OTABIADiE. 9 



is obtained or observed. It is true that the sealers call some seals 

 hair- and others fur-seals ; but that is only because what they caH 

 hair-seals never had more than a very small quantity of under-fur 

 in the fur-season ; but, on the other hand, many fur-seals at some 

 seasons have only a small quantity of the under-fur which is so long 

 and abundant at other periods. 



Difficult as it is for the zoologist to distinguish the species by their 

 external appearance, the skins of the different species of Fur-Seals 

 are easily distinguished by the dealers, even when they are wet, 

 showing that the practical fellmonger is in advance of the scientific 

 man in such particulars, as the dealers in whalebone were in regard 

 to the distinction of the species of the Whale by their baleen (see 

 Zool. Erebus & Terror). 



The longer hairs of the Fur-Seals are very slender and pale-co- 

 loured at the basal half of their length, and thicter and darker at 

 the upper half, and often have a white tip. The basal half is sub- 

 cylindrical, the upper half is flat, tapering at each end. The abso- 

 lute length of the under-fur differs in the various species. Judging 

 from the old and young specimens of A. nigreseens, the hairs seem 

 to be longer, both absolutely and relatively to the imder-fur, in the 

 young than in the adult animals. The hairs of the Hair-Seals are 

 shorter, flat, channelled above, and gradually tapering from the base 

 to the tip, merely contracted at the insertion into the skin. The 

 breadth of the hairs seems to vary in the different species ; and in 

 the younger specimens there are to be observed some soft hairs like 

 the under-fur of the Fur-Seals. 



The Fur-Seals are CallorMnus ursinus, Aretoeephalus antarcticus, 

 A. nigreseens, A. cinereus, A. Forsteri, A. falMandicus, Eumetopias 

 SteUeri, Arctophoca PMlippii. 



The Hair-Seals are Otaria jubata, Phocarctos HooTceri, Arctoce- 

 phalus nivosus, Zalophus Gilliespii, Neophoca lobatus. 



Dr. Peters, in his two papers on the Eared Seals {Otaria) uses the 

 length of the ears and the existence or non-existence of the under- 

 fur, as well as the characters used by Mr. GiU. and myself, to separate 

 the species of these animals into subgenera. 



The length of the ears may probably afford good characters for 

 the separation of the species and groups, if they can be observed in 

 the living animab. As yet, only one species of these animals, the 

 Sea-lion or Sea-bear (Otaria leonina), has been observed alive in 

 Europe ; so that Dr. Peters's notes could only be derived from the 

 examination of more or less carefully preserved skins ; and, I fear, 

 little dependence can be placed on them. 



The form of the hinder opening of the nostrils and the form of its 

 front edge, when only one or two skulls of a species were examined, 

 have been regarded as constituting a good character ; but when an 

 extensive series of the skulls of a single species, or of several species, 

 have been examined, that part is found to vary considerably as to 

 the width of its different parts, and especially in the form of its 

 front edge. As far as my observations have extended, the hinder 

 opening of the nostrils appears to become narrower, and especially its 



