Cape of Good 

 Hope, communicated by M. de Pages (vi. p. 343, 354, 357). 

 He described the hairs of the young as blackish, becoming 

 silver-grey at the tips as they increase in age. 



M. Cuvier described an Eared Seal received by M. Delalande 

 from the Cape, 3 feet 6 inches long. The fm* is close, soft, 

 woolly at the base, the tips annulated with grey and black, 

 giving a general reddish grey-brown tone. The belly is paler, 

 and the legs blackish. The whiskers are strong, simple, and 

 black. (Oss. Foss. v. 220.) M. Delalande also sent the skele- 

 ton of a young animal and the head of an adult ; the skull of 

 the latter is figured by Cuvier (Oss. Foss. v. t. 18. f. 5). 



These specimens were described as Otari'aPelaIandk',Cuvier, 

 by M. F. Cuvier (Diet. Sc. Nat^ xxxix. p. 423) ; and the skull 

 of an aged animal was figm-ed by me as that of Arctocejjhalus 

 Pelalandn in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society,' 1859, 

 p. 107, t. 69 ; it is also described in my ^ Catalogue of Seals 

 and Whales in the British Museum,' p. 52. The species grows 



