OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 



175 



deceptions practised upon the 

 public, in the absence of a suffi- 

 cient knowledge of natural his- 

 tory. 



In the skeleton of the seal, 14, 



the four extremities 1, 2, 3, 4, 

 are distinctly developed. The 

 posterior limbs are directed back- 

 wards, so as to appear like a 

 continuation of the body. 



513. 



The head is round, and the nose, which is 

 broad, resembles that of a dog, with the same 

 look of intelligence and mild expressive phy- 

 siognomy. It has large whiskers, oblong nostrils, 

 and great black sparkling eyes. It has no ex- 

 ternal ears, but a valve exists in the orifices, 

 which can be closed at will, so as to keep out the 

 water; the nostrils have a Bimilar valve; and 

 the clothing of the body consists of stiff glossy 

 hairs, very closely set against the skin. The 

 body is elongated and conical, gradually taper- 

 ing from the shoulders to the tail. The spine is 

 provided with strong muscles, which bend it 

 with considerable force ; and this movement is 

 of great assistance to the propulsion of the body. 

 Although in most of the foregoing particulars 

 the seal resembles the quadruped kind, it greatly 

 differs from all of them with respect to its feet ; 

 for, though furnished with the same number of 

 bones as in quadrupeds, they are united to the 

 body in such a singular manner, and so covered 

 with a membrane, that they would rather re- 

 semble fins than feet, did not the sharp strong 

 claws with which they are pointed show their 

 proper analogy. The limbs, in fact, are con- 

 verted into oars and paddles. The anterior pair 

 have the arm and fore-arm so short, that little 

 more than the paw advances from the body.* 



A scientific gentleman of our 

 acquaintance very properly de- 

 scribed the hand of the seal as a 

 hand in a glove : the eyes are 

 capable of seeing equally well, 

 in or out of water ; and the 

 large whiskers which surround 

 its nostrils act precisely for the 

 seal, when exploring rocks and 



• Knight's Muoe-im of Animated Nature. 



masses of ice under water, as the 

 whiskers of the lion and tiger do, 

 when those animals are prowling 

 through their haunts. 



The common seal can remain under water for 

 about five minutes, and swims so rapidly that, if 

 alarmed, it will proceed nearly half a mile during 

 that period. The seal is intelligent and docile, 

 and easily domesticated; it becomes attached 

 like a dog to its master, and may be readily 

 taught to assist in fishing. Many anecdotes re- 

 specting tame seals are recorded. Few animals 

 have a finer sense of hearing, and musical sounds 

 appear to afford it great delight. Lang, in his 

 account of a voyage to Spitzbergen, states that 

 the violin, when played on board the vessel, 

 would generally draw around it a numerous 

 audience of seals, which would continue to follow 

 it for miles. Sir Walter Scott alludes to the 

 same curious fact in the following lines : — 



" Hude Heiskar's srals through surges dark 

 Will lon<* pursue the minstrel's bark." 



The common seal is from four to five feet in 

 length ; its colour is yellowish-grey, more or 

 less dappled and spotted with dusky-brown.* 



The walrus, 115, is also a car- 

 nivorous animal, although it partly 

 subsists upon marine vegetation. 

 It is so classed by naturalists on 

 account of the formation of its 

 teeth, which agree with those of 

 the carnivora. The tusks of this 

 animal are canine teeth enormously 



* Maunder'* Treasury of Natural History. 



