220 THE ANTARCTIC MANUAL, 
Distinguishing Characteristics.—The skull of the true Sea Leopard 
needs no description. It is well known, and has been described by 
Owen in the Catalogue of the Osteological Museum of the Roval 
College of Surgeons of London (see Nos. 3938 to 3941). It is at once 
distinguishable by two characters from the skull of any other living 
seal. These characters are—(1) the great length of the large skull, 
and (2) the powerful teeth, which are recognisable at all ages by 
their large proportions and the peculiar arrangement of the cusps. 
Of these there are three, placed one after the other in a line running 
parallel to the long axis of the jaw. The apices of the two smaller 
and outer are usually recurved towards the larger central cusp, which 
itself bears a recurved apex. In addition, it should be noticed that 
in no seal of the Antarctic are the lamdoid and sagittal crest so 
prominently developed as in this species. 
Logopon. 
External Appearance—Externally the Crab-eating Seal would 
appear to be the most conspicuous Antarctic species, as the names 
applied to it by the various explorers indicate. Thus, Mr. Bruce 
calls it “the Creamy White Seal,’ Mr. Borchgrevink styles it “the 
characteristic white seal of the Antarctic,” and Mr. Bull writes of it 
as “the whitish-yellow or light grey seal which goes under the name 
of the white Antarctic seal, though it is never found of such white- 
ness that it cannot readily be distinguished on the ice-floes” (Op. cit. 
p. 139). Yet, except that we may be certain that it is at all ages of 
far lighter coloration than any of the other three species, we are as 
yet in some doubt as to its exact hues and their arrangement—doubt 
which can only be dispelled when a detailed description of the animal 
taken from specimens still in the flesh by a competent naturalist is 
forthcoming. Meanwhile it may be well to compare the various 
descriptions which have reached us. The original was as follows :— 
“Pélage brun olive, parsemé ca et li, en dessus, aussi bien qu’en des- 
sous, de grandes plaques de couleur jaunitre,” a description borne out 
by the plate (No. 10), in which, however, the animal is represented 
as having the nose white. Mr. Bruce, on the other hand, writes of 
“a darker dorsal stripe,” contrasted with the “creamy white” general 
body colour. The skins of all ages collected by the Belgica are nearly 
white, with only indistinct traces of mottling. In life they were, to 
once more quote Monsieur Racovitza, “d’un blanc pelucheux & reflet 
verdatre.” Lastly, the skins brought home by the Southern Cross 
show, as far as I could ascertain by an examination of them while 
