SEALS OUT OF WATER. 
149 
mistaking them for any other; all' trace in such 
specimens of the dark patch across the loins by 
which the species is recognised as the harp seal , or 
saddle-back seal, is lost. The distinguished anatomist 
we have quoted had a capital opportunity of observ¬ 
ing the motions of the Greenland seal in confine¬ 
ment, and he has ably pointed out the difference of 
the gait of the saddle-back when compared with 
-others. He states that this seal very often uses its 
fore-limbs, placing them on the ground in a semi- 
grasping manner, and by an alternate use of them 
drags its body along. The hind legs, meantime, are 
cither trailed behind slightly apart, or with opposed 
plantar surfaces slightly raised and shut stiffly behind. 
On uneven ground, or in attempting to climb, a 
peculiar lateral wriggling movement is made, and 
at such times, besides alternate palmar action, the 
body and the hind legs describe a sinuous semi- 
spiral or wave-track. And he goes on to state that 
it was not until he had well thought over this paw- 
creeping movement of the northern seal that he fully 
appreciated an incident related by Mr. Charles David¬ 
son, which that gentleman had been witness to in one 
of his Arctic voyages. 
“ At more than a mile distance from their ship a 
.solitary seal was noticed lying dozing near an “ escape- 
