170 COMMON SEAL. Class I. 



prey beneath the water, and in case they are 

 devouring any very oily fish, the place is known 

 by a certain smoothness of the v/aves im- 

 mediately above. The power of oil in stilling 

 the waves excited by a storm, is mentioned by 

 Pliny ; the moderns have made the experiment 

 with success,* and by that made one advance 

 towards eradicating the vulgar prejudices against 

 that great and elegant writer. 



We must acknowledge the obligations we 

 were under to the Rev. Mr. Farrington oiDinaSy 

 in Caernarxmnshire^ for several learned commu- 

 nications, but in particular for the natural 

 history of this animal, which we shall give the 

 public in his own words. 

 Manners. ' The seals are natives of our coasts, and are 

 ' found most frequently between Llyn in Caer- 

 ' narvonshire, and the northern parts of Angle- 



* sey ; they are seen often towards Carreg y 

 ^ moelrJion, to the west of Bardsey, or Yuys 



* Enlli ; and the Ske7^ries, commonly called in 

 ' the Bintish language Y^iiys y moelrhoniad, or 

 '^ seal island. The Latin name of this amphi- 

 ' bious animal is Phoca ;| the vulgar name is 



* Phil. Trans. 1774. p. 445. 



t Doctor Ckar/e/oji derives the word <r,ijjKr^ ex (oujkYj, loattt 

 (]uem edit ; vide Exercitationes de dif. An. pise. p. 48. Bat I 

 do not find any authority for his opinion. .■ ■ 



