194 mr. j. w. clark on a [Mar. 18, 



should have considered that he was right in so doing • but as MM. 

 Quoy and Gaimard thought proper to sink their own individuality 

 in that of Peron, it seems to me that we have no choice left but to 

 accept the species with Peron's name attached to it, more especially as 

 they brought home a skin and skull, both of which are figured in 

 their work, and are now in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes. 

 These specimens ought, I submit, to be considered as the type of the 

 species ; and it was after a careful examination of them that I 

 ventured on a former occasion to mention Oturia cinerea as one of 

 the four distinct species of Oturia inhabiting the Australian coast 

 (P.Z.S. 1S75, p. 676). 



I have taken the skulls now before us to Paris and compared them 

 with the type of Olaria cinerea, and there can be no doubt that 

 they should all be referred to that species. 



The type skull is of an animal not cpiite adult, stated by the authors 



to be a male ; it is in excellent condition ; and the teeth have never 



been displaced. It is 10| inches long by 6^ inches broad across the 



zygomatic processes. The form of the nasals and of the orbital 



process of the frontal will be better understood from the figure of 



the same bones here given (fig. 3, p. 191) than from any description. 



Immediately behind these processes the skull contracts suddenly, so 



that while the width across the processes is 2\ inches, that across 



the narrowest portion of the skull behind them, close to the braia- 



case, is only 1^ inch. The dental series is, as usual : — 



6 1-1 6-6_„ e 



i-I, c. j^j { > m. 5=5-36. 



In the molar teeth the " cingulum " is very feebly developed ; and 

 each tooth, both in the upper and lower jaw, has a posterior and an 

 anterior cusp, characters which are very useful in separating this 

 species from that which appears to be most nearly allied to it, Otaria 

 albicollis, Peron, = 0. aus trails, Quoy and Gaimard, of which there 

 is a fine series in the same museum. The opening of the palate is 

 long and V-shaped (fig. 4, p. 192), and the auditory bulla is pro- 

 longed posteriorly into a peg-like process (figs. 2 & 4, pp. 190, 192). 



Of the skulls before us, the largest (figs. 1, 2) undoubtedly belongs 

 to a full-grown male. It is lif inches long by 7| broad, measured 

 across the zygomatic arches. The occipital and sagittal crests, and 

 the parietal processes, are all fully developed, and the nasals are nearly 

 obliterated by anchylosis with the premaxilla. It is, however, easy 

 to see that the form of these bones, and of the upper part of the 

 skull generally, is identical with the female skull (fig. 5, p. 193), which 

 has been already referred to as closely resembling the type specimen. 

 The palate in the male skull (fig. 2) is more elongated than in either 

 of the others or in the type specimen ; but, useful as the form of this 

 part is for specific determination, it must be remembered that it is 

 subject to remarkable individual variations, the neglect of which 

 has led to a needless multiplication of species 1 . In order to show 



. 1 I hope my friend Professor Turner will forgive me if I quote his Euofaria 

 schisthyperoes (Journ. Anat. 1868, p. 113) as an instance of this. I feel tolerably 

 sure that the skull so named should be referred to Otaria pusilla. 



