CARNARIA. 



99 



The Monk {Pelagius, F. Cuv.) — 



Also possesses four incisors to each jaw ; but the grinders form obtuse cones, with a slightly marked 

 process before and behind. There is one in the Mediterranean, 



Ph. monachus, Gm., from ten to twelve feet iu length. It is particularly found among the Grecian and Adriatic 

 Isles, and was probably the species best known to the ancients. 



[The Halkets {HalkhcErus, Nilsson). 

 Grinding teeth of the upper jaw simple ; those of the lower with an inconspicuous tubercle before and 

 behind. Muzzle deep and obliquely truncated : the head flat, and brain comparatively vei7 small. 



H. gryphus. Nils., a species nearly as large as the Bearded Seal, inhabits the Baltic and British seas, where it 

 would seem to be not imcommon. Its intelligence has been obsened to be very inferior to that of the 

 true Phocce.l 



The Hoodcap {Stemmatojnts, F. Cuv.). 



Four superior, and two inferior incisors; the grinders compressed and slightly three-lobed, supported 

 by thick roots. 



Ph. enstafa, Gm. ; Ph. leonina, Fabr.— A species attaining a length of seven or eight feet, with loose skin upon 

 the head, which can be inflated into a sort of cowl, and is drawn over the eyes when the animal is menaced, at 

 which time the nostrils also are pulled out like bladders. From the Arctic Ocean. 



Finally, 



The Myroungas {Macrorhinus, F. Cuv. ; \_Cystophora, Nilsson,] ) — 



Possess, with the incisors of the preceding, obtuse conical molars (fig. 39) [but massive canines], and 



muzzle lengthened into a short moveable proboscis. The 

 largest known Seal is of this subgenus ; the 



Ph. leonina, Lin. — Twenty to twenty-four feet in length [sometimes 

 thirty, according to English measure, and of great proportionate 

 balk]. Brown, the muzzle of the male terminated by a wrinkled 

 snout, which becomes inflated when the animal is angry. It is common 

 in the southern latitudes of the Pacific Ocean, and of great request for 

 the quantity of very superior oil with which it abounds. 



Those with external ears. 



Kit:. 30 —Teeth ol M\ 



The Otaries {Otaria, Peron), — 

 Are worthy of being formed into a separate genus, inasmuch 

 as, besides the projecting auditory conch, the four middle upper incisors have a double cutting edge (a 

 structure not hitherto remarked in any other animal) ; the exterior are simple and very small, and tlie 

 four inferior forked : the molars are all simply conical. The toes of their anterior swimming-paws 

 [which are placed far backward] are almost immoveable ; and the membrane of their hind feet is 

 prolonged into a flap beyond each toe : all the nails are thin and flat. 



Ph.jubata, Gm. (Sea iion of Steller, Pernatty, 

 &c., but not of Anson, which refers to the My- 

 rounga; the latter being also the Sea IFby of Per- 

 natty). From fifteen to twenty feet [French], and 

 more, in length : the neck of the male covered 

 with more frizzled and thickly-set hairs than 

 those on the other parts of the body. From the 

 South Pacific. 



[The Falkland Otary, or Fur Seal of com- 

 merce (C. Falklandia, Desm.)— Remarkable for 

 the great disproportionate size of the sexes (if, 

 indeed, the same does not apply to all its con- 

 geners) ; the full-grown male, according to 

 Weddell, measuring 6 ft. 9 inch. ; the female 

 only3ifeet. It is polygamous, in the proportion of 

 one male to about twenty females. The fur is 

 an esteemed article of commerce ; and so abun- 

 dant was the species formerly in various locali- 

 ties, that for a period of fifty years, not less than 

 1,200,000 skins were annually obtained from a 

 single island]. fSg. 40.— The Ursij. 



