479 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



SEALS (PHOCIB^). 



These remarkable animals belong to the sub-order Pinni'pedia, which 

 comprises the amphibious carnivora known as seals (Phoca) and the 

 walrus or morse {Trichechua). The Phocidce are again subdivided 

 into two principal groups, the one commonly known as seals 

 proper, and the genus Otaria, which include the sea-lions, sea- 

 bears, fur-seals, and others distinguishable by having an external 

 ear, and by some important differences in the construction of their 

 limbs and dental formula. 



Every species and variety of the curious marine animals in- 

 cluded in the seal family are peculiarly interesting to the students or 

 lovers of the natural world. They are formed upon the same 

 general plan as the animals which are purely terrestrial, and atmo- 

 spheric air is a necessity of their existence, yet their abode is in the 

 sea, and they are dependent on its products for their sustenance. 

 At the same time they have little or nothing in common with the 

 fish trilje, and in intellectual endowments, size, and commercial 

 importance they are in no way inferior to the terrestrial mam- 

 malia ; some of the species being, in fact, in all these respects far 

 superior to the majority of other animals. 



The features most worthy of attention about the Phocidce are 

 those wherein they differ from other types of mammals. Among 

 the animals to which the reader's attention has already been 

 invited, the hippopotamus, and in a far lesser degree, the polar bear, 

 both take naturally to the water, and derive a large portion of their 

 food from its depths, yet they cannot correctly be called amphibious. 

 Neither in reality can the seals, for, as before said, they have to inhale 

 the air, and to do this must come to the surface, for they are not 



