Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 728, December 8, 1877 — John Shaqi
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 728, December 8, 1877Various
History
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 728, December 8, 1877
Various
Periodicals
Regarding the sea-lions and their young at present in captivity in the
Brighton Aquarium, it is interesting to note the incidents connected
with the first 'bath' of baby _Otaria_. This prodigy in the way of an
aquarium specimen, tumbled accidentally into the water of his tank, and
apparently caused his mamma much anxiety. It is stated that he plunged
voluntarily into the water on a subsequent occasion, and appeared to
be perfectly at home in his native element; swimming and diving with
all the dexterity of an accomplished professor of the art of natation.
Being startled by some sound, the young otaria dived beneath the
surface of the water, the mother seizing her progeny by the neck, and
swimming ashore with it in her mouth. On the occasion of the writer's
visit to the Brighton Aquarium, the mother and young were disporting
themselves in the water; the male sitting up in the tank, and giving
vent to repeated sounds, resembling exactly the hoarse bark of a dog.
We may heartily re-echo the wish, that the happiness and amenity of
this interesting family may be disturbed by no untoward accident, if
for no other reason that they exist among us as the representatives of
a most interesting and now comparatively scarce group of quadrupeds.
It has often been disputed by naturalists whether or not the sea-lions
possess a mane. There can be no doubt that the old males of one
species at anyrate, the _Otaria jubata_ or Cook's sea-lion, the most
common form on the South American coasts, possess a mane on the neck
and shoulders. Nine or ten different species of sea-lions are known
to zoologists, these species being distinguished from each other by
very distinct variations in the form and structure of the skull, in
the fur, &c. It must, however, be borne in mind, that the recognition
of the exact species to which a sea-lion belongs is frequently a very
difficult matter, owing to the differences perceptible in the fur of
the two sexes and in the fur of either sex, at different ages.
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