93 



resembles No. 6 (No. 332 e.) in proportions and distance of grinders, 

 but is only about two-thirds the size, and the blood-vessel on each 

 side the palate, which in that skull is open, is here partly covered 

 over with a thin layer of bone ; the 4th upper grinder has a com- 

 pressed simple root with a groove on the lower part of its outer side, 

 and the 5th grinder is two-rooted. It is to be observed, that the 

 Orwell specimen, No. 8, was a female, and that the nose of this and 

 of skull No. 6 cUffer from the others in being rather longer, and in 

 the grinders being rather further apart : is this the character of the 

 female sex? and in both these skulls the 4th grinder is single-rooted: 

 is that also a sexual character ? It is to be hoped that the Danish 

 or American naturalists who have the opportunity of examining these 

 seals, will determine the question. 



It would thus appear, from what I have stated, that in this genus 

 the form of the root of the grinders is very liable to variation ; I 

 have not observed any similar variation in the teeth of any other seal, 

 and still believe that the form of the roots affords a good character 

 in most of the genera. 



We have lately received from the West Indies the skin and skull 

 of a seal which evidently belongs to the same genus as the crested 

 seal of the northern hemisphere. The skull, or rather the teeth, 

 when compared with those of the Greenland specimens, induce me 

 to believe that it is distinct from them. It chiefly differs in the form 

 of the outer upper cutting teeth and canines. In all the specimens, 

 both old and young, from the North Sea, the outer upper cutting 

 teeth and the canines are narrow and compressed. In the West 

 Indian skull, which is that of a very young specimen, the outer upper 

 cutting teeth and the canines are broad, strongly keeled on each side and 

 longitudinally plaited within. In this skull the 4th grinder has only 

 a single root, and the 5th grinder has two ; the crowns of the teeth 

 are plaited and tubercular like those of the North Sea specimens. 

 The face is rather broader than in a skull of the northern kind of 

 nearly the same size. This species may be called Cystophora antil- 

 larum. 



We have received an imperfect skin of a seal from Jamaica, which 

 was brought home by Mr. Gosse. It is unfortunately without any 

 bones. The whiskers are short, thick, white, cylindrical, regularly 

 tapering, and without any appearance of a wave or twist. In this 

 character it most agrees with Phoca barbata. 



June 26, 1849. 

 R. H. Solly, Esq., in the Chair. 



The Secretary reported that two living examples of Crotalus duris- 

 sus had been presented to the collection by R. Da^is, Esq., F.Z.S., 



