480 ZOOLOGY. 
ORDER 7. CARNIVORA. 
Group 1. Pinnipedia. 
The seals, which constitute this group, were for a long time not distin- 
guished from the herbivorous Cetacea, the name of sea-cow, now restricted 
to Manati, being indifferently applied to them, with those of sea-calf, sea- 
dog, sea-bear, sea-lion, &e. Seals, as already remarked, are also among 
those curious animals which have given rise to the stories of the mermaids 
of our forefathers, their head generally bearing some resemblance to that of 
a dog, whose intelligence (we are told) and soft expressive look they also 
possess. Some species have very inconspicuous ears, and others have 
merely an auditory aperture ; their jaws are furnished with strong teeth, 
consisting of incisors, canines, and molars, ali well adapted for seizing, Hola. 
ing, and crushing the scaly antl slippery prey upon which they feed: The 
tongue is smooth, and slightly notched at the end; the feet are formed for 
swimming; the front pair is enveloped in the skin of the body as far as the 
tarsus, and the hinder pair, which is flattened and directed backwards, is 
enveloped almost to the heel. All the feet have five toes, the anterior ones 
regularly decreasing in length from the thumb to the little toe; while in the ~ 
hinder feet the thumb and the last toe are the longest, and the intermediate 
ones the shortest. The tail is short, and when the animal is out of the 
water, is generally concealed by the hind legs pressing close to it. When 
they dive, they close their nostrils by a kind of valve; and the large venous 
sinus in the liver must assist them in diving, by rendering respiration less 
necessary to the circulation of the blood, which in them is very abundant 
and very dark colored. 
These animals pass the greater portion of their time in the water, never 
landing except for the purpose of basking in the sun and suckling their 
young. They are excellent swimmers, having an elongated body; a very 
movable dorsal spine provided with muscles that strongly flex it; a narrow 
pelvis; short hairs that adhere closely to the skin. 
The Pinnipedia form but one family, that of Phocida, since we have 
removed the walruses from this group. 
Fam. PHocip#, or the seals, have six or four incisors above, four or 
two below, pointed canines, and grinders from twenty: to twenty-four, all 
trenchant or conical, and without any tuberculous part whatever ; five toes 
to all the feet. 
The genus Phoca includes the species deprived of external ears, provided 
with pointed incisors; all their toes enjoy a certain degree of motion, 
and are terminated i pointed nails, planted at the edge of the iuereeains 
which unites them. When the number of incisors is six above and four 
below, we have then the:sub-genus Calocephala, of which the common seal, 
Phoca vitulina (pl. 114, fig. 2),is an example. It is from three to five feet 
in length; found on the coast of Europe in great herds. When the incisors 
are four above and four below, and the molars deeply notched into three 
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