Ikmarhs aboitt ^ti\h, 



AND THEIR SO-CALLED "BALLAST-BAG." 



BY A. J. HARlilSON, M.B.Lon. 



Head December 1st, 1887. 



Seals are true Mammalia. Order, Garnivora ; sub-order, 

 Finnipedia, (a) Phoco', (h) Otaricv. 



r I THE Fliocw are the seals most usually found in the 

 -*- northern hemisphere, the species Vitulina being the 

 one found around our coasts. They are valuable for their 

 skins, which are tanned into leather, and also, more or 

 less, for the oil which their blubber or fat yields. The 

 Otarim belong to the southern hemisphere. They are mucli 

 larger than the I'hoca;, and have received the names of 

 sea-lions, sea-bears, and sea-elephants, according to their 

 supposed similarity to these animals respectively. The 

 Otariai are noted for their beautiful fur, which with their 

 skin, tanned and prepared, is used to make ladies' mantles, 

 muffs, etc., of; which, as most of us know, although very 

 beautiful, are very costly. 



Then I would like to remind you that these seals — and I 

 am now using the term in a very general and inclusive 

 sense — are animal feeders, true carnivora, only their chief 

 food is not flesh but hah. Some of them however are not 



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