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Show 650 MR. J. W. CLARK ON EARED SEALS. [Dec. 7, 8. On the Eared Seals of the Islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam, with a Description of the Fur-Seal of N e w Zealand, and an attempt to distinguish and rearrange the N e w - Zealand Otariidce. B y J. W . C L A R K , F.Z.S. [Received December 6, 1875]. (Plates LXX.-LXXII.) When I began this paper I expected that it would amount to no more than a description of the four skulls from St. Paul's Island which I exhibit to night, with a few notes on the stuffed specimens from the same locality preserved in the Museum of the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, where, thanks to the kindness of my friends Professor Gervais and Professor Milne-Edwards, I was allowed, last autumn, to study the specimens that had been lately acquired. A fortnight ago, however, m y friend Dr. Hector was so good as to present to the Cambridge Museum a young Fur-Seal of N e w Zealand preserved in spirit, and to lend me, with the concurrence of Dr. Gunther, two adult skulls of the same species, male and female. He also, with great generosity, put into m y hands the notes and measurements he had taken when the animals were captured ; so that, thanks to him, I am able to lay before the Society much new and valuable information respecting the southern Otariidce, with which we are still so imperfectly acquainted. The specimens I have to exhibit are :-four skulls from the Island of St. Paul or Amsterdam, I am unable to say which ; of the Fur-Seal of New Zealand, a young female in spirit, and two adult' skulls, of one of which the snout has fortunately been preserved ; and a }*oung skull from Campbell Island lent me by Professor Gervais. I propose to preface m y description of these by a collection of the notices of " Seals " that are profusely scattered through the early voyages of exploration to the South Sea and New Zealand, in the hope of clearing up to a certain degree the difficult question of the number and synonymy of the species still existing on the Australian coasts, using the term "Australian" to designate Australia proper, New Zealand, Tasmania, and the adjacent islands. These notices are peculiarly valuable for m y present subject, as the destruction of Seals has been going on steadily since the first discovery of the country. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. I. Islands of St. Paul and Amsterdam. These are two volcanic islands in lat. 37° 52' S., long. 77° 35' E., discovered by one Vlaming, a Dutchman, in 1697. It would appear that the most southern of the two is now called St. Paul's ; but the islands have changed names more than once*. They are nearly equidistant from the Cape of Good Hope and Australia, aud lie only * See Vancouver's Voyage, 4to, London, 1798, i. p. 26. |