Pinnipedia. BI AMM ALI A. Pinnipedia. 
fluent. 'I’he wliiskers are wliite, the upper ones 
dusky and smaller. Tlie expedition oC tlie Erebus 
and Terror procured this Seal, and the Eritisli 
Museum possesses the specimen. Its habitat is in 
the Antarctic Seas. 
Leptonyx. — Gray. 
Ill this genus the skull is broad and depressed be- 
hind ; the muzzle is short and broad ; the grinders 
are somewhat compressed, with a small sub-central 
conical tubercle, and a very small posterior one ; the 
lower jaw narrow behind, without any hinder angle. 
The fore-feet are clawless. The head is flattened, the 
profile presenting a form like cupid’s bow ; muffle 
hairy between the nostrils, the latter ovate in form. 
'I’he whiskers are flattened, and somewhat waved. 
There is no exterior conch to the ear. The .skull 
resembles Cuvier’s figure of Phoca bicolor ; the nose 
rather short, broad, and high above ; orbits rather 
large ; petrous portion of the temporal bone convex 
and hemispherical. The cutting-teeth are f, conical, 
somewhat recurved ; those of the upper jaw largest, 
the middle in each jaw smaller, the outer upper 
much larger. The canines are j-j-, large, conical, 
curved and compressed, the upper the largest. The 
grinders are f-f, prominent. The lower jaw is 
slender, with a short symphysis in front, and narrow, 
without any angle at the hinder part of the lower 
edge. 'I’he fore-feet are small, elongate, triangular, 
hairy above and below ; the hind-feet are modei'ate 
in length, the two marginal toes the largest, rounded 
at the end ; the claws are small, the two middle ones 
largest. The fur is short, with no under fur. 
FALSE SEA LEOPAKD {Leptonyx, weddelUi). — 'I’lio 
Antarctic Expeditions — notably that of the Erebus 
and 'I’error — brought specimens of this Seal. At 
Patagonia some were observed. It is easily dis- 
tinguished from the Stenorhynchus by the shortness 
of the wrist and the triangular form of its fore- 
feet. 'Phis is intermediate between Stenorhynchus 
and Ommatophoca. 
Omjiatophoc A.— Gray. 
'The skull in this genus is broad, and depressed 
behind. 'I’he muzzle is broad, very short. 'I’he orbits 
are large. 'I’he grinders are small, compressed, with 
a central incurved lobe, and a small lobe on each 
side of it. 'Plie canine-teeth of the male are four to 
five inches long. 'I’he fore-feet are very slightly 
clawed. 'I’he ears are small, no external conch 
being visible. 'I’he muffle is hairy between and to 
the edge of the nostrils ; the latter are oval. 'I’he 
whiskers are tapering, coidcal. The cutting-teeth 
are small and conical. 'Plie tail is short, and 
conical in shape. Fur close-set and rigid. 
ROSS’S LARGE-EYED SEAL {Ommatophoca rossii). 
— 'Phis is described as of a greenish-yellow in color 
of fur, with close, oblicpie yellow stripes on the side, 
and pale beneath. It is figured in the Zoology of 
the Erebus and Terror. Its habitat is in the An- 
tarctic Seas. 
Ixxi 
'Pkibe V— CYSTOPIIORINA. 
In this group the cutting-teeth are 'Phe grinders 
have large, swollen roots, and a small, compressed, 
simple-plaited crown. 'Phe muffle of the male has a 
dilatable hairy appendage. 
Morunga. — Gray. 
'I’he genus Morunga is characterized by having the 
muzzle broad and truncated in front, and the fore- 
head convex. 'I’he front claws are obsolete, the 
hinder ones distinctly formed. Whiskers are very 
long and large. It is said to have many characters 
in common with the Crested Seal of noiPhern waters. 
Lord Byron mistook the male and female of this 
species for mother and young, as there is great dis- 
crepancy in size, the male being eighteen feet and 
the female about ten feet in length. 
THE SEA ELEPHANT [Morunga elephantina ) — 
Fig. 39, vol. i., p. 127. — 'Phis is a rival of the Walrus 
in singularity and immensity. It is curious, as simu- 
lating in the sea the greatest beast of the field and 
forest. 'Phere are numerous synonyms, by as many 
authors. One of them is M. patagonica, which indi- 
cates tliat the creature has been seen near that locality. 
We, therefore, gladly introduce it in our History of 
the American Fauna, as it is a wonderful object, 
and one about which most astonishing tales are 
told. 'Phere is nothing more surprising than the 
record of its length and bulk. Some author gives 
the length of an individual as thirty feet, and a 
circumference of eighteen feet. It is said to live a 
good deal out of water, wandering among the marshy 
grounds. Now, this is extraordinary, too, when we 
consider what an enormous bulk there is to be 
dragged or jerked along by aid of its insignificant 
feet or “flippers.” It is said to emigrate, moving 
southward as the summer comes on, and, when the 
winter weather sets in, returning to its haunts in 
the more northern regions. 'Phe first emigration is in 
June, when the females give birth to their young. 
A curious story is told of the males at this time 
forming a cordon between the females and the sea, 
to prevent them from deserting the young. 'J'his 
story is not vouched for. 'Phe males fight desperate- 
ly. 'I’liey are thought to be polygamous, each male 
having a herd of females in his charge. 'Phe hun- 
ters take advantage of the fact that females will 
continue to herd around the male even when closely 
pressed ; the latter is, therefore, not molested, while 
the females are shot down in numbers, yiiould the 
male be killed, the females would dis[)erse at once. 
'The Sea Elephant is considered as rather sluggish 
and inactive, and is not so formidable an antagonist 
as the Walrus, notwithstanding its great bulk and 
strength. Its teeth are most formidable in aspect, 
though the molars are small — the latter have a curi- 
ous mushroom-like apex. 'Phe canines are large. 
'Phe peculiar proboscis-like appendage of the nose, 
seen only in the adult males, is not very conspicuous 
when the creature is at rest; but, when excited, it 
blows into it, causing such an inflation that the re- 
