SEALS, 223 
by Mr. Hanson are still in salt, and not in a condition suitable for 
description. 
From the description of Monsieur Racovitza, Ommatophoca would 
appear to be of very remarkable form. It is, he says, “le plus 
phoque des phoques, car chez lui toute forme de quadrupéde a dis- 
paru. Son corps n’est plus qu'un sac fusiforme pourvu de membres 
tres réduites”—a description completely borne out by Dr. Cook’s 
photographs, as well as by Mr. Borchgrevink’s note (Op. and loc. 
cit.), that the body of the first specimen of this supposed new species 
“was not unlike that of the ordinary seal, but the neck was of more 
than ordinary thickness, and under the chin it extended to a great 
round muscular purse. The head was short and broad, the eyes large 
and protruding, and the mouth short. The eyes were somewhat 
slanting. It had six front teeth in the upper jaw, two in the under 
jaw, but no back teeth.” The four skins brought home by the Belgica 
are those of an animal distinctly smaller than the other three species. 
Their total length, measured from the tip of the nose to that of the 
tail, reaches only from four feet four inches to four feet ten inches. 
The thick and hairy tail presents no characteristic features, having a 
length of about four inches. The flippers, as in the other species, 
are completely covered with hair. They are distinctly smaller than 
those of Lobodon or Leptonychotes. The fore-flippers carry five, the 
hind two to five (in the latter case rudimentary) claws. The greatest 
lengths are, for the fore-flippers nine to twelve inches, for the hind 
ten to twelve inches. It is due to those who have worked only at 
the type skin to say that, like them, in examining it, I have com- 
pletely failed to find any traces of claws on the hind-flippers. 
Distinguishing Characteristics—The skull of Ross’ Seal cannot 
possibly be confounded with that of any other living Pinniped. Its 
nearest resemblances lie with Cystophora cristata, Erxleben, of Arctic 
waters. In general size it about equals that of Leptonychotes, and is 
slightly smaller than that of Zobodon. Here the resemblance ceases. 
The feeble dentition, broad interzygomatic and short naso-palatal 
regions. together with the vertical inclination of the nares, at once 
mark ts distinctness. 
Sec.—The sex of Ross’ specimens is unknown. Both those col- 
lected by the Belgica were females. Since one of the known females 
is the largest skull of the four, and there are no apparent differences 
in the size of the teeth, I see no way of telling the sex of the two 
unknown skulls. Neither can the one unknown female amongst the 
skulls brought home by the Southern Cross be certainly indicated— 
unless, indeed, it be No. 1, which, although distinctly adult, is the 
