240 _ REVIEWS. 
The following examples will then suffice to prove “that the 
difference in size seems to be more than reduced to a minimum, 
and to be degraded to absolute nullity.” 
Callorhinus ursinus (A “ Oulophocin”) .275 millimetres. 
Zalophus Gillespii (A ‘* Trichophocin”) .270 millimetres. 
“The length of a full-grown male [of C. ursinus] is between 
seven (7) and eight (8) feet.”* ‘*The mounted skin of an adult 
male [Z. Gillespii| preserved in the Museum of the Pays-Bas 
[Schlegel] says, is ‘six (6) pieds et deux (2) pouces en totale lon- 
gueur?” + The skeleton of an unusally large specimen of Z. Gil- 
lespii measures less. than seyen (7) feet; its skull, 330 millimetres. 
Comment is unnecessary. 
2. Stoutness or slenderness. Knowing the materials, specimens 
as well as literature, at the command of Mr. Allen, Iwas at a loss 
to know how he had obtained the data which enabled him to clas- 
sify all the species ‘into two groups, distinguished by comparative 
robustness or slenderness. I carefully examined his work, and 
finally noticed the apparent characters deducible from the skins, 
and recalling the case of some animals (especially the small wea- 
sels) in which the slenderness of the body is due to the elongation 
of the vertebra, I inferred that such hints might have induced Mr. 
Allen to use such data. I was, indeed, surprised at such a stand- 
ard, and intimated by the remark that “no data are given con- 
cerning the ratio of the girth to the length,” what £ considered to 
be a better criterion of robustness or slenderness. 
Mr. Allen has, however, at length remarked that his “ observa- 
tion was based on a comparison of the skeletons of two of the 
leading genera— Eumetopias and Callorhinus—and the figures 
and descriptions of the other ‘species.” I must confess that I am 
more surprised at this than when I suspected that I had detected — 
Mr. Allen’s meter of slenderness in the relative elongation of the 
skins; in the one case, he had measurements of all the species, 
such as they were; in the other, he had only two species, out of 
the eight admitted (with reserve, however,) by himself, illustra- 
tions of the skeletons of two others, and figures foreshortened or 
from stuffed specimens of others. Now, if Mr. Allen can select 
from such data evidence in favor of his views, I can select. that 
*On the Eared Seals (Otariadæ). By J. A. Allen. p. 76. 
tOp. cit.. p. 69. 
