Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/207

] We likewie oberved large maes of ilex in very cloe trata, which bore a great reemblance to petrified wood.

One of our carpenters killed an amphibious animal of the pecies known by the name of phoca monachus, about ix feet in length.

Phyiologits have explained in a very ingenious manner how amphibious animals are enabled to remain o long under the water by means of the foramen ovale; but, upon examining the heart of this animal with the utmot attention, I did not find that it had any foramen ovale. Probably the ame may be the cae with many other amphibious animals. By puruing thee reearches we may one day dicover the true caue of the atonihing faculty poeed by thee animals, of living equally well both in the air and in the water.

Each ide of its lungs is divided by a tranvere fiure into two lobes.

The tomach, which reembles in hape very nearly that of a hog, contained a large quantity of calcareous and, amongt which I oberved everal hell-fih that were till entire. The firt part of the function of digetion in this animal eems to conit in detroying the hell in which the fih is encloed, whereby a quantity of and is produced in its tomach, which does not appear to