Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/759

 SEAL 733 the generic name is derived from a soft crown- like appendage from the nose to the back of the head. The hooded cr crested seal (P. leo- nina, Fabr. ; 8. cristatus, F. Cuv.) attains a length of 7 or 8 ft. ; the color is dark brown above with gray spots, the young being light- colored ; they have on the head a membranous and muscular sac covered with hair, divided into chambers by a prolongation of the nasal septum ; when the nostrils are closed this can be inflated with air ; the skins are among the most common in the market. They are fond of the ice islands of high northern latitudes, coming down to the coast of Labrador ; they are polygamous, fierce when wounded, and fight furiously with each other. The appendage on the head may be, as the fishermen suppose, a reservoir of air for use during submersion, or Hooded Seal (Stemmatopus cristatus). an accessory to the organ of smell, as its vas- cular nature seems to indicate. In macrorhi- nus (F. Cuv.) the incisors are far apart, hooked like small canines, the central ones the small- est ; the canines are strong tusks ; the molars have simple roots, the crowns appearing like nipples on a rounded base; the number of teeth is the same as in the preceding genus ; the forehead is very prominent, the bones as in the elephant for supporting a trunk ; the nasal bones are very short, and the maxillaries long with a very large nasal opening between them. The bottle-nosed seal or sea elephant (M. [morunga, Gray] prdboscideus, F. Cuv.) is the largest of the seal family, attaining a length of 25 ft. or more, with a circumference of about 16 ft., the size as w.ell as the proboscis justifying the popular name. The males are generally dark grayish blue or brown; they can elongate the muzzle to a foot in length ; the females are dark olive-brown above and yellowish below, and do not have the nasal appendage ; they are polygamous, and the males in the breeding season are very pugna- cious ; they have four fingers and a short thumb on the fore limbs with perfect nails, and the hind toes nailless. The hair is rather coarse, but the thick skin is in much request for har- nesses ; a single animal will yield 14 to 15 bbls. of blubber, from which the oil is obtained as in the whale ; the oil is clear, without bad odor or taste, and burns slowly and without smoke; in England it is used for softening wool and in the manufacture of cloth; the salted tongues are esteemed as food. They are found in large herds on the shores of the isl- ands of the antarctic seas, going north in win- ter to the coasts of Patagonia, remaining be- tween lat. 35 and 55 S. ; they prefer sandy and desert beaches, in the neighborhood of fresh water, in which they like to wallow. They never attack man unless brutally treated by him ; from indiscriminate slaughter they are now very scarce in their former accessible haunts. This species is half as large as the Greenland whale, and very much larger than the largest elephant. The family of otariadce or eared seals is very distinct from that of the phocidce. Dr. T. Gill, in his "Monograph of the Pinnipeds " (1856), first introduced some order into the confused nomenclature and characters of these seals ; and after him J. A. Allen, in the " Bulletin of the Museum of Com- parative Zoology" (vol. ii., No. 1, 1870), gave special attention to the family. Mr. Allen divides them into trichophocince or hair seals, with the genera otaria, eumetopias, and za- lophus, and oulophocince or fur seals, with the genera arctocephalus and callorhinus. In the otariadce, which includes the sea lions and sea bears, the incisors are f, the four upper middle ones with broad crown divided by a transverse groove, the outer two conical ; mo- lars f~, sometimes with one less above; the fore feet are further back than in the other seals ; the hind feet have the membrane pro- longed beyond the nails into long straps or ribbons ; the fore feet are nailless, and the lower surface of all the limbs is without hair ; there are also small external ears, from which these seals are called otaries. The name of sea lion has been given to a number of large seals of both hemispheres, either from their savage appearance, roaring voice, powerful canines, or maned neck. The northern or Steller's sea lion (eumetopias Stelleri, Peters) is about 15 ft. long, with a weight of about 1,600 Ibs. ; the males have stiff curled hair on the neck, a Southern Sea Lion (Otaria jubata). thick hide, coarse tawny reddish hair, and s mane of erect hair ; the head is large, the nose long and truncated, the eyebrows bushy, and