FAMILY PHOCIDJL 
53 
General Assembly, to encourage the destruction of wild-cats; and in 1745, it was still found 
necessary to renew this act. At present, it is believed that they are entirely extirpated from 
this and the adjacent counties. They are still found in the more northern and western counties, 
in the wooded districts, where they prey upon birds and the smaller quadrupeds. 
FAMILY VIII. PHOCIDuF. 
Teeth various. Feet short and Jin-shaped, not free, the phalanges being enveloped in the 
teguments. Hind feet horizontal. Rarely leave the water. Piscivorous. 
Obs. Some of the species are of great bulk, and all contribute in various ways to the wants 
of mankind. I am acquainted with the type of but one genus within this State. 
GENUS PHOCA. Cuvier . 
Head rounded. No external ears. Eyes very large. Feet with five toes, connected by a 
thick membrane. Mamma, two, pectoral. Tail short and thick. Teeth of three kinds: 
Incisors, £; canines, §; cheek teeth, j£ — 34. Cheek teeth trenchant, many-lobed. 
Obs. To this genus, as restricted by Cuvier, belong at present about thirteen species, more 
or less perfectly indicated. The difficulty of examining the individuals of this family must be 
very great. A recent English writer states, that “ little more is known of the Common Seal, 
“ though an inhabitant of our own seas, than of those which are met with in the most distant 
“ latitudes.” 
THE AMERICAN SEAL. 
Phoca concolor. 
PLATE XVIII. FIG. a.—(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Phoca Vitalina ? Mitchill, Am. Month. Mag. Vol. 3, p. 357. 
Characteristics. Uniform dark slaty grey. Young, entirely light yellow. ' Length, four feel. 
Description (of a female caught in the Sound near Sands’ Point.) Body elongated, cylin¬ 
drical, tapering gradually from the chest to the tail. Head broad and rounded, with the 
muzzle broad and truncated. Nostrils sublunate, O’8 long. Tongue deeply emarginate at 
tip, and ciliated in the notch. Auditory opening 1 ’ 5 behind the eye, with a small mammillary 
elevation about 0 * 25 high on its anterior border. Whiskers white, with short bevels on the 
edges ; disposed in five or six rows, the posterior stoutest and longest; from 4 - 6 in a group 
above, and somewhat behind the eye. In repose, the web of the fore feet extends almost to 
the tips of the claws; these are 1 ’ 5 long, gradually decreasing in size from the anterior : 
claws robust, flattened, incurved. When the web is extended, the edge is slightly webbed, 
