530 DR. J. MURIE ON THE ANATOMY OF THE SEA-LION. 
In the general measurements of the dead body, as given underneath, it ought therefore 
to be remembered that the figures represent but approximately those existing during life. 
ft. in. 
The greatest length of the animal when laid out back upwards, this 
measurement being taken from the tip of the muzzle to the ex- 
tremity of the hind flippers as these lay extended backwards 
Length from the muzzle to the tip of the tail 
Distance from the muzzle to the prominence of the anaglden|cmne 
DmwprH oo 
i 
_ 
Girth taken round the neck in front of the shoulder . 4 
Girth of the thoracic region behind the pectoral limbs 3°5 
Girth of the abdominal region in front of the pelvis 5 
Head: length from the muzzle to the apparent ee é 1, 
Tail in length 0 3:2 
Pectoral limb: length from fie shouldesione to he farthest extre- 
mity of the manus (the cartilaginous tip of the great pollicial 
GUE) rey Gus, es) <0 piece ee oh theca ss podeo 
Pelvic limb: length from the bony prominence of the ilium to the 
most distant portion of the free flippers (the tip of the digital 
Gariilapeomthehgilgnye ts Nee tesurs fas Ae 6) 3 oy lm eae 
When the body is stripped of the subcutaneous fat and fibrous tissue, its curious 
proportions come out more in relief than when the animal is alive or when still clothed 
with its fatty envelopment. Thus disrobed, the thorax and the abdomen present a long 
laterally flattened aspect, with a considerable vertical depth; the pectoral region seems 
proportionally very large; and the hinder extremities assume more of a Seal-like cha- 
racter than is exhibited under other conditions. ‘The tail then appears much longer 
than it does during life. The great paddle-like fore extremities acquire prominence ; 
and the vast pollex, with its extraordinarily lengthened distal cartilage, seems specially 
formed for the purpose of propulsion in a watery element, where it might enter after 
the manner of a wedge, to be deflected backwards broadside. The enormous thickness 
of the muscular neck, and the massive development of the region of the shoulders, are 
very conspicuous. The head, again, loses much of its rotundity or plumpness, the 
peculiar, somewhat parallelopiped contour of the skull becoming more noticeable. 
3. Anterior Extremities.—In the Sea-lion both the pectoral and the pelvic extremities 
are indeed most extraordinarily modified axial appendages. The greatest absolute length 
of the pectoral limb, if taken in a straight line from the shoulder-joint to the most 
extreme point, as already mentioned, is 2 feet 5 inches; but the free portion of the 
limb, or what includes the lower part of the forearm and the manus, is little over half 
that. The skin &c. uniting the limb to the thorax is very flexible; and so loose and 
freely moveable is it in the axillary region, that according as the creature swims, raises 
