THE SEAL. 



119 



Skeleton of Seal. 



Female Dugong of Ceylon. (From Sir J. Emerson Tennent's Work on Ceylon.) 



ing fish-like from the shoulders to the tail, their abundance of 

 fat, the lightness of which is so favourable to swimming, the 

 position of their feet, admirably 

 formed for rowing, paddling, and 

 steering, their whole economy, in a 

 word, is calculated for the sea. Al- 

 though citizens of two worlds, their 

 real element is evidently the water, 

 from which their food is exclusively 

 derived. 



Seals are found in almost all seas, but they particularly abound 

 on the coasts of the colder regions of the earth, and diminish in 

 size and numbers as they 

 approach the torrid zone. 

 Small seals are found near 

 Surinam, but the giants of 

 the family, the huge sea- 

 elephant, the sea-lion, the 

 sea-bear, belong exclusively 

 to those higher latitudes 

 which the sun visits only 

 with slanting rays, or where 

 the winter forms a dreary and continuous night. 



How wonderful to see the desolate coasts of the icy seas 

 peopled by such herds of great warm-blooded mammalia ! But 

 there, where the dry land produces only the scantiest vegetation. 



The Seal. 



