THE TRUE SEALS. 



249 



black eyes in an apparently meaningless stare."— ' ranean, are inhabited by seals which have 

 Dr. R. Brown on the Seals of Greenland in the t,vo incisors in each hah" of the jaw both 



Blaiiuai of Instructions for the Arctic Expedition, 

 edited by Rupert Jones, 1S75. 



The southern seas, incluchng the Mediter- 



above and below, small canines, and molars 

 with pointed lateral cusps besides the sharp 

 middle one. Of these teeth the first has 



•■^^^^c=«;^ ^ 



Jrig. 129. — ihe Sea-leopard [Li/toayx Ucpardinu^). 



only one root, while the others have two. 

 These seals form the genus Leptonyx. 

 I 



Dental formula: 



= 32 teeth. 



As representative of this genus, which in- 

 cludes also the Monk-seal of the Mediter- 

 ranean {^Lcptouvx vionachus {MonacJiiis albi- 

 ventcr) ), an illustration is given of th.e sea- 

 leopard [Lcptoiiyx Icopardiiuis), fig, 129, of 

 the Antarctic Seas, which attains the length 

 of about 12 feet, and has a gray-brown tur 

 interspersed in places with bright yellow 

 spots. The nails are small but sharp, their 

 colour black. On the hind-flippers they dis- 

 appear with age. The skull is longish, the 

 fur short, thick, without down. 



The true seals, in the most restricted sense 



ot that term, the animals forming the o-enus 



o o 



Phoca, have three incisors above, like the 

 land Carnivora, but only two below. Dental 



I • 5 



formula : 



I • 5 



54 teeth. 



The molars are deeply notched and very 

 sharp. A somewhat difterent genus (Halichoe- 

 rus) has conical molars without lateral lobes. 



As representative of this group composed 

 of the ordinary seals of our coasts, found only 

 in the northern hemisphere, the group to 

 which amono- others the Common Seal or 

 Sea-calf {Phoca vitcllina (z'itulina) ) belongs, 

 the Greenland Seal {Phoca gra^iilandica), fig. 

 130, has been selected for illustration. It is 

 the commonest species in the northern seas, 

 and its pursuit is carried on chiefly by the 



32 



