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Establishment; and Mr Fussel's spirited delineation speaks for itself.

Of the habitat and habits of this Otary we believe nothing is known; and severe criticism might demand, What is the use of such isolated and imperfect hints? The acknowledged fact, however, that even the most advanced Naturalist in this department is but groping in the dark, supplies too satisfactory an answer to all such interrogatories.

LESSON'S OTARY.

O. Molossina.-LESSON.

PLATE XXIV.

O. Molossina, Less. (Zool. de la Coq. 140.) Platyrhyncus Molosinus, Less.

LESSON and Garnot are our first authorities for this species, which was captured in the Southern Ocean. Lesson supposes it may be the same with one of the small species alluded to by Pernetty, and with that one named O. Guerin, and shortly described by Quoy and Gaimard, as having been seen in the Falkland Islands.

Lesson describes its forms as marked and regular; the head is small and round, with a face like that of the mastiff; the nose is not prominent, and has a groove on it; the upper lip overhangs the lower, and both are edged with short hair; the whiskers are long, fawn-coloured, and cover the face; the iris is green, the eye-lashes red; the ears very small, pointed, and curled upon themselves; the fore flippers are like fins, terminated by a thick

membrane, festooned on its edge, black and quite smooth; the fingers may be distinguished, and four rudimentary nails appear. The hind flippers closely approximate, are flat, and terminated by phalanges of equal length. The three middle are supplied with strong black nails an inch long; those on the external toes are quite small; the web is large, and forms five projecting portions, which are supplied with tendons proceeding from the last phalynx; they have no hair upon them, and are quite black. The external surface of the flippers, like the other parts of the body, are covered with short close hair, whilst the arm-pits and groins, and lower side of the feet, are quite naked. The length of the hair does not exceed a quarter of an inch, and the colour is a brownish-red, satin like, when the animal is alive. This Otary has thirty-six teeth, the upper incisors, flattened transversely, are separated into two lobes by a deep groove.

The animal so described was killed in the Falkland Isles. In November but few were seen, but towards the end of December they become very numerous. Lesson also noticed it on the coast of Chili in considerable numbers.

THE ASH-COLOURED AND WHITE-
NECKED OTARIES.

In addition to the above species, thus recently alluded to by Lesson, two others must still be men

tioned which are similarly circumstanced. Both were shortly noticed by Peron in his "Voyage;" but no detailed account, we believe, has hitherto been published. The one is this Ash-coloured Otary (O. Cinerea) referred to in the second volume of his Voyages, page 77, and by Desmarest in his Mammologie, No. 384. Lesson, in the Dict. Classique, states, that we may probably refer to this Otary a beautiful specimen which was sent to the Paris Museum by Quoy and Gaimard, and which was procured on the South-West coast of New Holland. We have taken some trouble, which, however, has proved fruitless, to obtain a drawing of this animal. The other is the White-necked Otary, (O. Albicollis,) shortly alluded to by Peron in the same volume of his Work, and by Desmarest, No.385, and by Lesson. This one, so far as we know, has not been depicted. But necessitated, by want of space, to take no further notice of these ascertained, though scarcely described species, we must bring our list to a close by supplying a very succinct account of one which yields in value to none, and whose history, we trust, we can somewhat elucidate. We allude to

THE COMMON FUR-SEAL OF COMMERCE.

PLATE XXV.

O. Falklandica, Desm. No. 387. Less. Dict. Class.
Falklandica, Pen. p. 275, Shaw.

Fur-Seal of Commerce.

Ph.

SUCH of our readers as may be interested in this truly valuable Seal, in a commercial and economic point of view, we beg will turn to the observations which will be found in the introductory portion of this volume; * and such as desiderate more scientific details, we take the liberty of referring to a paper entitled "Observations on the Fur-Seal," which will be found in the Second Volume of the Annals of Natural History. In this paper, an attempt is made to prove that the Falklandica, introduced to the notice of Naturalists some sixty years ago by the illustrious Pennant, in his description of a specimen which had recently been presented to the Museum of the Royal Society, and also that the Long-Necked Seal, (the Lon

• See p. 92.

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