THE OTARIES.

WE now proceed to the second great division of the Phocidia, the Otaries ; and in addition to what has been said on p. 98, we may now add, that their forepaws, as if intended exclusively for swimming, are generally placed farther back in the body than in the true Phoca, giving them the appearance of possessing a longer neck; the fingers also are more hid in the skin, and they have no nails; the hind feet have the membrane or web prolonged beyond the nails into five long straps or ribbons, (see p. 55,) and the under surface of all the extremities are devoid of hair, like the sole of the foot, and are deeply marked with rugæ.

We turn first to the animals which have received the popular name of SEA-LION, a name which has been applied by voyagers to Seals of large dimensions for a variety of fanciful and absurd reasons. Thus Funnell, in his narrative of that voyage which goes under the name of Dampier's, applies the ap

pellation to a great Seal he encountered, because "he roared like a lion;" and others have conferred it upon other animals, because they had teeth like lion's teeth, and so forth. Steller, who, in 1742, first gave a detailed account of some of these larger Seals, described one under the name of Dampier's SeaLion; but in looking to Funnell's account, it is evident that no one could thereby distinguish the species; and from other considerations, it is almost certain it had reference to the Proboscis Seal just described, (p. 208,) which, as we have seen, was called Sea-Lion by Anson, and Sea-Wolf by Pernetty. But this is the least of our present confusion. Pernetty gives an account of a Sea-Lion which he encountered at the Falkland Islands; and Forster, in his account of Cook's Voyage, supplies another of a somewhat similar animal which they met with at Staten's Land. From the general resemblance merely, Pernetty regarded the great lion of the Falkland Islands as identical with Steller's; at the same time remarking that there were several species of Sea-Lion;* and Forster was disposed to identify the species he saw both with Steller's and Pernetty's; whilst Peron and other naturalists, who have paid great attention to these amphibia, strongly contend that there are three or more different kinds. Analogy would certainly lead us to conclude that the Seals of such different regions are themselves different, and without entering further into discussion upon

• Loc. c. p. 38.

this point at present, we merely state that we think it best to follow the example of Peron, and of the Dict. Classique, and to treat of these species severally. We shall resort, as much as possible, to the original sources of information, and shall thus, in a great degree, put our readers in a condition to form their own judgment.

GENUS PLATYRHINCUS.

We have now arrived at the sixth genus of M. F. Cuvier, concerning the osteology of which he confesses that nothing satisfactory is known. He had before him a cranium, which, by the bye, he does not indicate, which was different from all the others, and which was labelled as a Sea-Lion's; and without attempting to refer it to any one species, he establishes upon it the present genus. This, of course, was only groping in the dark, though it was at the same time making progress, so far as unequivocally to indicate another kind of Seal. Since that time, other not less extraordinary crania have been discovered, and of some of these we shall avail ourselves, at the same time begging attention to the

fact, that these several specimens have not been satisfactorily referred to any distinct species, or, it may be, genera.

In connection with the Sea-Lion of Steller, we venture to prefix a copy which De Blainville took of a cranium in the London College of Surgeons, and which was labelled," Sea-Lion from the Island of Tinian-from Commodore Byron." This island, one of the Ladrones, in lat. 15° N., borders on the N. Pacific Ocean, though still at a great distance from Behring's Island and the Kuriles, which were the summer residence of Steller's Lion; from which, however, they went southwards on the approach of winter.

The following is an abridgment of Blainville's account of the cranium, which wanted the lower jaw. It is more than a foot long, and apparently belonged to an adult animal; its crests are remarkably strong, indicating the attachment of powerful muscles; the forehead and chaufrin are almost horizontal; the opening for the nostrils is also horizontal, and of middling size; the muzzle is about one-third of the length of the whole head; the orbit also is forward, so that the molars are carried far back. The teeth are (3.1.6.;) six incisors in a straight line, the external much the largest, and like small canines; the canines are of great size; and then, without any interval, six molars, almost equal in length, and augmenting in thickness from the extreme ones to the third; they appear to have been all nearly pointed and conical. M. F. Cuvier indicates Steller's Lion as the type of this genus, and the above description agrees with Steller's very minute account of the teeth.

SEA-LION OF STELLER.

Phoca Jubata.-GMELIN.

Otaria Stelleri, Less.

ninus, F. Cuv. of Steller.

Phoca Jubata, Gmel. Desm. Plat. LeoDampiero Leo Marinus, Steller.

Sea-Lion

ACCORDING to Steller,* the length of the full-grown Sea-Lion of the North is about fifteen feet, and its weight about sixteen hundred weight. The males have stiff and crisp curled hair about the neck, of which the females and young are destitute. The females are shorter and more slender than the males. The hide is very thick, and covered with coarse strong hair of a reddish colour like that of many cows, which gets paler in the aged, and is of a deeper hue in the young; in the females it has a bright ochre tint, and

Nov. Comment. Acad. Scient. Petropol. t. ii. ad annum 1749.