History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

18 MAMMALIA. FERA. Trichechus.22. P. barbata. Great Seal.— Length about 12 feet ;furconsisting of thin brown hairs.Haaf-fish, Bull-fish, Pen. Brit. Zool. 1. p.130".— On the shores of theHebrides and northern islands.The history of this species as a British subject is very imperfect. Pennantdid not meet with it during his voyage. The Bev. Donald Maclean, inhis account of the Parish of Small Isles, Stat. Ac. vol. xvii. p. 275-, mentionsthe great seal as a distinct species, and states, that, while the common kindbring forth their young in the middle of summer, this species does so aboutthe middle of harvest. Dr Edmonston, in his " View of the Zetland Islands,"ii. p. 294., says, "That the head is longer in proportion to the bodythan in the common seal; that they live in pairs only, and in exposed situations."In the article Greenland, in the Edin. Encyc, by Sir Charles Gieseeke,it is stated, that the flesh of this species is white and very good. The " GreatSeal" of the British Museum (Phil. Trans, xlii. p. 383. tab. i.),seems to be anaged individual of the common species. In the Appendix, No. 4., to " Ross'sVoyage of Discovery to Baffin's Bay," there is a description of this species,which we shall here insert, as furnishing a standard of comparison in the examinationof our native kind." Its length, from the tip of the nose to the extremity of the tail, was8 feet ; its circumference, behind the fore-flippers,5 feet 7 inches ;weight,830 " pounds. Fore-flippers measured in length 1 1 inches, in breadth 6 inches.Hind-flippers, in length 1G inches, in breadth 2 feet; when expanded.The claws of the former were black, horny, and curved ;those of the latterwere long and straight. Fingers five, middle ones longest in fore-flippers.The body covered with thick, coarse, short, dark grey hair. The eyesabout the size of an ox's, furnished with a nictitant membrane, irides darkhazel ; the pupil elliptic, perpendicular. No external ears ;the auricularapertures placed about 2 inches behind the eyes.The upper lip broad, rounded,fleshy, divided into two lobes by a deep sulcus, division, which is black andnaked ; each lobe isprovided with eight rows of strong white bristles, semipellucid,and curled at the ends ;the lower less thin and pointed. Tonguethick, pointed and cleft ;upper surface papillous. Teeth, upper front six,truncate, small ; tusks solitary, truncate ;grinders three, the anterior onesolitary ; lower front four, imperfectly developed ; tusks small and obtuse ;grinders seven, the two posterior imperfectly lobed, the rest being small longtuberosities, scarcely produced through the gum. The heart about the bulkof that of the ox, its texture strong;the foramen ovale obliterated, (a pointon which there is yet some discord among comparative anatomists). Theaorta 3 inches in diameter, its coats 2^ lines in thickness ;the caliber of thepulmonary artery nearly the same ;the thickness of its coats 1 line. Kidneyselliptic, lobes 150 to 100. Stomach filled with a greenish dark fluid; its innercoat lined with ascarides an inch and a half long; they hold on with greattenacity, rendering it difficult to detach them; the small intestines were inhabitedthickly with teniae, from 1 to 5 feet in length. Excrementa of thelarge intestines resembling thick verdigris paint. Penis about 18 incheslong, 8 in circumference the lobe about 8 inches ; long, and 3 in circumference ;the lower surface depressed for the reception of the urinary canal."11. Destitute of incisors or tusks in the lower jaw.Gen. XVI. TRICHECHUS. Walrus—Tusks of the upperjaw greatly produced, and directed ventrally.23. T. Rosmarus. Tusks remote.Walrus, Sibb. Scot. p. 10., Mac SUlivrcty yEdin. PhiL Journ. ii. p. 380—Arare straggler.