3 CATALOGUE SEALS AND WHALES BEITISH MUSEUM. JOHN EDWARD GRAY, F.R.S., V.P.Z.S., F.L.S., &c. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES. 1866. FEINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET. PEEFACE. This Catalogue contains an account of all the specimens of Seals and Cetacea, and their bones, that are contained in the British Museum, and a description of the specimens which are contained in other collections, in order to show what are the species which are desiderata to the Museum Collection. Man}- of the woodcuts are the same as were prepared to illustrate papers published in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society,' which have been kindly lent by the Council of that Society for the purpose. JOHN EDWARD GRAY. British Museum, Dec. 15, 1865. fz;~^ — n^ I. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Family Phocid^ 1 1. Stenokhynchina 8 1. Lobodon 8 carcinophaga 10 2. Leptonyx 11 Weddellii 12 3. Ommatophoea 13 Rossii 14 4. Stenorhynchus 15 Leptonyx 16 5. Monaclius 17 albiventer 19 tropicalis 20 2. Phocina 20 6. Callocephalus 20 vitiiliniis 20 ? Caspicus 22 ? dimidiatus 22 7. Pagomys 22 foetidus 23 ? Largha 24 8. Pagophilus 25 Groeulandicus 25 9. Ilalicyon 27 Eichardi 30 10. Phoca 31 barbata 31 3. Teichechina 33 11. Halichcsrus 33 Grypiis 34 12. Tricheclius 35 Rosniarus 36 4. Cystophorika 38 13. Momnga 38 elephantina 39 14. Cystophora 40 cristata 41 Antillaruiii 43 5. Ahctocephalina . . 44, 368 15. Callfuhinus 44 uisiuus 44 Page 16. Arctocephalus 47 Monteriensis . . 49, 368 lobatus 50 Californiauus .... 51 nigrescens 52 Delalandii 52 Hookeri 53 Gilliespii 55 Falklandicus 55 cinereus 56 australis 57 17. Otaria 57 leonina 59, 369 Stelleri 60 Order CETACEA 61 Suborder I. Cete 62 Section I. Mysticete 68 Earn. Bal^nid^ 75 1. Balaena 79 Mysticetus 81, 370 Biscayensis 89 marginata 90 gibbosa 90 2. Eubalc-ena 91 australis 91 Sieboldii 96,370 3. Hunterius 98 Temminckii 98 4. Caperea 101 antipodarum . . 101, 371 5. Macleayius 103, 371 Australiensis 105 6. Palseocetus 106 Sedgwickii 106 Earn. Bal^nopterid.*: .... 106 Megaptebina 115 1. Megaptera il7 longimana .... 119, 373 2. Poescopia 125 Lalandii 126, 373 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Puge ? Novse-Zelandise . . 128 r* Bumieisteri 129 Americana 129 Kuzira 130 3. Eschrichtius 131 robustus 133, 373 Physalina 134 4. Benedenia 135 liaoxii 138 5. Physalus 139 antiqiiorum .... 144, 374 Duguidii 158, 374 Patachonicus 374 Sibbaldii ...... 160, 380 ? australis 161 Brasiliensis 162 ? fasciatus 162 Indieus 162 ? Iwasi 163 antarcticus 164 6. Cuvierius 164 latirostris 165,380 Sibbaldii 380 7. Sibbaldius 169 laticeps 170 borealis 175 Sclilegelii 178 ? antarcticus 381 Bal^nopterina 186 8. Balc-enoptera 186, 382 rostrata 188 Swinkoei 382 Section II. Denticete 194 Fani. Catodontidjj: .... 195, 386 Catobontina 386 1. Catodon 196 niacrocephalus . . 202, 387 australis 206 Pacific Sperm Whale 209 South African Sp.W. 209 Indian Sperm Whale 209 South-Sea SpenuW. 210 2. Meganeuron 387 Ki-efftii? 389 PlIYSBTEBINA 390 3. Physeter 210 Tiu-sio 212 4. Kogia 215, 891 breviceps 217, 391 Grayii 218 simus 391 Macleayii 391 5. Euphysetes 386, 392 Grayii 392 Fam. Platanistid^ 220 1. Platauista 221 Gangetica 223 Pago ludi 224 Fam. Inud.^ 226 1. Inia 226 Geotfrojai .... 226, 393 Fam. Delphinid.^ .... 228, 393 Delphinina 231 1. Pontoporia 231 Blainvillii 231 2. Steno , 232 Malayanus 232 roseiventris 233 frontatus 238 compressus .... 234, 394 Capensis 394 lentiginosus 394 Gadamu 394 attenuatus .... 235, 394 ? brevimanus 236 Tucuxi 236, 395 ? pseudodelphis .... 395 ? fluviatilis 237 ? pallidus 237 ? coronatus 238 ? rostratus 238 fuscus 239 3. Delphinus 239, 395 microps 240, 395 longiro.stris 241 stenorhynchus .... 396 Delphis 242, 396 major 396 Moorei 396 Walkeri 397 marginatus 245 Janira 245, 398 punctatus 398 NovK-Zealandias . . 246 albimanus 247 Forsteri 248 Sao 248 Frithii 248 pemiger 249 Clymene 249 Styx 250 Tethyos 251 Euphrosyne 251 Alope... 252,399 fulvifasciatus 252 dubius 253 lateralis 254 4. Tursio 254, 400 Doris 255, 400 Dorcides 400 fraenatus 256 Metis 256, 400 Cymodoce .... 257, 400 ? Guianensis . . 257, 4C0 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Vll 10. Pago trimeatue 258, 400 Abusalam 261, 401 Eurynome 261 Entropia 262 Catalania 262 Ileavisidii 263 obscunis 264, 400 compressicaudus . . . . 266 ■. Sotalia 393, 401 Guianensis 401 Lagenorhynchus .... 267 Electra 268 cferuleo-albus 268 Asia 269 acutus 270 clanculus 271 breviceps 271 Thicolea 271 albirostri8 272 leucopleiunis 273 ? Nilssonii 275 lateralis 275 fusiformis 402 Delphinapterus 276 Peronii 276 Pborealis 277 Orca 278 gladiator 279 intermedia 283 Capensis 283 brevirostris 285 Pseudorca 290, 402 crassidens 290 meridionalis 291 Grampus 295 Cuvieri 295 Rissoanus 298 Richardsonii 299 affinis 300 Sakamata 301 Phocajna 301, 402 communis 302 tubercidifera 304 spinipinnis 304 Neomeris 306 Phocajnoides ..... 306 Beluga 306 Catodon 307 Pago Kingii 309 13. Monodon 310 monoceros 311 Fam. Globiocepiialid^. . . . 313 1. Globiocepbalus 313 Svineval 314 affinis 317 intermedius 318 Edwardsii 320 macrorbynchus .... 320 . Indicus 322 Sieboldii 323 Cbinensis 323 2. Spbferocephalus 323 incrassatus 324 Earn. ZiPHiiD^ 326 Hyperoobontina 327 1. Hyperoodon 328 Butzkopf 330 2. Lagenocetus 336 latifrons 339 Epiobontina 340 3. Epiodon 340 Desniarestii 341 4. Petrorbyncbus 342 Capensis 346 Indicus 346 ZiPHIINA. 348 5. Berardius 348 Arnuxii 348 6. Zipbius 348 Sowerbiensis 350 Layardii 353 7. Diopiodon 355 Seclielleusis 355 Suborder II. Sirenia 356 Fam. Manatib^ 356 Manatina 357 1. Manatus 357 austi'alis 358 Senegalensis 360 2. Halicore 360 Dugong 361 Tabernaculi 364 Rytinina 365 3. Rytina 365 gigas 365 Abbitions anb Cohrection.s 367 CATALOGUE SEALS AND WHALES. Family PHOCID^. Cutting-teeth | or | or A or |, conical or truncated ; canines conical, sometimes elongated ; grinders |^ or ||, more or less lobed or plaited. Head rounded ; face more or less produced ; ears, very small, rudimentary, or none external ; eyes large, only slightly convex. Body elongate, hairy, attenuated behind; teats 2 or 4, ventral. Feet short, enveloped in the body ; the fore feet short ; fingers five- clawed ; the hind feet directed backwards, and close together ; toes five-clawed. Tail very short, depressed, sharp-edged on each side. Fera (partim), Linn. S. N. i. 55. Bruta (part.), Linn. S. N. i. 48. Phoca, Linn. S. N. i. 55 ; Penmnt, Syn. Quad. 380 ; Gray, Griffith's A. K. V. 175. Phocadre et Trichecidse, Gray, Lond. Med. JRepos. 1821, 302. Phocidffi et Trichechidffi, Grai/, Ann. Phil. 1825, 340. Phocidfc, Gray, Zoo/. Ereb. fy Terror ; Cat. Seals B. M.\, 1850. Mammiferes a nageoires, Ampliibies, Besm. N. Diet. Hist. Nat. xxiv. 34, 1804. Amphibia, Gray, Lond. Med. Repos. 1821, 302 ; Latr. Fam. R. A. 51, 1830. Phocaceema, Nilsson, Vetensk. Ahad. Handl. 1837, 235 ; lUuyn. Figurer Skand. Fauna, 1840, transl. by Dr. Peters, Wiegm. Arch. vii. 301. (Pinnipedia) Ruderfusse, Illii/er, Prodr. 138, 1811; Riippell, Verz. Senck. Samml. 167, 1845. Les Phoques et les Morses, F. Cm: Diet. Sci. Nat. Ux. 463, 465, 1829 ; Duvernoy, Tab. R. A. Tetrapterygia, J. Brookes, Cafal. Mas. 36, 1828. Ursi (part), Wagler, K. S. Amph. 27, 1830. Cynomorpba (Phoca et Otaria), I^dr. Fam. R. A. 51, 1825. Brocha (Morse), Latr. Fam. R. A. 52, 1825. Phoques, F. Cuv. Dents des Mamm. 113, 1825. Amphibies quadrirtnies, Duve7-no;/, Tab. Am'm. Vert. Quadrupeda Nectopoda sen Plectropnda, G. Fischer, Zoogiiom. 12. Nectopoda, § 2. Pinnipeda (part.), G. Fiseher, Zoognom. 15. Phocidre sen Brachiociontia, J. Brookes, CaUtl. Mvs. .36, 1828. Tricliechidse seu Campodontia, J. Brookes, Catal. Mm. 37, 1828. Otariadse, J. Brookes, Catal. Mus. 37, 1828. Their limbs are short and fiii-hke, supported by the same number of bones as those of other carnivorous mammalia ; the arm and leg bones are much shorter ; the fingers and toes are armed with claws, and are webbed together. They swim with facility, and dive for a long period. On land they scarcely use their limbs in walldng, the fore arms resting inactive on the sides, and the hind feet close together, parallel on the sides of the tail ; they move, by the action of the ventral muscles, in short jumps, or by wriggling themselves alternately from side to side. They have very large, scarcely convex eyes ; the nostrils are closed by their own elasticity, and opened at the will of the animal ; their sense of smell is veiy acute, and the convolutions of the bones and membranes of the nose are much developed. Of all the families of Mammalia the species composing that of the Seals (Phockhe) are the most difficult of determination, partly on account of their great resemblance to one another in external cha- racters, and the changes which they undergo in colour and form during their growth, but more especially on account of the difficulty of observing them in their natural habitations. The labours of M. de Blainville, the two brothers Cuvier, and especially of Professor Nilsson of Lund, have done much to elucidate the characters of the European species and those frequenting the eastern coast of North America; the species found in the North Pacific are only known by the descriptions of Steller, Pallas, and Temminck. Many naturalists have been inchned to consider them as identical mth those found in the southern part of the Pacific Ocean, believing that the species migrate from one half of the world to the other, though we have the testimony of most voyagers that Seals are very rarely found between the equatorial line and 21° north latitude. The Seals of the Southern hemisphere have not been so well studied, from the Avant of sufficient materials. Cuvier, when he wrote the ' Osscmens Fossiles,' possessed only eight skulls, belonging to four species (viz. 1. Fhoca Lc]]tonyx, 2. P. deplumtina, 3. P.pusiUa, 4. P. leonina ?J ; but as several of these had been brought home without the skins, he could only refer them doubtfully to established species. Indeed, almost the only knowledge that we have of the Seals of the Pacific is derived from the observations of Cook, and the Forsters, who accompanied that intrepid navigator as naturalists; and the materials which they brought home were well collated by Pennant in his ' History of Quadrupeds,' a work of very extraordi- nary merit considering the date of its publication. England might then fairly be described as taking, as she should do, the lead in scientific zoology. This period has not been fairly estimated by the modern school of zoologists, who, at the opening of the Continent after the war, appear to have been so dazzled by the brilliant pro- gress made by the Professors ajipointed by Napoleon, that they over- looked the fact that these men were only following in the footsteps of Pennant, Latham, Solander, the Forsters, Fabricius, and others (who were either Englishmen, or had been fostered by the scientific men of this country), as LinuiEus followed in the footsteps of Hay. Besides the particulars given by Cook and Forster in the account of their voyages, Forster communicated to Buffon the figures of two of the species he had observed, accompanied by details of their organization and habits, which were printed in the supplementary volumes of Buffbn's ' Natural History,' and form the most complete and best account we have yet had of the history of these species. Peron and Lesueur, in their record of Baudin's voyage, indicate some Seals found in the South Sea, and give fuUer details of the Sea Elephant, they having been so fortunate as to fall in with some males of that species ; but the Natural History of the voyage was never published, so that we are indebted to Cuvicr (Oss. Foss. v.) for the description of the only Seal they brought home, which appears to have been the Fur Seal of commerce. In the Zoology of Captain Duperrey's ' Yoyage of the Coquille,' a Seal is figm-ed under the name of Fhoca molossina ; but the skull and skin now in the Paris Museum, as Nilsson has correctly observed, are only the young Sea Lion's. In the ' Voyage of the Astrolabe ' two other southern Seals are figured ; one called Otar'm cinerea, Peron, which appears to be the Fur Seal of commerce, and the Otaria ausf rails, which is very like the ArctoeepliaJus lobatiis, described from a skuU in Mr. Brookes's collection many years previously. It is to be regretted that the figures here referred to, especially of the skull, are so bad as to be utterly useless for the determination of the species without comparison of the original specimens. In the French 'Voyage to the South Pole,' fig-ures are given of the Sea Leopard and the common A\Tiite Antarctic Seal, the two most common species found everywhere in these regions on the packed ice ; the latter is named Phoca carcinoplmcia. Mr. W. Hamilton has given an account of the Seals and other mai-ine mammalia, in Sir W. Jardine's ' Naturalist's Library,' which contains a carefully compiled account of these animals, and some original figures from the specimens in the Edinburgh and Liverpool Museums ; but, unfortunately, Mr. StoAvart, the draughtsman, has been more intent on giA-ing them an artistic efi'ect than on attending to their zoological characters. Thus, some which should have no claAvs on their hind feet have large ones, and sometimes one too many for any mammal ; and the toe-membranes of all the Eared Seals or Otaries are represented as haiiy instead of bald. The same author has given an account of the Fm- Seal in the ' Annals of Natural History,' which he considers as different from the Sea Bear of Forster b2 and other South-Sea navigators. According to Dr. Hooker, the Fur Seals of the Falklands rarely exceed 3| or 4 feet in length. Seamen have long divided the Seals, on account of the great dif- ference in their form, into the Earless and Eared Seals. Buifon adopted the division ; and Peron, in his account of Baudin's Voyage (ii. 37), gave the name of Otaria to the Eared Seals. Cuvier and most naturalists have adopted this name. In the 'Medical Ecpository' for 1821, p. 302, I considered the Seals as forming an order, named yl«ip7H'6/«, containing two families : Fhocadce for Phoca and Otaria, and Tricheddce for Tricliecus, Dr. Fleming, in 1822, placed the Otters (Lutra), Sea Otters (En- hydra), Seals (Phoca), Ursine Seals (Otaria), and Wakus (Tricliecus) in a single group, which he called Palmata. — Phil. Zool. ii. 187. Dr. W. Vrolik, in 1822, in his ' Thesis de Phocis,' divides the Seals into five tribes : — I. Phocce sine auriculis : Trihiis prima, P. vitu- lina ; Tribus secunda, P, monachus ; Trihus tertia, P. mitrata ; Trihus quarta, P. proboscidea, II. Otance (Phocce aunculatce) : Trihus qtiinta, P. leonina, &c. In the ' Annals of Philosophy' for 1825, I considered the genera Phoca and Trichecus as each forming a family, and proposed to divide the Seals thus : — I. Grinders many-rooted ; ears none ; nose simple. 1. Stenorhi/nchi7ia,'Pe[agius and Stenorh}mchus. 2. Phocinu, Phoca. — II. Grinders with simple roots, or with divided roots, and with distinct ears. 3. Eidii/drina, Enhydra. 4. Otariina, Otaria and Platyrhynchus. 5. Stemmatopina, Stemmatopus and Macro- rhinus. M. F. Cuvier, in 1825, in the ' Dents des Mammiferes,' 118, di\-ides the Seals into those which have many roots to the grinders, including P. vitidinci; P. Leptomjx, and P. mitrata, and those with simple-, rooted grinders, as P. ursina and P. prohoscidea. In 1829, in the article Zoologie in the ' Diet. Sci. Nat.' lix. 367, he divides them into — 1. Les Phocpies proprement dits, including the genera Callo- cephcdxis, Sfenorhi/ncJms, Pelagius, Stemmatopus, Macrorhinus, Ai-cto- cephcdus, and Phtz/rhi/nchus, and 2. Les Morses, for the genus Tri- chectis. In a paper on the genus, in ' Mem. Mus.' xi. 1827, 208, he proposed to divide them into the following subgenera placed in three sections : — Sect. 1. Grinders similar, double-rooted. — 1. CaUocephcdus (vitu- linus) ; 2. Stenorhynchus (leptonyx) ; 3. Pelagius (monachus). Sect. 2. Grinders simple-rooted ; cutting- teeth -|. — 4. Stemmato- pus (cristatus) ; 5. Macrorhinus (proboscidalis). Sect. 3. Grinders simple-rooted ; cutting-teeth .^.—6. Arctocepilui- lus (ursinus); 7. PJati/rhynchits (leoninus). An abstract of this paper is given in Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 230. Mr. Joshua Brookes, in the Catalogue of his Anatomical and Zoological Museum, 36, 1828, divides the Tetrapterygia, or Seals, into three families: viz. 1. Phocidce or Brachiodontia; 2. Otariadce; and 3. Tricliechida'. or Gampodontia. rHociii.E. 5 Latreille (F;im. Reg. Anim.), in 1S25, proposed to form the Seals into an order, Anijohihia, containing two families: — 1. Cynomorplui , for Phoca and Otaria ■ 2. Brocha, for Trichechus. Wagler (Natiirl. Syst. Amphibicn), in 1830, places the Seals in the order Ursi, and divides them into three genera: — 1. Phoca (mona- chus) ; 2. Rhinophoca (proboscideus) ; 3. Trichecus (rosmarus). Professor Nilsson, in 1837, in a monograph of the species of Seals, proposed to divide them into seven genera, distributed in two sec- tions, thus : — Sect. I. — 1. SfenorJii/nchus (leptonyx) ; 2. Pdagius (monachus) ; 3. Phoca (vitulina). Sect. II. — 4. Hallchcenis (grypus) ; 5. Trichecus (rosmarus) ; 6. Ci/stophora (proboscidea and cristata) ; 7. Otaiia (jubata' and ursina). See Vetcnsk. Akad. Handl. 1837, 235 ; Skand. Fauna, no. 20, 1840. This essay is translated into German by Dr. Peters in Wieg- mann's Arch. vii. 301. In Loiidon's 'Magazine of NaturalHistory' for 1837 (i. 5S3) and in the ' Zoologj- of the Erebus and Terror ' is proposed the arrange- ment which is followed in this Catalogue. 5]^. Turner, in 1848, proposed the following arrangement of the family Phocida' from the study of skulls : — I. AniocephnVnia : 1. Otaria; 2. Arctocephalus. II. Trichecina : 3. Trichecus. III. Phocina : 4. Morunga ; 5. Cystophora ; 6. Hali- choerus ; 7. OmmatojAora ; 8. Lobodon ; 9. Leptonyx ; 10. Steno- rhpichus ; 11. Phoca.— P/-of. Zool Sac. 1848, 88 ; Ann. 3f Mnrj.Nat. Hist. 1848, iii. 422. Synopsis of the Tribes and Gexera. A. Grinders hco-rooted; cars none; toes simple, of fore feet short, of hind feet uneqiml, the outer on each side longest, the middle shortest; the jmlms a?id soles hairy. a- Cuitinf/-teeth A; hind feet nearly clmvlcss ; muffle hnry on the edije and between the nostrils ; fore feet trianyular ; wrist very short. Stenorhj'nchiua. * First, second, and third front npper and the first frotit hirer yrinders sinffle-rooted, the rest two-rooted ; lotcerjaw moderate. 1. LoBODON. Skidl and muzzle elongate ; grinders unequally lobed. ** The front grinders of each jaio sinyle-rooted, the rest two-rooted. t Lower jaw weak, with obtuse angle ; orbits very large. 2. Leptoxyx. Skull broad, depressed behind ; muzzle short, broad ; giinders subconipressed, with a small subcentral conical tubercle and a veiy small posterior one; lower jaw narrow behind, without any hinder angle ; fore feet clawed. 3. Ommatopiioca. Skull broad, depressed behind ; muzzle very short, broad ; orbits very large ; grinders small, compressed, with a central incurved lobe, and a small lobe on each side of it ; fore feet very slightly clawed. 6 PHOCID-E. ft Lower jaw strong, with an acute angle ; orbits moderate. 4. Stenorhynchus.' Skiill aud muzzle elongate ; gTiiidei-s compressed, with three cylindrical elongated lobes, the centre one longest and largest. 5. MoNACHUS. Skull broad, depressed behind ; muzzle short, broad ; orbits large ; grinders small, conical, thick, with a small anterior and posterior lobe; lower jaw broad, with a distinct posterior angle; upper cutting-teeth transversely notched ; palate angularly notched behind. b. Cutting-teeth f ; the first grinder in each jaw single-rooted, the rest tico-rooted; muzzle bald, callous between and above the nostrils, and divided by a central groove ; tvrist rather exserted ; fingers subequal ; claws five, large. Phocina. * Branches of lower jaxv diverging; Imuer edge of lower jaw rounded, simple ; palate angularly arched behind ; angle of lower jaw blunt, sloping behind. G. Callocephalus. Muzzle rather naiTow ; whiskers waved ; toes gTa- dually shorter ; web between the hind toes hairy ; hair subcylindiical ; luider-fur thin. ** Branches of lower jaic diverging; lo^cer edge ofloicerjaw dilated on the inner side. 7. Pagomys. Palate angularly notched behind; angle of lower jaw blunt, sloping behind. 8. Pagophilus. Palate truncated behind; angle of lower jaw acute, erect behind, with a notch above the basal tubercle ; muzzle rather Eroduced ; -v^skers waved ; toes gi-adually sliorter ; web between ind toes baldish ; liair dry, flat, close-pressed, without any imder- fur. *** Branches of Imoerjaw arched on the side and wide apay-t ; lotcer edge produced on the inner side behind the symphysis ; palate arched. 9. Halicyon. Tubercle on inner edge of front part of lower jaw elon- gate, shai-p-edged ; teeth moderate ; angle of lower jaw simple, with a distinct notch above it. 10. Phoca. Tubercle on inner edge of front part of lower jaw bhmt, ruooilose; teeth small; angle of lower jaw with a roimded lobe on inner side above the basal tubercle ; muzzle broad, short ; forehead convex ; whiskers smooth^ simple ; ear-hole large ; fingers unequal, the third longest, second' "anS'Tourth long, the first and fifth shorter, nearly equal. B. Grindei-s with single root (except the tivo hinder grinders of Hali- chcerus). c. Ears xvithaut any co7ich; toes simjjle, of fore feet exseHed, of hind feet large, the inner and outer ones large and long, the three middle ones shorter ; palm and soles hairy, sometimes chaffy and callous from ivear ; muffle hairy to the edge and betioeeti the nostrils. * Muzzle large, truncated, simple ; canines large ; grinders lobed, when old truncated. Trichechina. 11. Halichcebus. Muzzle broad, rounded ; cutting-teeth f ; grinders '—, conical, the two hinder of the upper and hinder one of the lower jaw double-rooted, the rest simple ; canines moderate ; whiskers crenu- lated; muffle hairy; palm and soles hairy; claws 5-5, elongate: 12. Tricheciius. Muzzle very broad, truncated, swollen and convex above ; nmflle, palm, and soles chafFy, callous, with the hair more or less worn oil" in the adult (hairy when young?) ; cutting-teeth a in youth, I in adult ; grinders 4-4, truncated, all single-rooted ; canines of upper jaw very large, exserted. *• Muzzle of the male icith a dilatile appemlage; cutting-teeth | ; gj-inders with a large szvollen root and a small, compressed, simj)le, plaited croion ; miiffle hairy. Cystophorina. 13. MonuNGA. Nose transversely wi-inkled above, exsertile ; muzzle of the skidl broad, truncated in front ; forehead convex ; hinder palatine bone short, transverse ; hair flat, truncated, close-pressed ; whiskers round, rather waved, thick ; front claws obsolete ; crown of grinders finely plaited. 14. Cystophora. Nose of male vnih a large compressed hood extending to the back of the head ; muzzle very broad, hauy ; nostrils large ; muzzle of skull broad, narrowed on each side in front ; forehead flat ; palatine bone broad, square ; hair elongate, cylindrical ; whiskers flatr- waved ; claws 5-5, distinct ; cro^\Ti of grinders strongly wrinkled. d. Ears with a subcyliiidrical distinct external conch; toes of the hind feet snhcqual, short, icith long membranaceous Jlaps at the end; fore feet Jin-like ; palm and soles bald, longitudinally grooved ; nose simple, ivith a rather large callous muffle above and betiveen the nostrils; cutting-teeth f, tipper often bifid; grinders ^. Arctocephalina. 15. Callorhinus. Cutting-teeth subequal ; face of skuU short; fore- head convex, regularly rounded from the end of the nasal bone to the middle of the vertex ; nasal opening small ; palate rather concave, contracted behind, short, nearly reachuig the middle of the zygomatic arch ; lower jaw short, thick, flattened, expanded beneath just in front of the condyle. ■ 16. Akctocephalus. Cutting-teeth subequal ; face of skull elongate ; forehead flattened, and nearly horizontal from the nasal bone to the vertex ; nasal opening large, high ; palate rather narrower behind than in front, rather concave, sliort, not reaching behind the middle of the zygomatic arch ; lower jaw naiTow, with a crest-like ridge behind, beneath, just in front of the condyle. 17. Otaria. Muzzle broad, high in front ; forehead rather convex ; occiput high ; cutting-teeth |, upper and outer one very large, like canines; grinders of adult -with very large roots and small, com- pressed, lobed crown ; palate-bone rather wider behind than in front, long, extending nearly to the articulation of the jaws behind ; lower jaw broad, dilated in front and behind at the angle ; upper jaw elon- gate, and dilate with age. Sect. I. Grinders ^-., tioo-rooted; ears none; toes simple, of the fore feet short, of the kind feet unequal, the outer on each side longest, the middle shortest ; the judms and soles hairy. (See fig. 1.) The skiill has no postorbital process nor alisphenoid canal. The mastoid process is swollen, and seems to form part of the auditory bulla. — Turner. Flo-. 1. Mouachus albiventer. Fore and hind feet. Phoca, Graij, Griffith's A. K. v. 175, 1827. Phoca, Sect. I., F. Cuvier, Mem. Mtis. xi. ; Nilsson, Wiegm. Arch. vii. 306 ; Skand. Fauna, n. xx. Phocidae seu Brachiodontia, /. Brookes, Cat. Mus. 36, 1828. Phoques, les dents ont les racines multiples, I. Cuvier, Dents des Mamm. 116. t. 38, 1825. Phocina (part.). Turner, Proc. Zool Soc. 1848, 88. PhocidiB, § 1, Grai/, Cat. Seals B. M. 5-8. Subfamily 1. STENORHYNCHINA. Cutting-teeth f ; hind feet nearly dawless ; muffle hairij to the edge and between the nostrils ; fore feet triangular ; wrist very short. Stenorhvnchina, Grm/, Ann. Phil. 1825, 340 ; ilag. N. H. i. 583, 1837 ; Zool. Erebus Sf Terror ; Cat. Seals B. M. 5, 8, 1850. * The first, second, and third front upper and the first front lower grimlers single-rooted, the rest tivo-rooted; lower jaw moderate, rather iceak; orbits large. 1. LOBODON. Skiill elongate ; muzzle elongate ; grinders rather compressed, with a large lobe in front, and three lobes behind the larger central one. Head elongate ; ear- conch none externally ; muzzle broad ; nostrils ovate, hairy to the edge ; whiskers rigid, tapering, waved. Skull elongate, rather depressed ; nose broad, rather produced ; orbits 1. LohoDOX. moderate ; the petrose portion of the temporal bone very convex, nearly hemispherical. Cutting- teeth A ; the upper middle ones moderate, with a smaller, rather compressed crown ; the two others large, conical, like the canines ; the lower pair small ; the two middle ones subcylindrical, rather internal, projecting forwards and rounded at the end ; the outer ones rather larger, blimt. Canines ^tj, conical, cuiwed, small, the upper largest. Grinders |^, with large swoUen roots ; the crown triangular, subtrigonal, lobed ; lobes rather recui-ved at the tip, the Fitf. 2. Lobodon carciuopliaga. Skull and hinder grinder. larger lobe with one, or sometimes a second, small lobe in front, and Avitli three lobes behind ; the first upper one smaller, with a single large root, the second, third, and fourth nearly equal, and the fifth smaller and more compressed ; the second and thii-d have the root only divided at the base, the fourth and fifth have the root divided nearly to the crown, and diverging ; the first under is smallest and single-rooted, the rest are all similar, 2-rooted, the third being the largest, and the fifth most compressed in the crown. The symphysis of the lower jaw is very long. The teeth of the j'ouuger animals have a rather broader crown, with rather shorter tubercles, a rugose sm-face with some smaller tubercles on the inner side, near the base of the hinder lobes, but separated from them by a groove. Body tapering behind. The fore limbs moderate, rather elongate, triangular, hairy above and below ; toes 5, tapering, with a narrow, thick, hairy web between them ; claws 5, elongate, acute, subequal. The hind limbs large, broad, triangular, hairy above and below ; the outer toes on each side of the foot very large, broad, rounded at the end ; the three middle ones smaller, narrow, tapering, with a thick hairy web between them ; the central one smaller and shorter ; aU clawless. Tail short, conical, depressed. Fur close-set, rather rigid, directed backwards, soft at the end ; the hairs flat at the base, tapering to a fine point, without any under- fur at the roots. Inhab. Antarctic Ocean. 10 pnociDj:. Lobodon, Graj/, Zool. Erebus i^- Terror ; Cat. Seals B. M. 5, 9. Phoca, sp., Humh. Sf Jacq. Voy. Pole Sud (no description). Steuorlijiiclius (part.), Owen, Ann. Sf May. N. H. 1843, xii. 331. Halichoerus, sp., T. Peale. This genus is more nearly allied to StenorJnjnchus than to Phoca, to which the French surgeons have referred it ; but still it differs so much from tliat genus in the conformation of the skull and in the lobing and rooting of the teeth, that it can scarcely he left in it. The latter peculiarity appears to have escaped Prof. Owen's research, as in his generic character of Stenorhynchus he says, " Anterior molars with one root, the rest with two roots," while in this genus the three front upper molars are single-rooted, a character by which it differs from all the other genera in the family. 1. Lobodon carcinophaga. Crah-eat'mg Seal. Head, back, hind feet, and upper part of the tail pale oUve ; fore feet, side of the face, body, and tail beneath yellowish white ; the hinder part of the sides of the body and the base of the hind fins yellow-spotted, spots unequal, often confluent ; whiskers white, the upper ones smaller, dusky. Phoca carcinophaga, Homh. Sf Jacq. Voy. Pole Sud, t. (skull, good : not described) ; Pucheran, Voy. d' Urville, t. 10, 10 a. Lobodon carcinophaga, Gray, Zool. Ereh. Sf- Terror, Mammalia, 2. 1. 1, t. 2 (skidl) ; Cat. Osteol. Spec. B. M. 32 ; Cat. Seals B. M. 10. Stenorh^Ticlius semdens, Owen, Ann. Sf Mug. N. H. 1843, xii. 331 ; Proc.'Zool. Soc. 1843, 131; Cat. Ost. Mus. Coll. Surg. 641. _Halicha3rus antarctica, T. Peale, U. S. Explor. Exped. 30. t. 5, skull, ^ fig. p. 31, 1848 ; ed. Cassin, 25, 1858, fig. skull, not good. See Stenorhynchus vetus, Leidy, Proc. Acad. Nat. Set. Philad. vi. 377, fig. tooth, said to be found in the greensand of New Jersey. Inhab. Antarctic Ocean, on the packed ice. a. Skull : three-parts grown. Antarctic Seas. Presented by the Lords of the Admii-alty, from the Antarctic Expedition. — SkuU figured ' Zool. Erebus & Terror,' t. b. Skiill : adult. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. c. Skull : adult. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by Lieut. W. Smith, E.N. d. Skull : adult. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by Lieut. W. Smith, R.N. e. Skiill : adult. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by Lieut. W. Smith, R.N.— See Fig. 2, p. 9. f. SkiiU : young. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. (/. Skeleton. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. ?i. Skull. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. The skeleton and skull of this animal are described in detail by Prof. Owen, Cat. OsteoL Mus. CoU. Sui-g. 641. no. 3937. 2. LEPTONTX. 11 *• The first front grinder in each jaw single-rooted, the rest two-rooted. t Lower Jaw weak, luith an obtuse angle behind ; orbits eery large. 2. LEPTONYX. Skull broad, depressed behind ; muzzle short, broad ; grinders subcompresscd, with a small subcentral conical tubercle and a very- small posterior one ; the lower jaw narrow behind, without any hinder angle ; fore feet clawed. Head flattened ; muzzle broad, rather short, rounded ; muffle hauy between and to the edge of the nostrils ; nostrils ovate ; whiskers compressed, slightly waved ; ears, no external conch. Skull slightly depressed, expanded behind ; nose rather short, broad, high above ; orbits rather large ; the petrose portion of the temporal bone convex, hemispherical. Cutting-teeth -i, conical, rather recurved, those of the upper jaw largest ; the middle in each jaw smaller ; the outer upper much larger. Canines pj, large, conical, curved, rather compressed, upper largest. Grinders ?^, moderate, rather far apart, parallel to the edge of the jaw, compressed, with subcentral, conical, prominent tubercle ; the second, third, and fom-th, in the more perfect specimens, Avith a small conical tubercle on the hinder edge, and a sharp-edged ridge round the inner side of the base ; the front grinder in each jaw smaller, and with a single conical root, tlic rest all 2-rooted nearly to the crown. Lower jaw slender, with a short symphysis in front, and narrow, without any angle at the hinder part of the lower edge. FiR-. 3. Loptonj-x Weddellii. Skull, and first and last grinder. Fore feet small, elongate, triangular, hairy above and below, with five graduated, distant, marginal claws : hind feet moderate ; the two marginal toes largest, rounded at the end ; claws small, rudi- m(>ntary, two middle largest. Fur short, adpressed, without any under-fiir : hair slender, tapering, slightly flattened. The skull of this genus resembles in many respects Cuvicr's figure of a skull of Phoca bicolor ; but it difters from it in all the grinders ] 2 rnociD.E. being placed more longitudinally, and in the lower jaw being slender, and without any angle on the hinder part of the lower edge. It is far more nearly allied to that genus than to StenorhyncJius, to which Prof. Owen (Ann. N.H. 1843, xii. 331, 332) has referred it ; observing that his Sfen. serridens (our Lohodon cancrivorci) shows modifications of the molar teeth which would give it a better claim to subgeneric distinction than the Sten. WeddelUi (which, he observed, is the type of the subgenus Lcptonyx of Mr. Gray) has been supposed to possess. Prof. Owen made this remark, and drew up his specific character, without having seen the teeth of this species ; for the skull was not then removed from the skin, and the specimens in the British Museum were stuffed with the mouth nearly closed. This animal is easily known from Btenorhiinclms by the shortness of the wrist and the triangular form of the fore feet, being interme- diate in this respect between that gemis and Ommatophoca. Mr. Swainson, in 1832, applied the name of Le^^toni/.v to a genus of birds, and in 1837 the same name to a second ; but the former had before been named Pteroptochos, and the latter Corijphospiza, so that the name may still be used for the Seal. Inhab. Antarctic Ocean. Leptonyx, Grcn/j Mag. N. H. 183G ; Zool. Vvij. Erehis S,- Terror, Mamm. ; Cat. Seals B. M. 6, 14 ; not Swainson. 1. Leptonyx Weddellii. False Sea Leopard. Fulvous, with the front of the back and a line down the back blackish grey ; whiskers brown, tapering. Female and young blackish grey above ; sides with a series of longitudinal yellowish spots. Phoca Leopardina, Jaineson, Weddell, Voy. Smith Pole, i. 22, 24, 134, t. , not good ; Spec. Mus. JEdin. Sea Leopard, or Leopard Seal, Weddell, Vor/. S. Pole, i. 22, 134. Otaria? Weddellii, Lesson, Pull. Sci. Nat. \ai. 343. 438, 1826. StenorhjTicbus Weddellii, Lesson, 3Lunim. 200 ; Owen, Ann. 8/- Mag. N. IL 1843, xii. 333. Leopard Seal, Hamiltmi, Nat. Lihr. 183. t. 12 {from Caid. WeddeWs specimen). Leptonyx Weddellii, Gray, Maq. N. H. 1836 ; Zool. Voy. Erebus Sr Terror, t. 5 (animal), t. 6 (skiill) ; Cat. Seals B. M. 16. Inhab. Antarctic Ocean. South Orkney, Weddell. a, h. Skins : adult : stuffed. Santa Cruz. Presented by Capt. Fitzroy, ll.N., 1833. — The specimens described as Leptonyx Weddellii, Gray, Mag. N. H. 1836 ; Cat. Osteol. Spec. B. M. 31. N.B. When this species was first described, I thought it was the Leopard Seal of Weddell. I was afterwards induced to believe that I was mistaken, as the name Sea Leopar-d was applied by the whalers to Stenorhynclius Leptonyx ; but it would appear that they used the same name for the two Seals ; and I have convinced myself, by exami- ning the teeth of Weddell's specimen in the Museum of the Univer- sity of Edinburgh, that my first opinion was correct. 3. oiiMAToriTorA. 13 c. Skin : stuffed : small. Antarctic Sea. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. — Specimen described and figured in ' Zool. Erebus and Terror.' tl. Skull. River Santa Cruz, cast coast of Patagonia. Presented by Capt. Fitzroy. Skull of specimen a. e. Skull, lliver Santa Cruz, east coast of Patagonia. Presented by Capt. Fitzroy. Skull of specimen h. f. Skull. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. — The skull figured in ' Zool. Erebus and Terror,' t. g. Skull. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. 3. OMMATOPHOCA. Skull broad, depressed behind ; muzzle very short, broad ; orbits very large ; grinders smaU, compressed, mth a central incurved lobe, and a small lobe on each side of it ; fore feet very slightly clawed. Head short, broad ; ears small, with no internal conch ; muzzle very short, rounded ; muffle hairy between and to the edge of the nostrils : nostrils ovate ; whiskers tapering, conical. Skull depressed, expanded behind ; orbits very large ; nose very short, broad, truncated in front, high behind ; petrose portion of the temporal bone convex. Cutting-teeth ^, small, conical, sharply recurved at the tip. Grinders small, compressed, with a snbcentral, rather large, broad, slightly incurved lobe, having a very small lobe on the inner side of Fig. 4. Oniinatoj)hoca Rossii. Skull and hinder grinders. its front, and a larger conical one in the middle of its hinder edge; the front grinder of each jaw is smaller and thicker, with a single conical root, the rest all with two diverging roots to the crown. 14 ■ pnociDJK. Lower jaw rather slender, with a short symphysis in front, and rather narrow, with a thick rounded edge in the hinder part of the lower edge in the place of the angle. Fore feet moderate, elongate, triangular, hairy above and below ; toes 5-5, tapering, subequal, separated by a thick, narrow, hairy web ; claws two or three, veiy small, rudimentary, horny, acute. Jffind feet large, broad, triangular, hairj' above and below ; the outer toes on each side of the foot very large, broad, rounded at the end ; the middle ones small, narrow, tapering, with a thick hairy web between them ; the central one smaller and shortest ; all clawless. Tail short, conical. Fur very close-set, rather rigid. Inhab. Antarctic Ocean. Ommatophoca, Grmj, Zool. Erebus ^- Terror, 3Iamm.\ Cat. Seals B.M, 6, 18. Ommatophora, Turner, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1848, 88, misprint. 1. Ommatophoca Eossii. Boss's Large-eyed Seal. Greenish yellow, with close oblique yellow stripes on the side, pale beneath. Ommatophoca Rossii, Gray, Zool. Erebus Sf Terror, Mamm. t. 7 (animal), t. 8 (skidl and teeth) ; Cat. Osteol. Spec. B. M. 31 ; Cat. Seals B. M. 19. Inhab. Antarctic Ocean. a. ft kiffo d^kin. Antarctic Ocean. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. From the Antarctic Expedition. h. Skull of a. Figured in ' Zool. Erebus & Terror,' t. 8. f. 1, 2 & 4. The first and second grinders of the upper jaw are small, with a single conical root ; on the right side both these teeth are united together in one cavity ; and as there are four other grinders on each side, it would appear as if there were front grinders of two sets. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth of the same jaw have a compressed, single, tapering root, with a deep central groove nearly dividing it into two parts, the groove being deepest and most distinguishable on their outer side. In the lower jaw the front grinder has a double crown, with a thick single root, tapering below, as if formed of two teeth united together by their roots ; the second and tliird grinders have a broad, compressed, single root, divided by a rather deep, central, longitudinal groove on each side ; and the fourth and fifth grinders each have two tapering, nearly parallel roots, Avell separated at the base from each other. In this skuU the palate is rounded behind, and the suture between the two bones is much more nearly in its centre. I do not recollect to have observed such a malforma- tion, or soldering together of the roots of the teeth, in any other Seal. c, d. Skull and skeleton. The skull has the first upper and lower grinder with a single large subcylindi'ical root, tapering to a point beneath, and each of the other grinders has two conical separate roots diverging nearly from the collar. The palate is broad and rather truncated behind, and 4. ST-KNOElITNCnrs. 15 the transverse suture between tlie two bones in the palate is rather nioi'e than two-thirds the distance from the inner edge of the cutting- teeth. e. SkuU. Figured in ' Zool. Erebus & Terror,' t. 8. f. 3, 5. Antarctic Ocean. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. These skulls differ considerably from one another in the form of the palate and in the teeth ; but it is probable that the teeth of the skiUl (A) belonging to the skin (Zool. Erebus & Terror, t. 8. f. 1, 2, 4) are a malformation. ft Loivcrjaiv strong, with an acute angle behind; orbits moderate. 4. STENORHYNCHUS. Skull elongate ; muzzle elongate ; grinders compressed, with three cyHndiical elongate lobes, the centre one longest and largest. Head elongate ; ear-conch none externally ; muzzle broad, elon- gate ; muffle hairy to the edge and between the nostrils ; nostrils acute ; whiskers slightly waved. Face elongate, rather compressed ; nose tapering, rather produced and compressed on each side ; orbits moderate ; the petrose portion of the temporal bone rather convex. Cutting-teeth ^, conical, acute, incurved, granular, and with a cutting-edge on each side in a regiilar row; the two outer larger ; the upper much larger than the lower, and separated from the canines by a broad space. Canines conical, with sharp cutting-edges within and on the sides, the upper largest. Giindcrs '—, with moderate roots, separated from the crown by a narrow groove ; the crown compressed, divided into three elongate lobes, the centre lobe much the largest, longest, and subcylindrical, the anterior and posterior lobes conical ; Fi-. 5. Stenorhynchus Leptonyx. Skull and gi-inders. the bases of the lobes are surroimded by a sharp-edged ridge, with two small, short, conical tubercles on the inner side, the larger one being at the base of the separation of the hinder from the middle lobe : the front grinder in each jaw is rather the thickest, with a 16 PHociDj;. single thick conical root; all the rest have two rather diverging roots, divided nearly to the crown ; the hinder tooth in each jaw is rather the smallest. Sj^mphysis of the lower jaw short. Body tapering behind. The fore limbs moderate, rather elongate ; the toes are rather larger than the wrist, and each furnished with a small nearly terminal claw. The hind limbs arc rather large, of two nearly equal lobes, destitute of any claws ; the three middle toes small, tapering. The fur close-set, short, without any under-fur ; hairs flattened, tapering at the tip to a point. In the young skuU the grinders are well developed, while the cutting-teeth are small and far apart ; the hinder grinders have four lobes where they have only three in the adult. Mr. MacMurtrie, in his translations of Cu-vier, erroneouslj' adds to the generic character in the text of the author, " but with single roots ;" this is repeated in the reprint of the American edition pub- lished by Orr, i. 98. Dr. Knox observes, " Teeth, | . f . t§=32 : the two lower middle incisors peculiar. Vertebras : — cranial, 4 ; cervical, 7 ; dorsal, 14 ; lumbar, 6; sacral, 3; coccygeal, 13=47. " The nostrils opened much after the manner of the Cetacea, in the form of elongated fissures, one inch from the extremity of the snout ; the pelvic exti'cmities very large and far back ; tail extremely short. The skin was hairy. The stomach contained numerous fish- bones, a few feathers (gulls'), and some considerable portions of a pale-green, broad-leaved, marine Fucus ; thousands of a small, hard, round, white worm (parasitical) pervaded all parts of the mtestines. The intestinal tube measured 71 feet 10 inches : caput caecum, 1 inch 9 lines : diameter of smaU intestines, 1 inch ; of large intestines, 1 inch 6 lines. Liver weighed 14 lbs. ; kidneys, 2 lbs. each ; spleen, 1 lb. ; heart, 6 lbs. The arch of the aorta gave oft' an extremely short mnominata, which divided it into a right carotid and subclavian, and left carotid ; the left subclavian came oft" separately. It resembles Tiedemann's third variety, pi. 3 (copy published in Edinburgh)," Inhab. Antarctic Ocean. Stenorh-sTichus (Steuorhynque), F.Cuv. Did. Hist. Nat. xxxix. ; Mem. 3Ius. xi. 190 ; Did. Sci. Nat. fix. 463 (1829) ; Nilsson, Wiet/m. Arch. vii. 307 ; Skand. Fauna ; Gray, Zool. Ereh. Sf Terror, Mamm. ; Cat. Seals B. M. 6, 11. Phoca, sp., Home ; Blainville ; F. Cuv. Dents des Manitn. t. 1. Stenorhynchus Leptonyx. Sea Leopard. Grey, paler beneath, with small black spots on the sides of the neck and body, and with a few smaller white spots on the sides ; upper part of the hinder Hmbs dark, pale-marbled. Phoca Leptonyx, Blainv. Journ. Phys. xei. 288, 1820 ; Desm. Mamm. 247, from Horne's specimen ; Ct/v. Oss. Foss. v. 208. t. 18. f. 2 ; Gray, Griffith's A. K. v. 178 ; Blainv. Osteogr. Phoca, 1. 1, & t. 4. f. , skull (Mus. Paris) ; F. C'uvier, Dents des ^lanun. 118. t. 38 a. Seal from New Georgia, Home, Phil. Trans. 1822, 240. t. 29, skull. 5. MONAcnus. 17 Phoque quatrieme, Blaim>, in Desm. Mamm. 243, note; see Cm. Oss. Fans. V. 207. Stenorhynchus Leptonyx, F. Cuv. Diet. Sc. Nat. xxxix. 640. t. 44; Mem. Mi/s. xi. 100.' t. 13. f. 1; Dents des Mumm. 118. t. 38 a; Nihsoii, Wiefjm. Arch. vii. 807; Sluind. Fauna, t. ; Gray, Zool. Erebus Sf Terror, Ma mm. t. 3 (animal), t. 4 (skidl); Cat. Oste'ol. Spec. B. M. 31 ; Cat. Seals B. M. 13 ; Blainv. Osteo(ir. Phoca, t. 5. f. (teetli and slnill) ; Owen, Ann. N. H. 1843, xii. 332. Phoca lloiiipi, Lesson, iJiet. Class. II. N. xiii. 417. Vho(:ii(^ii;\wyhynchii)ljti-pion\x,Blainv.-,Pucheran,Dumontd''UrDille, Zool. t. 9. The Small-nailed Seal, Hamilton, Nat. Lib. 180. 1. 11 (nails too large). Stenorhynchus aux petits ongles, Hombr. Hf Jacq. Voy. a Pole Sad, t. 9. Sea Leopard of the Jfl/alers. Sea Bear of New Zealand, Knox, in letter. ^~. Phoca m-sina, or Sea Bear, I'ollach, Neiu Zealand. ^' Inhab. Antarctic Ocean, ou the packed ice. North shore, Ncw- castlcj N. S. W., 6r. ^c?wie«. Drawn by Angas. a. Skin : adult : stuffed. Antarctic Ocean. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. h. Skin : adult : unstuffed. /; / ;, . . ^ ' c. Skidi. /2IlU^^-^^ ^ -\ d. Skidl. Antarctic Seas. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the '' l'^^^ Lords of the Admii-alty. ^jj SkuU figiu'cd in ' Zool. Erebus & Terror,' t. . f. . ' — ^' e. SkuU. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. /. Skeleton. Port Nicholson, New Zealand. Presented by Dr. ^ Frederick Knox. -^ r/. Skull. Antarctic Seas. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. • h. Skidl and bones of the body. Antarctic Seas. Presented by the J . i/i. Lords of the Admiralty. Skull. Antarctic Seas. The skull of this Seal is described by Prof. Owen in Cat. Ostool. Mus. Coll. Surg. 642. nos. 3938-3941, and in Ann. N. H. 1843, xii. 331, he says the Sea Leopard is distinguished from it " by the spotted ' hide." 5. MONACHUS. Skull broad, depressed behind ; muzzle short, broad ; orbits large ; grinders small, conical, " thick, with a small anterior and posterior lobe;" lower jaw broad, with a distinct posterior angle; "upper cutting-teeth transversely notched;" cutting-teeth |. Inhab. Mediterranean. Monachus, Fleming, Phil. Zool. ii. 187, 1822; Nilsson, Vet. Akad. Ilandl 1837, 235; Gray, Cat. Seals B. M. 17. Pelagios (Pehtge), F. Cuv. Mem. Mus. xi. 193, 196. t. 13, 1827; Gray, Zool. Erebus Sf Terror, Mamm. 3. Pehigius, F. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. lix. 403, 1829 ; Fischer, Si/n. Mamm. 230 ; Wleymann, Arch. vii. 308 ; Nilsson, Vet. Ahad. Handl. 1837, 23.5; Skand. Fauna, xx. t. Heliophoca, Gray, Ann. <^- May. N. II. 18.>4, xiii. ( from yomiii' animal ). Oj/i'^ 18 Monachus albiventer. Skull. From Cuvier, Oss. Foss. Muzzle rather elongate, broad, hairy, with a slight groove between the nostriLs ; whiskers small, quite smooth, flat, tapering. Fore feet short ; fingers gradually shorter to the inner one ; claws 5, flat, truncate. Hiad feet hairy between the toes ; claws very small ; hair short, adpressed, with very little or no under-fur. Skull depressed ; nose rather depressed, rather elongate, longer than the length of the zygomatic arch ; palate angularly notched behind. Cutting-teeth ^, large, notched within, the middle upper much smaller, placed behind the intermediate ones. Canines large, conical, sharp-edged. Grinders 1^, large, croAvded, placed obhquely with regard to the central pala- tine line; crown large, conical, with several small conic rhombic tubercles. Lower jaw angulated in front below, with diverging branches, the lower edge of the branches rounded, simple. The grinders, except the two first in both jaws, are implanted by two roots ; their crown is short, compressed, conical, with a cingOlum strongly developed on their inner side, and developing a small ante- rior and posterior accessory cusp ; the upper jaw is much less deep than in Halkhoerus ; the canines are relatively large, and the nasal bones are much shorter. The feet, palate, and teeth resemble those of the genus Callo- cephahis (C. communis), but the grinders are larger and less deeply lobed ; and it has the smooth whiskers of the restricted genus Phoca (P. harhata). It diff'ers from the latter genus in the depressed form of the skull, the large tubercular grinders, and the angular termina- tion to the palate. As the other subtropical Seal, Phoca troincalis (Gray, Cat. Seals, B. M. 28), from Jamaica, described from an imperfect skin without a skull, has similar small smooth wliiskers, it may very probably, when its skull has been examined, be found to belong to this genus, Avhich will then prove to be a subtropical form of the family. THE PERFORIING I TALKING FIS Now Exhibiting, from 1 1 a.m. till 10 p.m.^ at 191, PICCADILLY. ADMISSION, ONE SHILLING. CHILDREN HALF-PRICE. FASHIONABLE MORNING PERFORMANCES Every Saturday, from 11 till 6 o'clocJc. Admission, HALF- A-CROWN ; Children, One Shilling. AFTER SIX, THE USUAL CHARGE. This amphibious creature was caught with much trouble, and at great personal hazard, by Signor CAVANA and Crew, off the Coast of Africa, on the 5th of May, 1854. It measures 12 feet in length, weighs 8 cwt. and is the only individual of the species hitherto publicly exhibited. In offering this curious animal to public view, the Proprietor begs to inform his visitors that they are not to confound it w-th the Marine Wolf, as it is quite of a dif- ferent species. The female, which he has (he honor to present to the public, obeys the word of command, and executes various pc fonnanccs, which liave caused great admira- tion to the first naturalists of England, France, and Portugal. The creature, notwithstanding its great ferocity, has with difficulty been tamed, and, in a sense, domesticated. Such is its present docility and obedience, that it has left its locality at night in search of its keeper, and has laid down to sleep by his side. It is of enormous bulk, has two rows of teeth, and U covered with fine hair. It only feeds on fish, of which it daily eats the iumiensc quantity of 45 lbs. It is ferocious and dangerous to its enemy, but docile to its keeper, whoso orders and expressions it comprehends, and whose face and hands it kisses. Its intelligence is so acute, that it pronounces several words distinctly. FROBI THE LIVERPOOL CHRONICLE. The Talkihg Fish.— Public incredulity ir. reference to this extraordinarj- specimen of nature hai been entirely dispelleit, and the ininunso number of ladies and gentlemen who have paid a visit to the eBtablishnient in Elliott-street durini^ the past week testify to the remarkable and wonderful character of the creature. It seems daily to advance in sagacity and intelligence, and on each suc- ceeding visit w,' are struck with additioijal proof > of its traotaliility. Amonpst the numerous body who have insp'rted it during the past week we see by the visitors' hook the nrimea of the Earl of Sefton, the flnn. C. B. Molyiicux, the Hon. Frederick Hewey Bathurst, John Bramley-Moore, Esq., ^f.P., Gilbert Henderson, Esq.. Kecordcr of Liverpool, M.ijor Ch.-.mbcrs, Captain Hornby, Knowsley Cottage, Captain II. C Falkncr, Sck.— January TMli, 18.59. Amongst the ladies and pentlemen who have visited the exhibition during the present week, we notice in the visitors' book th-, nanus of Captain T. H, Sullivan, H.M.S. "Hastings"; P. T. Curry, Esq., Coroner; B. Hcywood Jones, Esq., and Family, Lark-hill; the Rev. T. Rigliye Baldwin; Robert de Lambert, Esq , Common Head, Windermere, Kendal; W. H. Maclean, E^q., ic. &c. February Wi, 1R,5!). M o. MoNAcnrs. 19 1. Monachus albiventer. Monk Seal. Phoqiie a ventre blanc, Biiffon, II. N. Supp. vi. t. 44; Cia: R. A. i. 1G(5 ; 0,s6-. Foss. V. 208. 1. 17. f. 1 (skeleton), f. 2, 3, 4, 5 (skuU) ; Loh- stein, Ohs. Anat. Comp. ; Ranzani, Opusc. Scimt. Phoca Monachus, Ilerm. Bed. Ahh. 1779, iv. 1. 12, 13 ; Desm. Mamm. 241. Phoca Hermanni, Lesscm, Diet. Gass. H. N. xiii. Pelagios Monachus, F. Cuv. Diet. Sci. K(ct. xxxix. 550 ; Ann. Mus. 1813, XX. 38 ; Mem. Mus. xi. 193. t. 13 (skull) ; Blainv. Osteog. Phoca, t. 5, 7, 8, 9; Owen, Cat. Osteol. Mm. Coll. Surg. 643_.__ I Sco^^<^ Pelagius Monachus, Nikson, Skmul. Fauna ; Wiegm. Arch. viii. ^(ydy . -^ ^(..-^U-i Gray, Zool. Erebus S,- Terror. A"- ' ' "ff Monachus Mediterraneus, Nilsson, Vet. Akad. Ilandl. 1837, 235. u'li,^ Phoca albiventer, i^ofW. £/wic/i. 170. ' ^,7 7 a Phoca bicolor, Shaw, Zool. i. 254. t, 70, 71. %i^LUt ) Phoca leucogaster, Peron. ( '' J Phoca vitulina. Wolf, Ahhild. i. 18. t. 4 (good). Phoque Moine, F. C'uv. Ann. 3Iiis. xx. 38. Pied Seal, Penn. Quad. ii. 173. Heliophoca Atlantica, Gray, Ann. Sj- Mag. N. H. 1854, xiii. 200 ; P. Z. S. 1854. Phoca leporina, Verreaux, not Lepechin. Mediterranean Seal, Shaw, Zool. i. 255. Iiihab. Mediterranean, Algiers. *» Atlantic, Madeira, MacAndrew. \y' In Cumara das Lobos, Funcbal, Knight. Canaries, Isle Lobos? a. Young animal. N. Atlantic, Deserta Grande Island. h. Adult animal. N. Atlantic, Deserta Grande Island. Presented by E. MacAndrew, Esq., F.R.S. Specimens described as Helio- phoca Atlantica. An imperfect sknll of this Seal is described in Cat. Osteol. Coll. Mus. CoU. Surg. 643. The Trustees of the British Museum purchased the dead body of a Seal which had been exhibited in London as the " Talking Fish." The proprietor, an Italian, at first said that it was from the coast of South America, but afterwards admitted that it was from one of the ports on the nortji side of the Mediterranean ; and on examination it proved to be the Monk Seal {Phoca albiventer), the type of the genus Monachus of Fleming and Pehif/ios of F. Cuvier, a genus which was one of the desiderata in the Museum Collection. The comparison of the skuU of this animal with the skuUs of the Seal from Madeira, which I described in the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural History' for March 1854, luider the name of Heliophoca Atlantica, has shown that the latter animal is the same as the Medi- terranean Seal. The British Museum has since received from M. Yerrcaux a very good skeleton of a Seal from Algiers, under the name oi Phoca lepo- rina, wliich is evidently the same as the Phoca albiventer of Cu\ier (Oss. Foss. V. t. 17). These facts arc interesting as showing that the Seal which was formerly believed to be confined to the north shore of the Medi- c2 // 20 PHOCID.'E. terraneaii is also found on the southern one and on the islands of the Atlantic— P. i;. /S. 1864. 2. Monachus tropicalis. Jamaica Seal. Grey-brown ; haii- very short, strap-shaped, closely adpressed, black with a slight grey tip ; whiskers short, thick, cylindrical, re- gularly tapering, without any appearance of wave or twist ; fingers gradually shorter. Phoca tropicalis, Gray, Cat. Seals B. M. 28. Inhab. Jamaica. a. Skin, imperfect, without skull. Skin referred to in description of CystojiTiora AntUlarum, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soe. 1849, 93. SubfamUy 2. PHOCINA. Cuithig-teeth ^ ; the first front grinder in each jaiu single-rooted, the rest two-rooted; muzzle bald and callous between and above the nostrils, and divided by a central groove; wrist rather exserted ; fingers subequal ; claivs 5'5, large, Phociiia, Graij, Ann. Phil. 1825, 340 ; Mag. Nut. Hist. 1837, i. 583 ; Zool. Erehus ^- Terror, 3 ; Cat. Phocidcs B. 31. 20. Phocaceerna, § 1, Nilsson, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1837 ; Wiegm. Arch. vii. ; Skand. Fauna, t. , 1840. Phoca, Nilsson, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1837 ; Wiegm, Arch. vii. ; Skand, Fauna, xx. 1840. Callocephalus, F. Cuv. Mem. Mus. xi. 1827. 6. CALLOCEPHALUS. Muzzle rather narrow ; whiskers waved ; fingers gradually shorter ; palate angularly notched behind ; hair subcyHndrical ; under-fur thin ; web between the hind toes hairy. The branches of the lower jaw diverging ; the lower edge of the lower jaw rounded, simple, the angle blunt, sloping behind ; grinders large, crowded. (Fig. 7.) Inhab. Northern Ocean. Callocephalus (Callocephale), pt., F. Cuv. Mem, Mus. xi. 182, 1827; Diet. Sci. Nat. lix. 463, 1829 ; Fischer, Syn. 230 ; Gray, Zool. Erebus Sf Terror, Mamni. Callocephalus, § *, Cat. Phoc. B. M. 21. Phoca, sp., Linn. ; Fleming, Phil. Zool. ii. 187; Nilsson, Skand. Fauna, xz. 1. Callocephalus vitulinus. Common Seal. Finely sprinkled with blackish and whitish, and with greyish brown and yellowish grey along the back, usually unspotted and blackish ; the underside of the body whitish ; a widish, paler, unspotted ring round each eye, and over each eye a small roundish spot, from which a bristle proceeds. Edge of lower jaw rounded below in front, with a short symphysis. Grinders large, rather crowded and oblique. 6. CALLOCEPHALUS. Fiff. 7. 21 Calloceplialus vitulinus. Skull, griuder, and palate. Phoca vitulina, Linn. ; Nilsson, Vet. Akad. Handl. 1837; Skand. Fmina ; Wiegmann, Arch. vii. 31G ; Gray, Griffith's A. K. v. 17G ; Blaiiw. Ostiog. Phoca, t. 2, 5, 9 ; Gaimard, Voy. Islande, 1. 11. f. 1, 2 (skull) ; Ball,' Trans. Roy. Irish Acad, xviii. t. 4. f. 11-13, t. 5, t. 6 ; Sketches Brit. Seals, t. 8. f. 23-25 (animal), t. 9. f. 26-32 (anat.). jf^i f^^ \ l ., J /-^ • ^k/- Phoca commuuig, Linn. Mus. Ad. Frid. i. 5. r, / J ^' Phoca canina, Pallas, Zool. Rosso-Asiat. 114. ' /tf-yttl// Phoca littorea, Thienem. Nat. Bemerk. 61. t. 6, 7, 8 ; Bidl. Sci. Nat. (^/^^^^ V. 216. Phoque commune, var., F. Cuvier, Mamm. Lith. ix. t. ; Mem. Mus. xi. 182. t. 12. f. \a,b,c. Phoca variegata, Nilsson, Skand. Fauna, i. 359. Callocephalus vitulinus, F. Cuvier, Diet. Sci. Nat. xxxix. 540 ; Gray, Zool. Erehus 8)- Terror, 3 ; Cat. Osteog. Spec. B. M. 32 ; Cat. Phoc. B. M. 21. Seal, Penn. Brit. Zool. i. 71. t. 48. Common Seal, Parsons, Phil. Tram, xlvii. 120. t. 6 ; Pen7i. Syn. 339 ; Bell, Brit. Quad. 263. Phoca Linnsei, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 414, See Hund, Blumcnb. Ahhild. t. 73. Veau marin, Perrault, Anim. i. 187. t. 97. Phoque commune, Biiffon, H. N. xiii. 333. t. 45 ; Sujjpl. vi. t. 46 ; Cuv. R. A. i. 165 ; Oss. Foss. iv. 278, v. 200; F. Cuvier, Ann. Mm. xvii. 377; 3Iamm. Lith. t. . Var. ? Phoca commvmis octonotata, Kutorqa, Btdl. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosq. 1839, 189. t. 13. f. 1, t. 14. f. 1, 2, 3, t. 15. f. 1, 2 & 5, t. 16. f. 1-4, and t. 18. f. 1-4 (skull). Var. ? Phoca communis undulata, Kuto)r/a, Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Mosg. 1839, 189. t. 13. f. 2, t. 14. f. 4-6, t. 15. f. 3, 4, t. 17, t. 18. f. 2. Var. ? Phoque a fortes moustaches, Mus. Paris ; hde Nilsson, Wieg- mann. Arch. vii. .311. Inbab. North Sea. Caspian Sea. Baikal. Skin : stuffed. Belfast. From Mr. W. Thompson's Collcetion. h, c. Skins : stuffed. d. Skull, (ireenland. From Dr. Moller's Collection. 22 PHOCID^. e. Skeleton : young. Coast of England. From Dr. Mantell's Col- lection. f. SkiiU. Greenland.— (Fig. 7, p. 21.) \j. SkuU. /*. Skull of specimen from coast of Europe. i. Skeleton of specimen from coast of Holland. Presented by the Zoological Society. j. Skeleton. Greenland. From Mr. Warwick's Collection.—" Plioca hispidus or P. annulatus," Warwick. Middle toe of the fore flipper the largest, the others on each side decreasing in length, so that the two outer are half an inch shorter than the middle one ; the hind flipper with the outer toes largest and connected by a thick membrane, containing three of the slender and shoi'ter toes. — Sabine, Rosses Voy. 12. A young Seal became so entirely domesticated and attached to the ship, that it was frequently put into the sea and sufl'ered to swim at perfect liberty, and when tired would return of itself to the boat's side to be taken in. — Sabine, Bosses Voy. 13. Lotverjaw not observed. 2. Callocephalus ? Caspieus. Caspian Seal. Back and sides grey-brown, decorated with irregular, thickish, yellowish rings ; the sides of the mouth gradually of a pale yel- lowish ; hairs of the beard thick, pale. Length 4 feet. Phoca Caspica, Nilsson, Vetensk. Akad. Handl. 1837; Skand. Fmma; Wieyman, Arch. vii. 313. Phoca canina, var. Caspica, Pallas, Zool. Rosso-Asiat. Phoca vitulina /3. Caspia, Gmelin, S. N. ; Fischer, Syn. G75 ; Gray, Griffith's A. K. V. 173. CaUocephalus Caspieus, Gray, Zool. KSfT.S; Cat. Phoc. B. M. 24 Inhab. Caspian Sea. 3. Callocephalus ? dimidiatus. Nonvay Seal. Whiskers waved ; dark grey above ; lips and beneath pure white. Phoca dimidiata, Schlegel, Mus. Leyden. CaUocephalus dimidiatus, Gray, Cat. Phoc. B. M. 24. Inhab. Norway. Mus. Leyden. May be only a particular state of one of the preceding species. 7. PAGOMYS. The branches of the lower jaw diverging ; lower edge of the lower jaw dilated on the inner side, with the angle blunt and sloping be- hind (see fig. 9, c, p. 28) ; the palate angularly notched behind. Inhab. Northern Seas. , Pagomys, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1860. Calloceplialus, § **, part., Gray, Cat. Seals B. M. 23. 7. PAGOMYS. 23 1. Pagomys foetidus. Hinged Seal. Back blackish ; on it, or on its side, there are largish, oval, whitish, thin rings (from 11" to 2" long) ; the circle round the eyes is of one colour ; the hairs of the beard are thin and brown ; the grinders rather far apart, and straight as regards the margin ; fur short, crisp, recurved at the tip ; lower jaw dilated and inflexed beneath in front. Young greenish black (not eyed like the adult), beneath paler. Phoca foetida, Midler, Znol. Dan. Prodr. viii. ; O. Fahr. Fauna Groenl. 13; Fischer, Syn. 577; Gray, Griffitlis A. K. v. 178. /f/^^ ^^^.^ ^ :IS~J ■ Phoca hispida (part.), Erxl, Syst. 589. /a ■ 13 ^- liq. Phoca hispida, O. Fahr. Shrirt. Nat. Selsk. i. 74. t. 12. f. 1 (Ikull). ' Phoca Bothnica, Gmelin, S. N. i. 63. Callocephalua fojtidus et C. hispidus, Gray, Cat. Seals B. M. 23. ? Phoca coucolor, Dekay, N. H. Neio York, 54. ? Phoca equestris, Pallas, Zool. Rosso- Asiat. iii. 40 ; Schrenck,' Aviur- Lande, i. 182. t. 9. f. 1, 2 ( d' ), f. 3 ( J ), uniform-coloured. Phoca fasciata, Shaw, Zool. Phoca annellata, Nihson, Skand. Fauna, i. 362. t. 38 ; Thienem. Nat. Bemcrk. 83. t. 9-12 ; Bidl. Sci.. Nat. v. 261 ; Wieymann, Arch. vii. 312; Gainiard, Voyage Ishnde, t. 11. f. 7; Ball, Sketches Brit. Seals, 1. 11. f. 36 (skull), cop. Thienemann ; liadde, Reisenin Suden von Ost- Sibirien, 1862, i. 296. t. 1-3 (animal, skidl, and other bones). Phoque commime, F. Cuvier, Mamm. Lithog. iv. t. , cop. Hamilton, Seals, t. 4. Callocephalus discolor, F. Cuvier, Diet. Sci. Nat. xxxix. 545 ; Mem. Mm. xi. 186. Phoca (Callocephalus) hispida, F. Cuvier, Mem. 3Ius. xi. 189. t. 12. f. 3, g, h, i (skuU) ; Gaimard, Voy. Isl. 3Iamm. 1. 11. f. 1, 2 (sluill). Phoca discolor. Gray, Griffith's A. K. v. 177. Phoca Frederici, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 416. ? Phoca Schreberi, Lesson, Diet. Cl,ass. H. N. xiii. 414 (part.). Callocephalus hispidus (part.), F. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xxxix. 547. Callocephalus annellatus, Riippell, Verz. 107 ; Gray, Zool. E. cS'- T. 3. ? Ribbon Seal, Penn. Arct. Zool. i. 105. Kuma of the Tugunsen, near Baikal. Nerpa of the Russians. Inhab. North Sea. England, Nilsson. Lake Baikal. . a. Skin: stuffed. J kLt( t«- h. Specimen : stuffed. North Sea. ."^ / ^ c. Skull of specimen 6. \A/hi^teU Ut^cj . d. Specimen: stuffed. North Sea. /^tuc/,- iu oUt\^-ne^ e. SkuU of specimen d. ^£^^ ,^ ^ ^^ Herr Gustav Eadde gives the measurements of three skulls of Phocn -M^ vituJina from the East Sea, one Phoca Caspiea from the Caspian, and four 7'. annellata — three from the East Sea and one from I-ake Baikal (see o]i. cit. p. 301). We have received a Ringed Seal (Pagomys fctiJus) that was born in the Zoological Gardens and died soon after its birth. "■ It was entirely covered with closely-set, well-developed fur of a silver-grey colour, being rather browner on the u])per surface. It is 2 feet 8 inches long, from the tip of the nose to the end of the tail ; the fore paws arc 6, the hinder 8 inches long, and the latter arc 7 inches 24 I'HOCID.E. wide when expanded. The webs of the feet are covered with hair, and the claws are well developed and black. The whiskers are white, well developed, and slightly waved." — Proc. ZooJ. tSoc. 1862, 202. The Seal of the Severn, which Professor Nilsson regarded first as P. annellata and then as P. Gvcenlanclica , Mr. Ball thinks, from its small size and the form of the intermaxillarj" bones, is neither, and that it has yet to be determined. — Ball, Proc. lioi/. Irish Acad. 1836, 19. f. 32-35. 2. Pagomys ? Largha. Larglm Seal. Muffle bald, narrow, with a central groove ; whiskers compressed, waved ; shining ashy white, with numerous scattered, smaU, oval black spots, smaller and closer on the back ; feet brownish ash ; claws long, black ; no under-fur. Young yellow ; back dark grey, from the skin being visible through the pale hair ; hair short, flattened ; web baldish. Var. Spots larger, more equally scattered (Japan). — Skull and teeth like P. oceanica, Temm. Phoca Largha, Pallas, Zool. Rosso- Asiat. i. 113. Phoca nummularis, Temm. Fauna Japon. c. 3. t. ; Schrenck, Aimir- Lancle, i. 180 ; 3Iidclendor-ff', Eeise aussersten l^c. i. 122. Chieu de mer de Detroit de Behiing, Choris, Voy. Pictoresque, t. 8. Callocephalus Largha, Gray, Cat. Phoc. 24. Phoca Chorisii, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 417 ; Fischer, Syn. 24. Phoque tigre, Kraschetmenikotv, Hist. Kamtseh. phoca tigrina, Lesson, Manuel, 550. ? Phoque de Stellar, Kra'chenn. Hist. Kamtseh. 107. Pagomys ? nummularis, P. Z. S. 1864, 31. luhab. North Pacific. Japan, M'^. Leyden. East Shore, Kamt- schatka, Pallas. This species is only known from some skins and three fragments of skulls in the Leyden Museum, which were sent to me for com- parison by the energetic Curator of the Leyden Museum. The fragments of skulls above referred to consist of the face-bone and the lower jaws of three specuuens ; the most perfect specimen has part of the orbit and the upper part of the brain-case attached to it. They are all from very young specimens, of nearly the same age ; and, unfortunately, the most perfect one is without the hinder portion of the palate, so that one cannot make sure that it has the same form of the palatine margin that is found in Pagomys ; but the part of the side of the palate that is present, when compared with the same part in Pagomys, leads one to think it most likely to be of the same form as in that genus. The general form and size of the face, and the form of the teeth, are very similar to those of a skuU of Pagomys foetidus of the same age. It only differs from the latter in the lower jaw being rather shorter and broader, in the grinders being larger, thicker, and rather closer together, in the central lobe of the grinders being consider- ably larger, thicker, and stronger, and in all the lobes of the grinders being more acute. The lower margin of the lower jaw is dilated 8. PAGOPHILUS. 25 in front, just as in Pagomys faikhis ; but the jaws behind the dila- tation diverge more from each other, leaving a wider space between them at the hinder part. The form of the hinder angle of the jaAvs is very similar in the two species. The orbit is rather smaller and more circular ; for in P. fcctidus it is rather oblong, being slightly longer than wide. The forehead appears, as far as one can judge by the fragments, to be flatter and broader, and the nose rather shorter.— (7ra.v, P. Z. S. 1864. The lower jaws short and broad ; the grinders thick, with abroad thick central lobe, and nearly side by side (in the skulls of the young animals). The following measurements show the difference between the two species : — P. fcetkhis. P. nummidaris. in. 12ths. in. 12th3. Length of lower jaw to hinder notch . . 2 11 17 Length of lower jaw to end of dilatation. 1 Sg 1 ^d Length of upper teeth-line 1 3| 1 2 Length of three grinders 2| 3 Width at outside of hinder notch 19 17 Length of orbit 1 8| 1 5 The Phoca nummularis of Japan has been considered to be iden- tical with Phoca Larr/lia of Pallas, from the east shore of Kamts- chatka, the Phoca Chonsii of Lesson, and the Phoqne tigre of Kras- chennenikow (which has been named Phoca tigrina by Lesson), on the strength of their coming from nearly the same district ; but I am not aware that specimens of any of the latter species exist to verify the union and determine what are the species described under these names. — Grag, P. Z. S. 18G4. 8. PAGOPHILUS. Palate truncated behind ; fingers gradually shorter ; muzzle rather produced ; hair dry, flat, close-pressed, without any under-fur ; web between the hind toes baldish. Lower jaw with the branches diverg- ing, dilated and inflexed beneath in front, so as to close in the front part of the gidlet ; the angle acute, erect behind, with a notch above the basal tubercle ; grinders rather distant. (Fig. 8.) Inhab. Northern Ocean. Callocephalus §, F. Cucier, 3Icm. 3Ius. xi. 1827. Pagophilus ( subgen. of Callocephalus), Grai/, Zool. Erehus i^f Terror, 3. Pagophilus, Cat. Phocidce B. M. 25. 1. Pagophilus Groenlandicus. Harp Seal. Grey or whitish, with large and small black spots ; hairs of the beard waved on the edges ; the cutting-teeth diminish in size ; the grinders separate, straight ; edge of the mouth oblicjue. Length from 4 to 5 feet. 26 ^(cJ^ h Pagophilus GiOBulandicus. Skull. Until six or seven weeks old white, — called White Coats at New- foiintUand ; at one year old they have small spots ; at two years old they have large spots, and the males are called Bed Lampicrs ; at three years old the males and females have the harp-shaped band, and are then called Saddlebacks. — Jukes, Newfoundland. Phoca Grcenlandica, Miiller, Zool. Dan. Prodr. 8 ; O.Fahr. Fauna Granl. 11; Thienemann, Nat.Bemerk. 1. 14-21 ; JBull. Sci. Kat. v. 261. t. 15 & 18, t. 19 (skull) ; F. Cm: Mem. Mus. xi. 186. 1. 12. f. 2 ; Niksmi, Skand. Fauna, i. 370. t. 37 (young) ; Wiegni. Arch. vii. 314 ; Gray, Griffith's A. K. ii. t. 91 c?, t. 92, v. 177 ; Ball, Sketches of British Seals,t. 12. f. 37-39 (skull), Mus. Paris ; Volkmann, Anat. Anim. i. t. 4. f. 1, 8 1 Owen, Cat. Osteal. 3Ius. Coll. Surg. 646. , Phoca oceanica, Lepech. Act. Petroj}. 1777, i. 295. t. 7 &8 ; Fisch. Si/n. 238 ; Hamilton, Seals, t. 7. Callocephalus oceanicus, Lesson, Man. 196. Phoca semilunaris, Bodd. Elench. 170. Phoca dorsata, Pallas, Zool. Rosso-Asiat. 112. Phoca Miillei'i, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 412. Phoca annellata, Gaimard, Voy. Islande, 1. 11. f. 7, 8, 9. Callocephalus Groenlandicus, F. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xxxix. 546 ; Mem. Mus. xi. 186. t. 12. f. 2, d, e,f; Rdppell, Vm-z. Senck. Samml. 169. Pagophilus Groenlandicus, Gray, Cat. Phoc. B. M. 25. fig. (skull). PPhoca Albiui, Alexandra, Mem. Torin. 1850, ii. 141. 1. 1-4 (skeleton). Saddleback of Northern Sealers, Wallace, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edinh. 1862, 392. Phoque a croissant, Buffon, H. N. Suppl. 325 ; Cuv. R. A. i. 166. Harp Seal, Penn. Quad. ; Griffith's A. K. i. ; Bell, Brit. Quad. 269 ; Hamilton, Seeds, t. 7 ; Jukes, Neiofotvndland. Swart Slide, Eyede, Grcenl. 62, fig. Attarsoak, Crantz, Grcenl. 163. Young. Phoca lagura, Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. 206 ; Fischer, Syn. 238 ; Blainv. Osteoq. Phoca, t. 9 (? dentition) ; Gaimard, Voy. ' Islande, t. 11. {. 6 (skull) ; Gray, Griffith's A. K. v. 177. Callocephalus lagurus, F. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xxxix. 546. Phoca albicauda, Desm. Mamm. Supp. 54:1, from Mus. Paris. Phoca Desmarestii, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 416. Phoca Pilayi, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N xiii. 416. Inhab. North Sea. 9. nALicTON. 27 a. Adult : stuffed. North Sea. h-d. Adult: stuffed. e. Skin. From Mr. Brandt's Collection. /-/. Skulls. Greenland. From Dr. MoUcr's Collection. l\ Skeleton. Greenland. From Mr. Brandt's Collection. /, m, n. Skulls. Greenland. From Dr. Moller's Collection. 0. SkuU of a young specimen. Greenland. From Dr. Edward Riip- peU's Collection. — The front of the lower edge of the lower jaw of this young specimen is scarcely dilated. The skeleton and two skulls of this Seal are described in Cat. Osteol. CoU. Mus. Coll. Surg. 646. no. 3961. " Several Harp Seals are now seen in the deep sheltered voe at Balta Sound. " This Seal can scarcely be considered very rare here, but it is said only to occur in bad weather, and certainlj- the present visit forms no exception to the rule, the wind having for some days been blowing heavily from the north-east, accompanied by sleet and snow." — H. L. Saxby, Balta Sound, Shetland, March 14, 1864, 'Zoologist,' 1864, p. 9099. At a brewer's in Spring-grove Lane, Isleworth, there is a stuffed specimen of a Seal that was caught on the 25th of March, 1858, in the river Thames at Isleworth, which appears to be a young specimen of this species ; unfortunately the bones which would have deter- mined the question were destroyed, or at least not kept. " The Ground Seal, which forms the larger part of the prey of the Northern sealers, has the colour and markings like the male Saddle- back, but it is more robust ; it is perhaps Ph. leporina, or the ' Hare of the ^ear'— Wallace, Proc. Roy. Phys. Soc. Edhib. 1862, 390. This cannot be, as that has not the mark on the back. M. Gaimard, in his 'Voyage to Iceland and Greenland,' Mammalia, pi. 11, devotes a plate to the skull and teeth of the Seals of Ice- land and Greenland ; but he does not pay any attention to the form of the lower jaw, except incidentally, when representing the teeth of the lower jaw of his P. annellata (t. 11. f. 9). I may obseiwe that this author names on his plates what we call Phoca annellata P. Ms- pida, and what we call P. Groenlamlica P. annellata. — P. Z. S. 1864. 9. HALICYON. The palate of the skuU arched out behind. Cutting-teeth f. Grinders 3 or 5, lobed, compressed. The lower jaw strong, bowed out on the sides, thick in front, and with a low crest on the inner side of the lower edge near the front; the i-amus of the lower jaw erect, with a tiibercular prominence beneath the notch at the angle. (Fig. 9.) Skin &c. unknown. Iiihab. Northern Seas. Halicyon, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, p. 28. In ParjopkUus Groenlandicus and Halicyon Richardi the angle of the lower jaw is far back, and the hinder edge of the ramus ascends 28 rnociD.T:. nearly perpendicularly, with a notch at the hinder end, as shown in /, fig. 9. In Phoca harhata the form of the lower jaw and ramns is nearly similar ; hut instead of a notch near the angle, the inner edge is produced inwards into a rounded lobe (6, fig. 9 ; and see Cat. Seals B. M. p. 27. f. 9). Fig. 9. a. Skull of Halicyon Richardi. b. End of lower jaw of Phoca harbata, to show the dilatations and inflexions of the lobe over the angle. c. End of the lower jaw of Pa(70»i?/s /a>'-• 1^7. 1 C vv4At* ''^ Phoca leporiua, Lepech.Act. Petrop. i. 264. t. 8, 9; O. Fahr. Skrivt. Nat. K'^'' ^^^^ Sdsk. 1. 104 _; Fischer, Si/n. 237; Graj/, GriffitKs A. K. v. 178. u , l1 Y Phoca Lepechinii, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 415. n , , ,; . Callocepbaliis Leporinus, F. Cuv. Diet. Sci. Nat. xxxix. 545. ii\'^^ "" ? Phoca maxima, Steller, Nov. Comrn. Petrop. ii. 290. Leporine Seal, Penn. Quad. 177. ? Sea Calf, Parsons, Phil. Trans, n. 469. 383. t. 1. f. 1 : cop. Biiffmi, H. N. Sw t. 14. ? Phoca ParsL .ni. Lesson, Diet. Class. H, N. xiii. 414, from ? Long-bodied Seal, Parsom, Phil. Trans, xlvii. 121, cop. (Hali- chojrus ?). ? Grande Phoque, Buffo7i, H. N. xiii. 333. ? Great Seal, Penn. Syn. 341. Inhab. North Sea and Japan, according to Temminck. Skin sold as an article of commerce in Japan. — Temm. a. Skeleton : length 8 feet. North Sea. From Mr. Brandt's Col- lection. h. Skin : adult. North Sea. From Mr. "Warwick's Collection. The Lcichtak, SteUer, Nov. Comm. Petrop. ii. 290 ^^ Phoca Lachtak, Desm. N. Diet. H. N. xxv. 588=P/tocrt nautica, Pallas, Zool. Rosso- Asiat. i. lOS^Phoca barbata, Schrenck, Amiu'-Lande, i. 181 ; Mid- dendorff, Reise aussersten &c. i. 122=Phoca albigena, Pallas, Zougr. Rosso-Asiat. 107 — of Behring's Straits, has been referred to Phoca barbata, but Pallas describes the fingers as sube(]ual and webbed to the end, which scarcely agrees with that animal. The body is ventricose ; the hair very short (5 lines), rigid, silver- grey ; back brown-lettered ; tail very short. The Mara1cu=^ Phoca Ochotensis, Pallas, Zool. Eosso-Asiat. i. 117; Schrenck, Amm'-Lande, i. 181 — with soft fur, and pure white when young, from the North Pacific, also requu-es further examination. 11. lTALICna?RTIS. 33 Sect. II. Grinders g^j or -^ with single root {except the ttvo hinder (/ritiders of Ilaliclioenis). A. Ears, conch none. Toes simjile, of fore feet exserted, of hind feet htrj/e ; the inner and outer ones lim/e, long, the three middle ones smaller ; palm and soles hairy (sometimes chaffy and callmts with ivear). Mvjfle hair;/ to the edge and betiveen the nostrils. Grinders gr^. Phocaceerna, § 2, part., Nilsson, Skand. Fauna; Wiegm. Arch. vii. .317. Phociua, part., Turner, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1848- «8. SubfamUy 3. TRICHECHINA. Muzzle large, truncated, simple ; canines large; grinders lobed or truncated tuhen old. Cetre, part., Gray, Ann. Phil. 182.5, .346. Trichechina, Grai/, Zool. Erebus Sf Terror, 3. Tricliecina et Pliocina, part., Turner, P. Z. S. 1848, 88. Trichecliida;, Gray, Ann. Phil. 1825, .340. Tricliechidre sen Campodontia, J. Brookes, Cat. Mus. .37, 1828. Les Morses, F. Cuder, Diet. Sci. Nut. lix. 465 ; Dents des Manim. 233. 11. HALICHffiRUS. Muzzle broad, rounded ; cutting - teeth ^ ; grinders '^, conical, the hinder two upper and one lower double-rooted, rest simple ; canines moderate ; whiskers crenulated ; muffle haiiy, becoming baldish with age ; palm and soles hairy ; claws 5-5, elongate. Palate of skull with a narrow rounded notch behind; lower edge of lower jaw rounded, not dilated or inflexed in front. Ym. 11. Ilalichan-us Gr ypu> . Ivlap mysscn, Ei/ede, Grwnl. 62. Hooded Seal, Penn. Syn. 342 ; Sliaw, Zool. i. 262. Phoca Isidorei, Lesson, Rev. Zool. 1843, 256 ; Echo du Monde Savant 1843, 228. A Seal new to the British shores, W. B. Clarke, Aug. 14, 1847, 4to tigure of Seal, skull, &c. Inhab. North Atlantic. Called Bhuhhr-aose by the Sealers. Hare. 42 PIIOCTD.E. Coast of Europe. lie d'Oleron, Mus. Paris ; Kiver Orwell, SOtli June, 1847, Mus. Ipswich. Very young, grey, without spots when wet. Called Blue-haclcs in NewfouncUaud. a. Skin, stuiFed, of adult male. h. Skin, stuflcd, of adult male. c. Skin, stuffed, of adult female. d. Skin, stuffed, of half-grown young. riioca leucopla, Thienem. Bemerk. t. 13, 1824. Phoca mitrata, Milbert, in Cuv. Oss. Foss. \. 210. a. Skidl of adult. Greenland. Crowns worn ; the roots of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rather enlarged, oblong club-shaped, rather elongate ; the root of the 5th grinder compressed, of the left side simple, of the right partially divided into two short roots continued in grooves on each side. Specimen No. ^ described Proc. Zool. Soc. 1849, 92. h. The skidl of an adult or aged specimen. Greenland. The crowns plaited ; the roots of all the grinders enlarged and short, club-shaped and simjile, separated from the crown by a narrow collar. Specimen No. \ described P. Z. S. 1849, 92. e. Skull of an aged specimen. Greenland. The crowns plaited and tubercular, the roots of the grinders rather enlarged ; the roots of the 3rd grinder rather comjiressed, simple, with a groove on the outer side of the 4th and 5th grinders, scarcely enlarged, and divided into two distinct diverging roots. Specimen No. 3 described P.Z.IS. 1849, 92. d. Skull, without lower jaw, of nearly adult. Greenland. Want- ing the grinders ; but the cavity for the grinders shows that the 4th grinder on both sides had a short clavate root, with a slight central groove on the outer side, and the 5th grinder on each side had two separate roots. Specimen No. 5 described P. Z. S. 1849, 92. e. Skull of a half-grown animal. Greenland. The crowns of the grinders plaited and tubercular ; the 4th grinder on each side with ovate, short, simple roots, and the 5th grinder with compressed, truncated, simple roots ; the grinders are rather further apart than in the preceding skull. Specimen No. 6 described P. Z. S. 1849, 92. /. Skull of a very young animal. Greenland. The crowns of the grinders are very distinctly plaited; the 4th and 5th grinders of both sides have two distinct roots, and the 3rd grinder has a groove down the middle of the outer side. In all these skulls the grinders are close together, forming a nearly continuous line. Specimen No. 7 described P. Z. S. 1849, 92. rf. Skull of nearly adidt. Greenland. The crowns of the few grinders remaining plaited ; the root of the 4th and 5th grinders of the left side, as shown by the cavities, divided into two roots ; of the 4th grinder of the right side simple, with a slight groove on the outer side ; and of the 5th grinder two-rooted, like the similar grinder on the outer side. Specimen No. 4 described P. Z. S. 1849, 92. The specimen found in the Orwell was uniform dark grey above. 14. CYSTornoRA. 43 darker over the basal parts of the hinder extremities, and yellowish white beneath. 40 inches long. The skull and dentition of this species are described by Prof. Owen in Cat. Osteol. Coll. Mus. Coll. Surg. p. 640. 2. Cystophora Antillarum. West Indian Hooded Seal Skull, face broad. The outer upper cutting-teeth and the canines broad, strongly keeled on each side and longitudinally plaited ^\'ithin. / ■Fur grcy-bro■«^l ; lips and beneath yellow. ^^( Cystophora Antillarum, Grai/, Proc. Zool. Sac. 1849, 93 ; Zool. E. ^- T. t. med. ; Ann. ^- Mn,103, 107. t. 68 (skull) ; Nilsson, Wtegtn. Arch. Ursine Seal, Penn. Hist. Quad. ii. 526, 531. Ours marin, Buffon, Supp. vi. t. 47 ; Cuv. Rh/ne Aniin. i. 107. Sea Eears, Forsfrr, Cook's Second Toy. ii. 203. < •— - Younij. V\wcn miXYii, Pallas, Zool. Posso-Asiat.. 107 ? ^ — . J-i.s(X»*^ A^-v^^^^^ 46 VlIQCITiJE. Pallas described a small Seal from the Kurile Islands (Zool. llosso- Asiat. i. 107), wliicli he regards as the same as Ja ■petite Fhoque of Buffou (P. -pmiUa, Gmclin), under the name of P. nigra. Steller figures and describes a large Seal under the name of Ui-siis marinus (Nov. Comm. Pctrop. ii. 331. t. 15), which is the authority for the Ursine Seal of Pennant (Quad. ii. 526) and Phoca ursina of Schreber, Gmelin, and most succeeding authors. Porster, in Cook's Second Voyage (ii. 203), appears to speak of the same animal under the name of " Sea Bear." No specimen of this species existed in any of the Museums Avhich I visited on the Continent or in England, nor could I find a skull of the genus from the Northern Pacific Ocean ; yet I felt so assured, from Steller's description and the geographical position, that it must be distinct from the Eared Fur-Seals from the Antarctic Ocean and Australia, with which it has been usually confounded, that in the ' Catalogue of Seals in the Collection of the British Museum ' I re- garded it as a distinct species under the name of Arctocejjhalus ursinus, giving an abridgment of Steller's description as its specific character. The name Arcfocephalus ursimis is usually applied to the various species of Eared Fur-Seals found in the different English and Con- tinental Museums. The British Museum has just received from Amsterdam, under the name Otaria leonina, a specimen of the Sea Bear from Behring's Straits, which was obtained from St. Petersburg. It is evidently not an Otaria, but a new genus allied to Arctocephalus, and agrees in all its characters with the Sea Bear, Ursus marinus of Steller, and not with the Sea Lion or Leo marinus of that author, which is called Otaria SteUeri in the catalogues, and was confounded with Otaria honina of the Southern Pacific Ocean by Nilsson and most modern authors. The latter animal is still a desideratum in the British Museum and other European Collections. The skin is 8 feet long, and agrees in aU particulars with SteUer's description of the adult male of the species, and is most distinct in external character and colour from the Fur-Seal (ArctocepJialiis Falhlandicus) of the Falkland Islands and from A. lohatus from Australia. The skuU is equally distinct from the various skulls of all the species of the genus Arctocephalvs (both Fur- and Hair-Seals) which are in the Collection of the British Museum, and is easily known from them by the shortness of the face and the height and convexity of the nose. The skull of this specimen is quite distinct from the skull of the Arctocephahis Gilliespii of California, recently described by Dr. Mac- Bain in the ' Proceedings of the Physical Society of Edinbu^rgh,' under the name of Otaria Gilliespii, from a skull in the Edinburgh Natural History Museum, of which we have a cast in the British Museum : but we are not able to ascertain with certainty whether this is a Fur- or Hair- Seal, though, from the length of the palate, compared with the width of the skull at the hinder grinders, I am induced to believe that it may belong to an animal which has a soft 1(). AUCTOCEPIIALTJS. 47 uiulcr-fur. This proves that the Seals from the clifFerent parts of the west coast of America arc distinct from each other, each specimen ha^■ing• a specific geographical range. 10. ARCTOCEPHALUS. Muzzle rather tapering in front. Cutting-teeth -|, upper nearly square. Grinders |^. Palate of the skull rather narrower behind than in front, short, scarcely reaching to the middle of the zygo- matic arch. Lower jaw-bone narrow, rounded below, without any angle behind. The face and skull rather elongate ; the forehead flattened, and nearly horizontal from the nasal bone to the vertex ; the palate rather concave, contracted behind, short, not reaching beyond the middle of the zygomatic arch; the nose-aperture large, high; the lower jaws moderate, with a crest-liko ridge behind, beneath, just in front of the condyle. The crest-liko process on the hinder part of the under edge of the lower jaw diifers somewhat in shape and development in the different species ; but it nowhere resembles the flat expanded disk found in a similar situation in the lower jaw of the preceding genus. Nose simple, with a rather large callous muffle above and between the nostrils. Whiskers cyUndiical, thick, round, tapering, not waved ; hinder ones largest. Ears with a subcylindrical, distinct, external conch. Fio-. 17. Arctocophalus Ilookeri. Skull, palate, and grinder. The fore feet elongate ; the i)alms bald, longitudinally grooved ; claM-s five, very small, rudimentary, scarcely visible. Hind limbs rather produced ; the legs free. The hind feet elongated ; the soles bald, longitudinally grooved ; the toes subequal, short, webbed, and each furnished with a long memliranaceous expansion, the web and the meml)ranaceous expansion bald. 48 pnociDiE. Ai-ctocephalus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, 358. Arctoceplialus (Aretocephale), F. Cuvier, 3Ihn. Mus. xi. 205. t. 15. f. 1 ; Diet. Set. Nat. lix. 403, 1829 ; Fischer, Si/n. 230 ; Gray, Zool. Erehus 8f Terror ; Turner, P. Z. S. 1848, 88. Otaria, sp., Peron; Xilsson. Dr. J. Miiller (Wiegm. Arch. 1841, p. 333) described two species, Otaria Chilensis, and Arctoceplialus Lamairii from Australia ; but 0. Chilensis is probably 0. leonina, which is the only Eared Seal I have seen from the west coast of South America, and the latter is Arctoceplialus lohatus. In the Leyden Museum (1845) there are four specimens of Fur- Seal, all named Otaria wsina ; they are of a black or dark grey colour, with white tips to the hair and reddish under-fur ; the largest is 4 feet long. One is from the Aleutian Isles, one from New Hol- land, and two from the Creusette Isles. The Hair-Seals in the same museum, and the skuU from Brookes's museum, which I described as Arctoceplialus lohatus, are called 0. Stelleri ; some are said to come from Japan and others from New Holland. In Xing's Narrat. Austral, ii. -414, 1828, I pointed out the dis- tinction between the Fur-Seal of New South Shetland and the Hair- Seal of Australia. The skuU from the cabinet of M. Faujas, which Cuvier figures (Oss. Foss. V. 222. 1. 18. f. 4), is much more hke the skull of an adult Arctoceplialus than of Otaria juhata ; the outer and upper cutting- teeth are scarcely larger than the others. There are ten skulls of this genus in the Paris Museum : — 1 & 2. Adult and half-grown. From the Cape of Good Hope. The palates become narrower behind. The front outer upper cutting- teeth rather large ; grinders large, aU except first and hinder upper with two lobes (see Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 221 . t. 18. f. 5). 3. Old skull, from M. Parzudaki. 4. From Australia, by MM. Quoy and Gaimard. 5. Adult. From Port Jackson. Phoca cinerea. Very little different from the adidt from the Cape of Good Hope. 6 & 7. Imperfect. King George's Sound. MM. Quoy and Gai- mard (Cuv. Oss. Foss. V. 222). 8. Adult. Auckland? The 'Zelce,' 1841. 9 & 10. From America, by M. d'Orbigny. The grinders larger, more acute, and rather further apart. The Eared Seals {Arctocepliali) have been divided into Fur- and Hair- (Eared) Seals by the sealers. A. Hooheri and A. lohatus are called Hair-Seals because they are destitute of any under-fur ; but this appears to be the case only with the older specimens ; for the yoimg of ^. lohatus is said to be cohered with soft fur, which falls off when the nest coat of hair is developed. The under-fm- is well developed in the adult specimens of A. tirsinus and A. Delalandii and the half-grown specimen of A. nigrescens, and entirely absent in the adult A. Hool-eri and half-grown A. lohatus in the Museum Collection. In Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859, p. 107, I divided this subgenus into two 1(5. AKCTOCEPIIALUS. 49 sections, separating A. Hookeri from the other species ; but I hud only young or half-grown specimens of the skulls of this species ; and since I have obtained the young skull from California, I am induced to believe the slight convexity of the forehead and the slen- derness of the lower jaw to be dependent on the age of the specimen, and that most probably the forehead of the adult animal becomes flatter and the lower jaw stronger as the animal increases in age. The species of this genus are scattered over the world. A. Monterknsis, A. Calif or ti'mnus, and A. Gilliespii are from Cali- fornia. A. Hool-erl, A. nvjresce^is, and A. FcdMandkus from the Falkland Islands and Cape Horn. A. Delalandii from the Cape of Good Hope. A. lohatus, A. cinereiis, and A. australis from Australia. a. Skull shwt and broad. * Hinder edffe of the palate transversely truncated. jtl/ly^^^ 1 . Arctocephalus Monteriensis. ^ '' Skull broad ; face short ; palate rather concave in front, nearly -fa/ ^ ■ ^'Q. flat behind, the hinder aperture somewhat contracted, with a nearly straight trans vei*se hinder edge. Teeth large ; the lower jaw ...^ .. /^ elongate. ^ .Q '' ^ Arctocephalus Monteriensis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Sac. 1859, 357. t. 72 i . (skidl), p. ?,()0. ' Inhab. California (ilonterey). Called Lobo marina by the Spaniards. a. •' Skull and tongue bones of the Californian Sea Lion (Spanish ^^ /f , V, Lobo niarino), taken near Monterey ; A. S. Taylor, July 1S58." ~T ~~' Presented by J. H. Gumey, Esq., M.P. This skuU is as large as, and very like in external ajipearauce to, ^ the skull of the adult Otaria leonina, or Southern Sea Bear of the xQjc 4 southern part of the west coast of America, which we have in tlye British Museum from the coast of Chili. The skulls of the Lobo marino and Otaria leonina are easily dis- tinguished, and, when they are more closely examined, prove to belong to two different genera. The Californian skull has the short flat palate, contracted behind, of the genus Arrtocephalu.><, and the other the very long deeply concave palate, nearly as Avide liehind as in front, of the genus Otaria. It also has the high nose, with a nearly horizontal facial line over the nose, of the former genus, instead of the low nose shch-ing towards the edge of the upper jaw of the Otaria or Sea Lion of Chili. The adidt skull is more than double the size of the adult skulls of the other species of Arctocep/iali which we have in the Museum Col- lection, and shows the existence of a Seal of very large size in these seas — as large as the Sea Lion of Chili. The skull has been conii)arcd with the skulls oi Arctocephalus De- lalandii, from the Cape, figured in Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, t. ^ t. 22. f. 3 (skull). Otaria jubata (part.), Gray, Cat. Osteal. Call. B.M. 33. Young covered with soft fur, which falls off when the next coat of fur is developed. Inhab. N.W. coast of Australia. Houtman's Abrolhos, Mr. Gilbert. xy a-c. Skins of half-grown. Port Essington. y^-^cx-))( /2 (yL/^ ,^ T ^^ ^-CiS^.. f^(4i-^ f -y «'"• ■' '-f NW- Ji- /J c IG. ARCTOCEPHALUS. 51 (I. Jaws of &'Riill/"-half-grown. Houtman's Abrolhos, Australia. From ilr. Oould's Collection. e. Lower jaw, half-grown. Houtman's Abrolhos, Australia. From Mr. Gould's Collection. /. Teeth, very young. Houtman's Abrolhos, Australia. From Mr. Gould's Collection. <7. Teeth, very young. Houtman's Abrolhos, Australia. From Mr. Gould's Collection. *^ h. Stuffed skin of adult. Black ; forehead and crown pale yellowish. N.W. Australia. Presented by His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B. i. Skull of h, adult. Very rugose ; very like adult skull of Otaria leon'ma, but the palate is short and much contracted behind, the teeth more lobed, and with a tubercular ridge below, like the younger skulls. N.W. Australia. Presented by His Excellency Sir George Grey, K.C.B. Professor Owen describes a mutilated skull and jaws of a Sea Bear {ArctocephaJus austrcdis) found eighty miles inland in South Australia, presented to the Museum of the College of Surgeons by Dr. Robson (see Cat. Ost. Coll. Mus. Coll. Surg. p. 647. nos. 3964 & 3965). (Srrct,- *** Hinder v(hje of the palate large, gradually contracting into an angle in front. 3. Arctocephalus Califomianus. Arctocephalus Mouterieusis, junior?, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, 357. " The young animal is bjacki^h, silvered by the short white tips to the short black hairs ; those on the nape and sides of the hinder part of the body hanng longer white tips, making those parts whiter and more silverj'. The under-fur is very abundant, reaching nearly f ^ to the end of the hair. The end of the nose and sides of the face ^^^*^'h<^ arc whitish. The whiskers are elongate, rigid, smooth, and white. "^^^i-Ce^^- The hind feet are elongate, with rather long flaps to the toes. / ""'^y (X^^t^ Inhab. California. '^ ^^ L tV,/if The skull is v ^-ry small for the si^ejjf the s kin, and I should have doubted its belonging to tlie skin if it were not^accompanied by the following label :— ^. ^U^^iJjLr "yUi/^l) ^S^ fl^rP-,^^ a. " SkuU of the Fur Seal I sent last year. It is very imperfect, from r^v, _ my forgetting where I had put it ; but it must do until acci- ■^ /* 6 * X. O dent throws another in the way ; the other bones were lost. — i A. S. Taghr,:''' Presented by J. H. Gurney, Esq., M.P. / This is the skull of quite a young animal, -mth Mhat I am induced to believe are its milk-teeth, and, like the young skulls of most of the species of this genus, is very unlike the adult form. It also differs from the adidt A. Jlonferiensin in the form of the hinder opening of the palate, which is very large and gradually contracted to an angle in front of the mouth. I am not aware that the form of this part is changed by the age of the specimen. It is not so in the only species with which I have the ojjportunity of comparing it, that is E 2 52 PHOCIDJi. to say, in a series of skiUls of different ages from the young to the adult, of a Seal of the allied genus Otar'ia {0. leonhia). The skin is so like that of Aniocephalus nigresccns, that we were induced to regard it as a second specimen of that species before we re- ceived the skull. But the skull of the original specimen of that Seal shows that the adult animal and skull are not nearly half the size of . j^lJ^^''' the animal and skull of the Lobo marino of Monterey. V v(V^ jj H • ' 4. Arctocephalus nigrescens. < ^'"i Skull broad ; face rather elongate ; palate slightly concave, flat >j_ ^Xf^rxJL^ behind, hinder aperture narrow, with a nearly straight hinder edge. l/-rt I A JL/ji^ Arctocephalus nigrescens, Gray, Zool. Erehtis 8f Terror ^ t. . f. , /2^i.*->uo^^ skuU (inedit.) ; P. Z. S. 1859, 107 & 360. /t O^^-^ Inhah. Falkland Islands ? A. f<^ Flaps of the hinder toes elongate, unequal, of the outer toes on each aide longest. Canines moderate. Pale yellowish. Canines slender, conical. Grinders small, conical, smooth, without any tuhercles at the base ; the two front smaller ; the third and fourth with a single lobe in front ; the fifth with a lobe in front and behind. Whiskers round, very thick, black or whitish, smooth, not waved, hinder largest ; fur brown-gi'ey, sHghtly gi'izzled, pale, nearly white beneath ; hair short, close-pressed, rather slender, flattened, black with whitish tips, the tips becoming larger in the underpart of the sides. Feet reddish or blackish ; front claws small, rutUmentary ; hind claws 5, the second and third largest, the fourth and fifth and then the first smallest ; toes moderate ; membrane of the toes elon- gate, longer than the toes, the outer one broadest and largest, the rest nearly equal. Arctocephalus Hookeri, Grcn/, Voi/. Ereh. Sf Terror, t. ; Cat. Osteol. Spec. B. 31. 33; Cat. Seals B. M. 45, fig. 15 (skull) ; P. Z. S. 1859, 107, 360. Hair Seal, Weddell, 141 ? Inhab. Falkland Islands and Cape Horn, _ . fij-^ , y t/f a. Skin, stuffed. Falkland Islands, ^fcli* i*^ ^'^f^G^*'^^^ i^h. Skin, stuffed, with teeth. Falkland Islands. - "" ^ '"^ " ^i c. Skeleton, full-gTown. Falkland Islands. Antarctic Expedition./ Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. Skull figured in ' Zool. Voy. Erebus &, Terror,' t. d. Skeleton, Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. e. Skull, imperfect. Antarctic Expedition. Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty. /. Skull, imperfect, Antarctic Expedition, Presented by the Lords of the Admiralty, g. Skull. South Sea. Mr. Warwick's Collection. The skulls of four half-grown specimens are all very unifonn in their characters. There is in the Museum a skull of a veiy young Seal which appeai-s to belong to the same species. In three of the skulls the outer upper cutting-teeth are very large and acute, more tlian half the size of the canines, and lilie them in form. In one skull (perhaps of a female?) the upper outer canines are much smaller and more slender, not half the size of the same tooth in the other skulls of the same size, and the canines themselves are also much more slender ; the front of the palate is also more concave.— G^my, P. Z. S. 1859, 107. The sktill of A. Hookeri, in the concavity and comparative greater width of the palate behind, and in the form of the hinder palatine opening, most resembles that of the genus Otaria ; but it is very distinct from the skulls of that genus. The Eared Seal (Pennant, Quad. 268 ; PJioca flavescens, Shaw, Zool. i. 260. t. 73 ; Otaria flavescens, Desm. Mamm. 2,52 ; Gray, Griffith's A. K, v. 183), 22 inches long, may be a young specimen of IG. ARCTOCEPHALTJS. 55 this species, but it is not stated if this Seal has under-fur or not. The young of Otaria Forsteri of the size mentioned is blackish. '/ ** Hindef edge of the palate contracted, ovate. 7. Arctocephalus Gilliespii. Skull elongate, narrow ; the face much elongated ; palate slightly concave, front edge of the hinder aperture ovate ; lower jaw elongate, strong. Otaria Gilliespii, Machain, Hep. Phi/s. Soc. Edmb. 1858. Arctocephalus Gilliespii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1859, 107. t. 8^ & p. 360. . . ^^ " Inhab. California. -J /s^^if/U^^ ^^^ %^ Z*-*^*^ A cast of the original skull described by Dr. Macbain, now in the ^-/f' Museum of the College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, was sent to the British Museum, from which the figure in P. Z. S. 1859, pi. 70, was taken. The species is at once known by the length of the face : in all the skulls we have of the genus, a line drawn across the palate at the front edge of the zygomatic arch leaves one-thii'd of the palate behind the line, and two- thirds in front of it ; while in this species it leaves only one-foui'th behind, and very nearly three-fourths in front of the line. The skull has only four grinders on each side in the upper jaw, but one has evidently fallen out in front of the series and one be- hind ; and the fifth grinder of the complete series, which is usually in a line with the front edge of the zygomatic opening, is in this species rather in front of it. The following are the measurements of the different skuUs in inches and eighths : — >' 1 ^■1 1 1 .1 a 1 13 a s o II §•6. S-3 ^. g. *:= ^ s ■£ "rf ^ ° s Z £ 5; C f-^ S > V "* fc* ^ tt o ■^ •^ 11 6 "5 8 '^ '^ TV Extreme length along base of skull fl 4 14 10 11 « 10 4 13 2 8 4 4 7 6 11 4 6 6 4 5 2 5 2 3 I 9 4 6 6 2 6 6 8 6 6 8 7 4 5 10 4 5 4 Breadth of face at ear-bones 5 9 4 4 6 2 4 6 6 2 7 3 4 8 4 4 2 Breadth at lygomatic arch 5 6 9 4 4 6 4 3 b 5 4 6 6 4 2 9 4 6 5 8 2 5 ti 6 5 2 5 6 6 6 4 2 9 4 6 •** Skull not known. 8. Arctocephalus FalMandicus. Grey, under-fur red ; young blackish. Length 4 feet. Sea Beai', Forster, Tot/, i. 174, ii. 528. Fur Seal, Clai/ton, Phil. Trans. Ixvi. 102; Weddell, Voij. 23, 134, 13 ^^^\JL\ CjU^ J rJ-v-' ¥; ,1^' 56 I'HOOTDiE. Ursine Seal (part.), Pi'tm. Quad. ii. 527. Ours marin, Ihiffon, II. N. Supp. vi. 336. t. 47. Otaria Forsteri, Lesson, Diet. Claris. H. N. xiii. 421. Phoca Foi-steri, Fkcher, Si/n. 232. Falkland Isle Seal, Penii. Quad. i. 275, ii, 521 (from Roy. Soc). Phoca Falklandica, Shcnv, Zool. i. 256 ; Gray, in King^s Nnrrat. Aus- tralia, ii. 414; Griffith's A. K. v. 183. Otaria Falklandica, JDesm. Mamm. 252 ; Fischer, Syn. 233. Otaria Shawii, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 424. Seal or Sea Bear of Forster, Hamilton, Nat. Lib. 261. t. 22. Otaria Falklandica. (Fur Seal of commerce), Ilannlton, Nat. Lib. t. 25; Ann. N. H. 1830, ii. 81. t. 4. Otaria Guerini, Qmvy et Gaini. Voy. Uran. 71. Plat_\Thiniis Uraniae, Lesson, Man. 204. Yoiiny. Blackish ? Otaria HauvilHi, Lesson, Diet. Class. H. N. xiii. 425 — and Phoca Ilauvillii, Fischer, Syn. 243, both from Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 220. Sea Bear, in Brit. Mus., Hamilton, Nat. Lib. 266. t. 23. Phoca pusilla (adult?), Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. 220. 1. 18. f. 5 (skull). Var.? Otaria tlrsina, var., Mns. Jjcyden. ? Phoca porcina, Jlolina, Sayg, 260; Shaw, Zool. i. 260; Fischer, Syn. 234. Porcine Seal, Penn. Syn. 178. Otaria porcina, Desm. N. Diet. H. N. xxiv, 602^ Otaria Molinasi, Lesson, Didr-Cl'OSs.H. iVT xiii. 4S5. ? Otaria Chilensis, J. Miiller, Wieym. Arch. 1841, 333 (skull only). POtariae UUose, Tschudi, Mamm. Consp. Peruana; Fauna Pei-tiana, Mamm. t. . ? Long-necked Seal, Grew, Mm. 95 ; Parsons, Phil. Trans, xlvii. t. 6 ; Penn. Quad. ii. 521. Phoca longicollis, Shaiv, Zool. i. 2.56. Phoca Weddellii, var., Fischer, Syn. 240. ? Otaria coronata, Blainv. in Desm. Mamm. 251; Gray, Griffith's A. K. V. 182. Inhab. Antarctic Ocean. Falkland Islands, Cooh. New Georgia, Cool: South Orkney and South Shetland, Weihlell. ? Chili, Molina. l/i a. Skin of adult, female, without skull. h. Skin of young with the under-fur grey. Falkland Islands. jl^-J (" The adult is 5 feet long, and its skin worth 15 doUars.") ^ Presented by Sir John Richardson, M.D. 9. Arctocephalus cinereus. Grey ; hair of neck rough, elongate, yellowish ; hairs yellowish - <>" (^ white and blackish ; under-fur red. Length 7 feet. \A'7'^ ^y^ fj m f*- '"*^ Phoque a criniere, Cuvier, R. A. i. 167. ^-£5-^ Phoca leonina, Blainv. Osteog. Phoca, t. G (skull) & t. 9 (dentition) ; Molina, Sar/y. 282-341. Otaria leonina, Peron, Voy. ii. 65. ^ Phoca Pyronii, Blainv. in Desm. 3famm. 240. /ic,^ Cl^^^ *^ Otaria Ciiilensi.s, Midh-r, Wieym. Arch. 1841, 334. -, J^/ Mirounga Byronii, Gray, Griffith's A. K. v. 181. / /^.f- } Cc^ ^ Sea Lion, Island of Tiuian, Byron in Mas. Coll. Surg. 2i tXxr6^— /-^J^^^ Otaria, sp., Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. 223. - Tj" Platyrhynchus (leouinus), F.Cuv. Mem. Mus. xi. 208. t. 15. f. 2 (adult }ly/y>^^ J-. skull j ; /. Brookes, 3Ius. Cat. 37. /^/ f Z^ / Otaria platjThynchus, Midler, Wiegm. Arch. 1841, vii. 333. " ~ Otaria molossina, Lesson, Voy. Coq. 109. t. 3 (young), Jidc skull Mus. Paris. .... A cfl/^yT^'^ Phoca molossina, Lesson, Bull. Sci. Nat. viii. 96. ^ Lesson's Otary, Hamilton, Nat. Lib. t. 24, from Lesson. U^l^^^ ' /(. Platyrhynchus molossiniis, Lesson, 3£an. 203. ^, / ^*-^ Sea lion of Pernetty, Hamilton, Nat. Lib. t. 19, from Fdinh. Mus, Sea Bear of the British Museum, Hamilton, Nat. Lib. t. 23 ? yf Inhab. Southern Pacific Ocean. Patagonia. (UXa,^-^^ ^^<^ /^'T"l cUM- a. Skin of adult, stviffed. West coast of S. America. Vera Cruz. " ^^^y^ Presented by Captain Fitzroy, R.N. ^ / h. Front of lo-«'cr jaw of (7. West coa.st of S. America. Vera Cruz. / fU/ry^-* — {^^ Presented by Captain Fitzroy, R.jS". . ' c. Skull of half- grown. West coast of S. America. Chili? From Mr. Bridges' Collection. d. Skull, young. W. coast of S. America. Presented by Sir John Richardson, M.D. The skull of the Sea Lion brought from Tinian Island by Com- modore P.yron in 1769 is now in the Museum of the CoUege of Sur- geons. — See Cat. Oi^t. Coll. Mus. Coll. Surg. p. 64S. no. 3966, where several skulls of this Seal are described by Professor Owen. PlatjThjTichus Cranife, Lesson, 3ian. 204? '"^^ ii />/ Otaria Guerini, Qmo// i^- Gf/('w). Zoo/. Uran. 71? //'vi / Sea Lion of For.ster, Hamilton, Nat. Lib. 1. 18. ( itlA^ti ;^.vuv) J kUi ^XAV A^<^ "^ tuo^- y./^- / (;. iJ^- ///^, 60 fHOCIDJE. / <. . 2. Otaria Stelleri. Northern Sea Bear. Reddish ; females tawn}\ Leo mariniis, Steller, Nov. Comm. Petrop. ii. 360. Phoca ,iubata, Gmd. S. N. i. 63 (part.)- Otaria jubata, Pcroii et Lcsucur, Vol/, ii. 40 (not Desm.). , , [Leonine Seal (part.), Peiin. Quad. ii. 534. Jf^ Ithoca Stelleri, Fischer, St/n. 231. Otaria Stelleri, Lesson, D. C. II. N. xiii. 420 ; J. Miillcr, Wieqni. Arch. vii. 330, 333. Otaria Californiana, Lesson, D. C. H. N. xiii. 420, from Lion marin de la Californie, Chloris, Voij. Pitt. t. 11. Phoca Californiana, Fischer, St/n. Mamvi. 231. Otaria jubata (part.), Nilsson, Vet. Ahad. Ilandl.; Skand. Fauna; lf'ie(/ni. Arch. vii. 381. Inhab. Northern Pacific Ocean. I do not believe that there is a .specimen of this species in any museum, nor any remains of it. The specimen sent from St. Peters- burg under the name of Otaria leonina was the Ursus mariniis of Steller, and is, lilce the genus which I have called CaUorhinus, more allied to ArctoccpJudas than to Otaria. Yet I have such faith in the accuracy of Steller that I have decided to retain it in the list, and hope some day to receive a specimen with its bones, or at least its .skull. 61 Order CETACEA. Teeth all similar, conical ; or dissimilar, ridged ; sometimes not developed. Palate often furnished with transverse plates of baleen or whale- bone. Body fish-shaped, nearly bald, ending in a horizontal tail. Front limbs short, fin-shaped. Mammalia, Cete, Linn. Si/st. Nat. ed. 12. i. 27 ; Link, Beytr. 1795 ; Demn. N. I). H. X. xxiv. 35, 1804 ; Fischer, Syn. 1828 ; Eichivald, Zool. Spec. iii. 337 ; Gray, Ann. Phil. 1825. Ceti, Wayler, Amph. 1830. Les Cetaces, Cimer, Tab. Ehm. 1798 ; R. A. i. 271, 1817, ed. 2. i. 281 ; F. Ctivier, 1829. Cetaceis, Brisson, R. A. 217, 17G£; Gray, Med. Rep. xv. 309, 1821. M. a iiag-eoires (pars), Desm. N. D. H. N. xxiv. 32, 1804. Natantia, Il/iycr, Proclr. 139, 1811. M. pinnata et pinnipedia (pars), Storr, Prodr. Mamm. 1780. Bipedes, Latr. Fain. Nat. 64, 1825. Sirenia et Cete, Selys-Lonychamps, 1842. Cetacea et Amphibia (pars), Rajin. Anal. Nat. 60, 1815. Cete, Gray, Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 1. Cetacea, R. Kno.r, Journ. Proc. Linn. Soc. 1858, iii. 63 ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, 195 ; Proc. Zool. Soc. 1863 ; Ami. <§r Mag. Nat. Hist. 1864, xiv. 345. ' ^ ^ Synopsis of the Families. !>uborder I. Skin smooth, bald. Teats 2, inguinal. Limbs claicless ; fore limbs Jin-shaped ; hinder united, fonning a forked horizontal tail. Nostrils enlarged into bloivers. Cumivorou-s. Cete. Section I. Mysticete. Teeth rudimentary : they nerer cut the f/ians. Palate furnished with transrei'se friuycil horny phites (f Ixdeen or whalebone. Head large, depresffcd. Nostrils separate, longitudinal. Gullet very contracted. Tympanic hone single, large, cochleate, at- tached to an expanded periotic bone which forms part of the skull. 1. Bai./ENid.e. Dorsal fin none. Belly smooth. Baleen elongate, slender. ^*ertebrfe of neck anchylosed. Pectoral fin broad, truncated at the end ; fingers 5. TjTiipanic bone rhombic. ^Maxillary bones narrow. 2. Bal.'enoptkhid.^. Dorsal fin distinct Belly longitudinally plaited. Baleen short, broad. Maxillnrv bones broad. Pectoral fin lanceolate ; fiugere 4. \'ertebrte of neck free. Tympanic bone oblong or ovate. ^ Y>i' w 62 CETACEA. Section II. Denticete. Teeth well cleveloped in one or both Jaws, some- times dcviduous. Pcdate a-ithtmt Ixdcen. Head large or moderate; tympanic bones 2, suhsimilar, united, free in a cavity in the base of the shall. A. JVostrils longitudinal, parallel or diverging, covered with a valve, one often larger and more developed. Pectoral , broad, truncated; fingers 5. 3. Catodontid^. Head bliuit ; back of tlie skiiU concave. Teeth only in the lower jaw, fitting into pits in the upper. 4. Platanistid^. Head longly beaked ; back of the skull covered with the reflected edge of the niaxillaries. Teeth in both jaws compressed. B. Nostrils united into a single transverse or crescent-shaped blower. Teeth in both Jaws, often deciduous. Pectoral fin lanceolate. 5. Inhd^. Head beaked. Teeth rugiilose, crowns with an internal process. Back without any fin, keeled behind. 6. Delphinid^. Head beaked. Teeth simple, cylindrical, conical, smooth, in the whole length of both jaws, sometimes deciduous. Back rounded. Dorsal fin falcate, rarely wanting. Pectoral fin moderate^ on the upper part of the side of the body ; fingers 4- or 5-jointed. 7. GlobiocephalidvE. Head ventricose. Teeth cylindrical, simple, in the front of both jaws. Dorsal fin falcate. Pectoral fin low down on the sides of the body ; fingers elongate, many-jointed. 8. HTFEB^fe©?fTH>vi:. Head beaked. Teeth few, cylindrical or com- pressed in the front or side of the lower jaw only. Dorsal fin falcate. Pectoral fin low down on the sides of the body; fingers 4- or 5- jointed. Suborder II. Shhi rather hairy ; tchiskers rigid. Limbs claiced. Teats 2, pectoral. Nostrils 2, apical. Herbivorous. Sirenia. 9. Manatid^. Grinders none, or flat-crowned. Front of jaws covered with horn. Suborder I. CETE. Skin smooth, without hair. Limbs clawless ; fore limbs fin-hke ; hinder caudal, horizontal, forked or rounded. Teats 2, inguinal. Nostrils enlarged and close together, called blowers. Carnivorous. Teeth conical, all similar, often not developed, and absorbed. Palate often furnished with transverse pendent homy plates of baleen or whalebone ; fringed on the edge. Cete, Gray, Ann. Phil. 1825; Selys-Longchamps, 1842; Gray, Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 5. Cetacea, Blumenbach ; Dumeril, Z. A. 1806 ; Lilljeborg, Of vers. 2. Cetacefe camivorse, Gray, Med. Rep. xv. 309, 1821. (Soufllem's) Hydi'aula, Latr. Fam. Nat. 1825, 05. Natantia, Cete, Illiger, Prodr. 141, 1811. Cete /3, Fi.'^cher, Syn. 1828. Mammalia pinnata, Storr, Prodr. Mamm. 1780. CETACEA. 63 C^taci^s, Cuv. Tah. Eletn. 1798; Duvernoy, Tub. Atiim. Vert. Spiracules, J. Brookes, Cat. Mm. 38, 1828. BaliEiiidfe, RiippeU, Verz. Sotck. Samml. 186, 1845. Cetacea vera sen Camivora, Oiven, Cat. Mas. Coll. Surg. ii. 439. Dr. Peters objects to the tail being considered the representative of the hind feet of the Whale. He observes : " Prof. Reinhardt dis- covered only a rucUnient of a femur in Balania Mysticetus, all other [whales] ha\-iug the pelvis without the vestiges of Umbs. You know very well that the horizontal taU-fui is only an expansion of the soft parts. How did this expression escape you ? " — Letter, 2-4th Nov. 18G4. I am stiU not convinced that the tail docs not represent the hind members, at least analogically if not actually. Belon and Rondelet appear to have known the Dolphin {Delphinus Delphis), the 'Oudre' {D. Tursio), and the Phocteua (P. vulgaris); but their account of the Spermaceti \\Tiale is very indistinct. Clusius, in 1(505, first described and figured the Sperm Whale in a recognizable manner, from two specimens thrown on the coast of Holland in 1598 and 1601 ; and Johnston (t. 41 & 42) well figures one of these specimens. In 1071, Martens, in his 'Voyage to Spitzbergen,' gave a descrip- tion and figiire of the "WTialebone Whale, the " Pin-fish " (Balceno- ptera Physalus), the Weise Fish {Beluga Catodon), and the Butzkopt (Orca Gladiator) ; and his figiu'es of the first and second have been the chief authorities for these animals until this time. In 1692, Sibbald published a small quarto pamphlet, with three plates, describing the Whales which had come under his observation. He divides them into three groups : — I. The Small "WHiales with teeth in both jaws, of which he notices three — the Orca (0. Gladiator), the Beluga, and one from hearsay, which from its size was probably a Poi'poise (Phoccena vulgaris). II. The larger Whales with teeth in the lower jaw: — 1. the Sperm Whale; and 2. the Black Pish. And III. The Whalebone Whales, of which he describes three speci- mens. The arrangement he proposed is the one used in tliis Catalogue ; and his work forms the groundwork of all that was known on the larger Cetacea up to the Liunean time : but Artedi and Linnteus committed the mistake of regarding individual peculiarities resulting from accidental circumstances as specific distinctions, so that three of their species have to be reduced to synonyma. [There is a later edition, edited by Pennant, which appeared in Edinburgh in 1773.] In 1725, Dudley, in the 'Philosophical Transactions' (No. 387), describes all the AYhalcs now recognized by the whalers, except the Black-fish: viz., 1. the Eight or Whalebone AMiale ; 2. the Scrag \\Tiale ; 3. the Fin-back Whale; 4. Bunch or Humpback Whale; and 5. the Spermaceti ^Miale. Cuvicr, in liis historical account, scarcely sufiiciently estimates either Sibbald's or Dudley's contri- bution. Bonnaterre, and after him Lacepode, in their Catalogues, collected together A\'ith great industry all the materials they could find, in 64 CETACEA. every work that came in their way ; hence they (the latter especially) formed a number of species on most insuiRcient authority : for ex- ample, they made a genus on the otherwise good figure of the Sperm Whale figured by Anderson, becaiise the artist had placed the spout on the hinder part of the head ; and a division of a genus for the Fin-fish of Martens, because he did not notice in his description or figure the fold on the belly. Yet the characters given by Lacepede, and genera formed by him, have been used in our latest works, some even in Cuvier's last edition of the 'Animal Kingdom' ; and many of these species still encumber out Catalogues. Cuvier, dissatisfied with this state of things, in his ' Ossemens Fossiles,' examined the various documents and consulted the autho- rities which had been used by Lacepede ; but he appears to have undertaken the work with a predisposition to reduce to the smallest number the species which his predecessor had described. Thus, he concludes that there are only eleven species of Dolphins, one Nar- whal, one Hyperoodon, one Cachalot or Sperm Whale ; and he appears to think there are only two Whalebone Whales — the llight WTiale and the Finner. To make this reduction : first, he believes that the Humpbacked Whale of Dudley is onlj- a whale that has lost its fin, not recognizing that the Oajoe Rorqual, which he afterwards described from the fine skeleton now shown in the inner court of the Paris Museum, is one of this kind ; secondly, that the Black-fish and the Sperm Whale are the same species — an error which must have arisen from his not having observed that Sibbald had figured the former, for he accuses Sibbald of twice describing the Sperm Whale ; and when he comes to Schreber's copy of Sibbald's figure, he thinks the fig-ure represents a Dolphin which had lost its upper teeth, overlook- ing the peculiar form and posterior position of the dorsal fin, and the shape of the head, which is unlike that of any known Dolphin. This mistake is important, as it vitiates the greater part of Cuvier's criticism on the writings of Sibbald, Artedi and others, on these animals. Unfortunately these views have been verj^ generally adopted without re-examination. But, in making these remarks, it is not with the least desire to underrate the great obligation we owe to Cuvier for the papers above referred to ; for it is to him that we are indebted for having placed the examination of the Whales on its right footing, and for directing oiu- inquiries into the only safe course on these animals, which only fall in our way at distant periods, and generally under very disadvantageous circumstances for accurate examination and study. In 1828, Mr. F. J. Knox, the Consci-vator of the Museum of the Old Surgeons' Hall in Edinburgh, published a Catalogue of the Ana- tomical Preparations of the Whale, in which he gives many interest- ing details of the anatomy of the Balcmu maxima and B. 7ninima, which had been stranded near Edinburgh, of the foetus of B. Mysti- cetus from Greenland, and of DelpMaus Tursio (D. leucopleurus), D. Delphis, Phocnnn communis, tSoosoo Gangeticus, and Halicore Indi- eus ; but the paper has been very generally neglected or overlooked. In 1858, Dr. E. Xnox published " Contributions to the Anatomy CKTACEA. 65 and Natural History of the Cetacca " in the Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. iii. p. (i'S. M. F. Cuvier's 'Cetaccs' (Paris, 1836) is little more than an ex- pansion of his brother's essays, with a comiiiled account of the species ; but he has consulted with greater attention the works of Sibbald and Dudley, and has some doubts about the finned Cachalots being the same as the S2)e}-m. Whale (p. 475), but at length gives up the subject. He has foiuid out that the Uumphacked Whale is evidently a Rorqual (p. 305), but does not record it as a species, nor recognize it as the Cape Rorqual, nor as Dr. Johnston's Whale ; the latter he incorrectly considers the same as Balana Fhijsalus. He combines together as one species Quoy's short-finned Rorqual of the Falkland Islands with Lalande's long-finned Whale of the Cape (ji. 352). He is in great doubt about the hump of the Cachalots (p. 279); his remarks on that subject and on the Cachalots of Sibbald show how dangerous it is for a naturalist to speculate beyoud the facts before him. Sir William Jardine's Whales, in the ' Naturalist's Library,' is chieflj' an abridgement of M. Lesson's compilation, with some ex- tracts from Knox and other English writers on the subject. Eschricht, in his 'Nordischcn WaUthiere,'p. 7, di^-ides the Cetacca into four groups, according to their food, thus : — 1. SarkophcKjen : Orca. 2. Teuthophagen : Physeter, EhjTichocete (Hyperoodontina, Grail), Monodon, Beluga, Globiceps. 3. Ichthi/op)haf/eu : Phocaena, Delphinus, Platanista, and Ogmo- balasna, Eschricht, = Balffinoj^tera. 4. Pteropodojihar/en : Leiobalasna, Eschricht, = Batena. He further proposes to separate these groups into Zahnwalle (or Tooth-whales ), which includes all the genera in the first three groups, except Ogmobald'iia ; this genus he places with Leiohalcena in the second gToup, which he calls Bartenwcdle, which is synonymoiis with Bala'na of Linne. Eschricht, in the ' Danish Transactions,' has published several most interesting papers on the anatomy and development of the Whales of the North Sea, especially of the Fin-Avhale {Bcdcvnoptera rostrata), the Naebhval {Hjiperooilon), and the Nordhval (Bcdmia Mysticetus), and with Professor J. Eeinhardt he has published a complete treatise on the osteology of the latter species. Dr. Ludovicus Ileichenbach, in his ' SjTiopsis MammaHum Iconibus illustrata ' (8vo, Leipsic, 1855), di\-ides the Whales into four families and seven genera, thus : — I. Bala;nina. 1. Balcena. II. Narwalina. 2. Monodon. III. Delphinina. 3. Physeter; 4. Delphinus. IV. Ma- natina. 5. Rytina ; (J. Hulicore ; 7. Manatus. Mr. Edward Wakefield has given a very good chronological history of Whales and Whaling in Simmonds's ' Colonial Magazine ' for July 1844, p. Ill ; he quotes the ' Histoire genci-ale des Peches ancienncs et modcrnes,' by S. B. Noel (vol. i. 1815), the rest of the work remaining in MS. in the libraiT of the late Baron Cuvicr. 66 CETACEA. The British species are no better known ; for in Fleming's excel- lent work they are left in nearly the same state as when Linnajus published his tweKth edition of the ' Systema Naturae '; and Mr. Bell's account and figiu'cs are chiefly derived fi'om preceding authors. In the former edition of this Catalogue I was led to take three or four species from the list of British species ; I determined the specific identity of one hitherto neglected, and added two or three species for the first time to our fauna. In the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural History ' for 1846, vol. xvii. p. 82, I gave a list of British Cetacea, raising the number to seventeen, and added Lagenorhynchus albirostris and Grampus Cuvieri to the previous list. In the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society ' for 1864, p. 195, I published a paper '• On the Cetacea which have been observed in the Seas surrounding the British Islands," in which I describe thirty species belonging to twenty genera. Fleming only indicates as British sixteen species of Cetacea, which Jenyns and BeU had reduced in their works to fourteen species of the Order. The size of the head, compared with that of the body, varies greatly according to the age of the specimen. In the newly-born whale the head is small ; and it enlarges regularly, but at a more rapid rate than the body, as the whale increases in size. In the Greenland Whale the adult head is two-fifths of the length of the body. The species of the different families have a very great similarity when examined externally, and, as a whole, the best character for the genera and species is to be obtained from the examination of the skeleton, and especially of the skull, cervical vertebrae, and the bones of the fore hmbs. But here, as in other vertebrate animals, it requires great care to observe the external characters of the animal and the peculiarities of its osteology, so that the outer form, colour, &c. may be known, at the same time as the osteological characters, and that the variations of either the skeleton or the outer appearance may be corrected by the double comparison. We have until lately been chiefly indebted to Sibbald, John Hunter, and Dr. Knox for the anatomy of the larger whales. More recently Eschricht has given an excellent memoir on the Eight Whale, and on the long-armed and smaller Finner "V^Tiale, the account of the latter being chiefly derived from dissection of the foetal or newly-born specimen. No series of animals are more difficult to observe and describe than the large Whales and Dolphins. They are only seen at distant periods, and generally either isolated or each kind and age in the same school or herd. They are only seen ahve at a distance from the observer, and generally in rapid motion and under unfavourable circumstances for study. They are unwieldy to collect and compare. It is almost impossible to preserve their skin, it being very thin and apt to crack and curl up ; and when preserved, they are difiicult to keep without deterioration, on account of the fat and salt they contain, and the odour they emit, especially in damp weather. For this CETACKA. 67 reason, in the Paris and some other museums, they have prepared a series of plaster models to illustrate the genera. When the larger kinds are cast ashore, they are seized by the lord of the manor or some other person and sold for their blubber, and their bones are often sold for manure ; or, from some difSculty respecting the ownership, they are left to rot on the beach, as was the ease with the skeleton of the Sperm "Whale cast ashore at Whit- stable, Kent, and prepared by Mr. Gould for the Zoological Society in 1829. The putrefying of the flesh and the preparing of the oil render a stranded wliale l)j- no means a desirable neighbour ; so that it is not to be wondered at that they are usually got rid of as soon as pos- sible, and that the naturalist has seldom the opportunity of exami- ning them even in England, where the means of travelling are easy and rapid. Keceutly a new difficulty has arisen: agriculturists have found that they are good manure, and as soon as any of them, especially of the smaller kinds, are caught or thrown ashore, they are carried inland and buried, as was the case with a school of BelpJiinus Orca lately taken near Bridgewater. Yet they are objects 'of general interest; and when they are cast ashore near populous places they are often shown for a time, and the smaller species ai'e sometimes even earned far inland and exhibited ; and the only chance that the zoologist has of examining fresh speci- mens of these animals is to watch for their occurrence and hasten to see them while they are in a more or less complete state. I am bj* no means convinced that all the species in the following Synopsis are distinct. It is rather to be regarded as a collection of the accounts of the Whales of diff'erent localities, derived from the specimens and other materials at present at our command ; and I have endeavoured to select from these soiu'ces what appeared to afford the best characters for defining them, so as to furnish to those naturalists who might enjoy the opportunity of observing the animals, a short abstract of what has been observed with regard to them, and a reference to where they may find a more detailed account of each kind. I have been induced to adopt this course, as whenever I have had the opportunity of examining and comparing the pro- portions of the allied species from distant seas, and of comparing their bones, they have invariably proved to be distinct, which leads me to believe that many of the other species from diffei'ent seas, which have been regarded as the same, will be found to be distinct, though representatives of those found in other seas. f2 68 Section I. MYSTICETE. Teeth rudimndanj ; they never cut the jaws, and are absorbed. Palate fumislied with transverse frinyed horny plates of baleen or tohalebone, fm-minf/ a '^screening-apparatus." Head large, depressed. Bloioers far back, longitudinal, each covered with a valve. Spout double. Eyes small, near angle of the mouth. Gullet very contracted. Tympanic bones large, conch-like, attached to an expanded periotic bone, 7vliich forms part of the skull. Lacrymal and malar bones thin, small. Living on mollusca and fisli. Balasna, Cui\ Tab. Mem. 1798 ; Lesson, N. Tab. Reg. Anim. 201. Eala3nada3, Grai/, Lond. Med. Repos. xv. 310. Les Baleines, F. Cuv. 1829. Cete, Illiger, Prodr. 141, 1811. Cetacea edentula, Rrisson, R. A. 218. Edentes abnormaux, Blainr. 1816. Cete hydr£eoolossi, § B, JVagler, N. S. Amph. 3-3, 1830. Cetaces, Lesson, N. Tab. Rig. Anim. 197, 1842. Cetacea, Rajin. Anal. Nat. 00, 1815. Ruderer Wale, Oken, Lehrb. Nat. G61, 1815. Balenidia, Rajin. Anal. Nat. 61, 1815. BaliBnidaj, Gray, Ann. Phil. 1828 ; Zool. Erebus if Terror, 15 ; Cat. 3Iamm. B. M. ; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 5, 1850 ; Selys-Longchamps, 1842. Vermivora, Lesson, N. Tub. Reg. Anim. 201. Bale, Oken, Lehrb. Ncdurg. 603, 1815. Les Baleines (Baleniens), Geoff. Leqons, Mamm. 67, 1835 ; Duvernoy, Ann. Sci. Nat. 22, 1851. . Bartenwalle, Eschricht, Nord. Wallthiere, 7, 1849. (Baleen Whale) Balsenidse, Owen, Cat. Osteol. 3Ius. Coll. Surg. ii. 439. JBalsenidre, "J. Gray," Bardhwalar, Lilljeborg, Ofversigt, 39, 1862. Balseuoidea sen Mysticete, Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 388. ■" Teeth never functionally developed, but always disapijearing be- fore the close of the intra-uterine life. Upper jaw provided with plates of baleen. Sternum composed of a single jiicee, generally broader than long, and connected only with the first rib. No costal sternal bones ; all the ribs at their upper extremity articulating only with the transverse processes of the vertebrae ; their capitular processes when developed rudimentary, and not forming true articulations with the bodies of the vertebra?. Hami of the mandibles curved, their anterior ends meeting at an angle and connected by fibrous tissue, without any true symphysis. Skull symmetrical. Maxilla produced in front of, but not over, the orbital process of the frontal. Nasal bones well developed, spnmetrical. Lacrymal bones distinct from the ]vigal."— Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 388. M. Geoffrey observed rudimentary teeth in the lower jaw of a foetal whale. — Ann. du Mus. x. 365. Eschricht figures them in the foetal jaw of a Mec/aptera. — Danish Transactions, 1843, xi. t. 3. The substance called Whalebone is of the same nature as horn ; it is wholly composed of animal substance, and extremely elastic. — Hunter, Phil. Trans. 1787. It is called /f/HOii by the French. The Scotch even at the time of Sibbald caUed it baleen, probably from the French. — Fleming, Wern. Trans. 203. The baleen or whalebone has generally been considered as the CETACEA. 69 ^ecth of the Whale ; but this must be a mistake, for Mr. F. J. Knox observes — " In the foetal B. Mi/nticetus sixty to seventy dental pulps were found on each side of each jaw, making the whole number amount to from 260 to 300. The preparation (n. 5f3) exhibits a portion of this gum with twelve pulps : had those pulps been con- fined to the upper jaw and corresponded to the number of baleen plates, it would have formed a strong analogy between the baleen and teeth ; but the number of baleen plates in the Whale greatly exceeds the nimiber of dental pidps, and the lower jaw, which con- tained an equal number of pulps Avith the upper, has neither teeth nor baleen in the adult whale. Their presence therefore in the foetal 2Ii/sticetus foniis one of the most beautiful illustrations of the unity of organization in the animal economy. The teeth in the Balcena never c\it the gum, but become gradually reabsorbed into the system ; the verj' cavitj' in which the germs were lodged disappears ; whilst, to suit the purposes of luxture, the integumentary system furnishes the baleen, which is evidently a modified form of hair and cuticle." — Kno.r, Cat. Prep. Whale, 22. Professor Eschricht also has shown that the foetus oi Megapteva Boops (Danish Trans. 1845, xi. t. 4) has numerous teeth on the edge of the jaw, though they are never developed. I am inclined to regard the baleen as a peculiar de- velopment of hair in the palates of these animals, and somewhat ana- logous to the hair found in the palates of the genus Lepus. (See alsa Rousseau, liev. Zool. 1856, 193, 257, 305, 353 ; liav'm, Ann. Sci. Nat, 1836, 266 ; and Mener, Nov. Act. Acad. Leop. N. 0. 1855, xxv. 449.) From the examination I have been able to make of the baleen of Balcenoptera rostrata, and of different masses of small blades of Balcena australis, it would appear as if there were, at least in these two species, two or more series of baleen on each side of the palate ; the external scries being formed of large triangular blades placed at a certain distance apart ; and the internal, in BaJanioptera rostrata, composed of smaller, much thinner, triangular pieces, placed much closer together, and forming a very dense screening-apparatus ; and in Balcena australis the inner series is formed of numerous separate narrow strips of whalebone, each ending in a ■ pencil of hairs, which vary in size from that of small twine to that of tape half an inch wide ; these are placed behind the others, and gradually increase in size from the innermost to the broad external series. They are early deciduous, and the groove in which they are placed becomes filled up and solid. Mr. Knox (Cat. Prep. Whale) gives the best accoimt of the de- velopment, position, and distinction between the baleen of the WTiales of the North Sea which has come under my observation, and it agrees with the observations I had made on the subject before I could pro- cure his pamphlet. In Bnlcrn't maximim, Knox {Phiisalus antirp(orurn), 314 external or labial xilates (baleen) were counted on each side ; towards each extremity tlicsc plates degenerate into bristles, and admit of being counted with difficulty. Towards the mesial line the baleen as a mass diminishes gradually in depth, giving the whole palatine surface 70 CETACEA. an elegant arched form. The 314 external or labial plates do not extend to the whole extent in a transverse direction, but a system of numerous small and narrow plates succeeds the external ones. For each external jjlate, twelve (internal) smaller ones could be easily counted ; so that the number of plates which could be counted, and not including the bristly terminations towards the snout, phai-jnix, and mesial line, stand thus : external or labial plates, 314 ; internal small plates, corresponding to each external one, 12 : total number of baleen plates, 3768. The longest plate of baleen is placed about the centre of each of the sides, and measured 26 inches in length and 15 in breadth. The substance when recent is highly elastic and very heavy ; the whole weighed nearly two tons. In Balcena minimus, Knox (Balcenoptera rostrata), 307 external or labial plates (baleen) can be counted on each side ; towards each extremity these plates degenerate into fine bristles, which were not comited. The plates hang perfectly parallel with each other, and from their closeness and fringed lingual aspect, must act as a very perfect filter in collecting the minute molluscous animals, and at the same time enable the whale to eject the water. The baleen or whalebone afi'ords good characters for the separation of this family into sections. It is short or long accordiag to the species of Whale, being modified entirely by the more or less arched form of the upper jaw. Mr. Knox first pointed out this curious and important fact. The usual conclusion come to by all persons was, that the size of the whale corresponded to the length of the bone or baleen. Now this is only good with regard to one species of Whale, and not at all to the whole group of Whalebone Whales. — Kno.v, Cat. Prej}. Whale, 8. The whalebone of the smooth -bodied Whales without any back-fins (Balcena) is elongate, much longer than broad at the base, and gra- dually attenuated, and edged with a fringe of equal, lengthened, fine, soft bristles. The baleen is internally formed of a thin layer of fibres, covered on each side with a thick coat of ' enamel' ; when dry and out of the mouth, the blades are flat. The whalebone of the plaited-beUied Whale with a bunch {Mega- ptera) or a dorsal fin {BaJanoptera) is short, broad, triangular, not much longer than broad at the base, and rapidly attenuated, and is edged with a series (sometimes rather crowded) of elongate, rigid, imequal bristle-like fibres, which become much thicker and more rigid near and at the tip. The baleen is internally formed of a more or less thick layer of thick fibres, covered on each side with a thin layer of enamel, and when dry and out of the palate they are curled up and somewhat spirally twisted. The thickness of the plate of baleen depends on the number of bristles. In the baleen oi BaJcna maximus there are 506 bristles in the thickness of the plate, and by a rude enumeration there appeared to be at least 130 bristles in each inch. The whole breadth of the plate being 5^ inches, gives us 747 bristles entering into its compo- sition. These bristles are matted together to the extent of 1 1 inches on the external and 5 inches on the internal margins, by a substance CETACEA. 71 like minute laminas or scales, and which may be seen by the aid of a microscope to invest the free bristles at the fringed extremity of the plate. We have often observed the facility with which some baleen can be split up, and were struck with the fact that the baleen of Balcena maximus would not split. The removal of the external lamina in the plate under description shows the cause of this : about G| inches from the root of the plate, many of the bristles have deviated from their direct parallel inclination, and become intimately twisted and interwoven -with each other. It has been attempted to prove the age of the Mliale from an examination of the baleen, in the same manner as we judge of the age of cattle by certain aniuilated markings on the horns. On the plate before us we can chstinctly perceive numerous transverse lines crossing the coui-se of the bristles at right angles. If these transverse lines indicate a periodical check to the growth of the baleen, then the age of the Bakena maximus would be 800 to 'JOO years old, that being the number of transverse lines on the longest plate of baleen. — Knox, Cat. Prep. Whale, 9. The baleen of the Balance is alone designated Whalebone (or rather Whale-fin, as it is usually called) in commerce. The baleen of the other genera of this family is called Finner-fin or Humpback-fin. The wholesale dealers in baleen, in the ' London Directory,' are called Whale-fin Merchants, and whalebone occurs under the name of Whale-fin in the ' Price-current.' In the ' London New Price- current' for 1843, the South Sea Whale-fin varied during that year from 200/. to 305?. per ton ; and there is no price named for Green- land Whale-fin. (See Maccull. Comm. Diet. i. 1344.) The baleen was formerly tliought to be the tail of the animal. (See Blackstone, Comment, i. 233, quoted by MaccuUoch, Comm. Diet. i. 1344.) The skulls of the different genera differ considerably in external form, from being nearly as wide as the lower jaw, as in Sihbaldhis, to being very narrow so as only to foim a narrow central arch, as in Balcena. The genera may be thus arranged according to the width of the skull : — 1. Sibbalclius ; 2. Balcenojitera ; 3. Megaptera ; 4. Phi/salus; 5. Eubalcena ; Q. Bcdcena. The Avidth chiefly depends on the lateral expansion of the maxilla. In Balcena it is band-like ; and in Sibbahlius very broad, being more than twice as wide as the intermaxillary bones. The food of the "Whale is stiU a much-disputed point. It is now generally admitted that the 3I)/sticetus lives only on small Medusae, shrimps, itc, but that the other species of Whalebone Whale devoiir inconceivable quantities of fish ; for instance, M. Desmouhns states that " 600 f/reat vo<«w. Mamin. 527, 798; Diet. Class. H. N. ii. 160; Camper, CMuc. t. 4, 5, 6 (skull of voung) ; Fischer, Syn. 521 ; Volkmann, Anat. Anim. Tab. 1831, t. 9. f' 5 (skull, fcvtus ?) ; Bell, B. Quad. 514, fig. ; Kilsson, iSIiand. Fiinia, 642; Tiirton.B. Fauna, 15; Fleming, B. A. 33 ; Jcni/ns, Man. 46; Grai/, Zool. Erelms S,- Terror, 15. 47."t. 1. f. 4 (baleen); Cat. Mamm. B. M. 104; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 12: Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 200 ; Lilljehonj, Ofvers. 107. 82 BALiENID^. Baloena Mysticotiis, Lesson, iV. i?<'> ^e*^ '? '*/^"^^^ The Right AMiale of the Bay of Biscay {B. Biscayensis) is regarded P j as a different species by Eschricht and Van Bcneden. — dray, F.Z.S. A*^V 1864, 200. « (y-J-^ Cuvier observes that the Right Whale was formerly taken in the *1_---t^ — ' Gulf of Gascony, but that now it is only found on the shores of^ /■, y.1- Greenland, Iceland, and Spitzbergen. (See Cuv. Oss. Foss. ed. 4. vii. hL.^/ 252 ; also Eschr. & Reinh. Nord. Hvaler, p. 479, note.) jjh-^^-^^ " MM. Eschricht and Reinhardt (Om Nordhvalen) have conclu- , sively proved that the habitat of B. Jlysficetas is, and always has been, ^t^^"^'' exclusively confined to the Polar Seas, and therefore that it has no ^ claim to a place in the European fauna. The Right ^\"hale of the »< , ^ .' North Atlantic, formerly chased by the Basque whalers, belongs to this section (Euhalcena) of the family." — Floiver, P. Z. S. 1864, 391. M. Eschricht obsei-ves, " Le squolette de Pampelune m'occupe tout plein, m'ecrit-il a la date du 18«inai dernier. C'est tout ce qu'il y a de plus curieux. II est presque monte, et I'enorme difference avec le Mysticetus depasse tout ce que j'en avals juge lors de mon sejour a Pampelune. Figiirez-vous, ajoute-t-il, qu'il n'estpas plus developpe que le squelette d"uu Mysticetus de peine un an, I'ossification des vertebres n'est pas encore avancce jusqu'aux apophyses transverses, et les arcs qui no sont pas memo unis des deux cotes sent encore separos du corps et cepcndant la colonne vertebrale a la largexir du Mysticetus de trois ans et domi." (See also Eschricht " Sur le De- voloppement du questionnaire relative aux Cetaces," Actes de la Soc. Linn, do Bordeaux, xxii. livr. 4.) This theory appears to require further examination. Icebergs are annually carried out from the Arctic Seas to the North Atlantic, and it is probable that Right Whales may sometimes accompany them. I have not been able to find any details of the skeleton at Pam- peluna, so that I have no authority for placing B. Biscayensis in a difPerent genus from B. Mysticetus. 90 BALiENID^. 3. Balsena marginata. The Western Australian Whale. The baleen very long, slender (nearly eight times as long as wide at the base), pure wliite, thin, ^\ith a rather broad black edge on the enter or straight side. Balrena marginata, Gray, Zool. E. Sf T. 48. t. 1. f. 1 (baleen) ; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 14; P. Z. S. 1864, 200. Inhab. Western Australia. a, b, c. Three plates of baleen. Length 20 inches ; width at the base 2 inches 6 lines. Western Australia. Presented by J. Warwick, Esq. — The specimens figui-ed in the ' Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' tab. 1. fig. 1. This species is only known from three laminte of baleen. It is much smaller aud broader, compared with its width at the base, than, and is differently coloured from, the baleen of any of the other species. This is undoubtedly a very distinct species. The baleen is of nearly the same structure as that of the Greenland Whale ; but we do not know what may be the form of the first ribs, or of the bones of the other parts of the skeleton. iA iJf'^ '^* ^ Balsena gibbosa. The Scrag Whale. (I ■ " A Scracj Whale. Is near akin to the Fin-hach, but instead of a fin upon its back, the ridge of the after-part of its back is scragged " '^' with half-a-dozen knobs or knuckles. He is nearest the llight Whale /'-^w do*-*^ (-^' Mystketus) in figure and quantity of oU. His bone (whalebone) , ^^ is^whtteribut won't spht." — Dudleij. " A Scrag Whale," Diulley, Phil. tTrans. xxxiii. 259 ; a^ul Whalers. Balaena gibbosa, Erxi. Syst. 610 (from Dudley) ; Gmelin, S. N. i. 225 ; JBonnat. Cet. 5 ; Lacep. Cit. 113 ; Virey, Nouv. Diet. H. N. ill. 185 ; Gerard, Diet. Set. Nat. iii. 440 ; Desm. Mamm. 528 ; Fischer, Syn. 523 ; Grarj, Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 18. ^ Balffina gibbis vel nodis sex, B. macra, Klein, MSS. Pise. ii. 15. **^»- Balfena bipennis sex in dorso gibbis, Brisson, R. Aniin. 351. ' Knotenfish oder Issaohhei^sh, Anders. Isl. 225-, ■Orantz, Gronland, 146. Bunched Mysticete, Shaio, Zool. ii. 495. Inhab. Atlantic Ocean. Dudley's account is copied by Anderson, Crantz, and all succeeding authors. Cuvier thought the Scrag Whale {B. gihhosa) was only a Rorqual (Oss. Foss. V. 267) which had been mutilated ; but I suspect, from Dudley's account of the form, that it must be a Balana, probably well known formerly. Indeed Beale (Hist. Sperm Whale) speaks of it as recognized by the whalers now. " Scrags" is the whalers' name for young specimens of the Eight W'hale. (See Dieifenbach, New Zealand, i. 45.) Bonnaterre and all succeeding authors have referred to this genus the Iluniphacled Whale of Dudley, not understanding his descrip- tion of the belly being " reeved," that is, plaited ; they caU it Balcena nodosa. 2. EUBAUENA. 91 3. Head long ; of adtdt, about one-fourth the entire length. Baleen elongate, broad at the base, with several series of rigid central Jihres, forming a rigid fringe. Enamel thin. 2. EUBAL^NA. Hibs 15 . 15 ; first like the others, single-headed. T5'rapanic bone rhombic, nearly like that of BaJcvna. Head large ; of adult, about one-fourth the entire length. Vertebras 52. Eubalaeua, Graii, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 201 ; Ann. S; 3fag. K H. 1864, xiv. 348. Skull broad and depressed behind. The frontal bones broad, band- like, transverse (see Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. p. 375. t. 25. f. 1-4 of young, and f. 5-8 of adult animal). Tympanic bone rhombic, large ; aper- ture oblong, only slightly contracted at the upper end, about two- thirds the length of the bone. 15aleen thick, rather brittle ; enamel thin ; internal fibres numerous, thick, in several layers, rather inter- twined, forming a thick rigid fringe. Cervical vertebrae all imited by the neural apophyses into a single crest (Cuv. op. cit. t. 26. f. 13). Fio-. 6. Eubaltena Capensi a, jun. Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. t. 25. f. 2. ^V^'H*^ liibs 15 . 15, all simple-headed, the last four pairs not reaching the vertebne. Stenium oblong (Cuv. t. 26. f. 11). Blade-bone flat, rather broader on the upper edge than high, with a prominent acro- mion (Cuv. t. 26. f. 7). Arm-bones short ; forearm-bones very short, scarcely longer than the humerus. Fingers 5, short, the middle longest, the second, first, and fifth successively shorter (Cuv. t. 26. f. 23). Os hyoides (see Cuv. t. 26. f. 14). Cuvier observes that the skulls of B. Mtjst'tcetus and B. auMralis differ more from one another than the skulls of the species of Korcjuals ^ (Oss. Foss. V. 375). ^^^^^^ t /. 2 1. Eiibalaena australis. The Cape Whale. Uniform black. Skull convex. The nose of the skull high, straight, and rather suddenly l)ent down in front ; the nose and the 92 BAL^ENIDiE. intermaxillary bones contract in the middle, and then continue of the same "width in front. The hinder part of the jaw-bones is nearly- perpendicular, and the temporal bones are broad and erect.-^C«y. Oss. Foss. V. t. 25. f. 5-7. The foetal skull is shorter, lower, and the hinder part of the jaw- bone is more slanting. — Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. t. 25. f. 1-3. Cervical vertebrae all (1-7) anchylosed by the neural arches into one crest. — Ouv. Oss. Fuss. v. 378. The baleen is about 6 feet long, elongate triangular, rather rapidly tapering to a fine point. The internal fibres are rather coarse, but much finer than in B. Japonica. Balaena australis, Desmotdins, Diet. Class. H. N. ii. 161. t. 140. f. 3 (foetus) ; Gray, Cat. 3Iamm. B. M. 104; Zool. Ereh. Sf Terror, 15, 48. t. 1. f. 3 (baleen). Eubalsena australis, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1 864, 202. Baleiue du Cap, Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 368. t. 25. f. 1-4 (skull of foetus), f. 5-8 (skull of adult), t. 26. f. 7, 11, 13, 23, t. 27. f. 10, 15 (ear- boues), 24. Balfena antarctica, Owen, Brit. Foss. Marnm. (not Gray). The Cape Whale, or Eight Whale of South-Sea Whalers, Bennett, Narr. Whaliny Voyage, ii. 229. Southern Whalebone Whale, Nunn, Narrat. Favourite, 181. fig. ? Common Black Whale, Ross, Antarctic Voy. i. 169, ii. 327 ? Inhab. Sea near the Cape of Good Hope, Delalande. Skeleton and fcetus, Mus. Paris. a. Bone of foreann. Capo of Good Hope. h, c. Two plates of " South-Sea whalebone." Pacific Ocean? Pre- sented by Messrs. Smith and Simmonds. — The specimens figured in the ' Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' p. 48. tab. 1. fig. 3. tin if.ifC'-^'^^^ d, e. Two plates of whalebone. Pacific Ocean? tihi-U^ ^ f. Sku^Jn(jfc*. 94 bal.t;nid.e. In False Bay they carry on the fishery from the shore, and dui'ing the time Mr. War\vick was there, only one bnll out of sixty speci- mens was killed, the females coming into the bay to bring forth their young. He skinned one -which was siipposed to be not more than eight or ten days old ; it was 20 feet long. The females with their calves approach the shores of the Cape about the month of June. The female whales, at the end of the period of gestation, seem to %-isit the bights and inlets of the country which are next to theii' feeding-grounds. The same is the case round Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand. " If 13 feet be the size of the calf in the Northern seas at the period of birth, as stated by Mr. Seoresby, it will be found to be much inferior to what is observed in the South Sea, for I have myself seen more than one extracted from the uterus which had attained the length of 19 feet." — A. Smith, South Afr. Quart. Journ. p. 130. The baleen of this animal is sometimes called the "VYhale-fin of the " Blackfish," the name that has been applied to the Physeter Microps and to an Orca. There are sometimes imported with the baleen a few yellowish- white "fins," which seldom exceed 2 feet iu length; in these, the fibres as well as the enamel are white ; they are not so transparent as the pale variety of the Greenland fins before referred to ; they have the same coarse texture, and are brittle like the black southern specimens ; and as they do not take so good a polish, they cannot be used for making shavings for plaiting, &c. There has lately been brought by the South-Sea ships several hundredweights of a very small kind of whalebone, which is im- planted in the remains of the palate, in three or four series, gradually diminishing iu size towards the iianermost series ; each piece is linear, compressed, from ^ to ■!• of an inch wide, rounded on the edge, vai-ying from 5 to 8 inches in length, and ending in a tuft of black haif-like fibres. In texture, colour, and external appearance it exactly agrees with the baleen of the Southern Whales, and I suspect it must form the inner part of the " screening-apparatus " of that animal ; and if that be the case, the existence of these separate i^ieces near the middle of the roof of the moi;th wiU form a very peculiar character in this kind of whale. I am further strengthened in this belief by perceiving amongst some short pieces of " Southern Whale-fin," pro- bably forming the end part of a " side," at the inner, or shorter, or palatine edge of each blade, two or three small, separate linear pro- cesses of whalebone ending in a parcel of bail's, similar to the jiieces above described, but of a smaller size and rather more wavy. Seoresby, who gives a very detailed account of the position of the baleen in Greenland "'ATiales (Arct. Reg. i. 457 and ii. 415), does not mention anything of the kind in that animal ; but it is described as occurring in the Fin-back by Mr. F. J. Knox (see Cat. Anat. Prep. WTiale, 7. u. 5). The Black WTiale or Eight "V\Tiale is the one chased on the coast of New Holland. During the winter season many boats are sent out from the coast. 2. EUBAL^XA. 95 " The whale feeling herself covered and uncomfortable from barnacles on her skin, strikes in from the mouth of the river (Murray), and there plays and gambols for hom's just outside or among the breakers. Having roUed the barnacles off in the fresh water, she takes to sea. It is the knowledge that the fresh water kills the barnacles that brings her in. "WTienever it was practicable, my whalers, as well as those of the opposition fishery, were glad to take advantage of this peculiarity of the fish." — Cadell, Journ. Roy. Geogr. Soc. 1855, 179. This is most probably distinct from Euhalcena australis (BaJcena aiistralls, Voy. Pole Sud). Captain 8ganzin (Mem. de la Soc. du Mus. H. N. de Strasbourg, iii. 2) states that Tuhkinelln Balamarum is found on the large whales which are taken accidentally on the coast of Madagascar, but never on the young whales which are caught in the Canal of St. Maria. The latter have rarely some specimens of the Coronula Diadema attached to them. The old whales which are stranded on the shores of St. Maria, on the contraiy, are often covered with large numbers of the Coronula Balamaris. Mr. Holdsworth has presented to the British Museum a specimen which had been received from an American whaler, as " the Bonnet of Balcemi Mi/sticetus, obtained at the Sandwich Islands." 4. A ^'-^.. y^ <^uyi /I/.. V" Fiff. 7. ^^ The specimen is oblong, 11 inches long, and 8 inches wide, very irregular in outline, ^vith a very rotxgh pitted surface, four of the pits being much larger than the rest, and dividing the surface into six prominences. The whole substance seems to be formed of irregular horny layers placed one under the other, the lowest layer being the one last formed ; and each of these layers is more or less crumpled and phcated on the surface, giAnng the irregular appearance to the mass. The lower layer is attached to the skin of the whale, a part of the skin being attached to the inner surface of the mass or " bonnet," as it is called. On showing the specimen to a foreign zoologist, he stated that it was" an excrescence on the skin of a whale, formed bv the adiiesion 96 BALiENIDiE, of the barnacles called Coronula, and that the irregularities on the surface of the bonnet were caused by the attachment and wearing action of these animals. This is quite a mistake : the Coromdce sink themselves into the epidermis of the whale, as is also the case with the genus Tuh'mnella. I have seen numerous specimens of both these animals in situ, and the skin roiind the cirripedes is scarcely altered in structure, and offers no resemblance to the horny excrescence called the bonnet. Any one who examines the bonnet will find that the plate of horn of which it is formed is plicated and folded when deposited ; and this explains the irregularity of the general form of the body. The zoologist referred to has since said that he behoves it is caused by the irritation of the whale-louse, and that the irregularities on the surface are caused by them. This may perhaps have arisen from the surface of the specimen being covered with whale-hce when it was first procured from the whaler ; but this may be only because the hollow on the surface forms a good hiding for them ; and I think the supposition that they are the origin of the wart or horn requires further observation. Mr. Holdsworth has since sent to the Museum a much smaller specimen, also obtained at the Sandwich Islands, which is oblong, elongate, and more symmetrical ; but the upper surface is not so eveiily channelled. It is 6 inches long and 2^ wide. It is spoken of by the whalers as a wart on the tip of the nose, and is commonly called the " Whale's bonnet." I do not recollect observing any account of this " honnet," or giant corn, or rudimentary frontal horn, as it may be regarded, in any account of the Eight Whale, nor in that of the Spermaceti Whale. I have specially searched for it again in works by persons who have seen these whales alive, but without success. It has been suggested by Mr. Holdsworth that the bonnet may be a natural development, and possibly characteristic of the species ; he thinks that the "pale prominence" on the nose oi Balcenct ant- arctica, as figured in ' Fauna Japonica,' pis. 28 & 29, may be intended to represent it. In the description this part is only described as " une forte preeminence teinte de blanc." In the excellent drawing of the male whale from the coast of New Zealand, which I figured iinder the name of Balama antipo- danim, in Dieffenbach's ' New Zealand,' vol. ii. 1. 1, there is a rough roundish prominence on the front of the lower jaw, as well as on the front of the upper one. I behove that a prominence of the kind is to be observed in all the species of the genus Balama, although I have nevei^seen them described as hard and horny ; but that is no reason v^ this may not be the case. — Gray, Proc. Zool. >Soc. 1864. 2. Eubalaena Sieboldii. The Japan Whale. Black ; the middle of the belly to the vent, and a spot on the chin and over the eye, white ; the nose with a rounded prominence in 2. KUIUL.ilNA. 97 front. The head is two-fifths of the entire length ; the pectoral fin large, pointed. — Temm. Iklrena Sieboldii, Gray, Ann. S,- Mag. N. H. 1864, xiv. .349. BaL-ena australis, Temm. Fauna Japan, t. 28 & 29 Balffiiia Japonica, r;/-«y, Zool. E. ^- T. 15, 47. t. l.'f. 2 Hjaleen) ; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 18o0, 17. \ ^ > PBaljena Japonica, Lacep.Mcm.Mm. iv.473 ; Desm.Mamm. 528, 802 • Fi-^chei; 8;/n. 522. ? Balrena lun'ulata, Lacep. Mem. Mm. iv. 475 ; Desm. 3famm. 528, 803 : rt^scncr, Si/n. 522. Inhab. Japan, visiting the coast periodicaUy. The head is often covered with barnacles (cirripedes). This species is only described and figured from a model, made in porcolain-clay by a Japanese, under tlie inspection of a Japanese whaler and M. Siobold ; but no remains of the animal were brought to Europe ; so that we do not know whether it is a Euhahena or a Hunterius, or if it may not be an entirely new form. B. Japonica and B. humJata, Lacep., are from Chinese drawin"-s They differ in colour from Temminck's figure. " Var. ? 1. North-west ^Y]lnle, Bulcena Japonka ?, Gray, Zool S'''i''^?-n*'V^'' ^^- *• ^*- ^- - C^^il^en). Yar. 1. Gray, Cat. Cetac! B. M. looO, 1 1 . a, h. Two plates of " North-west Coast Whalebone." North-west coast of America. Pre^sented by Messrs. Smith and Simmonds.— The specimens figured in the 'Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' p. 47. tab. 1. fig. 2. j^tf-t^u-t^x^ /:dtJi~^nLAJt^&.^fKJt-t^ /^ c, rocesses very wide, occupying nearly the whole side-edge of the body of the vertebra. Catodoutidae. Catodon. The form of the atlas at once distinguishes this genus from Cato- don, or the Sperm Whale. In that genus the atlas is oblong, trans- verse ; the lateral processes occupy the entire side of the body of the bone, and are truncated at the end ; the lower edge is gradually curved from the centre to the end of the lateral processes ; the upper edge is rather shorter, the middle part over the neural arch being only slightly raised and keeled, and scarcely higher than the upper outer edge of the lateral processes. I have named this genus after Mr. MacLeay, the former Secretary of the Linnean Society, and his son Williain Sharp MacLeaj', two naturahsts who have done so much for science ; and to the latter 5. MACLEAYIUS. 105 evci^- student of Whales iimst be indebted for his work ou the South - Soa Speriu Whale and the very extraordinury Euiihijsctcs Grcujii. Yi'x. 10. Macleayias AmtruUeusis. Front view of atlas and cervical vertebrae. Fio-. 11. Mmlvaiiim Aintt'ralwiisis. Oblique view of the second to the seventh cervical vertebrte. ion BALiENOrXERID^. I have ventured to make these fragments of an animal (as they may be called) into a genus ; for I think we can only study the gigantic whales as we study fossils, from the parts which are pre- served to us. It is to be hoped that at some future time more perfect skeletons will be collected and preserved, and then the description of the genus will be filled up. 6. PAL.ffiOCETUS. Atlas free. The second cervical vertebra with a prominent rounded lateral process with a small basal perforation. The third to fifth cervical with . Piileocetus, Seelcy, Geol. Journ. I860. This genus, in the form of the lateral process of the atlas or second cervical vertebra, has some resemblance to the Finner Whales {Ba- Imnopteridai). It is probable that when it is better known it will form a family (Fcdceocefidce), to be placed between Bcdcenklte and Balcenopteridce. — See also Professor Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamm. pp. xv ife 520 ; Pcdmntology, p. 355. 1. Palseocetus Sedgwickii. Paleocetus Sedgwackii, Seelei/, Geol. Journ. 1865, tab. f. 1, 2. Fossil in the Crag. The cervical vertebra, Woodward tan Museimi, Camhridge. Family 2. BAL^NOPTERID^. Dorsal fin distinct. Belly longitudinally plaited. Baleen short and broad, triangular, twisted. MaxUlary bones broad, expanded, sharp-edged. Tympanic bone oblong or ovate. Frontal bone flat, expanded, broad over the orbit ; orbit large. Pectoral fin lanceolate ; fingers 4. Vertebrae of neck free, or some rarely arichylosed. Sca- pula broader than high, with or without a coracoid. The lateral process of the axis or second cervical vertebra produced, ring-like, with a basal perforation. The ring is not completely ossified until adult age, so that the skeleton sometimes presents two short pro- cesses more or less encircling a basal aperture. Balfenoptera, Lacep. Cetac. Mysticetus, Wagler, Syst. Amph. Rorqualus, F. Cuvier, Cetac. BalffinidiB (b.). Gray, Cat. Cetac. B. M. P^inne-fiscli, Balrenoptera, Schler/cl, AbJiandl. 1841, .38. Balffinopteridaj, Gray, P. Z. S. 18(!4 ; Ann. ^- Mag. N. H. 18G4, xiv. " The head less than one-fourth of the total length of the body. A dorsal fin. Skin of the under surface of the throat and chest pro- vided with numerous parallel longitudinal furrows. The bones of the cranium very slightly arched. The rostrum broad at the base, gradually tapering, depressed. The orbital processes of the frontal moderately prolonged, broad, and flat on the upper surface. Tym- panic bones elongated, ovoid. The coronoid process of the lower jaw liAL^NOPTERID.i:. 107 more or less developed. Baleen-plates short. Cervical vertebra; usually all free. Hand narrow and tetradactylous." — Floiver, P.Z. >S. l.S(i4, ;3iJl. The anatomy of these animals, and especially a description of their bones, has been given bj' Albers, Anat. Comp. 1. 1 ; Camper, Cetaces, t. 11 & 12; lludolphi, licrl. Abhandl. LS20, t. 1-4; Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 504. t. 2(3. f. 5; llaviu, Ann. Sei. Nat. 1841, 337; and by Yan Breda, Van der Linden, and J. Dubar, in separate pamphlets on the specimen cast ashore at Ostend, which was exhibited in London some years ago ; and the anatomy of Megcqjtera and Bakenoptera has been given in detail by Eschricht, who has carefully examined fu3tal specimens of these whales. Cu\'ier (Oss. Foss. v. 2G4) figures the skull of a specimen described by Laccpede, from the Mediterranean, under the name of Rorqual cle la Mediferranee (t. 20. f. 5), and he gives a copy of the head of the skeleton of Balcena rostrata of Rudolphi (Berlin. Abhandl. 1820, t. 1, 2, 3, 4), Tinder the name of liorqual (hi Nord (Oss. Foss. v. t. 26. f. 6). Polach (New Zealand, ii. 407) describes these whales as ha\dng three fins on the back ; this is probably only a false translation of Kay's B. tripennis, referring to its having a dorsal as well as two pectoral fins. 0. Fabricius (Fauna Grccnlandica, 30) describes B. Boops with the blower on a common tubercle, and covered by a common valve ! From the study of Professor Eschricht's paper, and from personal communication with him, and from the examination of the several skeletons of this genus, in difterent collections, I am satisfied that there are several distinct species. The proportions given by the tables quoted in the previous edition of this Catalogue, and the measurement of other specimens (all of which I drew from scale on paper), have shown that they were permanent, and to be considered as specific or generic distinctions rather than variations in the growth of the same species. These dis- tinctions were further confirmed by the examination of the skeletons ; for it was found that the bones of the neck of the small species (which had been considered to be the young of the larger ones) were anchylosed together, while those of the larger ones were free ; and it also showed that the form of the lateral process of the nuchal vertebra was the stime in specimens of different sizes from the same locality, proving that the stracture of these bones depended on the mobility of the neck of the difterent species, fitting it for their ditferent habit and manner of life, indicated by the size of the fins and other external characters. It is only necessary to refer to Dr. Jacob's very interesting paper in the * Dublin Journal of Science' for 1825, p. 332, where he at- tempts to prove that all the Finner Whales found in the North Sea are of one species. To show how dangerous it is to reason on such subjects, his arguments arc scattered to the wind directly a reference and comparison is made to specimens. The examination and comparison of the skeleton, after making every allowance for 108 BAL^NOl'TERID.!!:. changes which may take place in the development of the bones during growth and the variations that may occur in individuals of the same species, show that the species of Finner Whales which inhabit the northern hemisphere are niiich more numerous than was formerly suspected ; and it is probably the same with those that inhabit the southern half of the globe. Professor Eschricht, in 1846, had so little confidence in the number of species of Whales inhabiting the North Sea, that he considered that he had made an advance when he thought it was proved that there were at least three different species having their abode in the North Sea (4th Mem. p. 157). Cuvier, in his essay in the ' Ossemens Fossiles,' admits three kinds of Finner ; each of them now forms the type of a genus : llorqual du Cdi'^=^Megaptera ; Eorqual de la Meditcrranee = P%AYf?«s; Eorqual du 'NoTd=SibhaIdius and Balcenoptera. Van Beneden, in 1861, progresses one step fiu'ther ; he admits four — that is, separates the Rorqual du Nord into two species : thus, — 1. Pterobahena minor= Balcenoptera ; 2. Pterohalcena commimis^^Plujsalus (and perhaps Benedenia); 3. P. c/igas=Slbbal(Uus; 4. Kypliobcdcma longhnana = Megaptera. (See Nouv. Mem. Acad. Hoy. Brus. 1861, xxxii. 38.) The whalers recognize three kinds: — 1. The Humpback {Mega- pterina) ; 2. The Finner (Phi/salina) ; 3. The Beaked Whales (Bidcenopterina), considered in this Catalogue as tribes. " Sometimes chase is given to the Finback and the Humpback Whales, but these are seldom caught, not only on account of their superior cunning, greater wildness and celerity — by means of which they are enabled to run out the longest line- — -but also because giving less oil than the Black "WTiales they are not so frequently pursued." — Dieffenbacli, Neiu Zealand, i. 42. It is possible, indeed not improbable, that the lateral processes of the cervical vertebrje of all the Finner Whales are more or less ring- like in the cartilaginous state, and that the different form of the processes seen in the prepared skeletons may depend on the extent to which the cartilage becomes ossified. If this is the case, the ex- tent to which the cartilage does become ossified seems to be different in the various species, and therefore offers a good character by which to determine them. In some species the ring is entirely ossified, while in others a large, and in others, again, only a small part of the base of the lateral processes becomes bony. In species which have a great part of the processes ossified, sometimes the two processes unite into a ring on one side of the vertebra, and the processes keep separate on the other. Yet, as far as I have been able to examine the subject, the extent to which the processes become ossified seems to be a good character of the species — of course liable to a certain extent of variation, as all characters are. Some authors even seem to believe that the lateral processes of the cei-vical vertebras are liable to great variation in this respect during the age and decadence of the animal. Yet the special form of the lateral bones which form the more or less perfect rings, the comparative thickness of the upper and lower processes with respect to each other, and their thickness DAL.TCXOl'TERTD.E. 109 as compared with that of the processes of the same vertebrae in other .species, seem to afford most excellent specific characters, and such as do not appear to vary, so far as I have as yet examined them, in the different ages of tlie same kind of Whale. These characters have shown that we have several kinds of Finner \'\Tiales inhabiting our shores ; and I have little doubt that when the skeletons of the whales that inhabit other seas have been similarly examined and compared, there will be foiind to be many more species of these animals than has hitherto been supposed. Indeed this is proved to be the case when we examine and compare the baleen, the car- bones, and other remains brought from different localities. " It will help much in determining specific identity of new or little- known species, if we can show, among those that are well known, what is the usual amount, and what the limit, of variation in size ; for we may assume that it is at least probable that the same laws govern the different members of a group so well defined as the Wliales. No species of Baltenoid Cetacean is so well determined as the Northern Right Whale (BaJcena Mi/.sticetirs), and of none are we able to adduce any approach to the number of instances of the size that various individuals of the species have attained. A slceleton in a late stage of the adolescent period in the Museum at Brussels measures a Httle over 50' in length ; and Scoresby, as is well known, states that out of 322 examples examined by him, not one exceeded (50' in length ; indeed the largest measured was 5S', being one of the longest, to appearance, that he ever saw. The adult animals must then have a tolerably limited range of variation, within a few feet of either side of 55'. Again, the common and well-marked species Balcemj^tera rosti-ata, the dwarf of the family, is still in the adolescent stage at 25' long, and there is no instance recorded in which it exceeded 31'. The adult Humpbacked Whale {Megciptera Jongimana) appears to range within 45' and 50' in length. In the common Fin-Wliale {PJn/saJus antiquorum) we have evidence of variation at an adult age, and in the same (male) sex, of from GO' (Ilosherville Gardens) to nearly 70' (Alexandi-a Park and Antwerp Zoological Gardens). It is possible that this species may sometimes attain a few feet longer, but all the cases in which this is stated re- quire fresh investigation. The alleged length of a whale in the flesh is rarely to be depended on, and even the given measurements of skeletons arc often inaccurate, as much depends upon the method of articulation. Size being in the popular mind a point of ^-ital import- ance in a whale, the tendency to exaggerate this quality is a con- stant obstacle to exact investigation. We may conclude, then, that all the evidence at present available tends to prove that the idea which some naturalists entertain, that whales have no definite limit to their growth, is incorrect, and that, as in other mammals, there is an average size to which each species attains, subject to individual differences within a moderate range." — Flower, P. Z.S. 1864, 387. " The num])er of vertebrae and number of ribs have been supposed to be subject to considerable individual variation, partly in conse- quence of several distinct species having been confounded^ and partly 110 BAL^NOPTERID.E. from the loose way in which these bones have been counted from defective or badly articulated skeletons ; but, in fact, subject to the exceptional circumstances about to be mentioned, they are quite as constant among the Cetacea as among other Mammalia, and are therefore characters of the highest importance in determining species. Every example of Bahenoptcra rosfmta that I have examined in museujns, or found recorded, has eleven pairs of ribs, and a total number of vertebrae amounting to 48 or 50. In like manner skele- tons of Phi/salus antiquorum, when complete, appear always to have 15 pairs of ribs and 61 or 62 vertebrse ; Megaptera longimana has 14 paii's of ribs and 53 vertebrae ; Balcena Mysticetus 12-13 pairs of ribs and 54 vertebrae. It frequently happens that the last pair of ribs only attain a rudimentary condition, and, their heads not arti- culating with the vertebrse, they are lost in preparing the skeleton. This condition of the last (15th) pair of ribs is weU seen in the ske- leton of Physalus antiquorum in the Alexandra Park, prepared by Mr. Gerrard, jim. ; they measure, the one 19|" in length, the other 27", and taper to a point at their upper extremity, being suspended in the position they originally occupied, far removed from the ver- tebral column. A smaU rudimentary additional rib, or pair of ribs, attached to the first lumbar vertebra, is sometimes developed ; but a fully formed pair of ribs above the normal number is, I believe, never met with. Fiu. 12. Sternal bones of Fin- Whales of different genera, Jjfth nat. size. a. Physalus antiquorum. Alexandra Park. b. SibbuliUus Schlegelii. Mus. Leyden. c. Baleenoptera rostraia. Mus. Roy. Coll. Surg. Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 393. BAL.ENOPTERID.?!. Ill " As to the number of vertebra?, a small amount of latitude may usually be allowed on account of the diiRculties connected with the terminal bones of the tail. Very often in specimens in museums several of these are wanting, owing to carelessness in preparing the skeleton ; and, by a less excusable carelessness, the circumstance may not be noted in published accounts of the number of vertebra pos- sessed by the specimen. But even if all are present, slight discre- pancies in enumeration readily occur. In early periods of life, the last vertebra, although certainly formed in cartilage, is not ossified, and the penultimate has so much the appearance afterwards assumed by the last, as frequently to be taken for it ; or, again, later in Ufe two or even three of the terminal vertebral elements grow together so as to form a single osseous mass, which is counted as one or several bones according to the discretion of the observer. Therefore, even in well-described skeletons, a discrepancy of one or two in the given number of caudal vertebrae is of no great consequence ; but there is no evidence to prove the occurrence of any greater variation in any given species,"— i^/ower, P. Z. S. 18G4, 388. I Upper surface of nasal bones of ^^^lales of different genera, ^^i\\ nat. size. a. Balmia 3Iysticetm. Mus. Roy. Coll. Surg. h. Huntirim. Mus. Leyden. c. Alet/fiptera loiit/imciiia. Mus. Brussels. (I. Fhj/sdiiis antiqiiontm. Mus. Roy. Coll. Surg. e. SibbukUiis SchlvyeUi. Mus. Leyden. /. BaUenoptera rostrata. Mus. Roy. CoU. Surg. Flower, P. Z. S. 18G4, 390. 112 BAL.T!NOrTERTI)J<',. Ciiviei' (Oss. Fos. v.) determined by the form of the head three lands of Finncr Whale, but he was doubtful if they might not be varieties of age of the same species. These kinds are the types of three genera : viz. Rorqual du Cap = Megaptera, E-orqual de la Mediterranee = Phi/solus, Rorqual du Nord = Sihbaldius. " In the fii'st three columns of the fallowing Table are given the actual length of the cranium, greatest breadth (at the squamosals behind the orbit), and breadth across the middle of the beak, in inches ; and in the last two, the proportionate breadth of the skull and beak to the total length, the latter being reckoned at 100. Length ot cranium. Breadth of cranium. Breadth of beak. Proportion to length. Breadth of skull. Breadth of beak. Ph/snlus an Hqiwrum. 184 179 1S6 168 126 111 118 256 116 79 80 78 63 65 48 96 78 86 75 60 56 60 118 57 40 38 30 34 35 24 33 32 36 34i 26 '>2r' 32 22 16 15 18 13 15 52 44 46 45 48 50 51 46 49 51 48 46 54 54 50 18 18 19 20 21 20 27 19 20 19 22 21 23 20 Adult. Rosherville Gardens Young. Mus. R. Coll. Surg Cuvierma lafirostrh. Utrecht (Mus. Lidth de Jeude) . . . SihhuMlus horcalis. Adult. Ostend. (Approximation | from Dubar's measurements.). . J S/Ma/dius laticeps. Adolescent. From Java, in Ley- "1 den Mus J Sihhaldiiis SMcgdii. Yoimg. Berlin. (Approximation | from Eudolplii's figure.) J Bala-no-ptera rostrcvta. Adolescent. Mus. R. Co'l. Surg.... Young. Mus. R. Coll. Surg " It is seen by this that the individual differences among specimens oiPhysalus and Sihbaldius are considerable, the proportionate breadth of skull ranging in the first case between 44 and 52, and of the beak between 18 and 21, and in the second genus between 4G and 51, and 19 and 22 ; and these differences do not seem at all to be regu- lated by age. A slight allowance must certainly be made for errors arising from the difficulty of measuring straight lines with exactness, especially single-handed, upon these large irregular objects. On the whole, however, the specimens of Sibhaldius have no advantage on the score of breadth. The examples of Balcvnoptera ro.'^frafa are slightly bi-oader than the others in proportion to their length. " Van Bcneden is of opinion that this specimen, as well as that at Berlin, is referable to the same species as the very large female Whale taken near Ostend in 1827, the skeleton of which was exhi- BALJiNOPTERIDiE. 113 bitod some years ago at Charing Cross ; and as this animal was 87 feet in length (larger than the ordinary size attained by the common Fin-Whale), he has given it the specific name oi :NOrTEKID.K. J ^ rj genus or species any bone that might be shown to him belongs, even It It were only a phalange or a rib. The ear-bones of each genus, as fur as I have been able to examine, seem to aftord very good characters ; but, unfortunately, they are otten sent to the Museum separate from the skull and other bones of the animal to which they belong. Skeletons of whales are sliown hi museums and gardens, without any large and expensive building; indeed sHght special buildings are best permitting more ventilation. In Paris, the whale's skeleton IS exliibited under a glass roof in the quadrangle of the Museum ; at Antwerp it is shown m a buikUng formed of galvanized iron • and tney are shown in a similar manner at Edinburgh, the Isle of Wight and other locahties. "^fe^^w I. Dorsal Jin low broad. Tectoraljin very lorn,, tcith 4 very long fingers tuZ'V fT"; ^^'■''^'■ff^ ^'-eO. Cervical vertebrc/ofteu an. lteron Boops, llschricht. 120 BALJiN.OPTERID.'E. ^^' b. Skull of tidult. Greenland. Professor Eschriclit's Collection. c. Baleen of skull 6. Greenland. Professor Esehricht's Collection. X Skeleton. Greenland. Professor Eschricht's Collection, The cervical vertebrae are all free. The second cervical vertebra has two very large, thick, converging lateral processes, as long as half the diameter of the body of the vertebra ; the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh have elongated slender superior lateral pro- cesses which bend rather downwards, and the sixth and seventh rather forwards ; the fourth and fifth have a very short rudimentary inferior lateral process, which is smaller on the left side ; the other vertebrae are without any. The upper part or the spinous process of the second vertebra is very large and convex, covering this part of the next vertebra. — Gray, P. Z. S. 1847, 92. Fio-. 15. Atlas vertebra of Megaptera hnf/imana. Extreme width 20 inches ; height 13 inches. Var. 1. The cervical vertebrae are aU free. The second cei-vical is very thick ; the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh are thicker and of nearly equal thickness, the seventh being rather the thickest. The upper lateral processes are developed and nearly equal in all of them, those of the third and fourth being directed backwards, the fifth straight out, and those of the sixth and seventh directed backwards at the end. The lower lateral processes are generally wanting ; the fourth and fifth vertebrae have a rudimentary process on each side ; the processes are of very unequal length on the two sides of the same vertebra, the largest being not more than an inch and a half long, and the rest mere roitnded tubercles. The breast- bone is iiTCgular subrhombic, with a large central perforation. 1. MEGArTEIU. 1:^1 In a second imperfect skeleton in the British Museum, which had been mounted, the cervicals are all free. Fourth cervical like that in the Greenland specimen ; but it has elongated, simple, straight lower lateral processes on each side. Seventh like that bone in the Greenland siieeimen, without any lower lateral process. Fio-. 10. oh^'li.W'i 'C Second cer\'ical vertebra of Megaptcra lom/iiiKUKt. Fis:. 17. I Fifth cervical vertebra of Mcc/dptcva hnigimaiKi. 122 BALiENOPTERIDJE. Sternum rhombic, without any central perforation. The tympanic bone is oblong, ventricose, smooth, very solid, with a rough depres- sion on the convex outer side. It is very like that of the genus Physalus, but shorter, more ventricose, and more solid. Flo-. 18. Top of the first and second ribs of Mecjuptera Imxjimana. Var. 2. MooREi. The second and third cervical vertebra; very thin, anchylosed together by the body and neural arch. The body of the cervical vertebrse oblong, transverse, much wider than high. The neural {irch rather slender, with a subcircular oblong cavity, which is fully two-thirds as high as wide. Inhab. Estuarj- of the Dee (1863, TJws. Moore). Skeleton in the Free Museum, Liverpool ; a young female 31 feet long. The atlas is very thick ; the second cervical nearly as thick as the atlas, with the upper and lower lateral pi'ocesses separate, short ; the fifth, sixth, and seventh eei-vicals all similar to the third and fourth ; the fifth thin, and the seventh the thickest. The second cervical vertebra has two short broad thick processes, with a rounded interrupted perforation between them ; the third and fourth have a thin long shelving-down upper, and a short straight lower process ; the fifth, sixth, and seventh are similar, but have only an upper lateral process ; the fifth is the thinnest, and the seventh the thickest. The arms were 10 feet long ; the cartUage between the bones of the arms and the fingers is nearly half as long as the arm-bones ; there are four bones immersed in it, small, variously shaped and sized ; the cartilage between the elongated finger-bones is nearly half as long as the phalanges ; the phalanges nearly all of the same oblong shape, and subsymmetrical in form. The bones of the skull are so fragile as scarcely to bear their ovra weight. Moore, in the lithographic ' Naturalist's Scrap-Book ' (printed in Liverpool) for July 17, 1863, observes, " It yielded no oQ ; the blub- ber was like a cow's udder, as exposed in the market for sale in Liverpool. Length 31 feet 4 inches. Bought by a manufacturer of oil and grease, who made nothing of it." " All black ; beUy mot- tled and streaked with white ; pectoral fins milk-white, with a black 1. MEGAPTERA. 123 blotch here and there. Baleen very closely packed together, thirty- eight blades in a foot ; the largest blade was nearly 2 feet long." " Female : length 31 feet 4 inches, of gape 8 feet, from snout to eye S feet, of eye 15 inches, from snout to base of ijcetoral 11 feet, of pec- toral lU feet ; extreme width of tail 11 feet, from snout to beginning of hump 18 feet, of hump 3 feet 3 inches, from snout to cloaca 21 feet.'' " Stomach contained shrimps." Eschricht figures a new-born specimen of this species, from Green- land, which was 35 inches long ; it has several seiies of bristles on the lips, parallel with the gape (see K. Dansk. Yid. Selsk. xi. t. 3. f. 1, and the teeth as seen in the jaws, t. 4). " There is a nearly complete skeleton of a young animal, obtained from Greenland through Eschricht, in the Leydeu Museum. It is 28' 7" long, of which the skuU is 7' 7". There are but thirteen ribs present." — Flower, P. Z. IS. 1864, 397. In the Museum at Louvaine is a " complete skeleton of young, 32' 2' long, of which the head is 8' 6". Vertebra) : C. 7, D. 14, L. and C. 31 = 52. Ribs 14 pairs. Sternum with a very deep notch in the middle of the upper border. Upper and lower transverse pro- cesses of the axis more open at the ends than in the Brussels speci- men. Upper processes of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth slender, almost straight, and of nearly equal length ; lower processes much shorter, and gradually diminishing from the third to the sixth ; absent in the seventh."— i^/o »•(';-, P.Z.S. 18(i4, 418. There is " a very fine and complete skeleton, 46' long, of a nearly adult individual in the Brussels Museum. The vertebral formula is C 7, U. 14, L. 11, C. 21=53. llibs 14 pairs. The enormous size of the fins is grandly displayed in this specimen ; they measure 12' from the head of the humerus to the tip of the phalanges. The cervical vertebra) are all free ; the second to the fifth have the upper and lower transverse processes separate in all, but not complete at the ends. Those of the second are short, thick, and convergent, but stUl with a wide interval between their ends ; this, according to Eschricht, is completed in the living animal by cartilage, which may in old age become ossified ; but the tendency to it is certainly less than in the BaJivnopterldce. According to the same excellent authority, the pro- cesses of the succeeding vertebra) are not continued in cartilage so far as to meet ; so that we could never expect to find osseous rings on them. In the Brussels specimen the upper processes increase, and the lower ones decrease in length, from the third to the fifth. There is no inferior process on the sixth or seventh." — Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 416. Dr. Johnston's description chiefly differs from Rudolphi's in both lips having a row of tubercles, and in the dorsal lieing said to be a small obscure protuberance ; but the animal was lying on its back, sunk in the sand. Rudolphi (Berl. Abhandl. 1829, t. 1, 4) figures the bones of this species, with enlarged details of the skull. Thej' nearly resemble the skull of the Caj)e Eor(|ual of Cuvier in fonu, but the nasal boiu^s are broad, and nearly of the same width from the front of the blow- 124 BAL.ENOPTEEID^. holes to near the tip, where they gradually taper ; the temporal bones appear more quaclrangnlar. The skeleton is iu the Berhu Museum. It was taken in the Elbe, 1822. According to Professor Eschricht, this is the most common whale iu the Greenland seas. In the ' Danish Transactions ' he has given a figure of this species, and a very detailed account of its anatomy and develoj^ment, chiefly founded on the examination of the fcetus. He observes, " This animal is always infested with Biadona Bahe- nanmt, and with a species of Of ion, which he regards as new, while the Cirripedes are never found on any species of Balcenoptera. On the other hand, the Tuhlcinella, Coronida Balcvnaris, and Otions are often found on the Balcvna Mijsticetus or Right Whale of the Southern Seas " (see Eschricht, 144). The following descriptions must be referred to this species with doubt, as both agree with true Bcdcenopterce in the position of the genital organs and vent compared with the dorsal fin, and Eabricius especially says the pectoral fin is composed of five fingers. Ascanius (Icon. Rer. Nat. iii. t. 26) gives a figure of a female Eorqual with a plaited belly, 66 feet long, from the North Sea, which he thought might be B. musculus of Linnaeus (it is not well copied by Bonnaterre, E. M. t. 3. f. 1, and Schreber, t. 335) ; it has a large pectoral fin, about two-ninths the length of the body ; but the di'awing is not so good as the others in the work, and the fin is so awkwardly applied to the body, that perhaps its size may depend on the incompetence of the artist. The dorsal fin, which is only indicated as if doubtfid in the original figure, is continued to the tail, but in Bonnaterre's copy it is represented as of equal authority with the other part. 0. Eabricius (Faun. Groenl. 37), five years after, described a Balcenoptera under the name of B. Boops, Linn., which appears to differ from B. Phi/snhis, for he says — " Pinna} pcctorales magnae, obovato-oblongae, margine postica Integra, regione cubiti parum fractse, antica autem rotundato-crenatae." And, he continues, "Ante nares in vertice capitis tres ordines convexitatum circularium, huic forsitan peculiare quid,'' — " Pinna dorsalis compressa, basi latior, apice acutiuscula, antice sursiim repanda, posticc fere perpendicu- laris," and " Corpus pone pinnam dorsalem incipit carina acuta in pinnam caudalem usque pergcns." Rudolphi, and after him Schlegel, refer B. Boops, 0. Eabricius, to this species ; and Professor Eschricht has no doubt that BaLvna Boops of 0. Eabricius is intended for this species, as it is called Keporl-al- by the Greenlanders. If this be the case-, Fabricius's de- scription of the form and position of the dorsal tui and the position of the sexual organs is not correct. Brandt, in the list of Altaian animals (Voy. Alt. Orient. 1845, 4to), has adopted this opinion, and formed a section for Balcfnoptera longimana, which he calls Boops, merely characterized as " Pectoral elongate." Schlegel refers the Rorqiialus 7ninor of Knox to this species, pro- bably misled by the inaccurate figures of this species in Jardine's 2. POEScoriA. 125 Nat. Lib. vi. t. 6. He points out that lludolphi and M. ¥. Cuvicr, in their description of B. lonf/lmnna, have confounded the figure of Baleine du Cap an(\. liorqual du Cap, of Cuvier's ' Ossemens Fossiles,' together. — Faun. Japon. 21, note. Gervais (Zool. et Paleont. Franc;, t. 38. f. 7) figures some tympanic bones under the name of liorqiudus de Bayonne. They are verj' like those of Meijaptera longimana, and are larger than those of Balcv- noptera rostrata. 2. POESCOPIA. Blade-bone with a small coracoid process. Body of the cervical vertebraj nearly square, with the angles rounded. Inhab. South Sea. Megaptera, § Poescopia, Grai/,Proc. Zool. Sac. 18(i4, 207 ; An». ^- Ma//. N. H. 1864, xiv. 350. Fisr. 10. The fifth cer\'ical vertebra of Megaptera Lalaiiclii. Ribs 14 ; the second, third, and fourth attached to the vertebra;, the rest to the processes. Vertebrae 52. — Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 382. The humerus very short ; forearm-bones nearly twice as long as the humerus ; fingers 4, very long, the second longest, twice as long as the lower arm -bone. Phalanges 3.8.8.4, the third finger nearly as long as the second, the first and fourth much shorter, not half as long a-s the first, thicker.— C'»v. Oss. Foss. vi. t. 26. f. 22. According to Cuvier, it differs from the (ireenland Megaptera in the following particulars : — 126 BAL.ENOPTEUrD^. Axis vertebra distinct (Cuv. t. 2G. f. 19) ; second and tliu-d cer- vicals united by spinous apophyses (t. 2G. f. 20) ; the fourth (t. 26. f. 21 ), hfth, sixth, and seventh free. Blade-bone short, much broader than high, with a small acromion (Cuv. t. 26. f. 9). Humerus short, thick ; the forearm-bones elongated ; hand very long ; fingers four, very long, the two middle much the longest (Cuv. t. 26. f. 22). Pelvis crescent-shaped (Cuv. t. 2(;. f. 24). The cervical vertebraB which are in the British Museum (see fig. 19), received dii'ect from the Cape, present several very important charac- ters, especially the square foi-m of the bodies of the vertebrae, which afford most striking specific distinctions ; but perhaps Professor Eschricht may not have been able to examine the form of this part, as the skeleton in the Paris Museum is articulated, and the articular surfaces of the cervical vertebrae are not shown. Professor Eschricht, who seems to have formed a theory that the number of species of Whales was very limited, states that he could not find any distinction in the skeleton of the Cape specimen in the Paris Museum to separate it as a species from the Greenland ex- amples. I cannot make any observation as regards the Paris ske- leton ; but it is said to have been brought by Delalande from the Cape, and is probably from those seas. M. Van Benedcn, in his " lieseurches on the Cetacea of Belgium," also regards the Cape species as the same as the Greenland one (see Nouv. Mem. Acad. Roy. Bruxelles, xxxii. 38, 1861). He now con- siders them as distinct, and is about to publish a description of the Paris skeleton. 1. Poescopia Lalandii. The Cape Hmnphach. Blade-bone with a very small coracoid process (Cuv. Oss. Foss. t. 29. f. 9). Dorsal nearly over the end of the pectoral. Inter- maxillary narrowed and contracted in front. Temporal bone broad, triangular. " Second and third cervical vertebra; united by the upper part of their bod)-." — Cuvier. Rorqual du Cap, Cm: Oss. Foss. v. 370. t. 26. f. 1-4 (skull), t. 26. f.l9- 21 (verteb.), f. 9 (blade-bone), f. 22 (fins), f. 24 ( pelvis ),t. 2-5. f. 1-5 (tongue-bone) : all from Delalande' s specimen. Bahena Poeskop, Desmoitli'ns. Baljena Bala3uoptera Poeskop, Desmoulins, Diet. Class. It. N. ii. Itil, from Delalande s MSS. Balaiua Lalandii, Fischer, Syn. 525, from Cuvier. Balffiuoptera Capensis, Smith, S. African Quart. Joiirn. 1.30. Megaptera Poeskop, Gray, Zool. E. 'S^ T. 17 ; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 29. Rorqual noueux, Voy. Pole Sud, t. 24 (fem. not described). Balajnoptera leucopteron, Lesson, N. Tab. Hey. Anim. 202. Humpbacked Whales, Hoss, Antarctic Voy. i! 161, 191(?); Mitchell, Trav. Amtr. ii. 241 (?) ; JBeale, H. Sperm W. 12, 30 (?). Megaptera Poescopia Lalandii, Gray, Froc. ^ool. Soc. 1804, 207; Ann. i^ May. N. H. 1864, xiv. 350. Inhab. Cape of Good Hope {Delalande) ; called Poeslcop. Skeleton, Mus. Paris. 1 ^ V « ^^ — - [ii^^ .. a - 2. PoEscopiA. 127 «. Cervical vertebrae. Cape of Good Hope. Purchased. The two are united on one side and free on the other. Anterior with short lower lateral process, sixth and seventh withoiit any lower lateral process. " Head depressed, slightly convex above, with a small projection on each side of spiracle ; the apex of the upper jaw acutely rounded ; lower jaw much longer and broader than the upper jaw, and with three or four subglobular elevations on each side near tip. Back slightly arched, with a carinated and slightly elevated hunch towards the tail, highest about its middle, whence it slants off to each extremity ; hinder part of the body carinated above and below. Throat and breast strongly marked with elevated longitudinal rugaa, with deep corresponding furrows between them. Eyes a little above the angle of the mouth ; the opening of the spiracles rather in front of them. LaminiE of whalebone 300 on each side, of a bluish colour, and margined on the inner side with stiff horny bristles. " Back and sides black ; beUy dull white, with some irregular black spots. Pectoral fin narrow, both its anterior and posterior edges irregularly notched ; upper surface black, under surface pure white. Hinder edge of tail fin nearly square, with a slight notch at its middle, opposite the back-bone, on each side of which it is slightly convex, towards points a little concave. " Length from tip of lower jaw to hinder margin of tail fin 34| feet, from tip of lower jaw to angle of mouth 7-i feet, from tip of upper jaw to angle of mouth 6 feet, from angle of mouth to base of pectoral fin y feet ; -width of pectoral at base 2 feet, near point 1 foot ; width of tail from tip to tip 9 feet. Length of whalebone near angle of mouth 1 foot. " Inhab. the seas about the Cape of Good Hojie. The IlianphacJc of the whalefishers. " The only specimen of the species which I have had an oppor- tunity of examining had lost the skin of the hinder portion of the back before I saw it, so that I am unable to describe the hunch from my own observation. Those who have been in the habit of seeing and killing this species all agree as to the character of the hunch, and from what I have myself observed at a distance through a tele- scope, I sliould feel inclined to regard their description as correct. They unite in asserting that there is nothing of the appearance of a regular fin ; and all that I could distinguish, from watching the animal when in motion, and partly above the surface of the water, was a sort of semilunar elevation towards the tail and somewhat above the line of the back." — A. >SniiiJi, African Quart. Journ. p. 131. Delalande's account was published by Desnioidins, who merely gives the following particulars, except -SN'hat appears to be common to the genus. He says, " it has a boss on the occiput, and its dorsal is nearly over the pectoral;" in the Em-opean and Bermudean figures it is over the end of these fins. Cuvier's figures of the adult skuU differ from Eudolphi's figure of M. hncjimana in the intermaxillaries being narrower and contracted in front of the blowers, and then rather widened again aiul linear, 128 BAL-liNOrTEEID-E. and the temporal bono is broader and more triangular — -which made me believe it to be a distinct species before I obtained the cervical vertebrte. M. Desmoidins, in describing this species, pointed out the most important character of the genus, viz. the length of the pectoral. The following species are j^robably Megapterhup, but they are too imperfectly known to determine to what genus they belong. 1. Megaptera Novae-Zelandise. The tympanic bones very like those of M. longimana, but shorter and more swollen, and the pcriotic bone broad and expanded ; the rest of the skeleton, unfortunately, is miknown. Megaptera Nova?-Zelandia^, Grai/, Proc. ZooJ. Sue. 1864, 2s repre- ^* * '**■*" sented as lower, and the tail wider. This is doubtless the whale -J ^^-^ described in I'hil. Trans, i. 11 and 132, where an account is given of ^3^ i^ lats- the method of taking it. It is described thus : — " Length of adult -\, ' 88 feet ; the pectoral 26 feet (rather less than one-third of the entire ^''"' ^ ^-^^ length), and the tail 23 feet broad. There are great bends (plaits) dt^m^^fuT' undeineath from nose to the navel ; a fin on the back, paved ■with - >— fat like the caul of a hog ; sharp, like the ridge of a house, behind ; ^^'-''^ ^" ' ^ head pretty blutf, full of bumps on both sides; back black, belly Iv'^ouy]- white, and dorsal fin ])ehind." /■_ ^ j 2 U.- '• Upon their fins and tail they have a store of clams or barnacles, ^7 . , upon Avhich he said rock- weeds and sea-tangle did grow a hand long. VC{.n/-t-Cr^t 130 BALJiNoPrEIUDJi. " They fod much upon grass (Zostera) growing at the bottom of the sea : in their great bag of maw he found two or three hogsheads of a greenish grassy matter." — Phil. Trans, i. 13. Baleen from Bermuda, called Bennuda finner, is extensively im- ported ; it is similar to the baleen of the Grey Finner. 4. Megaptera Kuzira. The Kuzira. Dorsal small, and behind the middle of the back ; the pectoral fin rather short, and less than one-fourth the entire length of the body ; the nose and side of the throat have round warts ; belly plaited. Balffina antarctica, Tentm. Faun. Jajion. 27. Bala3noptera antarctica, 'Temm. Faun. Japan, t. 30 (not t. 23). Megaptera antarctica, Gray, Zool. Freb. if Terror, 17 ; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 30. ? Balfenoptera lougimana, Schrenck, Amur-Lunde, 192. Inhab. Japan. ? Amur-Land. Skull in Mus. Leyden, Jide Van Beneden. The figure in the ' Fauna Japonica ' is from a drawing brought home by M. Siebold, not accompanied by remains. M. Siebold ob- serves that the Japanese distinguish three varieties : — 1. Sato Kuzira. Black; nose more elongate and rounded, and the pectoral long ; the belly and lower face of the pectoral are grey, with ■white rays. 2. Nagusu Kuzira. Paler ; nose more pointed ; the bellj'' has ten plaits. In both, the lower jaw is larger than the upper. 3. Noso Kuzira. Distinguished from the first because the back and fins are white -spotted. — Faun. Jap. 24. Chamisso figures a species of this genus from the Aleutian seas, under the name of AUomoch or Aliama ; when young, Aliamaga dach (N. Acta Nat. Cur. xii. 258. t. 18. f. 5 ; Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 527. n. 4), from a wooden model made by the Aleutians : and Pallas (Zool. Eosso-Asiat. i. 288) calls it Bahena Allamaclc. The pectoral fins are long ; they, and the underside of the tail are white. Pallas, under the name oi. B. Boops'l (Zool. Kosso-Asiat. i. 291), describes a whale which appears to belong to this genus, found at Behring's Straits by Steller, when he was shipwrecked. The head was i, the pectoral fin i, the entire length, and the vent -^^j from the head, as shown by the following measurements : — length, 50 feet ; head, 12 feet ; pectoral fin, 10 feet long and 5 feet wide ; tail, 16 feet wide, and the vent 35 feet from the head. If these measurements are correct, the pectoral fin is shorter and much wider than it generally is in this genus. The position of the dorsal fin is not noted. In the Zoologia Rosso-Asiat. 293, Pallas described a whale under the name of B. musculus, observed by Merle at Kamtschatka. It was long and slender, ash-brown, white-clouded above, snow-white beneath, and spotted on the sides. It was 22 feet 6 inches long ; the dorsal was 6 feet from the tail, and 1 foot 11 inches high ; behind the fin the back was two-keeled ; the pectoral fin was rounded at the 3. KSCHKICHTIUS. 131 end, and 10 feet 7 inches distant from the tip of the beak, 4 feet 2 inches long, and 1 foot 2 inches wide : behind the vent, 7 feet before the tail, and 3 feet from the vent, is a kind of white fin, and the genital organs are 1 foot 3 inches before the vent. If this de- scription and these measurements are correct, it must be a most distinct species, if not a peculiar genus : the pectoral fins are nearly in the middle of the body ; and I know of no whale with a fin behind the vent beneath, and with the genital organs nearly under the pectorals. The pectoral is almost one-fifth of the entire length. Schrcnck (Amur-Lande, i. 192) mentions a whale called Keng, which he refers to " Balcenoptera longhnana, Eudolphi," as inhabit- ing the south coast of the Ochotskian seas. Forster, in ' Cook's Voyage,' appears to have met with a species of this genus between Terra del Fuego and Staten Island. He says, " These huge animals laj- on their backs, and with their long pectoral fins beat the surface of the sea, which caused a great noise, equal to the explosion of a swivel." Lesson (Tab. Reg. Anim. 202) gives the name of B. hucoptcron to the " Humpback of the whalers in the high southern latitudes." Mitchell (Travels in Australia, ii. 241) speaks of a Hunchbacked Whale which inhabits Portland Bay, Australia Felix. This genus is also found in the seas of Java, for there is an im- perfect skull, brought from that country by Professor E,einhardt, in the Leyden Museum. — F. Japan. 24. In the Museum of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, there are portions of a "Whale skeleton, presented by Mr. Swinton, as recorded in the * Gleanings of Science,' ii. 70. They consist of a nearly perfect skidl, a rib, an injured scapula, and 34 vertebrae. Mr. Blyth thinks this species agrees -vidth the Rorqual dii Cap (Cuv. Oss. Foss. viii. 276. t. 227. f. 1, 4). A Meyapteron, according to Gray (see Proc. Zool. Soc. 1847 ; Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1847, 2^2).— Bhjth's Reports. The Rorqual noueux, Hombr. & Jacq. Zool. Dumont d'UrviUe, t. 24 (^Balcenoptera Astrolahia', Pucheran, Mag. Zool. 1854, and Arch. Na- turg. 1855, 42), is probably a Humpback Whale. 3. ESCHRICHTIUS. Dorsal fin ? Pectoral fin ? The lower jaw-bone rather compressed, with a very low, slightly developed coronoid process. Cervical vertebrifi free ; the second ?, the third, fourth, and sixth with the lateral processes elongate, and separate at the end ; body small, thick, solid : the canal of the spinal marrow very wide, trigonal, and nearly as wide as the body of the vertebra, almost as high as wide, with rounded angles. The blade-bone broader than high, with an arched upper edge, and with a strongly developed acromion and coracoid process. Breast-bone trigonal, rather longer than wide ; front part arched out on the front edge, truncated at the sides ; the hinder part at first suddenly tapering for half its length, then gradually tapering to a point behind. Yertebrse 60. Ribs 15.15; the first rib simple-headed ; the first, second, and third K 2 132 BAL^NOPTERID^. Avith a compressed slender process below the condyle. Tlie humerus short, thick ; the forearm-bones broad, compressed, rather longer (about oue-thii-d) than the humerus. Fiff. 21. Third cervical vertebra, lower jaw, blade- and breast-bone oi JSschnchtnis robustus. (From di'awings by Professor Lilljeborg.) Professor Lilljeborg refers these bones to the genus Bala'noijtera, because the blade-bone has a well- developed acromion and coracoid process as in that genus, and because they are not developed in Megajotera longhnana ; but the acromion is partially developed on the blade-bone of M. LaJandii from the Cape, and there is no reason why it may not be more developed in another species allied to it. He says, "it is distinguished from B. longimana by the strongly developed acromion and coracoid process on the blade-bone." I am induced to refer it to 3Iegcq)terina on account of the form of 3. ESCHRICHTIUS. 133 the canal of the spinal marrow of the cervical vertebroe, and the want of development of the ramus of the lower jaw. The ribs and the blade-bone are more like Phijsalus than Mega~ ptera. This combination of characters induces me to think it should form a genus by itself. These observations are founded on some drawings of the bones of the trj)pical specimen which Professor Lilljeborg has kindly sent to me. 1. Eschrichtius robustus. The Grdso Whale. Bal?enoptera robusta, Lilljeborg, Foredag Kiobenh. 1860, t. Gil. f. 1, 2 ; Skancl. Hvalartade, 77. Megaptera ? Eschrichtius robustus, Gray, Ann. ^- Mag. N. II. 1865. Eschnchtius robustus, Gray, P. Z. S. 1865. Inhab. North Sea. The British Channel ; Babbicombe Bay, Tor- bay, Devonshire {Mr. Pengelly, 24th Nov. 1861). a. Cast of the fifth cervical vertebra, from a specimen cast ashore at Babbicombe Bay, Devonshire, 1861, Presented by Mr. Pen- gelly, 1864. The Danish skeleton was discovered buried from 2 to 4 feet below the surface, about 840 feet fi'om the beach, and about 12 to 15 feet above the surface of the sea. It is imperfect, having only the first, third, fourth, and sixth cervical vertebrae, a right scapula, a left humerus, the right lower arm-bones, six carpal, four metacarpal, and four phalangeal bones. Approximate length 45 or 50 feet ; length of under jaw 8' 2" ; breadth of atlas 1' 5|" ; thickness of body of third cervical 21, breadth of body 8f inches, width of including transverse processes 2 feet; length of breast-bone 1\\ inches, breadth 1 foot ; length of shoulder-blade 2' 8|", mdth 3' 6|" ; length of humerus 1' 9|", width 11 1" ; length of radius 2' 3", breadth in middle 7" ; length of ulna 2' 2|", breadth in middle 4". Woi-u cervical vertebra. Devonshire. The bod}* of tlie fourth or fifth cervical vertebra of this whale was cast on the shore of Babbicombe Bay on the 24th of November, 134 BAL^NOPTERTlliE. 1861. It is very thick, and of nearly uniform thickness ; front and hinder articulations nearly flat ; the sides nearly straight, the lower side being the widest or most arched out. The upper and lower lateral processes are very strong, the upper one subtrigonal, and bent down nearly on a level with the articulating surface of the centrum ; the under one rather compressed above, broader, rather flattened on the lower edge. Width of the body 7\, height 6 inches ; the upper process 3-|, and the lower 4^ inches ; but they are e\ddently broken, and the ends worn. II. Dorsal jin high, compressed, falcate, about three-fourths of the entire length from the nose. Pectoral fn moderate, with 4 short fingers of not more than 6 phalanges. Vertehrm .58 or G4. Comical ver- tehrce not anchylosed ; body oblong, tramverse ; neural canal oblong, transverse, broad and low. Bibs 14 to 16, first with an internal compressed process. Lower jain ivith a conical coronoid process. Physalina, or Finner Whales. Physalina, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, 211. Balfena tripennis, Sibhcdd, Phal. 1692. Balenapterus, sp., Lacep. Balenopterus, sp., Lacep. ; F. Cuv. D. S. iV. Ixi. 518. Balajnoptera, sp., Lacep. Cet. Balsenoptera, Sect. 2 & 3, Gray, Zool. Ereb. c^- Terror, App. 50, 1846. Pterobalaena (pars), Eschricht, Nord. Wallthiere, 1849. (Catoptera w) Getoptera, Rafin. Anal. Nat. i. 219, 1815. Mysticetus, sp., Wagler, N. S. Amph. 33. Balsena, sp., Linn.; Illiger, Prodr. 142, 1811. Physalis, Fleming, Brit. Anim. 1828. Phvsalus, Lacep. Cet. ; Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1847, 90 ; Cat. Cetac. 1850, 34 ; Brandt. Physelus, Rqfin. Anal. Nat. 60, 1815. . True Finner.?', Gray, Ann. 8f Mag. N. H. 1864, xiv. 351. " Orbital process of frontal nearly as broad at the outer extremity as the base, or somewhat narrowed. Scapula low, broad, with a long acromion and coracoid process. Metacarpus and phalanges of moderate dimensions. " Van Beneden (" Faune Littorale de Belgique," Acad. Roy. Belg. 1860, xxxii.) has recognized the distinctive characters of three species belonging to this group, which he calls Pferobcdcena communis, P. gigns, and P. minor. Dr. Gray (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, p. 215) con- stitutes these three species as the types of distinct genera, which he has named Physalus, Sihhaldius, and Balcenojjtera ; he also makes a fourth genus, Beneclenia. Although I am as little disposed as any one to multiply generic names (a tendency of modern times of which we are all apt to complain), t cannot help admitting that, if the genera of Whales are to be at all equivalent in value to those now generally received in other groups of mammals, the first three of these are perfectly valid. Of the genus Benedenia I speak with more hesitation, as it is constituted onlj' upon the examination of a very young individual, which I confess I am unable to distinguish from a Physcdns. As the diagnostic characters given by Dr. Gray BENEUEMA. 136 are brief, and limited to certain parts of the organization, I may be permitted perhaps to give more detailed characters taken from the skeleton generallj', which will, I think, fully confirm his views as far as these genera are concerned. Into those characters, taken from the external form, position of dorsal fin, or from the visceral anatomy, it is not my purpose to enter at present." — Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 391. A. Vertehrce 60 to 64. Thejirst rib single-headed. 4. BENEDENIA. The maxilla gradually and regularly tapering in front, with a straight outer edge. Second cervical vertebra with two short trun- cated lateral processes ; first rib simple-headed, with a compressed internal process. Neural arch of cervical vertebrae oblong, trans- verse, broad and low, not more than two-thirds the width of the body of the vertebrfe ; coracoid process distinct, high behind. Pliysalus, § Rorqualus, Gray, Cat. Cet. Benedenia, Grarj, P. Z. S. 18G4, 211 ; Ami. S/- Mag. N. H. 1864, xiv. 351. Pectoral fins moderate ; dorsal fin falcate. Skull rather broad ; maxillae broad, with nearly straight outer margins. The second cervical vertebra with two separate, broad, strong, nearly equal- sized lateral processes, which are rather expanded and truncated at the tip (as in Megnptera). The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical vertebrae with elongated slender upper and lower lateral processes, which are attenuated and separated at the end (not forming rings). The bodies of the cervical vertebrae oblong, transverse ; the canal of the neural arch low, oblong, transverse, much ^vider than high. The scapula short, broad, with a strong, well-marked coracoid process. Vertebrae 60. Ribs 15, all simple ; the front ones compressed and dilated at the end ; the first with a bi'oad rounded lobe on the inner side ; the second with an elongate, slender, rounded intenial process. Fisr. 23. Benedenia. Brit. Mus. This genus is only described from the skeleton of a young speci- men ; it combines the characters of Mecjaptera and P'hysalus. Its second cervical vertebra has the form of that of Mcgaptera ; and it has the low neural arch and the oblong transverse canal for the spinal marrow, the blade-bone with the strong anterior process, the same kind of front ribs, and the short pectoral fins of the genus Physalus. 136 B AL.5:N0 PTERI D^ . It has been suggested to me by a comparative anatomist of con- siderable experience that perhaps the lateral processes of the cervical vertebrae of this whale miglit be lengthened in the adult, and the end of the upper and lower processes united into a broad expanded plate as in the genus PJii/salus. In the skeleton of the small foetus of Balcenoptera, only 9 inches long, figured by Eschricht in the ' Royal Danish Transactions ' for 1846, t. 14. f. 2, the lateral processes of the second vertebra are very nearly of the same shape as in the adult, forming a broad expansion, with a perforation at its base. The cer%'ical and other vertebra) of this foetus seemed to agree, in all details of form, with the same bones in the adult. I do not deny that the lateral process of the first corneal vertebra may not be continued in cartilage, and be of the same form as that of the genus Pluisalus ; but at any rate we have no proof, if this be the case, that the cartilage at the end ever becomes ossified in this genus any more than in the genus Megaptera, both genera agreeing in the eqiiality of the thickness and strength and shortness of the lateral processes. Fig. 24. Second cervical vertebra of Benedenia Knoxii. Extreme width 19 inches; height 10 inches. The genera Megaptera and Benedenia have separate, short upper and lower lateral processes, which are rather dilated and truncated at the end, having an interriipted circular perforation between their inner bases. It has been suggested that, in the latter genus at least, the separated processes may be only the imperfectly developed state of the broad lateral process of the genus Pligsalus, the end that is wanting in the skeleton probably existing in the living animal in the state of cartilage. Bnt if this should be the case (which I much doubt), the form of the margin of the perforation and the per- foration itself must undergo great change during the ossification of 4. BENEDENIA. 137 the end of the process for there to be any resemblance between the lateral processes of these genera and that of the genus PJii/sahis. From what I have observed, I believe that no such change takes place, and that the form of the processes and the situation of the perforations aftbrd good characters for the separation of the species into groups and the siiecies from each other. Fiff. 25. Fifth cervical vertebra of Benedenia E71 Fig. 2G. First aud second ribs of Bencih-iiia Enoxii. 138 BAL^NOPTERIDJE. 1. Benedeuia Kuoxii. Balaenoptera antiquorum, junior, Gray, Cat. Osteol. Spec. 142. Physalus (Rorqualus) Boops, Graij, P. Z. S. 1847, 91 ; Cat. Cetac. 41, 1850. Benedenia I^oxii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, 212. f. 8, 8 a, 8 b. The lower jaw with a distinct, low, long impression ; coronoid process as high as half the height of the lower jaw-bone. Cervical vertebrae all free ; the upper lateral processes bent down ; the lower ones ascendant at the end, with a more or less acute angle on the lower edge near the base. The second cervical vertebra moderately thick ; the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh rather thin, and all nearly of the same thickness. The upper lateral processes of the third and fourth very slightly bent back at the end ; of the fifth similar, but nearly straight ; of the sixth and seventh broader and stronger to the end, and rather bent forwards towards the head at the end. The lower lateral processes of the third, fourth, and fifth vertebrae compressed, high, nearly similar, and nearly equally strong, with an obscure angular prominence on the lower edge near the base ; of the sixth vertebra not so long, high, and compressed at the base, tapering at the end, and with a decided angular projection on the lower edge, where the end bends up. The seventh vertebra without any lower lateral process on either side. The breast-bone broad above, with an arched upper edge, narrow and rather produced below, with concave sides, and without any central perforation. The front (fii-st, second, and third) ribs thin, compressed, dilated at the end ; the first with a short, broad, rounded, the second with a larger, slender, produced process on the inner side. The skull is 108 inches long and 54 broad at the broadest part of the brain-case, 34 at the base, and 25 in the middle of the upper jaw. The lower jaw is 118 inches long. a. Skeleton of animal taken on the coast of Wales and towed into Liverpool in 1846. The length is 38 feet ; the head is 9 feet long ; the vertebrae are 60 in number, and there are 15 pairs of simple ribs. The specimen here described was mentioned in the papers of the day as a Spermaceti Whale ! This whale, or some of the same genus, has also probably been caught on the coasts of France and Spain. M. Van Beneden, having met with skeletons of whales, one at Bayonne and the other at Abbeville, which he considered the young of Physalus nntiquorum, observes that, in both, the two apophyses of the axis were not yet imited ; the ribs, he observes, are wanting (Nouv. Mem. Acad. Roy. Bruxelles, xxii. 37). I am aware that Eschricht and Eeinhardt (Essay on the Northern Whale) seem to doubt the distinctness of this species. Unfortunately I do not understand Danish suificiently to quite make out what is their objection ; but I feel that, excellent as is their essay on the animal which they describe, some part of their argument would be much modified if they had been able to examine a larger collection O. PHYSALUS. 139 of skeletons from different localities, and if they could have examined those in other museums and from other localities more in detail ; but they give their opinions on specimens which they have not seen, and, like many other Continental naturalists, without making suffi- cient allowance for the very large extent of the collection in England, or considering that the species here described are not separated until after careful consideration and comparison. There is an inclination in many of the Continental naturalists to believe that all the species they do not possess are the same as, or only slight variations of, those they have — an idea that is a fertile source of confusion and error in reasoning. This theory of the limited number of species of AVhales greatly detracts from the value of M. Eschricht's observations on the anatomy of Whales, in his papers in the ' Danish Transactions' ; for he constantly speaks of variations which would only be true if they were found in the same kind of Whales, but are peculiarities and important differences when they are found in different species or kinds of animals. 5. PHYSALUS. Pectoral fin moderate. Dorsal fin falcate, three-fourths the entire length from nose. Cervical vertebrae all free ; the second with a broad, expanded lateral process, with a large perforation in the upper part of its base. Neural canal of cervical vertebrae oblong, transverse, broad and low, not more than three-fourths of the width of the body of the vertebrae. Tympanic bone oblong, elongate. Yertebrfe 60 or 64. Eibs 14 to 16. First rib simple, compressed, not divided ; head with a compressed internal pi'ocess near the condyle. Lower jaw thick, convex on the sides, with a conical coronoid process. Physalus, Lacep. ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1847, 88 ; Cat. Cetac. 34, 1850 ; P. Z. S. 1864, 215 Physahs, Fleming, B. A. 1828. Physelus, Pufin. Baloena tripennis. Pay ( Razorback). Balrenoptenis, sp., Lacep. BaliBnoptera, sp., Lacep. Pterobala^na, sp., Esclir. OgmobalKna, Eschr. WalUhiere, 1 , 1849. The head elongate, flattened, aboiit one-eighth the whole length. The eye is near the angle of the mouth, and the blowers lunate, covered by a valve and separated bj' a longitudinal groove. The throat and chest with deep longitudinal folds and very dilatile. The dorsal fin compressed, falcate, three-fourths the length of the body from the nose, behind the line over the orifice of generation. The pectoral moderate, about one-eighth the length of the body, one- fourth the length of the body from the nose, of four fingers. The vent \mder the front of the dorsal fin. Male organs two-fifths from the chin, in front of line of dorsal ; female near vent. Vertebra? 60-64 ; cervical vertebrae all separate and free. The skull is broad, depressed ; nose broad, gradually tapering, with straight sides, with a narrow interorbital space (Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 373. t. 26). Maxilla 140 IiAL.ENOPTERID.E. and intermaxilla narrower than in Mer/ajitem (see Eschr. & Reinh. Nordhv. t. 3. f. 3). The baleen is short, broad, triangular, rather longer than broad at the base, and edged with a series of elongate, unequal, bristle-like fibres, which become much thicker and more rigid near the ujiper tip. It is internally formed of one or two crowded layers of thick tubular iibrcs, covered on each side with a thin coat of enamel, which becomes thinner and thinner near the edge, where the fibres are free ; always twisted. Fio'. 27. Physalus antiquorum. Eschr. Nordhv. t. 3. f. 3. Tm. 28. Physalus antiquorum. Cuv. Oss. Foss, t. 26. f. 3. " Total number of vertebrae 61-64. Ribs 15 (or 16) pairs. Orbital process of frontal bone considerably narrowed at its outer end. Nasal bones short, broad, deeply hollowed on their sujjerior surface and anterior border. Rami of the lower jaw massive, with a very con- siderable curve, and a high, pointed, curved coronoid process. Neural arches of the cervical vertebrae low ; spinous processes very slightly 5. PHYSVLUS. 141 developed. Transverse process of the atlas arising from the upper half of the side of the body, long, tapering, conical, pointed dii'ectly outwards. Upper and lower transverse jDrocesses, from the second to the sixth vertebra;, well developed, broad, flat (and united at the ends in the adidt, forming comjjlcte rings?). Head of the first rib simple, articulating with the transverse i^rocess of the first dorsal vertebra. Second, third, and sometimes the foui'th ribs with capi- tular processes, reaching nearly to the bodies of the vertebra?. Sternum broader than long, in the form of a short broad cross, of Avhich the posterior arm is very narrow ; it might perhaps be com- pared to the herakhc trefoil ; it is subject, however, to considerable individual modifications." — Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 392. The upper maxillary bone is rather broad, gradually tapering, with a straight outer edge ; the intermaxillaries are moderate, and the nasal very smaU. The frontal bone is broad and short, suddenly narrowed on the outer side, and truncated over the orbit. The lower jaw slender, arched, with a distinct elevated ramus near the base (see Eschr. & Reinh. p. 544). The atlas vertebra with a sub- circular body ; the lateral processes cylindrical and near the middle of the side. The second cervical vertebra has a broad, more or less elongated lateral process, which is pierced near the base with an oblong perforation : the upper margin of the perforation is narrow, and the lower edge much broader. The other cervical vertebra? have two lateral processes, which are often united at the ends into a more or less broad ring. The body of the cervical vertebras is ob- long, transverse, broader than high. The neural arch is long, with an oblong transverse canal for the spinal marrow, which is much broader than it is high. The front ribs compressed, thin, with a broad, more or less elongated expansion on the inner edge near the condyle. The scapula high, with a broad coracoid process near the joint. The baleen forms three or four concentric lines on the palate, the rows forming transverse lines. The plates of the inner rows are short, of the outer elongate triangular ; they are all fiinged on the inner obhque side. (See Ravin, Ann. Sci. Nat. v. 270. t. 11. f. 5-10 ; see also Rosenthal, Abhandl. K. Acad. Berlin, 1827, 127.) The shape of the lateral process of the second cervical vertebra seems to be a good character of the genus. The perforation at the base of it is rather above the middle of the base of the process, so that the upper margin is narrower than the lower. In the genus Bahpnoptera it is nearly in the centre of the base. " The first pair of ribs is not articulated to the first dorsal vertebra, nor to any vertebra whatever ; the head of it is buried in a mass of ligament which connects all the upper lateral processes of the cer- vical and the first dorsal vertebra together. " No articulating surface exists in these processes on the first dorsal vertebra. The articulating surfaces are well marked on all the other dorsal vertebne. This shows the use of the lateral apophyses and their great develo])ment in some species." — Jltddh', P. Z. tS. 185(i. 197. '• In a glassy sea near Wick, a Finner ru.shed round us in every 142 BAL-i;NOPTEHIDJE. direction, with its upper jaw above the water, blowing with great violence and noise, and diving sometimes tranquilly, sometimes in a seething wave created by its hn and tail. It was evidently feeding on herrings, as every now and then it would rush headlong into por- tions of the sea where the smooth surface was broken by the shoals of fish. The blowholes were at times flat and unprojecting, at others boldly prominent, the animal evidently having the power of raising or depressing these organs. The Ein-whalcs of Orkney and Caithness every season are observed in pursuit of herrings." — Heddle, P. Z. S. 1856. These animals are often called Mazor -backs and Piked Whales by the sailors. The baleen or fin of the Finners is only used to split into false bristles, but for this purpose they are inferior to the Southern or lowest kind of baleen of the Balcence. Martens (Spitz. 125. t. 2. f. c) figures a whale, under the name of Fin-Jish, which agrees in all points with this group ; biit, as there are no folds on the belly in the figure, Ray, and after him Brisson and Linnaeus, established for it a species under the name of Balixna Phy- salus (S. N. i. 186). As, however, the name Fin-fish, used by Mar- tens, is the one now given by the Greenland whalers to these fin-backed whales with plaited bellies, and a^ Martens does not mention the colour, nor say a word about the belly, and as Scoresby says, from report, that the skin of the Fin-fish is smooth, "except about the sides of the thorax, where longitudinal rugae or sulci occur," I think there can be little doubt that this whale was only a common Tinner, and that the absence of the plaits arose from a mistake of the artist. This renders the existence of the section which Lacepede calls Rorquals a ventre lisse, and which Dr. Fleming transformed into a genus under the name of Phi/salis, very doubtful. Lacepede referred to the smooth-belhed Rorquals the " Hunch- back " of Dudley, who distinctly says the belly is " reeved " ; but Lacepede did not understand that word to be synonymous with plaited. Sibbald (Phalaenologia Nova, 1692) figures two specimens of Fin- ners, caught on the coast of Scotland. Ray (Hist. Piscium, 17) noticed these specimens. Brisson and Linnaeus regarded them as separate species. Linnaeus designated the one with the skin under the throat dilated, probably by the gas in the abdominal cavity, B. muscuhis, and the other with this part contracted and flat, B. Boops. I proved, by the examination of the specimen we have in the British Museum, when alive, and M. Ravin observes (Ann. Sci. Nat. v. 275), that this skin is very dilatable ; so that these characters appear to depend on the manner in which the specimen might lie when drawn, and the quantity of gas which might have been produced by the decomposition of the interior. These species have been retained by Turton, Fleming, Jenyns, and other authors who have compiled works on the British fauna, except Bell, who cut the Gordian knot by uniting them and the Bala'na rosfrafa of Hunter into a single species ! The author who appears to have best understood the I 5. puvsAi.us. 143 British species is Mr. F. J. Knox, who took some pains to examine these animals and their anatomy. For the purpose of convenient comparison the bones of these large animals (indeed of all animals) are best kept separate. I believe that it is having them separate that has enabled me to determine some of the species here mentioned which had before been overlooked, — a single specimen of each family or genus being mounted to show the general form of the animal and the position the bones naturally bear to each other. Ray calls these whales Balcrna tripennis, thus separating them from those which have no dorsal fin ; but Polach misunderstood him, and says they have three fins on their back. Mr. F. J. Knox, having purchased a whale 84 feet long, which was stranded near North Berwick on the 5th of October, 1831, and another 10 feet long, taken in the stake nets at Queensferr)^ Firth of Forth, in February 1834, determined by anatomical differences that they were distinct species, in a ' Catalogue of Anatomical Pre- parations illustrative of the TVTiale,' by F. J. Knox, Conservator of the Museum in Old vSurgeons' Hall, 8vo, Edinburgh, 1838. He dis- tinguished the former by the name of BaJcena maximus horectlis, and the latter as Balcena minimus horealis. As no description of the coloui- of the animal, or any account of the nuchal vertebrae, is given, it is impossible, from his account, to determine the species of the former ; but the catalogue contains some most interesting particulars relative to the anatomy of these animals. Fortunately the skeleton of the larger whale was purchased by the Town Council of Edinburgh, and was exhibited in the Zoological Gardens of that city. As far as it was possible to examine it at the height at which it was suspended, it appeared to be a Phi/scdus ; and the same as, or very nearly allied to, the species described in this Catalogue under the name of P. antiquorum. This skeleton was last year moved to tlie New Museum, but the walls would not support the weight, and they have to be rebuilt. The B. miuimus horealis appears to be a young specimen of the B. rost)-ata or Pike Whale of Hunter. Mr. F. J. Knox's drawing of this specimen, as suspended, in the act of swimming, is represented in Jardine's ' Naturalist's Library.' This was the first time that the Northern Fiiwers had been sepa- rated on an actual examination and comparison of specimens. I5ut the pamphlet in which these observations were published being a mere guide to the exhibition, has been overlooked, and I could only procure a copy after great trouble, and from the family of the author. ij. t-'>-n 144 BALJENOPTERID^. * The upper and lower lateral processes of the third, fourth, Jiff h, and sixth duJ cervical vm-tebrcB elongate, united, formimj a ring ; the bodies of the cer- viJC^ ^ vical vertebra oblong, transverse, much wider than high, the upper and ' ■ lower edge nearly straight; the lateral process of the second cervical elcngated. Ribs 14 . 14. 1. Physalus antiquorum. Tlie Razorhack. Slate-grey, beneath whitish. Baleen slate-coloured ; under edge blackish, inner edge pale streaked. Razorhack of the whalers. " B. Physalus, Linn. B. Gibbar, Lacepr — Scoresby, Arct. Reg. i. 479. f Balsena maximus borealis, Knox, Cat. Prep. l-iHiale. I Great Northern Rorqual {Knox), Jardine, Nat. Lib. t. 6 (skeleton). (r—Fhysalus antiquonmi, Graf/, P. Z. S. 1847, 96 ; Cat. Cetac. 38 ; P. Z. S. \ 1864, 216. f. 9-12 ; Hecldle, P. Z. S. 1855, 195, fig. verteb. bad. Rorqual de la Mediterranee, Lacep. t. 5. f. 1; Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. 370. t. 26. f. 5. Baleena, Shaw, Zool. 3Iisc. t. 720, from Lacep. t. 5. f. 1. Balnena antiquorum, Fischer, Syn. 525 (from Cuvier). BalaBHoptera antiquorum, Gray, Zool. E. Sf T. 50. Bahena Physalus, Turton, B. F. 15; Jenyns,Man. 47; Nilsson, Skand. Fauna, 636. Balsenoptera Boops (part.), Fleming, B. A. 31 ; Jenyns, Man. 47. Balsena musculus, Turton, B. F. 16 ; Jenyns, Man. 47 ; Mahngren, Arch. Nat. 1864, 97. Balsenoptera musculus, Fleming, Brit. Anim. 30 ; F. Cuv. Cetac. 335 ; Fschr. SfReinh. Om Nordhv. t. 3. f. 2 (skull), t. 4. f. 6; Lilljeborg, I. c. 42 ; Mahngren, Arch. Nat. 1864, 94. Balsenoptera acuto-rostrata, Scoresby, Arct. Reg. i. 485. t. 13. f. 2. Balsenoptera Boops, Bell, B. Quad. 520. f. 1. Balsenoptera Physalus, Schleg. de Diere^i, 101. t. 20. Rorqualus antiquorum, Gervai's, Compt. Rend. 1864, 676. Balajna Physalus, O. Fabr. Faun. GrwnL 35. Physalus vulgaris, Fleming, Brit. Aifiin. 32. Balsenoptera Gibbar, Scoresby, Arct. Reg. i. 478. Balsenoptera arctica, Schleg. Abhandl. 10. t. 9. Balsenoptera borealis (part.), Rapp, Cetac. 51. Pterobalsena communis, Eschricht, Van Beneden, Bull. Acad. Brux. ser. 1. 1857, i. 393 ; Bull. Acad. Belg. xxii. 464 ; Nouv. Mem. Acad. Brux. xxxii. (1861) 37 ; Arch. Naturg. 1858, 67. Baleine de Sainte Cyprien, Companyo, Mein. 4to, 1830 ; Carcassonne 8j- Parities, Mem. ; F. Cuv. Cetac. 337. The following may probably belong to this species : — 1. Balsena tripennis quse rostrum acutum habet, Sibbald, Phalamol. 29. t. 1. f. D, E, cop. Bonnat. Cet. E. M. t. 3. f. 2; Schreb. t. 354.— Nov. 17, 1690, 0. S. (46 feet long). Pike-headed Whale, Penn. B. Zool. iii. 40. Balsena Boops, Linn. S. N. i. 106. Balasna borealis, var. Boops, Fischer, Syn. 524. Balsenoptera Jubartes, Lacep. Cet. 120. t. 4. f. 1. Jupiter- tish, Anderson, Isl 220. Pike-headed Mysticete, Shato, Zool. ii. 492. t. 227. 2. Balsena tripennis quae maxillam inferiorem rotundam &c., Sibbald, Phalcenol. 33. t. 3 ; (edit. 1792) 78. t. 3, cop. Botmat. Cet. E. M. t. 3. f. 1. Round-lipped Whale, Pennant, Quad. iii. 42. 5. PHYSALUS. 145 Balfcna musculus, Linn. 8. N. i. 100. I5alpena borealis niiisculus, Fischer, Sijn. 524. l^alsenoptera Korqual, Lacep. Cet. 12(3. t. 1. f, 3. Under-jawed Mysticete, S/iaw, Zool. ii. 495. 3. Fiuno Fische, Eyede, Gra-nl. 48, fig. 4. Fin-fisch, 3IaH'. Spitzb. 125. t. Q. f. c, cop. Fin-backed Mysticete, Shmu, Zool. ii. t. 227 ; Enc. Meth. t. 2. f. 2. Bala3na Pliysalus, Linn. S. N. i. 106 ; Schreb. Sduyeth. t. 333, from 3Iar- tens, t. 5. f. 2. Balffina Gibbar, Des7n. 3Limm. 528. Balaenoptera Gibbar, Lacep. Cct. 114. t. 1. f. 3, from Martens. BalrBna edentula, &c., Rai/, Si/n. 5. Fiu Whale, Nei/l, JFern. Trans, i. (1811) 261 (c? 43 feet long). 0. Balajna sulcata, Walker, MSS. ? ; Neill, Went. Trans, i. 212 (41 feet long, Biu'ntisland, lOtli June 1701). 7. BalfBna sulcata arctica, Schler/el, Verhand. Nederl. Ins. i. 1828, 1. 1, 2 ; Ahhandl. t. G. f. 1, 2. 8. Balpenoptera arctica, Schlegel, Abhandl, ii. 10. t. 9 (length 40^ feet). 9. Balasnoptera sulcata, Jacob, Dublin Journ. Sci. 1825, 333. Inhab. North Sea ; North Berwick, 1831 {P. J. Knox) ; skeleton at Zoological Gardens, Edinburgh. Coast of Hampshire, 1842 ; ske- leton at Black Gang Chine. Plymouth, 1831 ; skeleton in Bi'itish Museum. The Hope lleach, near Gravesend, 1858 or 1859 ? ; ske- leton at Rosherville Gardens, 1864. AUoa, Frith of Forth (Neill), male. Burntisland, 10th June, 1862 ( Walker). Eiyi»©ttth, 1863 (Gerrard) ; skeleton in Alexandra Park, a. Two plates of baleen. Needles, coast of Hampshire. From the skeleton at Black Gang Chine. h. Several plates of baleen united together. Greenland. From Mr. Midler's collection. c. Skeleton, 74|- feet long. Plymouth. . Fio-. 29. Atlas vertebra of Plty-mlus uidi(p(.orum, from Devonsliiro. Extreme width 2G inches ; height 13 inches. In the normal state of the cervical vertebnt of this species, both the upper and lower lateral processes of all of them are developed -fr^v^ 146 DAL^NOPTERIDiE. and united into rings. This is the case in the skeleton in the British Museum, and in that, from the Thames, in llosherville Gardens. But this is subject to some variation : in the specimen from BljTnouth, prepared by Messrs. Gerrard, now in Alexandra Park, the lower processes of the sixth and seventh cervical vertebraj are abortive — in the sixth they are rediiced to small tubercles, and are entirely wanting in the seventh. Fi?. .30. *^ Second cervical vertebra of Physalits atiiiquortim, from De i uuaMi«, Extreme width 43 inches; height 13^ inches. /■';.>; Width of articular surface 10 inches ; height 8 inches. Fig. 31. Fiflh cervical vertebra of Physalus mitiquonnu, from Extreme width 351 inches ; height 10| inches. Width of articular siurface 12 inches : hein-ht 7^ inches. The different English skeletons of this whale which I have ex- amined and which are adult, or at least nearly of the same size (that is, from 70 to 80 feet long), exhibit considerable variation in the form and in the size of the perforation, and in the development of the rings of the lateral processes of the hinder cervical vertebrae, showing that there are several species, or, what is more probable, that their bones are liable to a considerable amount of variation. The British Museum specimen was found floating on the sea in a 5. pnvsALrs. 14; decomposed state, on the 2nd of October 1S31, in riymouth Sound and IS said to hav(^ been 1()2 feet long and 75 feet in circumference ; hut most hkely the abdominal cavity was distended by the internal decomposition. It formerly travelled the country, curiously mounted in three caravans, the &-st containino- the head, the second the thorax, and the third the middle of the tail ; when placed one after the other so as to exhibit the parts of the skeleton in their proper situation, the ends of the caravans were removed, and the cervical vertebrae, the lumbar vertebra?, and the caudal vertebra) were suspended in their proper situation between or beyond the caravans. The proprietor had placed a blade of Greenland whalebone {Balana M>istketus) on one side, and several blades of South-Sea whalebone {iiahvna mis- trahs) on the other side of the upper jaw, in the place of the true baleen of BaJcenoptera. Fi-. 32. Tympanic bones of Physulus untiquorum, from t4ft Ennsh]> . /^^ The cervical vertebrae are aU free and separate ; the second wnth a broad lateral expansion, pierced at the base ; the third, fourth fifth, and sixth with rings, the ring of the third being the broadest • the seventh with only a superior lateral process, without a small tubercular rudiment of a lower process ; the lateral processes of the second and third cervical bent backwards, of the fourth straio-ht and of the fifth and sixth bent forwards. The hinder vertebra? lar<-e and heavy. Caudal vertebra; M'ithout chevrons 7, ^Wth chevrons 10 lumbar 17, dorsal 13, and cervical 7=54. The sternum is sinuous • but the front edge is tnmcated, on a line with the ^videst part ; it is 148 bal.5:nopteridje. 18 inches wide and 141 inches long. The transverse apophyses are as broad as the body of tho vertebra, and the latter is oblong, half as broad again as high. The lateral processes of the cervical ver- tebrae are much longer than the width of the body of the vertebra3 ; the lateral process of the second cervical has a small, nearly central perforation, and this perforation gradually becomes larger on each succeeding vertebra, until it nearly occupies the whole disk of the lateral process in the sixth ; the seventh being formed with only a narrow elongated process from the upper edge, the lower process being reduced into the form of a small tubercle. The ribs are simple. The lumbar vertebrae are thick and large ; both these cha- racters must render this Finner much more powerful and active in the water than any of its allies. The lower jaw is 17 feet long; the blade-bone 32 inches by 51. The upper arm -bone is 20 inches long by IO5 wide ; the lower arm-bone 31 inches long. The chest- bone is 28 inches wide and 18 inches long. The lumbar vertebras are 1 1 inches long and 14 inches wide ; the first rib 59 inches long and 10| inches wide at the sternal end. There is a nearly perfect skeleton of this species (which I some years ago visited in company with Professor Eschricht) exhibited at Black Gang Chine, in the Isle of Wight, which was caught in April 1842, near the Needles. When first found, it was dark grey above and whitish beneath. Tho baleen is slate-coloured, with white streaks on the near or inner side ; nearly black and with a few darker streaks near the outer or straight side. It was 75 feet long. The skull is 16 feet 7 inches long, 5 feet wide at the notch, and the edge of the beak from the notch is 12 feet long ; the lower jaw 16 feet 9 inches ; the upper arm-bone 2 feet, and the larger forearm-bone 33 inches long. In this skeleton the scapula and the chest-bones are wrongly placed, and the bones of the carpus and finger. The lower processes of the vertebrae, as well as some of the smaller parts of the head, are deficient. There are 7 cervical vertebrae ; the second very broad, with a very large lateral process, on each side pierced with a hole near the body ; and the three following have a ring-like lateral process. There are 14 thoracic vertebrae. The ribs are long ; the first simple, shortish and broadish, the rest almost of equal size and length, the last being very nearly as long as the others. The lumbar vertebrae are 15, with considerably thicker bodies than the others. Caudal vertebra) 18, exclusive of those contained in the fin of the tail, which is preserved entire. The skeleton at Rosherville is said to be 70 feet long, and was taken in the Hope Eeach in 1858 or 1859. The lateral process of the second cervical is large, elongate, produced, obliquely truncated at the upper edge ; the perforation is moderate, not half the length of the process, on a line with the lower edge of the opening. The lateral processes of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical vertebrae are narrow, ring-like, thin, with a large central cavity ; the seventh, like the dorsal, has only an upper lateral process. Lower jaw 13 feet long ; paddle 14 feet. 5. i-HYSVLrs. 149 In the skeleton from Plymouth, prepared by Mr. Gcrrard, now in the Alexandra I'ark, the lateral processes of the second cervical are large, pi'oduced, obliquely truncated, with a moderate-sized oblong perforation, not half the length of the process, on a line with it, and not more than one-third of the length of the lower edge ; of the third, fourth, and fifth vertebrso ring-like, not quite so long as those of the second vertebra, slender, thin, and weak ; the processes of the fifth vertebra are the thickest and strongest, especially below ; the sixth has upper processes only, which ai'e very thin and slight ; in the seventh they are like the sixth, but much thicker and larger, and bent back so that the two processes are close together at the tipper edge ; the sixth vertebra has small short tubercles in the place of the lower lateral process ; none are present in the seventh vertebra. The bodies of the second and third cervical vertebrae are oblong, transvei'se, much broader than high. The OS hyoides elongate, transverse, broad in the middle, more or less tapering at each end, with a deep wide notch in the middle of the front edge, which has an elongate thick cylindrical process on each side of it, and a slightly rounded scollop in the middle of the hinder edge, with a slight prominence at each end of it. The forearm-bone half as long again as the humerus. The breast-bone is stibtrifoliate, the upper part very broad, subtri- gonal, with a slight broad notch in the middle of the upper sides, and the hinder part more or less produced into a kind of broad flat stem. The shoulder-blade -ndth a large coracoid and acromion process ; the upper edge arched, angle acute at each end, hinder end produced. The skeleton of a specimen, taken at Margate in 1850, was ex- hibited at Shoreditch in 1864. It was not quite adult, and not in a good condition. Dr. P. Neill describes a male Fin-"Wliale stranded near AUoa in the Frith of Forth, on the 23rd October 1803, It was 43 feet long. The dorsal fin, called a pike by the whalers, was placed far down the back, about 1 2 feet from the end of the tail, and nearly over the vent. The lower jaw rather the longest, 14 feet long, and somewhat wider than the upper. The tail was 10 feet wide. The blubber was 2 inches thick, firm in texture, not unlike the fat of pork. The baleen dirty bluish. ISibbald's specimen came ashore near Bui'ntisland, 17th Nov. 1G90, 0. S. ; it Avas 4(J feet long. Dr. Walker mentions one from near Burntisland, 10th June 17G1, 46 feet long (see Neill, Mem. Wern. Soc. i. 201). This species seems to be not uncommon, and most usuallj' comes to the Cornish coast in the winter. A female was found dead at sea, and towed into Plj-mouth, 27th Sept. 1831. Length 79 feet {Cowli). Gullet found 'filled with a large (juantity of pilchards, by which it was supposed to have been choked, fc^aid to have visited the coast before. Plymouth, 1831, Dr. Moore (Loudon's Mag. N. H. i. n. s.). It had frequented the Cornish coast a long time previously in pursuit 150 BAL^NOPTEEIDiE. of young herrings, multitudes of which it was seen to devour. — CoiiA:h, Cornish Fauna, 9. Several specimens of this enormous species are seen on the Cornish coast every year, feeding on the smaller gregarious fishes. — Couch, Cornish Fauna. Mr. Hcddle observes, " The pectorals (of this and the Laman Whale) measured fi-om tip to head of humerus exactly -^ths of the length of the body. The head of each bears very nearly the same proportion to the whole length. The cervical bones were so alike that one drawing would do for either, except with some veiy minor differences. In the Laman Whale the upper and lower transverse processes of the fifth cervical vertebra are united, and the lower process of the sixth is short, whereas in the Copinshay Whale the transverse processes of the fifth are not united, and the lower process of the sixth is as long as those of the third, fourth, and fifth." The comparative union and disunion of the processes of the second vertebra, the comparative length of the processes as regards the body of the vertebrie, and the form of the angular apcrtiire of the ring appear to constitute the best characters for the separation of the species. " The Orkney Whales seem to resemble P. Boops of the Museum Catalogue in some respects, but then the processes are longer, and the wing of the second cervical vertebra in the Orkney Whales, with its perforation, is very different from the short development of the second cei-vical in P. Boops, In P. antiquonini the processes i-ise from the plane of the body of the vertebrae ; in the Laman and Copinshay Whale they fall (see figs. P. Z. S. 1856, pp. 195, 196). In fact, in some points the Orkney Whales seem to connect the characters of the two sections of Dr. Gray's genus Physalus, resem- bling, however, P. Boops more than P. antiquorum. The coloiu'S of the whale were identical with those of the Laman M'hale. The under jaw is wider. The length from the tip of the under jaw to the notch in the tail is 45| feet, from tip of upper jaw to eye S^ feet, to anterior pectoral 15 feet, tip of lower jaw to penis 28 feet, to anus 31 1 feet, length of pectoral to anterior junction 4| feet, length of cranium 10 j feet. "The epidermis was j^^th of an inch thick, easily torn, and finelj' striated, except on the fins, tail, jaws, lips, itc. AYhere black, the pigment was easily removed by washing, and from the inner surface was readily communicated to the fingers. " Where, the body was black, the furrows and their interspaces were black also, being covered with skin of the same texture as the body. Where the black of the body began to ivash off into the white of the lower parts, the furrows were black and the interspaces pure white. On the lower surface, where the colour was white, the plicffi when separated were lined witli a rosy epidermis. Vertebrae 62 : viz. cervical 7, dorsal 15, lumbar and caudal 40 ; the last not larger than a walnut, and partly cartilaginous. The last six di- minished in circumference very rapidly. Ribs 15 . 15 ; the first pair simple, the second, third, and fourth with necks directed for- 5. pnrsALrs, 151 wards, but not rcacliiiig the bodies of the vcrtebi'oe, the rest simple. The greatest length of the cranium was 11^ feet, the greatest length of the lower maxilla 11^ feet, from the tip of the pectoral to the head of the humerus 6^- feet. The colour of the back of the head and of the sides to a line passing from the tail beneath the pectoral, black. The jaws, and under and upper sides of both pectorals and tail, black. The black ivashed off at the sides into a brilliant white, of which colour were all the other parts, except the hollows between the folds. Scattered irregularly over the back were greyish spots, three or four in a square foot, resembling the appearance produced by touching the skin with a slightly whitened finger. The polished surface gave the whole body a greyish appearance, and it was said to be greij. " The baleen towards the snout gradually gave place to narrower plates, three or four occuppng the place of one. This change com- menced from the inside. At the snout the plates were still more broken uj), and there assumed the appearance of small, slightly com- pressed rods of baleen, of the thickness of a crow-quill, each tipped with a tuft of long white bristles. The baleen completed the circuit of the snout at a distance of 4 inches within the upper hp. At the snout, the base of the baleen was 1 inch in width, gradually in- creasing until, where the largest plates were inserted, it attained the breadth of 9 inches, whence it decreased to a rounded point at the interior angles of the mouth. Here the baleen entirely resolved itself into white hair, which took its rise from the gums, Avithout the intervention of the quill -like rods of the anterior extremity. " The gum (or cheese of the whalefishers) was from 2 to 4 inches thick, and between the bones of the jaw intervened a callous bed of muscular substance. " The tongiie tlesh-coloured above, and beneath leaden grey, without distinct edges, of a very loose tissue. " The throat easily admitted the closed hand. " The trunk only separated from the head by a very slight depres- sion behind the spiracles, the upper edge forming a beautifid and even curve from head to tail, with the exception of the protuberance of the dorsal fin. " The expansion of the tail continued 2 or 3 feet along the side of the trunk. gi\-ing, with the dorsal and ventral keels, a rhomboidal form to that part of the animal. These keels consist entirely of fatty tendinous substance, permeated through their entire length by strong round tendons an inch in diameter, and when these were removed the parts became round like the rest of the trunk. " A female : lengtli from point of lower jaw to notch in tail 50 feet, girth beneath the pectorals 2;?| feet, point of lower jaw to umbilicus 24i feet, to termination of the plicoB 26 feet, to reproductive organ 30 "feet. " The external ear in a shallow groove, with small aperture the size of a quill. " The blowholes (see P. Z. S. 1850, t. 45. f. 1, 2, 3) in a hollow on the summit of a low rounded eminence, immediately in front of a 152 BAl^NOPTERID^. depression directly over the eyes, with a shallow groove between them, and with a ridge in front gradually disappearing ere it reaches the snout. The sides of the blowholes elastic, opening laterally. The nares, each 4 inches in horizontal diameter, protected above and at the sides by cartilaginous arches, which extend nearly to the surface of the spiracles behind. The whole lining of the spiracles, breathing- canals, and bronchial cavities was of a deep black. The septum between the nares membranous. " The eyes on bony prominences which projected outwards and downwards ; about 4 inches long. The conjunctiva whitish, the iris very dark brown, the crystalline lens two-thirds of an inch in dia- meter. "The lower jaw covered for nearly half its depth by strong firm lips, turned uiwai'ds above. The jaw nowhere projected much over the folds on the throat, and beneath the eye passed imperceptibly into the general surface. The lower jaw fitted accurately into hollows in the upper. The baleen extended from within 4 inches of the snout to the angles of the mouth. The plates in the middle of the series largest. The back of the mouth and the throat thinly covered with soft white hair, inserted on the wrinkled skin. " An ideal section of both jaws, partially opening, showing the palatine ridge, the projecting baleen, and the overlapping under-lips, with the tongue in the distended pouch, is represented in P. Z. S. 1856, t. 45. f. 6." '■' The broad mng of the second cervical of the Nijhster Whale was perforated by a hole as in the Copinshay and Laman Whales, and the vertebrae appeared to correspond with theirs. The external characters and coloui" also corresponded. The length was 65 to 68 feet, the pectoral from the head of the humerus nearly 8 feet, the cranium 15 feet long. The blubber or speck was 8 or 10 inches thick. They are not P. Boops, for three out of the four specimens captured, all of which were examined, agreed with each other, and differed from P. Boops in the upper and lower lateral processes of the second cervical vertebra being united, leaving a subcontral ioia,- men:'—IIecldle, P. Z. S. 1856, 187-198. Mr. F. J. Knox, imder the name of Balcena maximus borealis, Knox (Cat. Prep. Whale, p. 5, and Edin. New Phil. Joum. 1833, 181), notices a specimen of a whale found off North Berwick which was 80 feet long, the head 23 feet, and the tail 20 feet wide from tip to tij). He describes it as having 13 dorsal and 43 lumbar, sacral, and caudal vertebrsB (Edin. N. Phil. Journ. 1834, 198). The skeleton of this whale, purchased by the Town Council, was in the Zoological Gardens, Echnbm-gh, and is figured in Jardine's 'Naturalist's Li- brary,' vi. t. 5. It was last year removed to the New Museum in Edinburgh, but on suspending it from the roof, the walls yielded to the weight, and it had to be removed. The baleen is black ? Cervical vertebrae separate. Second lateral process very large ; third, fourth, and fifth large, ringed ; sixth very imperfect, upper process elongate, bent down, lower short, rather depressed ; seventh upper process elongate, lower wanting. The 5. rnrsALUs. 153 third and fourth ccrvicals thinnest and of nearly equal thickness, fifth rather thicker, sixth thicker still, seventh thickest, and the thoracic vertebrae becoming gradually thicker. Ribs 15 . 15, first narrower at the vertebral end, second, third, and fourth dilated and produced on the inner side of the vertebral end, rest simple. Chest- bones in three series : first simple, second larger with processes, third cordate, with the first pair of ribs on the hinder end. VertebriB : 10 caudal, 15 with chevron, 17 Imnbar, 15 thoracic, 7 cervical. A dead specimen occurred in the Channel, near Brighton, 63 feet long, 29th December 1830. The baleen was called the gills by the fishermen at Brighton. — Mantell, Mag. N. H. iv. 163. At Overstrand, Norfolk, March 1822 ; length 57 feet, pectoral 6^ feet. And at Cromer, autumn 1822. M. Van Beneden described the skeleton of a whale found by the fishermen near the Isle Urk on the 23rd November 1851, and floated to the Isle Vlieland, which is now mounted in the Gardens at Antwerp. " It is a male, 22 metres long and 12 metres in circumference, and the head 5| metres. The head and back bluish grey ; the belly white. The dorsal was half a metre long, and 3 metres from the tail. " The skeleton is 21 metres long. The baleen black, white on the inner side, the front plates all white. Skull like that described by Eudolphi (■?). Cervical vertebrae 7, all free, of the same thickness (not complete) ; the second with enormous transverse apophyses, 40 centimetres wide, with a perforation 18 centimetres in diameter. The^third, fourth, fifth, and sixth with a circle; in the fourth to the seventh the apophyses diminish consecutively in length ; in the seventh the circle is incomplete. " The vertebrae 61. The dorsal 14 or 15 ; the body of the first very thin, like the cervical, gradually becoming thicker. The lumbar vertebra) 15, very large and strong, with 17 chevron bones. The ribs 1 4, or perhaps 15 pairs ; the first simple, without any appearance of ossification. The sternum triangular, short in front, and subtri- foliate, without any hole. No lacrymal bone." Esehricht has observed that the number of vertebrae in whalea varies according to the species, but is fixed in each, there being the same number in the foetus as in the adult. " In the Zoological Gardens at Antwerp is a very fine articulated skeleton of a male {Physalus ctntiqnonim, Gray). The specimen has already been the subject of a paper by Professor Van Beneden, en- titled " Sm- une Baleine prise pres de Pile Vlieland, et dont le sque- lette est monte au Jardin Royal de Zoologie d'Anvers " (Bull. Acad. Brujcelles, 2'" ser. tome i. 1857, p. 390). " The skeleton is complete, with the exception of one of the pelvic bones, the tym])anic bones, the last pair of ribs (probably), and one or two caudal vertebrae. As at present mounted, the interver- tebral spaces appear to me too wide, especially in the cervical and caudal regions ; and yet the skeleton measures in a straight line but 67' 6", viz. 15' 4" for tbe skull and 52' 2" for the vertebral column. The length of tlie animal is given by Van Beneden at 22 metres, or 154 BALiENOPTEEIDiE. 72' 1". It exhibits all the signs of adult though not extreme age. All the cpijjhysi's of the vertebrae are completely joined, as well as those of the humerus and the upper end of the radius and ulna. Those of the lower end of the last two bones are partially united. The ujipcr border of the scapula is still incomplete towards the two extremities. The number of vertebrae is sixty-one, the last being modelled in wood ; but from the character of the sixtieth I should say that there ought to be two behind it. Seven are cervical and fifteen dorsal, and, according to Van Beneden, fourteen or fifteen lumbar, though the place of attachment of the first chevron bone in the skeleton indicates but thirteen as belonging to this series. The characters of the atlas and the other cervical vertebra3 are quite typical of the species ; the upper and lower transverse processes, from the second to the sixth inclusive, are united to form complete rings. The breadth of the atlas is 25" ; of the axis 44" ; of the third 37". The aperture in the base of the gi-eat wing-like lateral process of the axis is 6j" long and 3" deep. The inferior process of the seventh is represented by a tubercle. " The cranium and lower jaw present little worthy of special notice, except that the articular processes of the squamosals are unusually developed laterally, giving great breadth to the posterior part of the head. The dimensions are given at p. 166. A circumstance that I have not observed in any other WTialebone Whale is that a consider- able mass of bone of irregular form projects forwards from below the nasal bones in the trough of the vomer, to the extent of about two feet, only attached posteriorly. This is evidently an ossification developed in the ethmoidal cartilage. " There are fourteen pairs of ribs present ; but as the fourteenth has not the characters usually met with in the last rib, and as the fifteenth vertebra has the end of the transverse process thickened and showdng traces of an articular surface, it is most probable, as Van Beneden supposes, that the fifteenth pair has been lost, and therefore that the skeleton, if complete, would present no exception to the normal number. The first rib is simple, 51" in extreme length, and 13f " in breadth at its lower end. The second and third have capitular processes which reach nearly to the bodies of the vertebraj ; that of the second is rather the longest. There are corresponding rough tuberosities on the sides of the bodies of the first and second dorsal vertebrae. The neck becomes rudimentary in the fourth, and obso- lete in the fifth and all succeeding ribs. '• The sternum is tiifoliate, differing from the one figured at p. 110 chiefiy in having the posterior process shorter, broader at the base, and more tapering to the point. Its extreme length is 19", and breadth 24". The hyoid has the usual shape ; its extreme breadth is 38", and length 14". The stylo-hyals are 19" in length, and 5|" in greatest breadth. " One pelvic bone is present, suspended on the left side ; the other is modelled in wood. It is 15" long and 3" in greatest breadth, simple, straight, mucli compressed, sliglitly twisted on itself, broader geuerally at one end than the other, but poiuted at both extremities. 5. PHYSALUS. 155 One edge is smooth and rounded, but furrowed by a deep linear groove ; tlic other is irrcgidarly tuberculated and spiculated. This form is quite dilt'erent from that of the pelvic bones of the specimen in the Alexandra Park, where they are each I85" long, gently cui'ved, flattened, quite smooth along the edges, and with a prominent angular projection from near the middle of the convex border. " The scapula is 31" in height and 51" in breadth; the acromion is 12" long ; the coracoid 5^". The humerus 19" long, 9" in greatest diameter, and 20^" in girth at the middle. The radius is 32" long, 7^" in breadth at the upper and 9" at the lower end. The ulna 36" in extreme length, from the end of the olecranon, 30" from the middle of its surface for articulating with the humerus, 10" in breadth aljove and G^" below. There are six ossifications in each carpus. The phalanges appear complete. It should be stated that the latter are not very exact, as the ends of the bones are more or less con- cealed by the composition which replaces the cartilage. The baleen is present in both sides. The largest plates measure about 28" in length. " The recent discovery of a large number of fossil remains of Ceta- ceans in the excavations occasioned by the fortification of the city of Antwerp has given a great impulse to the study of the osteology of the existing members of the order in Belgium, and, chiefly by the exertions of Professor Van Beneden of Louvain, a very fine collection has been brought together, in great part obtained from the Northern seas, through the cooperation of the late Professor Eschricht of Copenhagen. Many of the specimens enrich the admirable anato- mical collection of the University of Louvain ; but most of the lai-ger ones have passed from the hands of Van Beneden to the lloyal Museum of Natural History at Brussels, where they are arranged and displayed to great advantage, under the able direction of M. Du Bus."— Flower, F. Z. S. 1804, 414-41G. " In December 1841 a male Fin-Whale about 40 feet long was stranded at Katwijk-aan-Zee, about six miles from Leyden. Dr. Schlegel gave a figure and desci'iption of its external characters, with some notes on its anatomy, in the second part of his ' Ab- handlimgen.' The skeleton passed into the hands of a person at Schcveningen, at which place it was for some time exhibited. It has been transferred to the Leyden Museum. " The skeleton was evidently that of a very young individual of the genus Fhijsnlus, agreeing in every particular, as far as I could ascer- tain, with F. antiquorum. The bones were sjiongy, and the epi- physes on the limb-bones and vertebrsc all non-united, even that on the hinder surface of the axis. The skull was about 9 feet long ; the nasals were deeply excavated ; the orbital process of the frontals nari'owed at the extremity. The lower jaw had a considerable cuiTc and a long coronoid process. As mentioned by Schlegel, the verte- bral f(n-mula was C. 7, D. 15, L. 14, C. 24=00. The form of the atlas and of the bodies of the cervical vertebrai were as in FJujsalus generally ; the transverse processes were not developed, being in fact mere stumps. The upper and lower processes were not united even 156 BALiENOPTERID^. in the axis. The lower process of the fifth very short. Ribs 15 pairs ; the first Avith a simple head. Sternum small, undeveloped, with two broad lateral lobes at the anterior part, and a deep notch between them on the front border, prolonged posteriorly into a handle-like process; its entire length was 9", its breadth 10". Scapula 20" in height, and 32" in breadth. Humerus 14" long, lladius 22" long." — Floiver, P. Z. S. 1864, 409. " A fine cranium from the Jutland coast, in the Louvain Museum, about 15' in length. It is rather narrow posteriorly in proportion to its length ; and the nasal bones, though of the general form cha- racteristic of the genus, are very narrow, and pointed at their hinder ends."— Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 418. " A skull of a young specimen in the Leyden Museum, agreeing in all its characters with P. antlquorum, Gray; marked ' Balcenoptera PJiysalus, Mer Sept.' Its length, from the condyles to the tip of the beak in a straight Hne, is 10' Q"."— Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 397. Pallas, under the name of B. Pht/salus (Zool. Rosso-Asiat. 290), described a specimen of this genus found in the North Sea in 1740. It was 84 feet long ; the pectoral 9, the head 22 feet long, and the tail 14 feet wide. He describes the skin as brown. The young male, 42 feet long, caught near the mouth of the Somme, on the coast of France, described and figured by Ravin (Ann. Sci. Nat. X. 206. t. 11, XV. 337. t. 9), under the name of Bahcnoptera rostrata, from the form of the skull, seems to be a species of the genus Phi/salus, probably P. antiquorum ; but the details of the ske- leton have not been given. The tympanic bones are drawn of a very small size (?. c. t. 9. f. 2 r, 3 r). It is described : — " Black above, beneath white. Pectoral black. Dorsal and caudal with white scar on the edge. Baleen of the fii-st part of the series white ; of the rest blackish blue, the colour changing suddenly from one to the other. " Inhab. coast of France, Somme (Pavi^i)." M. Ravin (Ann. Sci. Nat. n. s. xv. t. 9) figures the skull ; but although it resembles generally Cuvier's figui'e above quoted, it is shorter and broader in proportion, being only twice the length of the width of the jaws in front of the orbit. Lacepede (Cetac. t. 5, 7) describes and figures a whale, stranded near the Isle of Marguerite on 20th March 1797. It is described as 60 feet long ; distance from nose to pectoral 14^, thence to dorsal 10|^, and from dorsal to caudal 8|-. But there must be some mistake, as this accounts for only 34 feet. The pectorals are 5 feet long (that is, only one-twelfth of the total length), and all black. Cuvier figured the skull of this whale (Oss. Foss. t. 26. f. 5), and founded on it his Rorqual de la Mediterranee. M. F. Cuvier (Cetac. 334) regarded this as the type of his Balcena muscnlus. The skull and some of the bones are at Paris (see Gervais, sur la Baleine de la Mediterranee, 8vo, 1862, Montpehier) . M. Companyo describes a male whale cast ashore near St. Cyprien. The entire length was '82 feet, of the head 16 feet ; and the pectoral was 13 feet long. Vertebra) 61, viz. cervical 7, dorsal 14, lumbar 5. riTTSAius. 157 15, caudal about 25. It was dark grey, with the throat and sides of the pectoral white ; the belly blue, white-banded ; the pectoral greyish, il. F. Cuvier refers this to the B. musndus, or Mediter- ranean Rorqual. The skeleton was at Lyons in 1835. M. Van Beneden (Ann. Sci. Nat. n. s. vi. 159) says the tympanic bones brought from Iceland by M. Quoy belonged to the B. musculus of CuATier {P. antiquorum). Lesson records a young female taken at He d'Oleron, 54 feet long, 10th March, 1827. There is a skeleton in the Zoological Gardens, Antwerp (see Bull. Acad. Roy. Brux. xxiv. 3). A skeleton not mounted, Museum Paris. And a skeleton, Museum Louvain, 1836, GO feet long ; Holland, 1836. Professor Eschricht has two heads of this species at Copenhagen, from Greenland. There are a head and some vertebrae at Paris, and some vertebrffi at Berlin. M. Van Beneden observes that the Rorqual de la Mediterranee of Cuvier is the Mystketos of Aristotle and the Musculus of Pliny. It is the only whale that has as yet been observed in the Mediterranean. It may be doubtful if the Mediterranean whale is the same as the one from the Atlantic Ocean here described. Cuvier described the species from the head of a specimen, now in the Paris Museum, which was cast ashore on the Isle of Marguerite on the 20th of March 1797. M. Van Beneden says it is the same as his Pterobalana communis, but at the same time he observes that the skull of the specimen from Antwerp which he describes has " la plus grande rcssemblance avec cette qui a ete decritc par Rudolphi, et qui se trouve au Museum de Berlin ; elle offre exactement les memes proportions." Now, Pro- fessor Rudolphi's specimen is the tj'pc of M. Cuvier's Rorqual du Nord, which is separated from the Mediterranean Rorqual on account of the very great difference in the form and proportions of the head. However, the Antwerp specimen has the simple first ribs of the ti-ue FJujscdus, and I suspect that in comparing the skull with the Berlin skull some characters must have been overlooked. " It is seen from time to time on the French coasts, especially those of the Pyrenees orientales and the Var. In 1862 a female, with her young, remained for more than a month chiefly in the small bays of Paulilles, Port-Vendres, and Collioure. This was perhaps the cetacean which, some months later, ran ashore at the rock of Borro, on the Spanish coast, and was towed to Llanza, where M. Gervais saw it." This species is found in the Mediterranean. M. Gervais observes that " such Cetaceans rarely run aground on the sandy shores of Languedoc and La Camargue ; but the great whale with a chan- nelled belly, mentioned by Dalcchamp as having come ashore in his time near Montpcllier, must be regarded as a Rorqual, and the jaws of this species preserved at Frontignan have probably a similar origin. "There is a skeleton of a whale 17 feet long in the museum of Perpignan. The large whale taken at St. Cyprien has been de- 158 EALyENOPTERTD.E. scribed by Farincs and Carcassonne as Bahvnopfera Arar/oiis. That at St. Tropez, in 18:33 ; those of the lie Sainte Marguerite, one in 1797, described by Lacepedc and Cuvicr, and the other in 1864 ; and two or three others taken near Toulon, of which the skull or the entire skeleton have been preserved." — Comptes Bend us, 28 Nov. 1864, 870 ; Ann. ^- Ma(j. N. H. 1805, xv. 77. Albers (Icon. Anat. 1822, t. 1) figures, under the name of Balcena Boops, the skeleton of a whale cast ashore at Vegisack, near Bremen, in 1009. The length was 29 feet ; length of pectoral fin 3, width of tail 9 feet. Camper (Cetac. 74. t. 11, 12) figures the skull of this specimen. Cuvier says he compared this skull with the one from lie St. Marguerite, figured by Lacepede, and could see no difference between them. Albers's figures would lead to the idea that the lower jaw was scarcely wider than the upper ; this is corrected by Camper. Professor Eschricht considers Albers's specimen the same as Hunter's B. rostrata ; but it agrees with the whales of this genus in having 34 and 35 lumbar and caudal vertebrae. * The U2)per and lower lateral processes of the third, fourth, Jifth, and sixth cervical vertebrce elongate, slender, free at the ends; the upper one heni doivn ; the lateral process of the second cervical large, truncated. Body of the cervical vertebrce oblong, ovate, not much broader than high; the upper edge concave ; the lower very slightly conve.v. Ribs 15 . 15. 2. Physalus Duguidii. The Orkney Whale (Physalus Duguidii), Heddle, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1850, 187, Mmmn. t. 4A & 45, anat. d' & 2 ; Arch. Naturq. 1858, 56. Physalus Duguidii, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, 221. f. 13, 14, 15 ; Ami. ^■ Mag. N. H. 1864, 352, Inhab. Orkney (Heddle). Fie-. .S8. .'>*!W,5 ^^ Atlas of Physalus Duguidii. Extreme width 21 inches; height I25 inches. 5. PnYSAT.TTS. 159 Cervical and part of dorsal vertcbrrc and the baleen in the British Museum. Le!i{2;th 50 feet. I'hc ujiper lateral processes of the third, fourth, and fifth cervical vertebrae are very slender and bent down, with two slight angular ridges on the outer edge ; the lower processes are much thicker and bent up at the end, with a broad flat lower edge near the base, which forms an angle at the end. The bodies of the cervical vertebrae are roundish oblong, rather wider below than above, aboiit one-fourth the width wider than they are high. The form of the body and the slenderness and form of the lateral processes of the cervical vertebra; seem to separate this species from P. anfiquot-imi, as well as the separate form of the lateral processes. In the Plymouth specimen of the latter in the Museum, the bodies of the cervical vertebra) are oblong, transverse, being one-third the width broader than high. Fiu-. .34. Second cervical vertebra of Physalus Dvguidii. Extreme length, measiu'ed by a cord, 25^ inches ;_ height 12 inches. Articulating surface : height 7 inches ; width 11 inches. Fiff. 35. Fifth cervical vertebra of Vhymlus Dugtddii. 160 I!AL/'EN0PTERID.T5. The short baleen forms the front part of the series, in which the layer in the middle is dark slate-coloured, and the intermediate- sized blades are more or less slate-coloured on the outer and white on the inner side. The breast-bone is lozenge-shaped, with a large central perforation. Mr. Heddle gives a long account of this species in his paper in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society' above referred to. The upper and lower lateral processes of the third, fourth, and fifth cervical vertebra short, strcmg, separate, directed laterally ; the lateral process of the second cervical short, truncated. liibs 16 . 16, 3. Physalus Sibbaldii. Physalus (Rorqualus) Sibbaldii, Grai/, P. Z. S. 1847, 92; Cat. Cetac. 42 ; P. Z. S. 1864, 223. fig. 15 a ; Ann. i^- Mar/. N. If. 1864, xiv. 332. Inhab. North Sea, ascending rivers ; in the Humber, Yorkshire. Skeleton in Museum of the Hull Koyal Institution and Literary and Philosophical Society. Length 50 feet. The skeleton in the HuU Philosophical Society's Museum is 47 feet long, and evidently of a young animal ; the arm or paddle is rather more than 6 feet long. The baleen is all black. The lower jaw strong, with a conical, large, well-developed ramus. Vertebra 64 : cervical 7, dorsal 10, lumbar and caudal 41, Breast-bone wanting. The cervical vertebrae are all separate ; the second cervical vertebra has a broad lateral expansion, and is oblong, obliquely truncated from the wide upper to the narrow lower edge, and with a small oblong subcentral perforation near the base ; the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh cervical vertebra3 have a straight, rather elongate lateral process, which projects straight out from the body of the vertebra, and the upper and lower ones are of nearly equal length. The ribs 16 . 16, all simple. The end of the first rib, near the ver- tebra, has a single head ; and the head of the first and second rib is compressed laterally, and with a slender internal process. The articulating surfaces of the cervical vertebrae are oblong, transverse, much broader than high. Fi^. 36. Second and fifth cervical vertebras of Physalus Sibbaldii. (From a sketch by Mr. Harrison, of Hull.) 5. I'HYSALUS. lUl " The form of the head is much like that of Ravin's figure of the skull of P. antiquorum. It is 10 feet 10 inches long, 4 feet 8 inches wide at the orbits, and 2 feet 9 inches wide at the base of the beak. The lower jaw is 9 feet 8 inches long without allowing for the curves.'" — It. Harrison. Finner Whales that have been onli/ imperfectly noticed. 1. Physalus ? australis. Tlie Southern Finner. Bahena Quoyii, Fischer, Si/n. 52(3. Hal.pna rostrata australis, Desmoulins, Diet. Class. H. N. ii. 166. Biihcnoptera australis, Gray, Zool. E. 3f T. 51. Bahenoptera australis. Southern Rorqual or Finback, Nimn. Narrat. Favourite, 183, fig. Phjsalus ? australis. Gray, Cat. Cetac. B. 31. 1850, 44. Inhab. Falkland Islands ( Qiioy). Desmoulins (Diet. Class. H. N. ii. 164), under the name of Balcena rostrata australis, describes a whale seen by M. Quoy on the shores of the Falkland Islands, which he saj-s was exactly like B. Physalus. It was 55 feet long, and the pectoral fin 6 feet 3 inches — that is. about one-eighth of the entire leiigth, the same as in Bahenoptera Physalus ; but he says the dorsal fin was over the male organ — a character which, as fai- as I know, is jjeculiar to the Humjiback Whale {Meyaptera) — thus presenting a combination of characters which, if correct, -wall not only prove it to be a distinct species, but one forming a section by itself. Lesson (Tab. Regno Anim. i. 202) gives the name oi Bala^iopteia australis to the " Fin-back of the whalers of the South Sea." It is most probably intended for this species, as Falkland Islands is given for the habitat; but it may be Meyaptera PoesX-op, or perhaps a confusion of the two. '• The Fin-backed Whale of Desolation, near Kerguelen's Land, is about 'M feet long. The whalebone short. The dorsal fin is arched backwards, nearly over the pectoral, or, some fishermen say, a little behind the middle of the back. The upper surface is black, lighter beneath. The spout is single, much higlier than that of the Right Whale (Bakrna) in the same latitude.'' — Kunns Narrative. The figures, after the drawings of the whalers, represent the body only as ratlier more than three times the length of the head. " From the description I have received of the Fin-fish (Bahmo- ptera liorqual), which often appears in the bays of both the western and eastern coasts of Africa, I feel disposed to regard it as the liorqual. It may, however, prove to be a ditterent species when those who can note its characters shall have an opportunity of ex- amining a dead specimen. It is here rarely attacked by the fishers, being considered dangerous, and of little value from its yielding but a small i)ropurtion of oil. About twelve years ago one was killed in Table Bay whicli measuied 95 feet." — A. Smith, African Quart Journ. 130. -^ 162 BALT.XOrTEEIDJE. 2. Physalus Brasilieusis. Balsenoptem Brasiliensis, Gniy, Zool. E. &• T. 51 ; Cat. Od. Spec. Apji. 142. Physalus Brasilieusis, Grai/, Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 43. I have also received from Mr. Smith specimens of what is called in trade Bahia Finner. This baleen is black ; the fibres on the edge of the larger flakes are piu'plish brovrn, and of the smaller or terminal ones paler brown. They are 35 inches long by Hi inches wide; and the smaller, 10 inches long and 4 inches vride at the base. This is so different in appearance from the other baleen of this genus that I propose to call it Bahenoj^item Brasiliensis. a. Three plates of baleen, "Bahia Finner.'' Bahia. 3. Physalus ? fasciatus. The Peruvian Finner. " Lower jaw scarcely longer than the upper; head and back ash- brown ; belly whitish ; tips of fins and a streak from the eye to the middle of the body white. Length 38 feet." — Tschudi. Balaenoptera, n. s., Tschudi, Mamm. Coiisp. Peruana, 13. Balffinoptera Tschudi, Heich. Cetac. 33 ; Wiegm. Arch. 1844, 255. Pliysalus fasciatus, Gray, Cat. Cetac. B. 31. 1850, 42. Inhab. coast of Pern. 4. Physalus Indicus. " Lower jaw remarkably slender." Balccnoptera Indica, Great Rorqual of the Indiau Ocean, Bli/th, Jimrn. A. S. xxi. 358, xxii. 414 ; Bep. Asiatic Society Calcutta, xxviii. 5 ; Friend of Lidia, 1842, Sejit. lo. Balaenoptera, sp., Heitylin, in Sitzmiysber. d. Math.-natunv. Acad. d. Wissensch. zu Wien, 1851, vii. 449. Physalus, sp., Flotrer, P. Z. S. 1864, 408, note. Inhab. Eed Sea. Mr. Blyth records the following : — 1. Chittagong coast, 15th August 1842, 90 feet long and 42 feet in diameter. 2. Ai-akan coast, 84 feet long. Lower jaw remarkably slender, the coronoid process well developed. Length 21 feet, liadius 38| inches long. 3. A large jaw-bone of a ^Tiale (Asiat. Kes. xv. Append.p. xxsiv). 4. Yertebra and cranium of a WTiale {Asiat. lies. xvii. 624, and Glean, of Science, ii. 71). 5. A skuU and lower jaw, 10 feet long, from Ai'akan. In the Museum of the Calcutta Medical College. 'WTiales seem to have been not unfrequently stranded on the coast of Mekran. Thus Xearchus, the commander of Alexander's fleet from the Indus to the Persian Gidf, b.c. 327, described the Ichtlujopluigi of that woodless region as using the bones of whales for building- purposes (see Vincent's Voyage of Nearchus, p. 267-269, quoted by Blyth). " Whales are very rarely seen " in Ceylon ; " a dead one is occa- 5. rHYSALTJS. 163 sionully stranded. The skeleton of one cast ashore some twenty years ago at Mount Laraiia is still in the museum at Colombo." — KeJaart, Prod. Faunce Zei/hnicce, 1852. " Whales are frequently captured 'within sight of Colombo." — Tenncnfs Ceylon. " Whales are very common on the coast of >\lipi, South Malabar. American ships, and occasionally Swedish ones, call at Cochin for stores during their cruises for them, but no English whalers ever come here tliat I have heard of. One [whale], said to be 100 feet long, was stranded on the coast. I saw some of the vertebrae and ribs about three years ago. Last year another, 90 feet long, got among the reefs in Quilon, and was murdered by some hundreds of natives with guns, spears, axes, &c., and was cut up and eaten, salted and dried as well as fresh. The Roman Catholic fishermen of the coast pronounced it ' fii'st chop beef.' " The Maldives and Seychelles are said to be the headquarters of the whalers who seek for those whales. I am soriy I never noticed the jaw-bones sufficiently, for I saw them on the beach." — liev. H. Balcer, of Alipi, S. Malabar, quoted hij Blyth, 5. Physalus ? Iwasi. The Jai>an Finner. Black ; side white-spotted ; belly white. Balrenoptera arctica, Schlc(/el, Faun. Japan. 26. IMiysalus ? Iwasi, Gray, Cat. Cetac. B. 31. 1850, 42. Bala>na sulcata antarctica, Sc/ileycl, Abh. 43 ; Faun. Japvn. Mamm. t. 30. Inhab. Japan. A species of tliis genus is known in Japan under the name of Iwasi Kuzira. It is very rare. One was cast ashore in 1760 at Kii, which was about 25 feet long ; black, belly whitish, sides white-spotted. They distinguish it from the other whales by the head being smaller, narrower, and more pointed, and the pectoral shorter. It was driven ashore by the SaJcauata (Grampus). Xo remains of this species were brought home by M. Siebold. Temminck (Fauna Japonica) regards it as identical with the Northern species. It is very desirable that the bones of the Japan and Northern specimens should be accm-ately compared. It may be observed that several animals, the Mole and the Badger for example, were formerly said to lie like the European species, but recent research has shown that they are thstiuct, and they are now so considered in the ' Fauna Japonica.' The following species are described by Lacepede from Chinese drawings (see Mem.Mus.iv. 473): — Balanioj^tcra piinctuluta , B.niyra, B. ccerah'scen.'t, and B. macidata. " Ilazorbacks occur in the Strait of Formosa. Some Americans fitted out lorchas for their capture, and erected boiling-houses at "(Swatow, but they said they yielded too little oil to compensate for the trouble ami lisk incurred in their captiu-e, as they arc dangerous creatures to meddle with. They have very large flat heads and '^^ smooth backs. Seldom a year passes but one is stranded some- M 2 164 nAL.EXOI'TEEIDj;. whero in the vicinage of Swatow." — SwitiJioc, Proc. Asiatic Sue. Bcnrjal, 1863. 6. Physalus antarcticus, Balsenoptera autarctica, Orai/, Zoo!. E. ^- T. 51. Physalus aiitavcticus, (Jraj/, Cat. Cetuc. />'. 31. 1850, 43. There has been imported from Now Zealand a quantity of fiuner- fins. or baleen, which are all yellowish white ; this doubtless indicates a different species. The Finner Whales also inhabit the Columbian shores. Lewis and Clarke mention the skeleton of a liorqual found near the Columbia River, 105 feet long. — Travels, 422. Chamisso, in his accounts of the wooden models of whales which were made by the Aleutians, of the species found in their seas, which he deposited in the Berlin Museum, and described and figured in the N. Acta Nat. Cur. xii. 212, figures three kinds of this genus : viz. Ahugulich, t. 16. f. 2; Mangidach, t. 16. f. 3; and AgamaclitscMeh, t. 18. f. 4, the B. Agamacliscliil\ Pallas, Zool. Kosso-Asiat. i. t. a. If reliance is to be placed on the wooden models made by the Aleutians, which have been described and figured by Chamisso — and many of them are not bad representations of known genera — there is a genus found at Kamtschatka which has not yet been described. It is called Balmia J'schiehagJuk by Pallas (Zool. Rosso-Asiat. i. 289 ; Nov. Act. Nat. Cm-, xii. 259. t. 19. f. 6). It has no dorsal fin, and a smooth belly and chest ; the upper and lower part of the under portion of the body are slightly keeled ; the head rounded, like Balce- noptera, witli the blower on the hinder part of the crown. The lower side of the tail and the pectoral are white. 6. CUVIERIUS. The rostrum of the skull very broad, continued as far as the middle with very little diminution of width, and then rounded; outer margin much more convex in the front half. Maxillary bones broad as in Megaptera. The atlas with short, thick, rounded lateral processes growing straight out of the upper half of the sides of the body. The axis with two short broad lateral processes which do not completely unite, having a regular oval ])asal aperture. The cervical vertebrae with oblong rounded bodies, with upper and lower lateral processes which are not united into a ring. The neural canal trans- versely oblong, flattened above. Vertebrte 64. Ribs 15 . 15 ; head of first undivided ; the second and third each with a weU-developed capitular process, which is longest and most slender in the third. Sternum irregularly oval, notched in front. The scapula with a dis- tinct acromion and coracoid. The humerus moderate. The radius and ulna much longer than the humerus. Phalanges long. This genus is intermediate between Phgsalus and Sibbaldius ; it has the broad rostrum of the latter and the vertebra and ribs of the former, and a peculiar sternum. 0. CUVIERIUS. 1 . Cuvierius latirostris, Physalus latirostris, Flower, Vroc. Zool. Soc. 18G4, 410-414. ^^^ /-/JU^ Inhab North Sea. Skeleton of young specimen in the museinU ot the late Pi-ofessor Lidth de Jeude, at Utrecht. " Tn the collection of the late Professor Lidth de Jeudc, at Utrecht, ^ a fine skeleton of a Fin-Whale. It was obtained on the coast of JL^J^ a^v.^ Holland. It was from a young animal. The epiphyses were de- C>C ^^^ tached from both ends of the bodies of all the vertebra between the '^^'^'^^^ axis and the last t^vo or three of the tail; aLso from both ends of y-/ ^^/^^ the humerus and bones of the forearm. The exocci],ital, parietal, /^^^^f-"^ and squamosal bones were non-united; and moreover the processes A^^-^^^ ot the vertebras Mere imperfectly ossified, as shown by the condition ■ of their enrk, and their shortness compared with the large size of the bodies of the bones. It was more advanced, however, than the specimen examined at the Hague. " The length of the cranium is t>' ] 0" ; of the vertebral column, the bones being placed close together, without the epiphyses 31' 2"- to this must be added at least o feet for the thickness of the epiphyses and the intervertebral spaces ; so tliat the whole animal could not have been imich short of 50 feet in length. The number of vertebraj IS L. /, D. lo, remainder (of which 15 or 16 are lumbar) 4'>=(J4 ihe column is quite complete, and ends, not in an elongated bone composed ot two or three centrums anchylosed, but in a small flat circu ar, disk-like bone half an i.uh in diameter. The penultimate vertebra is simple, short, rounded at the edges, and about an inch in diameter. The one before this is much larger in every direction increasing rapidly at its anterior end. ' ' " The cranium presents many of the characters Ijefore attributed to the genus F/it/salus, but with some peculiarities that I have not met with in any other specimen. The most remarkable of these is the great width of the rostrum, whicli, instead of gradually and steadily contracting from the base to the apex, as in P. antlquornm and the members the genera Sihh„M!us and BaUm^jfcm, continues as far as the middle with very little diminution of width, so that the outer border is much more strongly convex in the anfeiior half. This is occasioned by the width of the maxillary bone, which more resembles that oi Megaptera hnr/hwnia. The great difference of the proi)or- tional breadth of the beak to the length of the cranium in this specimen, as compared with other Fin-Whales, is seen in the Table at p. 112 and m the Table of dimensions below. I may mention also that the breadth of the palatine surface of the maxillary, measured m a straight line, at the middle of the beak, is IG", whereas in the cranium of a ('ommon Fin-^Miale (P. antlquonnn) in the Museum ot the Koyal C olh-e of Surgeons, of almost the same length (viz 9 3 ) it is but 11 1". The na^al bones arc very broad and .short raised to a ridge in the middle line, and hollowed on each side on the upper surface and anterior border, though to a less extent than in the common species. The orl)ital plate of the frontal resembles in Its general form that of P/ii/sulus antiquorun,, but is rather less 16G BAL^.N0PTEEIM5. narrowed externally. The lower jaw is massive, has a high, pointed coronoid process, and a considerable but not excessive curve. "Dimensions {in inches) of Skulls of different examples 0/ Physalus antiquorum and of the specimen at Utrecht. Length of skull in a straight line Breadth of condyles Breadth of exoccipitals Breadth of squamosals (greatest breadth 1 of skull)..' J Length of supraoccipital Length of articular process of squamosal . . . Orbital process of frontal, length Orbital process of frontal, breadth at base 1 (from curved border of maxillary to I hinder edge of orbital process of frontal) J Orbital process of frontal, breadth at upper 1 surface of outer end _( Nasals, length Nasals, breadth of the two, at posterior end Nasals, breadth of the two, at anterior end Length of beak (from cvu-ved border of 1 maxillary to tip of beak) J Length of maxillary Projection of maxillary beyond premaxillary Breadth of masillaries at hinder end , Breadth of maxillaries across orbital pi'o- cesses (following curve) Breadth of beak at base (all the measure- ments across the beak include the curve of the upper surface) Breadth of beak at one-quarter of its length from base J Breadth of maxillary at the same point Breadth of premaxillary at same point Breadth of beak at middle Breadth of maxillary at middle Breadth of premaxillary at middle Breadth of beak at three-quarters of its 1 length from base J Breadth of maxillary at same point Breadth of premaxillary at same point Length of lower jaw in a straight line Height at coronoid process Height at middle Amount of curve (greatest distance of the 1 inner surface of the jaw from a straight I line drawn between the extremities) ... J -S., 118 184 15 12 36 56 60 41 36 32 34 18 8^ 6 n 133 145 9 17 89 186 14 55 86 m 34 30 32 17 7 11 132 142^ 10^ 17' 179 12 54 78 38 35 29 35 56 54 55 126 14i 39 60 26 25 18 12^ 3 9 119 137 8 15 84 45 45 11 13i 6 33 94 18^ 5 180 21 14i 5 36 10 6 23 21 38 111 lU 38 56 26 24 19 21 124 7 3 6 75 87 i'3 67 39 30 10 3i 22i 7i 3 13 3 24 112 15 n 15 Floiver, P. Z. 8. 1864, 411. " In all the characters by which the atlas of Physalus differs from that of Sibhaldivs, the present specimen agrees with the former. C). CUVIERIUS. 167 The transverse processes arc short, thick, and rounded, growing straight ont of the upper half of the sides of the body of the bone, bitt, as said before, incomplete at their ends. It measures 14|" in height, and 23" in extreme width ; IG" across the articular surface for the skull, each facet being 12|" in height and G" in width ; at their lower end these do not meet by a space of 2". The neural canal is 10" in height, 5^" wide at the upper end, contracts rather above its middle to 3;^", then expands somewhat again. The body of the axis measures IG" across and 7|" in depth; with the processes, it is 24|" wide and 1G|" high ; the neural canal is 6|" wide by 5|" high. The upper and lower transverse processes do not completely unite, although thej" approach on one side within half an inch, on the other not quite so much ; their extremities, however, are not ossified. The opening between them is regularly oval, 4|" long and 3;^" wide. " The bocUes of the remaining cervical vertebrce are rounded ob- longs, theij- arches are low, and theLr spines little developed ; the neural canals transversely elongated, and flattened above ; from the third to the sixth, each has an upper and lower transverse process, the upper ones rising somewhat from the body of the vertebras, before taking their outward and downward course, very thin, especially at their concave margin, gradually and very slightly decreasing in length. The lower processes somewhat shorter, and considerably broader, though thin ; with a tuberosity on their vtnder edge near the base ; decreasing regularlj- in length, that of the sixth vertebra being notably shorter than the others. In the seventh vertebra the upper process is ^vider than in the others, and the lower one is reduced to a mere tubercle. '•' Dimensions of the Cervical Vertebrte (in inches). Extreme height. Extreme width. 23 22 22 2H 22 Height of body. Width of body. Height of neural canal. Width of neural canal. Third 14 Fourth 14 Fifth 14J^ Sixth 15 Seventh 15^ 8 8i 8^ 8^ 13 12 Hi 4 4 H 3i 64 . 7i " There are 15 pairs of ribs. The first has an undi\-ided head. The tuberosity is prominent but narrow, and a thin crest extends from it for some chstance along the convex border of the rib. The greatest length in a straight Line is 34" ; the breadth at the middle 3", at the lower end 6". The second and third ribs have both well-developed capitular processes extending towards the bodies of the vertebrae, longer and more slender in the third. In the fourth this process is nearly obsolete, and absent in all the succeeding ones. There are rough surfaces on the infero-latcral portions of the hinder edges of the bodies of the first and second dorsal vertebras, to which those processes of the ribs were connected, probably by the intervention of a strong ligament. The length of the second rib is 49" ; of the third 59". 168 BAL^NOPTERID^. " A bone which, from its general appearance, texture, and surface, I presume mxist be the sternum, especially as there was no other which could have represented this portion of the skeleton, presents most anomalous characters. It is very flat on both surfaces, a little more than 1" in thickness, of an irregularly oval form, being larger on one side than the other, and slightly produced at Avhat I suppose would be the posterior border, and notched in the anterior. It is only 5f " in its greatest diameter (transverse), and 4" in the other direction. Certainly the condition of the edges gave evidence of a bone incom- pletely ossified ; but its very small size, especially in the antero- posterior direction, for a Phi/salus of the dimensions of the one under examination, is very remarkable. " The body of the hyoid I was unable to find ; but the stylo-hyals are slightly curved, compressed, with a thick convex border, and a thinner concave border, rather larger at one end than the other ; 14" in length, 4:j" in greatest width, and 2" in thickness ; presenting, in fact, the usual form seen in the genus Physcilus. The scapula and arm-bones had also the ordinary form ; the former is 21" in height, and 35|" in breadth ; the acromion 7|" long, and 3^" in breadth ; the coracoid 2|" long ; the glenoid fossa 10|" by 7". The humerus is 17" long, 7| ' in longest diameter, and 20" in circumference at the middle. The radius is 27" long, 6" in breadth at the upper end, 4^" at the middle and 7|" below, and 3" thick at the middle. The ulna is 25" long, 7" across at the top, Sg" at the middle (and 2" in thickness), and 5|" at the lower end. The circumference of the two bones together at their middle is 20|-". The metacarpal bones are long for the size of the animal, being respectively, beginning at the radial side, 6", 8", 6|", and 4^" ; whereas the same bones in the adult Common Fin-Whale in the Antwerp Zoological Gardens are 4|", 6", 6", and 4|" ; and in the specimen in the Alexandra Park 4|-", 6", 5", 3f". The phalanges are long, and rather different in number from those in the specimens of the Common Fin-Whale which I have examined, being 4, 5, 5, and 3 in the several digits, com- mencing on the radial side with No. II. In the Antwerp Phy solus they are 2, 7, 6, and 3. But, as in both cases they have been arti- ficially articulated, much importance cannot be attached to these numbers. " This skeleton differs in some respects from any other that I have seen, nor can I identify it with any published description sufficiently detailed for exact comparison. That it belongs to the genus Physalus as above defined there is little question. The only difficulty is in the form of the sternum. It must be remembered that the indi^ndual was young, and the bone, being slow of development, is subject to considerable variation in form during growth, and also, when fuUy grown, to great individual diversities of form. It scarcely seems advisable, therefore, on account of this one specimen to modify the generic diagnosis as regards this bone, though such a course might be necessary if a very small oval, transversely elongated sternum were found characteristic of the adult animals belonging to the species. I think that there can be no question that this character, together /. SIUIiAI.DlU.S. IQ(). with the additional two caudal vertebras, the wide luaxillaries, the more elongated metacarpals, and the sliglit differences in tlie form of the cei-vical vertebrue and the ribs, are sufficient to establish a well-marked species ; and, unless it can be identified with any that has been previously described, I would suggest the name of lafi'rostris as an appropriate designation.'' — Flower, P. Z. S. 1864 411-414 B. T ertcbrce^ii. Thejirst rib douhle-headed. J'J ■ 7. SIBBALDIUS. The pectoral fins moderate. The sectmd cerncal vertebra with a broad elongated lateral process, perforated at the base. The first and second ribs double-headed. Lower jaw compressed, high, flat on the sides, with a conical coronoid process. Yertebrfe 55 or 56 Ribs 13 . 13 or 14 . 14. Balrenoptera, sp., Gt-ui/. Pterobalsena, sp., Esciirtcht, Van Benedon. 7 Sibbaldus, arm/, Proc. Zool. 600. 1864, 223; Ann. &• Man. N. H. 1864, xiv. .'v')2. Sibbaldiiis, Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 392. Pectoral fin one-eighth of the entii-e length ; and the dorsal fin " opposite the opening of the vent," nearly three-fourths of the entire length from the nose. SkuU very broad. Maxillary bones verv broad, graduaUy tapering, with nearly sti-aight outer edges. The intermaxillaries moderate, linear. The frontal bones broad, band- like, with a wide sinuous edge over the orbits. Kasal bones small. The lower jaw slightly arched, compressed, with a conical ramus near the condyle. The lateral process of the second cervical vertebra expanded, with a basal perforation (Rudolphi, Berl. Trans. 1822, t. 1. f. 2). Tympanic bone oblong, ventricose (see Dubar, t. 4. f. l\ Rudolphi, t. 3. f. 6). The lateral processes of the second to the sixtli cervical vertebrae separate, elongate. The arm -bones* strong the forearm-bones nearly double the length of the humerus. The sca- pula broad, with a large, well-develoiied coracoid process in front The hand with four rather short fingers ; the second and third equal and longest : the inner or fourth rather shorter than the first Phaknges 4.5.5. 3. Vertebra? 54. Ribs 13 or 14. The first rib slender, with a process on the side near the condyle, as if the rib was divided into two somewhat similar lobes above (Rudolphi, t 5 f. 6). According to Dubar, the first rib is articulated to the first and second dorsnl vertcbra\ The under jaw less curved; but the great character is that the front rib is split into two separate parts near the coiidvle, or double- headed as Dubar calls it. The tvmpanic bones are "short, oblono- swollen (figured tn situ in the skull, Rudolphi, /. c. t. 3. f. 6). '" ^q " Total nuni])er of vertebra) Jfc»-58. JUbs 14 pairs. Orl)ital i)ro- ^^v cess of frontal bone nearly a^)/oM\ at out(>r end as at the base Xasal bones elongate, narrow, flat, or verv sli-litlv hollowed on the sides of the upper surface, obliquely truncated at" the anterior end 170 BALiENOPTERID.^. (fig. 13, «, p. 111). Lacrymal bones thickened and I'ounded at the outer end. Lower jaw with a comjmratively slight curve, and a low, obtusely triangular coronoid process. Nem-al arches of the cervical vertebrae high, and their spines well developed. Transverse process of atlas arising from upper two-thirds of side of the body, short, and deep from above downwards (fig. 41, p. 181 ; fig. 42, p. 182). On the hinder border of the under surface a median pointed triangular process, directed backwards and articulating with the axis. Upper and lower transverse processes of the second to the sixth vertebrae inclusive well developed, broad, and flat (united at their ends in the adult, except the sixth ?). Lower process of the sixth short, broad, and much twisted on itself. Head of the first rib bifurcated into an anterior and posterior division, articulating with the extremities of the transverse processes of the seventh cervical and first dorsal vertebra} respectively. Second, third, and fourth ribs with short capitular pro- cesses. Sternum verysmall, short,and broad, somewhat lozenge-shaped (fig. 12, b, p. 110). Stylohyals very broad and flat (fig. 48, p.l84). " Type species, aS^. laticeps, Graj':'—FJo2i'er, P.Z.S. 1864, 392, 393. J,/. ^././,,.M^ "-'*'• ^■""" SibbakJius laticeps (from Rudolphi) t. 26. f. (j. Professor Schlegel seems to think that the bifurcation of the fii'st rib is a mark of youth, for he observes, " It appears that in old specimens of the BaJanoptefa PJu/sahis this bifurcation is grown to one solid mass This singular character has often induced me to beheve tliat the first rib, as it is called, is only the horns of the os hyoides." — Letter, 24^/t A^gmt 1864. I may observe, in reply, that the full-grown specimen described as the " Ostend "VMiale" had the bifurcation Avell developed. * Dorsal Jin compressed, fulcate, two-thirds of the entire length from the nose. Hibs 13 . 13. First rib short, dilated at the sternal end. Sternum with an elongate, narrow posterior lobe. Rudolphius. 1 . Sibbaldius laticeps. Black, beneath white. Upper jaws wide, in the skull only twice as long as the ■^'idth of their base in front of the orbits ; the lower / . SIBBALDirS. 171 jaws slightly curved and scarcely wider than the edge of the upper ones. Pectoral fin one-eighth of the entire length, and rather more than one-third, and the dorsal nearly three-fourths, from the nose. The length was 31 feet 1 inch, from nose to the eye 2 feet 9 inches, to blower 3 feet 11 inches, to pectoral 3 feet 6| inches, to the front of the dorsal 19 feet 2 inches, to the vent 21 feet. Balc-ena rostrata, Euclolphi, Bcrl Abhrnxll. 1820, t. 1 ("not Huutm-) ; Brandt <^- Rutzeh. Med. Zool. i. 119. t. 15. f. 3, t. 16. f. 12 : Graii Cat Cetac. B. M. ' •' Rorqual du Nord, Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. 564. t. 26. f. 6 (copied fi-om Budolphi). ^ ^ Balrenoptera laticeps, Grmj, Zool. E. <^- T. (from Budolphi); Cat. Cetac. B. M. 37. BaL-ena horealis (part.), Fischer, Sipi. 524 (from Cuvier). Bah-ena Pbysalus (part.), Kilsson, 'Scand. Faiom, 635. Pterobalwna Boops (part.), Eschricht, K. Damk. Vid. Sehk. 1840, Balajuoptera borealis (part.), Bapp, Cetac. 51. fiJ'Ou-th^*^ ^^''^cT Inhab. North Sea. Holstcin, 1819 (liudolpld): skeleton in Mus! " Berlin, 31 feet long. Zuyder Zee, 1816, skeleton in Mus. Leyden. Fio-. C:rrtedly the same species; and it is possible that even these may arise from inaccuracies on the part of the artist. Sume of the evidence also is wanting to make the comparison complete ; for instance, the sternum from the Berlin 174 BALJENOPTEETDJ!:. specimen, and the hyoids from the one at Leyden. In assigning only five vertebrae to the cervical region, Rudolphi is obviously in error, being probably misled by the mode in which the skeleton was articulated. He states that the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae have all (that is, the first five) very large holes. If this is strictly correct (that is,. if the holes are completely surrounded by bone), it indicates a more advanced state of ossification than in the Leyden specimen — a cii'cumstance, of which the peculiarity is some- what diminished by the fact that the skeleton of a whale of the same species, and of almost exactly the same size, in the Brussels Museum is in a condition intermediate between the two, the processes of the second and third vertebrae being completely united, but not those of the fourth and fifth. In calling his specimen Baliena rostrata, lludolphi was acting upon the idea, then prevalent, of the specific unity of many of the northern Fia-Whales now kno-mi to be distinct. Dr. Gray seems to have been the first to point out that it difi'ered from all whales which had been previously described with anything like definite accuracy, and gave it the name of ' Eudolphi's Finner Whale,' Balcenoptera laticeps (Zoology of the Erebus and Terror, 1846); this name therefore has the right of priority for the species." —Flotver, P. Z. S. 1864, 397-399. In the Brussels Museiun " there is a veiy interesting skeleton, almost the exact counterpart in size to that in the Leyden Museum. It was obtained by Eschricht from the North Cape. The condition of the epiphyses shows that it is young, they being all non-united both in the "vertebral column and long bones ; but the ossification of the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrte has proceeded further tlian in that at Leyden. The skeleton is well articidated, and gives now a total length of 31' 8" ; but about G" must be added for the end of the tail, which is wanting. The dimensions of the skull are given in the Table at p. 180. The nasals are narrow, cut off" nearly straight at their anterior ends, shghtly hollowed on each side above. The lacrymals are thickened at their outer edge. The orbital pro- cesses of the frontals broad externally. Lower jaw light, little curved, and with a short triangiilar coronoid process. " There are 7 cervical, 14 dorsal, and 32 lambo-caudal vertebrse present ; about 5 of the latter are absent, which would make a total of 58. The atlas has the usual characteristics of the genus. The transverse process of the axis forms a complete ring, the aperture of which has a length of 2|" and height of 2". The whole process is 5|" long, but is incomplete at the end; it is 5|" in height at the middle, and the opening is situated much nearer the upper than the lower margin of the process. In the third vertebra also the upper and lower processes are united ; in the fourth, fifth, and sixth they are separate. The lower one of the sixth is shortest, broad, and twisted on itself. In the seventh the inferior process is represented by a small tubercle. " There are 13 ribs present on the right side, and 14 on the left. The fourteenth is very much thinner than the others, twisted back- wards at its lower end, with a very slender head, articulated to the i? /u^^..^^ ^ y^i.<^^^^ /^^jL_^ /^/g ayC€y a^a^^^ cZ-x"^^. v^^^s^^- J /Pt~t^-C-xJ t/ ^ t/ 2. Sibbaldius borealis. The Flat-haclc. Sibl)aldus borealis, Gray, P. Z. 8. 1804, 223 ; Ann. ^- 3Iag. K. H. im4:, xiv. 352. Ealeine d'Ostende, Tan Breda, en letter bock, 1827, 341 ; Dubar, Os- teoyr(q)hie, Bruxelles, 8vo, 1828, t. 1-10; Bernaert, ^' Notice sur lit Bideine echouee pri'S (FOstende,'' Paris, 1829. Bak'inoptere d'Ostende, Van drr Linden, 1828, Bruxelles, 8vo. The 0.*itend AMiale, Guide to the P.thibition at Charing Cross, trith drairinys by Scharff. Great Northern Ilorrpial, " R. borealis, Lesson," Jardine, Nat. Lib. 125. t. 5 (from Scharff'). Balajua borealis (part.), Fischer, Syn. 524 (from Dubar). BaLenoptera Rorqual, T)eu-hur.st, Loudon Xhiy. X. II. 1832, v. 214. Babeiuiptera giga<, Exehr. A'- Peinh. Nd.Bidray, af Groeidand, 1857; LiUjrbory, I. c. 5(), 57 ; Malmyren, Arch. Natury. ISIjl, !J7. I'terobaLxna Boops (part.), Eschr. K. Dansk. Vi'densk. 1840, 134. Pterobalwna gigas. Van Beneden, Mem. Acad. Poy. Sci. Brux. 1861, xxxii. 37, 463 (not chai-acterized). Female : — Balicnoptera Boops, Yarrell, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1840, 11. Balajnoptera teniiirostris. Sweeting, Mag. Nat. Hist. 1840, iv. 342. Inhab. Xorth Sea. " A whale was observed floating dead in the Jsorth Sea between Belgium and Kugland," and towed into the harbour of Ostend on the 4th of November 1S27. The skeleton was exhibited at Charing Cross, and is now, 1 believe, in the United States. / / /t 17fi bal^knopteridj:. This specimen was 102 feet long, tbe lower jaw 21| feet long, and the tins 13^ feet long. Vertebrae 54. Eibs 14 . 14. The atlas (JJuJiar, t. 6. f. 1) : the second cervical vertebra with large lateral j)rocesses, pierced with a large hole ; the third, fonrth, and fifth with two lateral processes on each side, which are not formed into a complete ring as in the second ; the fifth oft'ers a riidiment of a spinal apophysis. The first rib double-headed, articidated to the first and second dorsal vertebrte. Bones of the cars {Uubar, t. 5. f. 1 ) ; OS hyoidcs (t. 5. f. 2); breast-bone (t. 6. f. 4) not pierced, short and broad, with a broad hinder portion. The vertebral column 37. Dubar's figm-es represent the second, third, and fourth cervical ver- tebrae as with a ring, and the fifth, sixth, and seventh with deflexed upper and straight lower separate lateral processes. Ribs, first (t. 8. f. 1) with two heads, veiy broad at lower end; second (f. 2) with rather elongate internal process ; fourteenth (f. 3) quite simple. Pelvic bones (t. 9. f. 1, 2). Shoidder-blade short and very broad on the external edge, with a large lobe for the I'idge (t. 1(1). Pectoral fin and bones (t. 11). Fingers four ; the second and third nearly of equal length, and longest ; the fourth or outer shorter, longer than the first or inner. Fig-, 39. First rib of Sibbaldius borealis. (From Dubar.) The upper jaw narrower and shorter than the lower, so as to be embraced by the lower ; a txift of horny round filaments or long hairs, united at their roots by a common membrane and divided at the end into small points, at the tip of the snout. Eyes rather high and very near the angle of the mouth. Ear-hole near the eye, but a little further back. Hinder part of the back keeled. Dorsal fin rather less than three-fourths of the entire length from the end of the nose, exactly opposite the vent. Skin polished, black above, white beneath. Length (entire) 25 metres, of mouth 4'8, to pectoral 6-9, to navel 13-7, to front of vagina 18-1 , to front of vent 18-1. Length of pec- toral fin 3-1, width of pectoral 0-65. The atlas transverse. The lateral processes thick, elongated, rather above the middle of the side {DuJxir, t. G. f. 1). The os hyoides broad in the middle and graduallj- tapering at each end, and with a deep notch in the middle of the hinder edge (Duhar) (Scharff's Jltjure). Tj^mpauic bone ob- long, very impcrfccth' figured as the os du rocher (t. 5. f. 1). The 7. SIBBALDltJS. 177 sternum : upper part broad, thrce-lobed, with a linear elongate hinder lobe {Dnhar, t. ). (In 8charft"s figure it is represented as shield- like, with four nearly square rounded lobes.) The first rib is tri- gonal, rather short, curved, and very broad, and with a rather deep notch at the sternal end (as broad as one-third the length of the outer edge). (JJubcn; t. 8. f.l (8 feet long).) The second rib slender, subcyhndi'ical, with a rather long subcylindrical process on the inside, just below the condyle (Dubai', t. 8. f. 2). The last rib slender, subcylindrical (Dubai; t. 8. f. 3). The blade-bone with a large coracoid process and acromion, the former broad, fiat, rather bent up at the end (Dubar, t. 10). The humerus very short and thick, not longer than broad. The radius and ulna nearly twice as long as the humerus, the ulna with a long flat olecranon process. The fingers 4, slender, tapering ; the second and third longest and nearlj^ equally long, of 7 joints ; the fourth shorter, of 5 ; the first shortest, of 4 joints, nearly half the length of the second (Dubar, 1. 11). Lilljeborg describes the " dorsal fin as very small, situated far be- hind and placed on a thick prominence " (I. c. p. 57), and, according to Dubar's measurement, it was three-fourths the length from the nose. "From the calculations made by M. le Baron Cuvier and the Professor of the Jardin du Roi, this enormous cetaceous animal must have lived nine or ten centuries," — H. Mather's account of the Osterul Whale, 1831, 8vo. Mr. YarreU (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1810, p. 11) notices a female of this genus under the name of " Balceiioptera Boops." It was stranded at Charmouth, Dorsetshire, on Feb. 5, 1840. It had no warts about the lips ; back black ; underside white ; pupil oval, with- out any eyelashes. Length 41 feet. Pectoral fin 5^ feet long, base 10|^ feet from tip of nose, and 1^ foot wide. Dorsal small, conical, 11 feet in advance of the tail. Skeleton 40 feet long, head 10 feet. Vertebrai 60, viz. 7 cei-vical, 15 dorsal, 16 lumbar, 15 caudal, and with 7 caudal bones. Ribs 14/14 ; the fu'st double-headed, and at- tached to the first two vertebra; ; each of the other ribs is attached to a single vertebra, and has a single head. The dorsal vertebrte ex- ceed the ribs by one. " The subcutaneous layers of fat varied in thickness from 3 to 5 inches." " In other details the skeleton agreed with Dewhixrst's description of the ' Ostend Whale.' " " Head, back, tail, and outside of the pectoral fins black ; inside of the pectoral fins, throat, breast, and belly beautiful white ; inside of the under jaw black ; tongue, palate, and the spaces intervening between the reefs on the beUy pink. The under jaw the widest, and projecting 9 inches beyond the upper one ; end of both jaws rounded. The muzzle longer and more attenuated than in Balmia. The spi- racles longitudinal, Ukc slits or fissures, nearly meeting in front, and gradually diverging behind to a distance of about 3 inches. Ealeen bluish black and yellowish white. Female 42 feet long, weighing 25 tons. Blubber varied in thickness from 3 to 5 inches ; yielded three hogsheads of oil." — Siveetinr/, Mat/. Nat. Hist. 1S40, p. 342. The accounts in the ' Mag. of Nat. Hist.' and in the ' Proc. Zool. 178 BALSNOPTERID^, Soc' 1840, p. 11, arc evidently from the same animal, but there are some discrepancies between them. Mr. Sweeting saj's, breadth 21 feet ; Mr. YarrcU says, girth 21 feet. Mr. Sweeting, total weight 25 tons ; Mr. Yarrell, probable weight between 20 and 25 tons. Mr. Sweeting, length of skeleton 41, and head 11 feet ; Mr. Yarrell, 40, and head 10 feet. Mr. Sweeting says, " For the discrepancy as to the number of vertebrae, &c., I am of opinion that this species has not been described before, and I have proposed for it the name BaJcnnoptera tenuirostris " (Mag. Nat. Hist. 24th March, 1840, 342). The skeleton here described was sold, about sixteen years ago (1859), for five pounds, to Mr. Freane, and it was stated to have been sent to London as a present to the British Museum, but it has never been received, and I cannot find any further account of it ; probably it was sold for manure. B. tenuirostris is the earliest name given specially to this species, but it cannot be used for a whale with a broad nose or beak. This is most likely the same as the " Ostend Whale," or a nearly allied species. The dorsal fin . is described as small, conical, and three-fourths the length from the nose. *** Dorsal fin unknown. First rib elongate, dilated at sternal end. 3. Sibbaldius Schlegelii. Balsenoptera Physalus, from Java, ScJdegel, Mns, Leyden. Balaenoptera Schlegelii, Flower, MS. "Megaptera (from Java)," Van Beneden, Gray, P. Z. S. 1864, 208. Balaenoptera longimana, Schlegel, Miis. Letjden. Sibbaldiis Schlegelii, Gray, Ann. (^- Maq. N. H. 1864, xiv. 352. Sibbaldius Schlegelii, Floiver, P. Z. S. 1864, 408, 419. Inhab. Java. Skeleton, Mus. Leyden (young); skull, Mus. Leyden. Fig. 40. First rib of Sibbaldius Schlegelii ?, in Mus. Roy. Coll. Surgeons. There is the first rib of a whale of this genus in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, which, if it is not this, would seem to in- dicate a fourth species.' The origin of the specimen is imknown. /. SlBHALDirs. 179 +1, " V',"" J^^'J'^lf" Museum during the present year (18fi4) has received the skeleton of a Fin-Whale taken on the north-west coast of the island ot Java I he hands, from the carpus downwards, the pelvic bones, and some ot the terminal caudal vertebra3 are wanting, also the lacr^-mals and inaLars from tlie skull ; in other respects the skeleton is complete. XNot being yet articulated, the separate bones could be examined with great lacihty. _ Both epiphyses are anchylosed to the bodies of tne hrst three cervical vertebra;; the anterior epiphyses only are united on the fourth and fifth. From this, as far as the ninth caudal inclusive, they are detached ; on the tenth caudal the hinder, and on the succeeding ones both epiphyses are firmly united. On the humerus the upper epiphysis is partly, and the lower one completely, umted to the shaft, all traces of the original separation of the latter having disappeared. The upper epiphyses of the radius and uMa are m the same conthtion; but those at the lower end are separate. 1 he transverse processes of the cervical vcrtebrte show, from the condition of their terminal surfaces, that they are not quite complete, ine upper edge of the scapula appears completely ossified in the mickUe, but must have been cartUaginous towards the two extremities. Ihese conditions taken together show that the animal was in the adolescent stage, and had probably attained very nearly its fuU size. The skull IS 9 8_ long in a straight line; the vertebra;, placed c ose toge^ther and without their epiphyses, measured 30"; so that, allowing for the epiphyses, intervertebral spaces, and the end of the tau, the animal could not have been less than 45 feet long " The number of vertebra; present is 54 ■ and 3, or probably 4 of me caudal are wanting, raising the total number to 57 or 58 Of these, 7 are cervical, 14 dorsal, and about 13 or 14 lumbar; but the articular surfaces for the anterior chevron bones not bein- weU marked, I could not be certain where the tail should be considered to begin. There are fourteen pairs of ribs. " The skull presents the general chai-acters of the genus SMaldhis. Ihe only important difterence that I could find between it and the ■ specimen from the coast of Holland is in the foi-m of the orbital process of the frontal bone, which is narrower at its outer end ' " approaching more to the form characteristic of Physalus, althouo-h by no means so narrow as in this. The nasals (fig. 13, e, p. Ill) are Ion- and narrow, nearly flat on their upper surface, and shghtly shelving do^-n wards from the midcUe Une. Their anterior border is rathe? less produced near the middle line than at the sides— the reverse in this respect to the Zuyder Zee specimen. The tympanic bones are 4 -b long 3 -5 in greatest breadth, and 2"-5 thick. Their fonu is seen in the annexed woodcut (fig. 47). The lower jaw has a veix slight cur^■e and a low coronoid process, the highest part of which is 20 trom the hinder end of the bone. It is triangular in form rounded at the apex, with a base about 4" in breadth, and rism- about 2\ in height. The principal dimensions of the skull in inches are given in the foUowing Table, compared with those of the skulls of the two other specimens of the genus mentioned in this notice. n2 180 BAL^NOPTERIB^. 2 Length of skull in a straight line Breadth of condyles Breadth of exoccipitals Breadth of squamosals (greatest breadth of skull) Lengtli of supraoccipital Length of articular process of squamosal Orbital process of frontal, length Orbital process of frontal, breadth at base Orbital process of frontal, breadth at outer end Nasals, length Nasals, breadth of the two, at posterior end Nasals, breadth of the two, at anterior end Length of beak, from middle of cvu-ved border of maxil- "I lary to the tip of premaxilliry j Length of maxillary Projection of premaxillary beyond maxillary Greatest width of nasal aperture Breadth of niaxillaries at posterior end Breadth of maxillaries across orbital processes (foUow- "1 ing the curve) J Breadth of beak at base (following the curve) Breadth of beak at middle (following the em've) Breadth of maxillary at same point Breadth of premaxillary at same point Length of lower jaw in a straight line Height at coronoid process Height at middle ^ Amount of curve (greatest distance of the inner surface 1 of the jaw from a straight line drawn between the ex- V tremities) J 116 10^ 41 67 29* 22" 22 24^ 15 lOi 2" 6 82 90 6 10 11 63 42 22 1 "e^ 4 117 14 9* 8^ 79 10 26 40 21i 15 13 16 12 Gi 2i 4 53 57 5 6^ 9 43 30 16 4 3 78i 9" n 6 80 9 27 38 21 16 13 15 11 3 4 50 65 3 43 30 15 4 2i 76 9 " The atlas presents the characteristic features of this bone in other members of the genus in a very marked degree. The transverse process is particularly deep from above downwards, and much twisted. The spinal canal is contracted in the middle ; the articular surfaces for the axis are not confluent at their lower margins, but between them is a distinct, oval, transversely elongated facet, and another smaller round one is situated on the upper surface of a pointed triangular projection from the hinder border of the inferior surface of the bone, which runs under the body of the axis. There are thus four distinct articular sxirfaces in connexion with the second vertebra. The extreme width of the bone is 16|" ; the length of the inferior sivrfacc of the body 4"-4, including the triangular process, which is l"-5. The other dimensions are shown in the sketches (figs. 41 & 42). " The axis (fig. 43) has the usual form of this bone in the Fin- Whales. The odontoid process is represented by a sHght rounded elevation, with a depression in the centre ; and besides the two large lateral articular surfaces for the atlas, there are two small median facets, one on the lower part of the anterior and one on the inferior surface, corresponding to those above described in the first vertebra. 7. SIBBALDIUS. 181 The neural arch is high and massive, and the spine well developed. The lateral processes are large wing-like plates, directed somewhat backwards, with a regularly oval perforation rather above the middle of their base. The dimensions are given in the figure, which is drawn to scale, regardless of perspective. Fig. 41. Atlas ; anterior surface. " The third, fourth, and fifth vertebra) much resemble each other ; they have rounded oblong bodies, high triangular neural canals, spines gradually increasing in length, and well-developed upper and lower transverse processes completelj- united together at the ends, leaving large oval spaces between them. In the sixth the transverse processes do not meet by the space of 3 inches ; and I doubt if they ever would meet in the process of growth, on account of the different planes of their ends. The upper one is long, with its flat surface almost vertical ; the lower one, short and broad, with a stout conical tuberosity projecting forwards and downwards from its base, turns so completely on itself that its broad terminal end is directed hori- zontally ; it is, moreover, very nearly complete. The peculiar form of this process is highly characteristic of all the specimens I have examined of the genus SilihahUus, though it is best marked in the one under consideration, being the most mature. It should be men- tioned that, when the series is placed together, a gradual apjiroach to its form is seen in the lower processes of the antecedent vertebrae. The seventh cerN^cal vertebra lias no trace of an inferior transverse process. The thicknesses of the under surface of the bodies of the liist five cervical vertebra), and of the first two dorsal (without the epiphyses), are respectively 1-5, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 2, '2-2o, and 2-5 inches. The width of the first dorsal vertebra across the transverse processes is exactly the same as that of the last cer^•ical, 23" ; the second is 3" less. The transverse processes of the posterior dorsal and of the lumbar vertebra; arc very broad in the antero-posterior direction. 182 BALiENOrTEEIDiE. and the spines are high. In the second lumbar vertebra, which is the largest, the extreme width is 40" and the height 29". Fig. 42. Atlas ; imder smface. Fig. 43. Axis ; anterior sm-face. " The ribs generally are slender, the first much shorter, broader, and flatter than any of the others. The vertebral end of this is split to the depth of about G" into two flat broad plates, of which the anterior is slightly the longer ; this brings their articular sur- faces, when the rib is placed in its natural position (i. e. somewhat sloping backwards), exactly on a level, and proves that they must have articulated with the equal transverse processes of the seventh cervical and first dorsal vertebrae, and not with those of the latter and the second dorsal vertebra, which is 1^ inch shorter. This rib is 32\" in length in a straight line, 4^" wide at the middle, and 8" at the lower end ; in thickness at the middle it is l"-2. Its general form closely resembles the figure given by Dr. Gray (P. Z. S. 1864, p. 224) from a specimen in the Museum of the Eoyal College of Surgeons, but it is rather broader in proportion to the length. The second, third, and foui-th ribs have large articular heads and only /. SIIiliALDIUS. 183 Fisr. 4G Fig. 44. Fifth cervical vertebra ; anterior siu-face. Tig. 45. Sixth cervical vertebra ; anterior surface. Fii(/thfrom the nose, rectoral moderate, icith 4 short fitif/ers, of 4 or Q Joints. Veiiebrce 50. Cervical vertebra sometimes auchy- losed. Neural canal hroad, trif/omd, broader than high. Hibs 11 .11. Balfeuopteiina, or Beaked Whales. 8, BAL^NOPTERA. Balsenoptera, Sect. 1 (Balseiioptera), Grai/, Zool. Ereh. Sf Terr. 50. BaL-enoptera, Gray, P. Z. S. 1847, 89 ; Cat. Ce.tac. B. 31. 1850, 31 ; P. Z. S. 1864, 226; Ann. Sf Mag. N. H. 1864, xiv. 352; Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 393. Balpenoptera (pars), Lacepede, Ceiac. Pterobalfena (pars), Eschricht, Nord. Wcdlthiere, 1849, fol. Balfena (pars), Li)in. ; Mi'iUer, Zool. Dan. ; Illiger, Prodr. 242. Rorqualus, sp., Dekay ; F. Cuvier, Cetac. 321. Balfeua minimus, Knox, Cat. Whale, 14. Head elongate, flattened, throat and chest with deep longitudinal folds and very dilatile. The dorsal fins compressed, falcate, two- thii'ds the length of the body from the nose and behind the line above the orifices of generation. The pectoral fins moderate, one- eighth the length of the body, one-third the length of the body from the head, with 4 short fingers of few joints. The humerus short, thick. The radius nearly twice as long as the humerus. Lower jaw-bone moderate, with a distinct high conical coronoid process. Vertebrte 50 ; last very small. The first paii' of ribs undivided near the condyle. The lateral process of the second cervical vertebra elongate, pierced at the base ; of the thii'd, fourth, and fifth cervical elongate, slender, separate ; the lower with an angular bend below. The front ribs simple, thick, with only a slight swelling on the inner edge near the condyle. Tympanic bones obovate, short, ventricose. The lateral process of the second cervical vertebra expanded, broad, with a large ovate perforation in the middle of its base, the U2)i:)er and lower margins being broad and of nearly equal width, the upper being, if anything, rather the broader of the two, very unlike the lateral process of the same bone in PhysaJus. The neural arch high, acute, with a rather high subcircular canal for the spinal marrow. The bod}"- of the atlas vertebra oblong, transverse, with a subcylin- diieal lateral process produced from the middle of the side. " Total number of vertebrte 48-50. Eibs 11 pairs. Orbital pro- cess of frontal almost as broad at the outer end as the base. Nasal bones rather narrow and elongate, truncated at their anterior ends, 8. BALiENOPTEEA. 187 convex on the upper surface in both directions (fig. 13,/, p. 111). Kami of lower jaw much curved, and with a high pointed coronoid process. Cersical vertebrae usuall}- separate ; but this family character not unfrequently departed from by the union of the second and tliird, or the third and fourth, by their arches. Neural arches high ; spines moderately developed. Transverse process of atlas arising from the middle of the body, elongated, tapering, du-ected outwards and slightly upwards. Upper and lower transverse processes of axis and succeed- ing vertebrce, to the sixth inclusive, well developed. Those of the axis broad, tlat, and in the adult united at their extremity ; those of the other vertebrae slender, and never united at their extremity, except occasionally in the sixth and more rarely in the fifth vertebra. Head of the first rib simple ; capitular processes scarcely developed upon any of the ribs. Sternum longer than broad, having the form of an elongated cross (fig. 12, c, p.llO)."— i^Zou'f/-, P. Z. S. 1864, 394. The lateral processes of the cervical vertebrae are generally free and tapering at the tip ; but some of them are sometimes united, forming a ring. Eschricht described those of the fifth and sixth vertebrae as sometimes united. In the specimen in the Royal CoUege of Surgeons the lateral processes of the sixth ceiwical vertebra are united on one side and free on the other. In all these cases the form of the processes is not altered ; the end is only elongated and united. The cervical vertebrae are some- times quite free, as is the case with Hunter's specimen in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. The second and third vertebrae are often united by more or less of the surface of the neural arches ; and this seems to be the normal state. In the specimens from Cro- mer, lately acquii-ed by tbe Royal CoUege of Surgeons, the third and foiu-th cervical vertebrae are united by the neiu-al arches, and the second and third free. The elongated processes on the end of the front ribs have two muscles attached to them, one arising from each of the two neigh- bouring vertebrae. Eschricht, in his essay above cited, figured a foetus and a new-born specimen, which was 34 inches long, and gave the anatomy of it, with details of its skeleton (see Eschr. K. D. Vid. Selsk. lS4f), fig. p. 309). They have a single series of bristles parallel with the lips (see K. Dansk. Yid. Selsk. xi. t. 1 & 2). Tj^mpanic bones oblong, swollen, rounded above and below and at each end. They are figured in situ in the skull by Eschricht in the ' Danish Transactions,' vol. xii. t. 11. f. 2 f/ in the foetus, t. 9. f. 2 & 4r/, & t. 10. f. 2[/, in the more adult state. In the ' Royal Danish Transactions' for 1846, Eschricht gives a detailed comparison of the bones of the head of a fa-tal specimen (one 6^ feet) and one 34 feet long (see t. 9-11), and the details of the skeleton of a foetus 9 inches long (t. 14). The form of the cer- vical and other vertebrae of the skeleton seems to be nearh* identical with that of those of the adult animal. The lateral processes of the second cervical process, for example, are united into a broad expanded blade, with a perforation near the bodj' of the vertebra, wliich is so characteristic of the genus. 188 BAL^JfOPTEEID^. Eschricht figured the cranium of a B. rostrata from a foetus 9 inches long, an older foetus Gi feet long, and an older specimen 31 feet long (t. 9, t. 10, 1. 11, & t. 14), which show how much more rapidly the rostrum elongates in comparison with the size of the brain-case, the very unequal manner in which the bones enlarge as compared with each other, and how they anchylose, especially the very large size of the tympanic bones in the smallest foetus com- pared wdth these bones in the older specimen, and how they enlarge laterally and become more transverse and less oblique as the animal increases in size. In the foetal state the forearm-bones are slender and nearly t-nace as long as the humerus ; the longest fingers are almost as long as the forearm-bones ; the second and third and the first and fourth fingers are nearly equal in length ; the first finger has three, the second and third six or seven, and the fourth four phalanges. — Eschricht, Wallthiere, t, 7. f. d, D. 1. Balaenoptera rostrata. The Pil-e Whale. Black, beneath reddish white. Pectoral fin white near the base above. Bala3na rostrata, Midler, Prodr. ; O. Fahr. Faun. Grcenl. 40 ; Hunter, Phil. Tram. Ixxvii. t. 20-23, cop. E. M.t.4:; Turton, B. 1 auna, 16 ; Nilsson, Scand. Fauna, 632. Korqualus rostratus, Dekai/, Zool. New York Mus. 730, t. 30. f. 1. Balfena musculus (pars), Flem. B. A. 30 ; Jenyns, 3Ian. 47. Baltena Boops (pars), Flem. B. A. 31. Balaenoptera acuto-rostrata, Lacep. Cetac. ; Scoresby, Arct. Reg. i, 485. 1. 13. f. 2. Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata, Lesson, N. T. B. A. 202. Balaenoptera microcephala, Brandt, 3ISS. Balaena minimus borealis, Fjiox, Cat. Whale, 14. llorqualus minor, Knox, Jardine, Nat. Lib. 142. t. 7 ; Gaimard, Voy. Islande, Mamm. t. 13 (skuU), t. 14 (skull). Balaena borealis rostrata, Fischer, Syn. s. 25. Balaena Boops, Albers, Icon. Anat. 1822, t. 1 ; Catnper, Cetac. 74. t. 11, 12 ; Cat. Coll. Surg. 171. n. 1194, Ifimter's sjjec. ? ; Giesecke, Edinb. Encyclop. Balaenoptera Boops, Fin -backed Whale, Neicman, Zoohqist, i. 33, fig. ; Fleming, B. A. 31 ; Bell, Brit. Quad. 520. fig. p. 521,' from Hunter. Rorquahis Boops, F. Cuv. Cetac. 321. t. 20. Balaenoptera Pliysalus, Gray, Zool. E. S,- T. 18. Vaagehval, Eschricht, K. D. Vidensk. Selsk. xi. 1. 1, 2, and p. 286-299 (fetus and anat.). Balajnoptera rostrata. Gray, Zool. Ereb. ^- Terror, 50. t. 2 (skull), t. 1. f. 3 (baleen) ; Proc. Zool. Soc. 1847, 90 ; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 32; Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 227 ; Floicer, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864 (anat.). Pterobalaena minor, Eschricht, Nord. Wallthiere, 59, 1849 ; Van Beneden, Mhn. Acad. Roy. Bru.velles, xxxii. 36 ; Couch, Rep. Nat. Hist. Soc. Penzance, 1851 ; LilJjeborg, I. c. ; Mahngren, Arch. Nattirg. 1864. Pterobalfena minor et prostrata. Van Beneden, I. c. 463. Inhab. North Sea. Ascending the mouths of rivers. New York Bay (2>f^-«7/). Yalognes, France (CrVo^Vo^). Greenland. Norway. 8. BALiENOPTER.V. 189 ,Vv''w ^'^< Stuffed specimen : yoiuig. Thames at Deptford. Stuffed specimen : very young. Greenland. * Plates of baleen from a. Thames at Deptford. Figured in 'Zool. Erebus and Terror,' t. 1. f. 3. Skeleton. South Greenland. From Mr. Brandt's Collection. ^ ' f;™ /in I' Fi Atlas vertebra of lialanoptcra rostrata. Extreme \vidth 9 inches; height 91 inches. ^d- i'f-- ^'^ Fiff. 50. Second and third cervical vertebrae of Bal(pnopter