204 MAMMALIA-SEAL. '' 



signs of ears, only two auditory passages in the sides of the head; it has 

 whiskers about its mouth, and its teeth somewhat resemble those of the 

 wolf; the tongue is sloped at the point ; the body, hands, and feet, covered 

 with a short and bristly hair ; it has no legs, but two feet, or membranes, 

 like hands, with five toes, terminated by as many claws. These mem- 

 branes, which have the appearance of hands, are only larger and turned 

 backwards, as if designed to unite with its very short tail, which they 

 accompany on both sides. The body is thickest where the neck is joined 

 to it, whence the animal tapers down to the tail like a fish. This amphibi- 

 ous creature, though of a very different nature from that of our domestic 

 animals, yet seems susceptible of a kind of education. It is taught to salute 

 persons with its head and its voice ; it is accustomed to obey the call of its 

 keeper, and gives many other signs of intelligence and docility. 



The sensations of the seal are as perfect, and its sagacity as ready, as 

 those of any other quadruped ; both the one and the other are strongly 

 marked by its docility, its social qualities, its strong instinct for its female, 

 its great attention towards its young, and by its voice, which is more expres- 

 sive and more modulated than in other animals. Its body is likewise firm 

 and large. It is also strong, and armed with very sharp teeth and claws, 

 and has many particular and singular advantages over any other animals 

 we can compare with it. It endures both heat and cold, and feeds indiffe- 

 rently on grass, flesh, or fish. It can equally live on ice, land, or in the 

 water. On account of their remaining so long a time under water, it was 

 supposed that the foramen ovale remained open, as in the human foetus, but 

 it is not so.- 



But these advantages, which are very great, are, counterbalanced by im- 

 perfections still greater : they may be said to be deprived of the use of their 

 fore legs, or membranes ; they are almost entirely shut up within its body, 

 Avhile nothing appears but the extremities of them, which are furnished Avith 

 five toes, scarcely moveable, being united together by a very strong mem- 

 brane, so that they might more properly be called fins than feet, as they are 

 more adapted for tha purpose of swimming than walking ; the hind feet, 

 indeed, being turned backwards, are entirely useless upon land ; so that 

 when the animal is obliged to move, it drags itself forward like a reptile, 

 and with an effort more painful ; for it cannot twist itself about like a ser- 

 pent, but lies like a lump on the earth, and by grasping whatever it finds 

 in its reach, drags itself up the steepest shores, rocks, and shoals of ice : by 

 this method, it moves with such a degree of swiftness, that a man cannot 

 overtake it. It make; its way towards the sea, and often, though wounded, 

 escapes the pursuit of the hunter. 



Seals are social animals, and are generally found in great numbers in the 

 places they frequent : their natural climate is the northern, but they are 

 also met with, in the temperate, and even hot countries ; for they are seen 

 on the shores of almost all the seas in the universe. The species alone 



