416 
her. Both mother and baby were then brought to Lynn. 
]\Ir. Cresswell tells me the old female measured 7 ft. 1 in. in 
total length, and 5 ft. 9 in. in girth behind the fliiDpers. The skin 
of the old one now measures 6 ft. 9 in. from the nose to the 
extremity of the hind flipper, and 3 ft. 11 in. in breadth just 
behind the fore flippers, the corresponding measurements in the 
young one being 38^ in. and 17| in. The colour of the old one is 
yellowish buff, indistinctly clouded with spots and blotches of dark 
brown. The indistinct character of the dark markings arises from 
the under fur, forming the spots, being of a dark colour, whilst the 
long hairs are of the prevailing yellow or buff hue. The dark hue 
prevails most on the back, the sides being mottled. The dark 
markings are more conspicuous when looked at from the rear, that 
is, in a direction contrary to the set of the long hairs. The colour 
of the young one is a beautiful silvery white, a slight tinge of 
sooty hue appearing on the muzzle, back of the head, and for some 
distance along the spine, but being quite overpowered by the white 
at about two-thirds of the length from the nose. The fur is 
beautifully thick and long. The fore flippers, which are attached 
to the skin in the old female, measure from the body to the end of 
the first claw (along the curve) 9| in., and in the young one in. 
The claws are very long, a striking characteristic of the Grey Seal, 
the first claw measuring in the old and young animals, 2^- in. and 
1| in. respectively; the first two claws in each animal being 
nearly of equal length. The claws of the hind flippers are also 
very long, but weak and flattened, the skin extending beyond their 
points, the flap of the outer digits extending fully two inches beyond 
the insertion of the claws. The mystacial bristles are numerous, 
white in the old, slate-coloured in the young one, flattened, and 
slightly crenulated. I am inclined to think these mystacial 
bristles, if better understood, would be very useful as an external 
aid in determining the species of seals. They appear to me, so far 
as I have been able to ascertain, to bo very constant in their 
characters in different species. 
There are only two species of Seal known to breed on the shores 
of the British Isles. Fhoca vitulina produces its young in the 
spring, and although born whjte, the white coat is shod at the 
time of birth, or immediately after, and the young one talms to the 
water at once. The other species, Haliclmrus gry pirns, does 
