1868.] MR. A. D. BARTLETT ON THE BIRTH OF A SEAL. 403 



On Monday the 8th of June she was very uneasy, and appeared 

 to me to be in considerable pain ; I therefore kept a constant watch, 

 and the man who had charge of her remained with her all night. 

 She continued in this state until about twelve o'clock on Tuesday, at 

 which time she produced the young one. It was born near the edge 

 of the water, and in a few minutes after its birth, by rolling and 

 turning about, was completely divested of the outer covering oi fur 

 and hair, which formed a complete mat, upon which the young animal 

 lay for the first hour or two after its birth. When born it was very 

 active, and within three hours afterwards was swimming and diving 

 about in the water like an adult animal. It uttered a low soft ba, or 

 single call-note, and looked about for its mother, and crawled towards 

 her when she came out of the water. She turned upon her side in 

 order to let it suck, and I had every reason to believe that all was 

 going on well. The young Seal slept well, sometimes on its belly, 

 sometimes on its side. The mother, however, appeared unwell and in 

 great pain, and on the following day (Wednesday) suddenly plunged 

 into the water and sunk to the bottom. Believing she was dying, I 

 had her assisted out of the pond. She was in strong convulsions, 

 and continued to roll and struggle until the next morning (this 

 day) when she died. She appears to have had no milk. Finding 

 the female unable to suckle her young one, I had it removed to the 

 house and have fed it by means of a bottle with warm milk and a 

 small quantity of cod-liver oil added to the milk. 



The statement having been made that the species of Seal could 

 be distinguished by the mode of shedding its first coat (I believe it 

 is said that the common Seal, P. vitulina, sheds its coat as soon as 

 born, while the P.fcetida sheds its first coat before its birth), I beg 

 to say that this supposed distinction is shown by the above remarks 

 to be of no value whatever as a means of distinguishing the species. 

 I have no doubt both species are alike in this particular ; and 1 have 

 no doubt, from what I have seen, that the outer fur is sometimes 

 shed before birth and sometimes immediately after birth in both 

 species alike. 



This young Seal was 32 inches long, and weighed 20 lbs. at its birth. 



The outer covering is now on the table. It appears to me that 

 the young animal shedding its outer covering compensates for the 

 absence of the licking generally bestowed upon young animals by 

 their mother. The Seals never lick. 



June 25, 1868. 



Dr. E. Hamilton, V.P., in the Chair. 



Mr. P. L. Sclater exhibited two heads of the Spanish Ibex {Capru 

 pyrenaica, Schimper), which had been obtained by Major Howard 

 Irby on the Sierra Hermosura near Marbella in Southern Spain, 



