278 P H O 
in the Teas frequented by thefe animals; and I have feen 
them follow the lliip for miles when any perfon was play¬ 
ing on deck.” 
The common feal is reprefented on the Plate at fig. a. 
Three other varieties are noted. 
£?. Botnica ; in which the nofe is broader; the claws 
longer; the colour more obfcure. 
y. Sibirica; colour filvery. It inhabits the lakes of 
Baikal and Oron. 
o. Cafpica ; the colour of this is various. 
5. Phoca bicolor, the pied feal: colour black, variega- 
gated with white; nofe elongated, hind feet lunated, ears 
none. This fpecies, according to Mr. Pennant, differs 
from the former, in having the nofe taper and lengthened ; 
the fore feet furnifhed with five toes inclofed in a mem¬ 
brane, but very diftinft; the claws long and ftraight; 
the hind feet very broad ; five diftinfl toes, with the 
claws juft extending to the margin of the membrane, 
which expands into the form of a crefcent. In the firft 
or folio edition of the Britifh Zoology, it is not confidered 
as dif l in <51 from the common feal, of which it was regarded 
as a mere variety; but in the third edition of the Hiftory 
of Quadrupeds it is defcribed and figured under the title 
of the Pied Seal. It is alfo figured by the Count de 
Buffon in his fixth fupplemental volume, and is there 
confidered as a diftinff fpecies. Buffon obferves, that it 
frequents the coafts of the Adriatic, growing to the 
length of feven feet and a half. In colour it varies, like 
the common feal; Mr. Pennant’s fpecinten being black, 
with white throat and neck; while that defcribed by 
Buffon was black, with a white belly. It may be tamed 
like the common feal, and is then of a mild difpofition, 
though ferocious w'hen firft taken. Mr. Pennant’s figure 
feems to differ confiderably from Buffon’s, which latter 
has a much thicker neck, larger head, and fhorter fnout 
in proportion. This animal was taken near the city of 
Chefter, in May 1766. On the firft capture its fkin was 
naked, like that of a porpoife ; and only the head, and a 
final! fpot beneath each leg, was hairy. Before it died' 
the hair began to grow on other parts. The length of 
that defcribed by M. de Buffon was feven feet and a half; 
that taken at Chefter was very much lefs, and probably a 
young one. It was particularly fond of eels and carp, 
with which it ucas fed during the time of its captivity, 
and which were firft rolled in fait, in order to render them 
more agreeable to the animal. 
6. Piioca monachus, the hooded feal: four cutting- 
teeth in each jaw ; the fore feet undivided, the hinder 
pinniform and without claws ; ears none. This fpecies 
lias obtained the name of hooded, from the loofenefs or 
width of the fkin behind the neck, which, when the animal 
k placed on its back, folds like a monk’s cowl. It inhabits 
the Mediterranean Sea, growing to the length of more 
than eight feet. The head is fmall; the neck longer than 
that of the common feal ; the orifices of the ears not 
larger than a pea ; the hair fhort and rude ; the colour 
duflcy, fpotted with afn-colour: the toes on the fore feet 
have nails, but the hind feet refemble fins, and have no 
nails. This fpecies feems to have been firft defcribed 
with accuracy by Mr. Hermann, in the 4th volume of 
the Berlin Tranfaftions. 
7. Phoca Groenlandica, the harp-feal: colour grey, 
with a black dorfal crefcent, the horns pointing down¬ 
wards along the fides; ears none. The harp-feal is of a 
clumfy and inelegant form, the head feeming to join the 
body without the appearance of any neck; the fnout is 
rather pointed : the general colour of the animal is whitifh 
or grey, witha very large and fomewhat irregularly-defined 
black arch or crefcent commencing at the upper part of 
the back, the two bows or horns proceeding obliquely 
downwards along each fide towards the tail : the head 
alfo is black: it is faid, however, that the black arch does 
not appear till the fifth year of the animal’s age ; and 
that the colour differs annually till that period, during 
C A. 
which time the fpecies is diftinguifned by the Green¬ 
landers according to the refpecfive variation of colour. 
There is alfo faid to be a blackifli variety. The Englifh 
feal-hunters term this fpecies the harp-feal, or heart-feal; 
and the black arch is called the fuddle. It is a native of 
the feas about Greenland, Newfoundland, Iceland, the 
White Sea, &c. and, according to Mr. Pennant, paffes 
through the Afiatic Straits, as low as Kamtfchatka. It is 
reckoned the moft valuable of all the feals ; the fkin 
being the thickeft and the beft, and its produce of oil the 
greateft. It grows to the length of nine feet. 
8. Phoca hifpida, the rough feal: colour pale-brown; 
with the head fmooth, and the body covered with rifing 
briftly hair; ears fcarcely vifible. This is of a pale 
brown colour, with rough briftly hair, and is a native of 
the feas about Greenland, where the natives catch it for 
its fkin, with which they make garments with the hairy 
fide inwards. It is only about four feet long ; but Mr. 
Pennant fuppofes this to be the fpecies or variety 
called the Jqnare phipper by the Newfoundland feal- 
hunters, and which they defcribe by faying that its coat 
refembles that of a water-fpaniel, and that the animal 
fometimes weighs five hundred pounds. 
9. Phoca criftata, the crefted feal: body grey, forehead 
crefted. This is diftinguilhed by a ftrong folded fkin on 
the forehead, which (like the monachus) it can, at plea- 
fure, fling over the eyes and nofe, to defend them againft 
ftones and fand in ftormy weather. Its hair is white, 
with a thick coat of black woolly hair beneath, which 
makes the animal appear of a fine grey. It inhabits only 
the fouth of Greenland and Newfoundland; and in the 
latter is called the hooded feal. The hunters affirm that 
they cannot kill it till they remove the hooded fkin or 
covering of the head. 
10. Phoca barbata, the great feal: head fmooth, with¬ 
out ears ; nofe bearded; body blackifli. This refembles 
very much the common feal, but grows to the length of 
twelve feet: one defcribed in the Phil. Tranf. was feven 
feet and a half long, yet fo young as fcarcely to have any 
teeth; the common feal is at full growth when it has 
attained the length of fix. It inhabits the coaft of Scot¬ 
land, and the fouth of Greenland. The fkin is thick, 
and is ufed by the Greenlanders to cut out thongs for 
their feal-fifliery. Perhaps it is the fame with the great 
Kamtfchatkan feal, called by the Ruffians lachtach, 
weighing Soolbs. whofe cubs are black. One of that fize 
was killed in the north of Scotland. The annexed 
reprefentation of this fpecies, at fig. 3. is from the Phil. 
Tranf. vol. xii. p. 383. 
During Capt. Rofs’s voyage to the arftic regions, in 
the year 1818, “ a large feal was fhot from the Ifabella, 
(June 10.) It weighed eight hundred and forty-fix 
pounds. Its length, from the fnout to the tail, was 
eight feet, and its circumference five feet four inches and 
a half. It was one of the fpecies called Phoca barbata. 
On examining the heart, the foramen ovale was found to 
be entirely obliterated. I have mentioned this, on 
account of a different opinion having been once enter¬ 
tained on this fubjedl. The feal in queftion had eight 
rows of pellucid white whilkers, whence it has been 
named. Fore flippers eleven inches long, fix inches acrofs 
the metacarpus ; five fingers, the fecond from the front a 
little longer than the reft, refembling the human hand, 
except that it had five fingers, inftead of four fingers and 
a thumb. Hind flippers fixteen inches in length, and 
W’hen fpread, two feet acrofs at the claws; there are five 
fingers, in length feven inches, on thefe flippers alfo. 
Claws ftraight, brown colour beneath, black above. 
Upper lip rounded, fleffiy, thick, extending beyond the 
lower one, which is thin and pointed. Iris hazel, pupil 
elliptic perpendicular; tongue fleffiy, thick, flightly divi¬ 
ded at the tip, upper furface papillous. Hair ffiort, thicx, 
and coarfe, darkifh grey. It was a male, and fo young 
that the teeth were fcarcely developed; but the rudi¬ 
ments 
