The Zoologist — February, 18C8. 1073 



As most of your readers probably know, the walrus or morse has 

 long been a much-lamented want at the Zoological Gardens. Last 

 year Professor Newton gave some account of former attempts (Zool. 

 S. S. 203), and pointed out what an attraction such a huge and yet 

 sagacious amphibious monster would prove to the general public. The 

 last live walrus brought to England was at the Gardens, he states, in 

 1853, but it succumbed in a few days to a diet of oatcake ! 



The present specimen, a young male, supposed to be about a year 

 old, was captured in Davis's Straits, on the 28th of August, 1867, by 

 the crew of the whaler " Arctic." It was one of a large herd, and was 

 still in company with its mother, who was harpooned : the poor young 

 beast refused to leave the body of its parent, and was eventually 

 noosed and dragged on board. At first it sulked and refused all food, 

 but after some days consented to eat some fat pork and a mess of 

 boiled oatmeal. On the arrival of the "Arctic" at Dundee, the 

 Zoological Society were at once communicated with, and the purchase 

 was soon negociated. 



The walrus was soon removed to London and put on a diet more 

 suitable to its tastes and habits than pork and porridge. As is well 

 known, the food of this animal has long been a matter of dispute ; the 

 shortness and bluntness of its molar-teeth showing that it could not 

 live exclusively on fish, while Sir Everard Home stated, in the 

 ' Philosophical Transactions,' that a friend of his had found its stomach 

 to contain sea-weed only. Much reliance cannot, however, be placed 

 on any statement of that singularly inaccurate and fanciful writer, and 

 Mr. Lamont, in his ' Seasons with Sea-horses,' states that those he 

 examined in the North contained the remains of various molluscous, 

 annulose, and radiated marine auimals, although he believed that they 

 sometimes do eat sea-weed. This account, being variously confirmed, 

 and according with the structure of the teeth, which are well calculated 

 for crushing hard shell- fish, induced Mr. Bartlett to try it with mussels 

 and whelks. The experiment proved completely successful, and its 

 principal food is still various Mollusca, although it also greedily 

 devours sprats and other fish. Hitherto it has obstinately rejected 

 all proffers of sea-weed. It would be an interesting experiment to 

 test its capabilities as a fisher by turning a number of live fish into 

 its tank. 



In the end of November I had an opportunity of paying my respects 

 to the sea-horse, and found him comfortably settled in the habitation 

 of his lamented relative the sea-bear, which animal many of your 



SECOND SERIES— VOL. III. H 



