Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/757

 SEAL lous coat ; the right lung is two-lobed, and the left undivided ; the kidneys are divided each into 120 to 140 parts like a bunch of grapes ; the testes are permanently retained within the abdomen. The crystalline lens is more spher- ical than in land animals, and the sclerotic very thick in front and behind, and thin in the middle, allowing a change of its antero-poste- rior diameter by compression of the muscles to suit aquatic and aerial vision ; the tapetum is remarkably brilliant. They live in the arctic and antarctic seas, near the coasts, and often at the mouth of rivers, preying upon migratory and other fish, crustaceans, and cephalopod mollusks. They are gregarious and migratory, fond of particular spots, leaving the coldest arctic regions in winter for milder seas; the herds are usually of the same species, or when different each species keeps by itself, rarely fighting with the others. Most are polyga- mous, each male having three or four females, forming small families ; gestation lasts nine or ten months, and one or two young are born at a time, which are tenderly cared for ; parturition and lactation occupy two or three months, in autumn, winter, or spring, which are passed on shore, the food being such as can be picked up on land or near the coasts, even from the vegetable kingdom; both sexes at this time grow very lean. They are fond of crawling out of water upon rocks, beaches, and ice floes, for the purpose of basking in the sun, always keeping a good lookout, and plunging into the water at the approach of an enemy; they never go far from their favorite element. They are playful, but at times fight fiercely, as in the breeding season ; their bite is severe, and the wounds made by their teeth are not disposed to heal readily either on their own or the human body; some of the larger species are very powerful. The voice is a kind of snapping bark, which, with their canine ex- pression of face, has given them the name of sea dogs. They can remain under water 20 minutes or longer ; their animal heat is among the highest found in mammals. They swim with considerable speed, and are most expert divers ; their movements on land are awkward and laborious, consisting of a series of short jerking leaps forward by means of the power- ful muscles of the back, assisting themselves occasionally, as in climbing rocks and ice, by the anterior limbs ; they can advance more rapidly on the ice, by a vertical motion of the spine, somewhat in the manner of a caterpillar, rendered possible by the short spinous proces- ses, large and elastic intervertebral cartilages, and the uncommonly strong spinal muscles. The senses of smell and sight are very acute. They are easily tamed, affectionate, and docile ; at zoological gardens they are taught to sit erect, to bow, kiss the hand, pretend to be asleep and to snore, turn the crank of an or- gan, shoulder a gun, shake hands, and perform other similar simple tricks ; in captivity they are much disposed to be drowsy and almost lethargic. Few animals are more tenacious of life than seals, and the most needless cruelties used to be practised in their capture; now the larger species are generally killed at once with the lance thrust into the heart, and the smaller ones are stunned by a blow on the nose from a long-handled hammer, with a sharp spike on the opposite side to hook into the skull. The Esquimaux hunt them in light boats with lan- ces, or spear them at holes in the ice where they come up to breathe; to them the seal supplies food, oil for light and warmth, skins for clothes, boots, utensils, tents, and boats, sinews for thread and lines, and membranes for under garments and window coverings. The oil is of superior quality, and, if prepared from the fresh animals, is transparent, free from odor, and not unpleasant to the taste ; the skin, by a peculiar process of Esquimaux tanning, makes a water-proof leather. As ar- ticles of commerce seal skins are of two kinds, hair skins and fur skins ; the former are used for making garments, the latter, now chiefly from Alaska, for finer purposes ; all seal skins, however, have a mixture of coarse hairs and finer fur. Millions of skins have been used in Europe and in this country, and thousands of tons of shipping are employed in their capture. Large herds of seals of various species, espe- cially the Greenland and hooded seals, are found on fields of floating ice, called seal mea- dows; on these the hunters try to surprise them when sleeping, killing the young with clubs and shooting the resisting adults. The seal fishery is extensively carried on from Newfoundland, in sailing vessels of from 50 to 200 tons burden, each manned by from 25 to 90 men; recently steamers have also been employed, ranging from 175 to 450 tons, with from 100 to 200 men each. The seals are taken on the ice off the E. and N. coasts of the island ; the season lasts from the first of March to the close of May. The principal species taken are the harp and hooded seals, chiefly the former; two other varieties are also taken in Newfoundland, the square-flip- per seal, a large species, and the dotard or na- tive seal, which never leaves the island ; the skins of the latter are more valuable than those of the other species, being spotted, and are much used for trunk covers, coats, gloves, &c. The fishery was not prosecuted by New- foundlanders prior to 1763 ; in 1787 4,900 seals were taken from the ice, and the oil ex- tracted ; in 1871 there were 201 sailing vessels and 13 steamers employed, with an aggregate crew of 9,791 men; the number of steamers is increasing. The exports of seal skins from Newfoundland between 1838 and 1848 varied from 400,000 to nearly 700,000 annually; for the exports of oil and skins from 1868 to 1872 inclusive, see FISHERIES, vol. vii., p. 234. (See also NEWFOUNDLAND.) Many seals are taken in early spring at the Magdalen islands and on the Labrador coast among the floating ice, and also by nets set across narrow channels. Be-