956 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. V. No. 129. 



phinids, and it is also the home of Pho- 

 cids more nearly related to the Phooines 

 than the Lobodontines (though often asso- 

 ciated with the later), but of a more general- 

 ized type than either and probably entitled to 

 subfamily distinction — the Monachinse. The 

 subdivisions of this realm, so far as the marine 

 cetaceans are concerned, are of very subor- 

 dinate importance, and the restrictions of the 

 Monachine seals and different families of Sire- 

 nians are the most noteworthy characteristics. 



The Notalian realm is specialized by the de- 

 velopment therein of a peculiar subfamily of 

 seals — the Lobodontine Phocids. 



These three realms were distinguished as 

 early as 1875 and named in 1877.* They are 

 well fitted for the expression of the facts of dis- 

 tribution of the marine mammals, but for those 

 respecting other classes two transition realms ap- 

 pear to be advisable — the Pararctalian and An- 

 tarctalian, and doubtless two others — the Pela- 

 galian and Bassalian — should also be recognized. 

 If the last are adopted most of the cetaceans 

 should rather be relegated to the Pelagalian 

 realm. I venture to add the opinion that the 

 realms thus advocated are much better compar- 

 able with Dr. Sclater's land-regions than are 

 his own sea-regions. 



Theo. Gill. 



Mk. T. L. Sclater, in his very interesting 

 paper, ' On the Distribution of Marine Mam- 

 mals ' (Science, May 14, 1897), makes the fol- 

 lowing remarks on the seals of the Gal&pagos 

 (p. 742): "There are well founded traditions of 

 eared seals having been formerly met with in 

 the Galapagos, while they still occur on the 

 coast of Peru and Chili." 



Two species of seals are found on the Gala- 

 pagos, as has been stated by J. A. Allen f in 

 the extensive work on the North American 

 Pinnipeds. Otaria jubata (Forster) and Arcto- 

 cephalua australis (Zimmermann), of both speci- 



*See Science (n. s.), HI., 515, 1896. 



tAllen, Joel Asaph: History of North American 

 Pinnipeds; A Monograph o£ the Walruses, Sea-Lions, 

 Sea-Bears and Seals of North America; U. S. Geolog. 

 and Geogr. Surv. of the Territ. ; F. V. Hayden, 

 Geologlst-in-Charge. Miscellaneous publications — 

 No. 12, Washington, 1880, p. 208, 210-211, 367, 769- 

 770. 



mens, have been collected by the Hassler expe- 

 dition (1872), which are preserved in the Mu- 

 seum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, 

 Mass. 



Otaria jubata (Forster) is still quite common 

 on the Gal&pagos. I have met it on Chatham, 

 Charles, Hood, Gardner, Barrington, South 

 Albemarle, Duncan, Jervis and James. They 

 are found in considerable numbers, especially 

 on Hood and Gardner, Barrington and Duncan. 

 On the latter some of the rocks, where they 

 move about, are polished absolutely smooth. 



I have not seen any specimens of Arctocephalus 

 australis (Zimmermann), but whether they are 

 extinct or not I do not dare to say. 



The presence of Sphenicus mendiculus (Sunde- 

 vall), a penguin peculiar for the Galapagos is in- 

 teresting. 



The most extensive data on the seals of the 

 Gal&pagos and the seals of the South Pacific and 

 Antarctic Ocean are given by Benjamin Mor- 

 rell (a narrative of four voyages to the South 

 Sea and South Pacific Ocean, Indian and Ant- 

 arctic Ocean from 1822 to 1831. 8°. New York, 

 1832).* 



The seals have been mentioned already by the 

 first discoverer of the Galapagos, Fray Tom&s 

 de Berlanga,! obispo (bishop) de Castilla del Oro, 

 on the 10th of March, 1535. He had the order 

 from the Emperor Charles V. to report on the 

 government of Pizarro and to write a descrip- 

 tion of Peru. The 23d of February, 1535, he 

 sailed from Panama. For seven days the wind 

 was favorable, but after that a calm set in for 

 eight days and the very strong currents drifted 

 the vessel far out to the sea. The 10th of 

 March they sighted an island and, having only 

 water for two days more, they anchored to look 

 for water and fodder for the horses. There 

 they found nothing but seals, sea-turtles and 

 land tortoises so big that each could bear a man 

 on its back, and many iguanas, which are like 

 snakes. ("No hallaron sino lobos marines y 

 tortugas y galApagos tan grandes, que llevable 



*In 1823 he took in a period of two months about 

 five thousand fur-seal skins ( Areiocephalus) from the 

 Galapagos. 



t Marcos Jimenez de la Espada. Las Islas de los 

 Galipagos y otras miis poniente. Sooiedat Geografica 

 de Madrid. 1892. pp. 1-5. 



