THE RINGED SEAL: HISTORY AND DISTRIBUTION 65 



leather and articles of clothing. The skins are said to be mostlj' sold to English manufacturers, 

 who employ them in the preparation of a superior article of "patent" or lacquered leather. The 

 flesh is esteemed by the Greenlanders as superior to that of their favorite N'eitsiJc (Phoca fcetido). 



25. THE RINGED SEAL. 



General history and nomenclature. — The earliest notices of Phoca. fcetida, Fabricius, 

 in systematic works are based on the brief account given by Cranz in 1765, but there appear to be 

 still earlier references to it by Scandinavian writers. 



Geographical distribution. — Although the Ringed Seal is a well-known inhabitant of the 

 Arctic Seas, of both hemispheres, the southern limit of its distribution cannot be given with certainty. 

 Wagner ' records specimens from Labrador, which is the most southern point on the eastern coast of 

 North America from which it seems to have been reported. It is not enumerated by Jukes or Carroll 

 as among the species hunted by the Newfoundland sealers,^ nor is it mentioned by Gilpin' as occurring 

 in Nova Scotia. Its occasional presence here and in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is doubtless to be 

 expected. Further northward, and especially along the shores of Davis's Straits and Greenland, 

 its abundance is well attested. It has also been found as far north as explorers have penetrated, 

 having been met with by Parry as high as latitude 82° 40'. J. 0. Ross states that it is common 

 on both sides of the Isthmus of Boothia, where it forms the chief means of subsistence to the 

 inhabitants during eight or nine months of the year.^ It is common in Iceland, and Malmgren and 

 Von Heuglin state it to be numerous at Spitzbergen. The last-named author gives it as abundant 

 in summer in the Stor-Fjord and its branches, in Henlopen Strait, and in the bays of the northwest 

 coast of Spitzbergen, occurring in great herds as well as singly, in the open water along the shores 

 and in the openings in the ice-floes. He states that it is also numerous about NovaZembla, where 

 great numbers are killed for their skins and fat.' It is a common species on the coast of Finland, 

 and farther eastward along the arctic coast of Europe and doubtless also of Western Asia.' It is 

 also a common inhabitant of the Gulf of Bothnia and neighboring waters, and also of the Ladoga 

 and other interior seas of Finland. It is said by Blasius to extend southward along the coast of 

 Middle Europe to North Germany, Ireland, and the British Channel. Professor Flower has recorded 

 its capture on the coast of Norwich, England; it undoubtedly occurs at the Orkneys and the 

 Hebrides, where it is supposed to be represented by the species known there as "Bodach" or "Old 

 Man." A specimen was also taken many years since on the coast of France, but here, as on the 



' Schkeber's Saugethiere, vii, 1846, p. 31. 



^Professor Jukes says four species are known on the coast of Newfoundland, namely, the "Bay Seal" (Phoca 

 vUuliva), the Harp Sea,i {Phoca grcenlandica), theHooAedSeal (Cystophora cristata), and the "Square Flipper" (probably 

 Halivhoerua grypus). The first he did not see on the ice among the Seals pursued by the sealers. The second is the 

 one that forms the principal object of the chase. The third seems not to be numerous, but occurs occasionally out on 

 the ice-floes with the Harp Seals. The fourth is referred to as very rare, and as being larger than the Hooded Seal. 

 Not one was heard of or seen that season. He supposes it may be the Phoca iarbata. — Excursions in Newfoundland, 

 vol. i, pp. 308-312. 



Carroll states that the species of Seal that are taken on the coast of Newfoundland are the " Square Flipper Seal" 

 (probably Halichmrus grypus), the "Hood Seal" (Cystophora orislaia), the "Harp Seal" {Phoca grcenlandica), and the 

 "Dotard" or "Native Seal" {Phoca vUuUna). — Seal and Herring Fisheries of Newfoundland, 1873, p. 10. 



"The sgepies given by Gilpin as found on the coast of Nova Scotia are the Harbor Seal {Phoca mtulina'), the Harp 

 Seal {Phoca grcenlandica), the Gray Seal {Halichcerua grypus), and the Hooded Seal {Cystophora eristata). 



■* Ross's Second Voyage, App., 1835, p. xix. 



^Eeise nach dem Nordpolarmeer, Th. iii, p. 50. 



* In an account of Professor Nordenskj old's late arctic voyage, published in " Nature " (vol. xxi, p. 40, November 

 13,1870), it is stated that Phoca foetida "was caught in great numbers, and along with fish and various vegetables 

 forms the main food of the natives'' at Cape Serdze (about 120 miles from Bering's Straits), the point where the 

 "Vega" wintered, this and the polar bear being the only mammals seen. 

 5 F 



