Volume 23, Plate IV / Mammalia (Mammals)

Marbled Seal

Phoca discolor

The Marbled Seal, taken on the French coast and reckoned by some a distinct species, is clothed in a very deep grey ground varied with whitish irregular lines forming a kind of marbling, most marked when wet, the under part paler. A young captive proved among the gentlest of wild animals, quickly tamed and strongly attached, sharing its enclosure amiably with two small dogs and suffering their liberties with no more than encouraging taps of its paw.