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Show 374 MR J. O. MILLAIS ON THE SKIN OF THE [Mar. 1, specimen showed absence of the parietal and occipital bones, the brain being absent with the exception of portions of the frontal lobe. The cut end of the neck exhibited a well-formed spinal cord, its anterior end being lost in the membranous lining of the base of the skull; there were only two ears. Mr. Holding also exhibited the skull of a Spanish Four-horned Ram, showing complete dislocation and partial fracture of the skull from base of nasal bones to occipital, due to a combat with a rival ram. Mr. J. G. Millais, F.Z.S., exhibited some pelages of the Grey Seal (Halichcerus gryphus) taken from the animals in various stages of growth from birth to maturity, and made the following remarks :- There is no European mammal, exclusive of the Whales, the pelages and life-history of which are so little known as those of the Grey Seal. If we look through the recorded history of the animal we find only endless confusion with another large pinniped, namely the Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus), to which the Grey Seal certainly bears a somewhat similar appearance in the adult state. After various accounts suggestive of its rank, Fabricius, in 1791, gave the first systematic name to the Grey Seal, and pointed out many of its main characteristics; but even after this date little was known of the animal, and to this day such experienced and practical men as the Dundee and Newfoundland seal captains fail to recognise any difference between the large Ice Seal and the dweller on the rocks. Both species are known to them as the Square phripper or Square flipper. Even, too, with all the strides that have taken place in modern zoology, we find, on turning to recent literature, but few references to the Grey Seal, little being-said of its habits and practically nothing as to its pelage, grow'th, and the finer points of its life-history. Dr. Edmonston gave us an admirable little paper on the Seals of the Shetland Islands in 1837, which included many excellent references to the Grey Seal; and Prof. Robert Collett a good account of the breeding-habits of the species, taken from observations in the Fros and the Vigten Islands in Norway, and published in the Zoological Society's 'Proceedings,' 1881; but Mr. Allen, in so comprehensive a work as ' Pinnipeds of North America,' confessed that he was able to describe the species only from two skulls and skins, whilst his general descriptions were taken from the writings of many who knew the animal only slightly or from hearsay. European museums, too, even our own admirable National Collection, seem to suffer from a lack of specimens, and without the examination of a very large series, it is impossible to describe accurately this interesting animal. It is this difficulty of obtaining skins, and the fact that the animal must be hunted in dangerous and exposed situations, that |
