tural H isto ry ’ for November, 1843, not knowing th a t it
h a d before been figured by Messrs. Hombron and Ja c q u in
o t, and referred it to th e genus Stenorhynchus, w ith a new
specific name, slightly modifying th e cha rac ter o f the genus
to contain it. I t is certainly more nearly allied to that
genus than to Phoca, to which th e French surgeons had
referred it, b u t still it differs so much from it in the con-
Ibnuation o f the skull an d the lobing and rooting o f the
teeth, th a t it can scarcely be left in i t : b u t the la tte r p e culiarity
appears to have escaped Mr. Owen’s re search, for
in his generic character o f Stenorhynchus h e says, “ A nterior
molars with one root, the re st with tu'o roots,” while
in th is genus th e three front u p p e r molars are singlerooted,
a cha rac ter by which this genus differs from all the
others in the family.
S t e n o r h y n c h u s , F. Cuvier.
P hoca, Home, B la in v ille .
H e ad elongate: ear-conch none e x te rn a lly ; muzzle
broad, e lo n g a te ; muffle hairy to the edge an d between
th e no strils; nostrils acute; whiskers slightly waved; face
elongate, ra th e r compressed; muzzle tapering, ra th e r p ro duced
and compressed on each sid e ; orbits modera te;
the. peirose portion o f th e temporal bone ra the r convex.
C uttin g tee th conical, acute, incurved, granular, and
with a cutting edge on each side in a regular row, the
two outer larger, the u p p e r much larger th an th e lower,
and separated from the canines by a broad space; canines
conical, with sharp cutting edges within and on the sides,
the u pper la rg e s t: grinders -|4, with moderate roots, separa
ted from the crown by a narrow groove, th e crown compressed,
divided into three elongate lobes, the centre lobe
much th e largest, longest, and subcylindrical, the anterior
an d posterior lobes conical, the bases o f the lobes are surrounded
by a sharp-edged ridge, w ith two small, short, con
ical tubercles on the inner side, th e large r one being at
th e base o f th e separation o f th e h in d e r Irom the middle
lobe : th e front grinder in each jaw is ra th e r th e thickest,
with a single thick conical root, all the rest have two ra ther
diverging roots, divided nearly to the crown ; the
hinder tooth in each jaw is ra the r th e smallest. Symphysis
o f the lower jaw short.
Body tapering behind. T h e fore limbs moderate, rather
elongate. The toes are ra th e r larger than th e wrist, and
each fmnished with a small nearly terminal claw : the
h ind limbs are ra the r large, o f two nearly equa l lobes, destitu
te o f any claws. T h e three middle toes small, tapering.
T h e fur close-set, short, without any u nder f u r ; hairs
flattened, tapering a t th e tip to a point.
Inhab. Antarctic Ocean.
MacMurtrie, in his translations of Cuvier, erroneously
adds to the generic cha rac ter in the te x t o f the author,
“ bu t with single ro o ts ; ” th is is repeated in th e reprint of
the American edition published by Orr, i. 98.
T h e S e a L e o p a r d . Stenorhynchus leptonyx.
P la te 3, a n im a l; plate 4, skull.
P hoca Leptonyx, B la in v . Jour. Phys. xci. 288. Desm.
Mam. 247, from Home’s specimen. Cuv. Oss. Fos. v. 208,
t. 1 8 , / 2. F. Cuv. Mem. Mus. xi. 190, t. 1 3 , / 1. Blainv.
Osteogr. Phoca, t. i. a n d t. 4 , / . S ku ll, (Mus. Paris).
Stenorhynchus Leptonyx, F. Cuv. Diet. Sc. N . x x x ix .
549, t. 44.
Seal from New Georgia, Home, P h il. Trans. 1822, 240,
t. 29, (skull).
P hoca Homei, Lesson, D id . Class. H . N . xiii. 417.
T h e Small-nailed Seal, H am ilto n , N a t. L ib. 180, t. 11,
(nails too large).
Stenorhynchus aux P e tits Ongles, Hoinbr. S- Jaco. Vou.
à Pol S u d . f . 9 . ^ I y
P hoca Leopardina,Jit?«esc«, Weddell, Voy. South Pole,
22, 24, 134, t. n o t good.
Leopa rd Seal, Weddell, I. c.
Otaria? Weddcllii, Lesson, B u ll. Sci. N a t. vii. 438, 343.
Stenorhynchus Weddellii, Lesson, Mam. 200.
Leopa rd Seal, Hamilto n , N a t. L ib. 183, t. 12, (from
Capt. Weddell’s specimen).
Grey, p ale r beneath, with small black spots on th e sides
o f th e neck and body, and with a few smaller while spots
on the s id e s ; u pper p a rt o f th e h in d e r limbs dark, pale-
marbled.
Inhab. Antarctic Ocean, on the packed ice.
A skull o f this species, which was brought from New
Georgia by Mr. Ke arn, was presented by Mr. Chevalier to
th e Museum of the College of Surgeons, and was described
b y M. de Blainville, on his visit to En g lan d in 1810, and
published u nder the name o f Phoca leptonyx , in the
‘ Jo u rn a l de P h y s iq u e ’ (of which he was then tlm editor), in
1820. This skull was also figured by Sir E . Home, in
ltlh>ep ^‘ PPbhiillno^snonpbihI"ic.?a!!l T ra n sa c tio n s’’ ifro..r. I1Q8O2O2.
M. Blainville afterwards found a skin with its skull from
F alk lan d Islands, in the collection of M. Hautville of H a vre,
which was afterwards presented to the Paris Museum,
and has furnished all the material for the descriptions of
Cuvier’s figure, copied in Mr. Hamilton’s work i
is said to be taken Irom th is specimen; b u t it is anything
b u t like tlie slender subcylindrical animal preserved in the
P aris collection: and in the la tte r work it is represented
as having five large claws on each fo o t!
T h e “ Sea L e o p a rd ” of Capt. Weddell, described by
Professor Jameson in that intrepid navigator’s Voyage,
and since figured by Mr. Hamilton as a second species of
StenoNiynchus, does not appear to differ from the species
described by M. de Blainville, but unfortunately I have
n o t been able actually to compare the specimens, or to get
fi-om Edinburgh any drawing o f the teeth, lo make myself
quite certain on this point. Lesson’s names were only given
from the description in the Voyage above quoted.
T h e following notice of this species has been kindly
communicated to me by Dr. Frederick Knox, with a skeleton
and p a rt o f the viscera, which was caught on the
coast of New Zealand. “ I t was of a dull yellow olive
color irregularly spotted. The nostrils opened much after
the manner of the Cetacea, in th e form o f th e elongated
fissures, G inch from the extremity of the snout, whilst the
position and vast size of the pelvic extremities, added to
th e extreme shortness o f the tail, so nearly approached in
form and ap])earance the lateral flanks of the tail in whales,
as to deceive any one b u t a comparative anatomist. The
specimen was shot and captured in Evans Bay, P o rt N icholson,
in November, 1843. T h e skin was hairy. The
stomach of the seal conta ined numerous fish-bones, a few
feathers (gulls’), and some considerable portions o f a pale
green, broad-leaved, marine F ucus : thousands o f a small,
hard, round, white worm (parasitical) pervaded all p arts of
the intestines. T h e intestinal tube measured 71 feet, 10
inches ; c a p u t caicum, 1 inch, 9 lines : diameter o f small
intestines, 1 inch ; of large iutestiues, 1 inch, 6 lines. L iver
weighed 14 lb s .: kidneys, 2 tbs. e a c h : spleen, 1 lb .:
heart, 6 tbs. The arch of the aorta gave off an extremely
short innominata, which divided it into a right carotid and
subclavian, and left c a ro tid ; the left subclavian came off
sepa rate ly; it resembles Tiedeniann’s third variety, PI. II I.
(copy published in Edinburgh). Teeth, = 3 2 : the
two lower middle incisors appear p e c u lia r; the arrangement
a t least was new to me. Vertebrae : — cranial, 4 ;
cervical. 7 ; dorsal, 1 4 ; lumbar, 6 ; sacral, 3 ; coccygial,
1 3 ; = 47.”
Dr. Frederick Kn o x called it th e “ Sea Bear,” so th at
this is probably th e animal so uamed by Pollack and other
authors, which h a s caused Phoca ursina to be included in
the New Zealand Fauna.
Mr. Owen {Ann. N . H 1843, 831), appears to think that
this animal is one-coloured, for he says the Sea Leopard
is distinguished from it “ by th e spotted hide.”
• L e p t o n y ’X, Gray, Mag. N a t. Hist, not Swainson.
Head flattened. Muzzle broad, ra the r short, rounded ;
muffle hairy between and lo the edge of the nostrils ; nostrils
ovate ; whiskers compressed, slightly waved. Ears,
no exteimal conch.
Skull slightly depressed, expanded b e h in d ; muzzle rather
short, broad, high above ; orbits rather large : the pe-
trose portion o f the temporal bone convex, hemispherical.
Cutting teeth conical, ra the r recurved, those o f the
upper jaw la rg e s t; the middle in each jaw smaller; the
outer upper much larger. Canines 4 4-, large, conical,
curved, ra the r compressed, u pper largest. Grinders 4
moderate, ra th e r far apa rt, parallel lo the edge o f the jaw,
compressed, with subcentral, conical, prominent tubercle ;
the second, third and fourth, in the more perfect specimens,
with a small conical tubercle on th e hinder edge,
and a sharp edged ridge round the inner side o f the base.
The front grinder in each jaw smaller, and with a single
conical root, the rest all 2-i'ooted nearly lo th e crown.
Lower jaw slender, with a short symphysis in front, and
narrow, without any angle a t the hinder p a rt of th e lower
edge.
Fore feet small, elongate, triangular, hairy above and
below, with five graduated, distant, marginal claws : hind
feet mo d era te; the two marginal toes largest, rounded at
the end ; claws small, rudimentary, two middle largest.
F u r short, adpressed, without any under fu r; hair slender,
tapering, slightly flattened.
The skull o f this genus resembles, in many respects,
Cuvier’s figure of a skull of Phoca bicolor; b u t it differs
from it in all the grinders being placed more longitudinally,
and in the lower jaw being slender, and without any
angle on the hinder p a rt o f the lower edge. I t is far more
nearly allied to th a t genus th a n Stenorhynchus, to which
Mr. Owen {Ann. N . H . 1843, 331, 332) has referred it;
observing that h is Sten. serridens (our Lobodon cancri-
vora) shows modifications o f the molar tee th which would
give it a be tte r claim to subgeneric distinction th an the
Sten. Weddellii (which he observed is the type o f the
subgenus L ep to n y x o f Mr. Gray) has been supposed to
possess; — an observation n o t borne out by the specimen,
B u t Mr. Owen made the remark, and drew up his specific
character, without having seen th e teeth ; for the skull was
not then removed from the skin, and the specimens in the
British Museum — th e only ones th en known — were
stuffed with th e ir mouth nearly closed.
Mr. Swainson, in 1832, applied the name o f L e p to n y x to
a genus o f b ird s; and in 1837, the same name to a second:
b u t the former had before been named Pteroptychos, and
the la tte r Coryphospiza, so th a t the name may still be used
for the Seal.
T h is animal is easily known from Stenorhynchus by the
shortness o f th e wrist, and the triangular form of the fore
feel, being intermediate in this respect between th a t genu.s
and Ommatophoca.
Th e F a l s e S ea L e o p a r d . Leptonyx Weddellii.
Pla te 5, animal. P la te 6, skull.
Leptonyx AVeddellii, Gi-ay, May. N a t. Hist. 1836 (not
the synonymes).
Fulvous, with the front o f the back, au d a line down the
back, blackish grey : whiskers brown, tapering.
Female and young blackish grey a b o v e ; sides with a
series o f longitudinal yellowish spots.
Inhab. South Seas, — Santa Cruz. Capt. Fitzroy, R.N.
This Seal was first described by me from two specimens
sent to the British Museum, by Capt. Fitz roy, R .N ., when
employed, with Capt. P. P. King, R .N. on the survey of
the South American continent. 1 was then led lo believe
that it was the Sea Leopa rd o f Weddell, which induced
me to name it after that intrepid n av ig a to r; b u t I now find
th a t the Stenorhynchus L ep to n y x is the animal so called
by the whalers, and therefore the one intended by Capt.
Weddell, and consequently the references to his description
must be erased, and referred to the Stenorhynehus.
We have a third specimen in the Museum, which was
brought home by the Antarctic Expedition. The skin is
not in a very good state, and is of a reddish colour, but
this is probably produced by th e staining of the blood. In
proportions and skull it exa ctly agrees with the two before
described; and it is the skull o f this specimen, as being
most perfect, that is here figured.
O xMMATOPHOCA.
He ad short, b ro a d ; ears small, willi no external conch ;
muzzle very short, rounded ; muffle hairy between and lo
the edge o f the n o s trils ; nostrils ovate : whiskers tap e ring,
conical.
Skull depressed, expanded b e h in d ; orbits very la rg e ;
muzzle very short, broad, truncated in front, high behiud ;
peirose portion of the temporal bone convex.
Cutting teeth 4, small, conical, sharply recurved a t tiie