** D orsal F in behind th e mid d le o f th e back, tria n g u la r.
T h e B e a k e d H y p e r o o d o n . Hyperoodon rostratuni.
Blackish ; pectoral nearly J , au d dorsal | the length
from the tip of th e beak ; blowers lunate, concave in front.
Var. 1. Black above and below; vertebræ 46, 11 lumbar
and 19 caudal. “ Blowers concave towards th e head, rath
e r in front o f the eye ; p alate smooth ; ” Wesmael.
In h a b . N o rth Sea.
Hyperoodon rostratum, Wesmael, Acad. B r n x . 1840,
x iii. t. 1, 2 .
Balæna rostrata, C hemnitz, B e r lin B e s c h .i\. 183, hence
De lphinus Chemnitzianus, Blainv.
L ength, e n t i r e , ......................... 6'70 meters.
„ to blowers, ................ 1‘24
„ to e y e ,.......................... 1'06
„ to point of dorsal, 4'40
„ o f p e c to ra l, 0‘70
„ to vent, ................ 5T7
Breadth of p e c to ra l,............. T40
„ e ffa c e , ............. 0'86
C ircumference,......................... 3'76
Var. 2. Bla ckish brown, beneath brownish white. Vertebræ
45 ; 12 lumbar and 17 caudal, F. Cuv.
Boltle-nose Wha le o f Da le , H u n te r , Ph il. Ixsvii.
t. 19, copied Bo n n a t. Cetac. t. 1 1 , / 3. Be ll, B r it. Quad.
2 9 2 ,/.
De lphinus H unteri, Desm.
D. diodon, Lacep.
D . bidentatus, B o n n a t. fr o m H u n te r.
Hyperoodon, Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 321, t. 24, f . 19, 21, copied
from
B. à museau pointu. Camper, Cetac. 78, i. 13— 16.
Cetodiodon Hu n teri, Jacob, Dtibiin Phil. Jour. 1825, t.
Hyperoodon, Thompson, Mag. N . H is t. 1838, 221.
Annals 8s Mag. N . H . 1846.
In hab. North Sea. Thames, jHîtiiier. Humber, TAoffip-
son.L
ength, entire, 21 feet. Skeleton, Mus. Col. Surg.
T h e skull o f this specimen is about 45 inches long, and
the elevated plates o f th e maxillary bone are thin, leaving
a broad space between them, in front of th e blowers,
and as high as the frontal crest.
B y the kindness o f my friends, Mr. Pearson, o f th e Hull
P hilosophical Society, Mr. Ball, of Dublin, and Mr. W.
ITiompson, of Belfast, who have sent me various detailed
drawings of the head of th e Hyperoodons taken off the British
and Irish coasts, in their possession; _they appear
Var. 3. Blackish gray, pale r on th e belly and round the
ey e s; u pper p a rt o f lower jaw yellowish m a rb le d ; teeth
none ; the edge o f the lower jaw' shuts into a corresponding
groove in th e u pper jaw '; blowers lunate, with the
concavity in front, exactly over th e eye, 6 iu. by 3.
Hyperoodon, “ Voight's Mem. t. ” F. Cuv. Cetac. 245.
In h ab . North Sea, Kiel. Skull, Kiel. B o t. Card.
Length, e n t i r e , ...................... 20-6 feel.
„ o fb e ak , ............. P 9
„ to e y e ,....................... 4 2
fr. blow'er to dorsal 12'0
„ o f dorsal,
„ o f p e c to r a l,..............
„ fr. dorsal to caudal
Breadth of beak, .............
„ o f p e c to ra l,...............
„ o f ta i l ,........................
H e ig h t of dorsal, .............
Circumference,......................
l i
2-10
6-2
TO
0-8
6-2
T4
13-0
all to belong to one species, the same as H u n te r’s specimens
in th e College of Surgeons, and the skull figured
by Camper and Cuvier. These materials have
made me quite satisfied th a t the skull o f H . latifrons
must b e th e remains o f a perfectly distinc t sp e c ie s : it not
only differs from this in th e thickness and solidity of the
crest, b u t in th e crest being much higher th an th e hinder
p a rt o f th e skull, while in all the heads referred to, the
crest is o f th e same height with the frontal ridge. The
skeleton which h a s lately been added lo th e Anatomical
Museum o f P aris agrees with the above-named specimens
in these particnlars.
T h e dorsal fin is said to be 12 feet from the blower, but
th a t makes the body too long for the measurement.
Desmarest and Lesson have mistaken th e u p p e r for the
lower jaw , in Chemnitz’ description, {Desm. Mam . 520.
Lesson, Matn. 427. Cetac. 120); and M. F . Cnvier has not
well understood it, as pointed out by M. Wesmael, I. c.,
and Illiger makes the same mistake with regai-d to his
species. ^
This species h a s been well described by M. Dumortier •
and by Mr. W. Thompson, o f Belfast, in the ‘ Annals and
Magazine o f Natural History,’ 1846.
Phijseter bidens (Sowerby) has been referred to this genus,
b u t the form of the head and position of the fins, the
teeth, and the form of the skull, show it is a Z ip h iu s .
Tbe C o r s ic a n H y p e r o o d o n . Hyperoodon Doumetii.
Hyperoodon, Doumet, B u i. Soc. Cuvier. 1842, 207, t.
L / 2 .
Jaws paved with acute tuberc les; dorsal f the length
from the tip of th e jaw s : blowers lunate, with the convexity
in front.
Inhab. Corsica.
“ Jaw s toothless, b u t paved with small, long and acute
tubercular granulations; lower jaw with 2 rather longish,
acute, slightly arched and longitudinally grooved teeth in
fro n t; la r ju x with a kind of funnel a t the base o f the
tongue, like the beak o f a duck, or rather of a spoonbill, 5^
inches lo n g ; gape small ; beak conical; eyes small, near
middle of h e a d ; blowers lunate, with the points directed
backwards; pectoral fin 19 inches long, 6| wide; dorsal
nearly 8 inches high, 49^ inches from the tail ; the tail is
broad, lobes equal.” Doumet.
According to this description th e dorsal fin o f this species
must be further back th an in any other o f the genus,
and the pavement of the jaws is quite peculiar. I t agrees
with Dale and Baussard’s descriptions in the form o f the
blower, b u t differs from them in th e po.sition o f the dorsal.
*** Dorsal f i n posterior, oblong, truncated a t th e e n d f
Jaw s curved u p . Diodon, Lesson.
D e sm a k e s t ’s H y p e r o o d o n . Hyperoodon Desmarestii.
Delphinus Desmarestii, Risso, Europ. Me rid. iii. 24, t.
2 ,f . 3. F. Cuv. Cetac. 159.
Inhab. Nice, common, March and September.
“ Steel-gray, with numerous, irregular, white streaks,
beneath while ; body thicker in th e middle ; tail slender,
long, keeled, rounded on the belly; head not swollen, en d ing
in a long n o s e ; u pper jaw shorter, toothless, lower
much longer, b e n t up, and with two large conical tee th at
the e n d ; tee th nicked near the lip ; th e eyes small, o v a l;
blowers large, sem ilu n ar; pectoral fins short, dorsal rather
beyond th e middle of the back, nearly above the vent; the
caudal fin broad, festooned. Length nearly 16 feet. It
differs from D. Diodon of H u n te r in the forehead n o t b e ing
swollen, and in the lower jaw being produced and bent
up, the pectoral being pointed, the dorsal more obtuse, and
the body being white-streaked.”
This species is only known by the above account ex trac
ted from Risso. F . Cuvier plac ed it in th e restricted
genus Delphinus. Risso appears more correctly to have
compared it with Hyperoodon, b u t it differs from th a t genus
in several particula rs, especially in the form of the
forehead and o f the dorsal fin.
Lesson (Tab. R. A. 200) forms o f this species, with
Physeter bidens, Sowerby, the subgenus Diodon.
The 1-Ie .avy-h e a d e d H y p e r o o d o n . Hyperoodon latifrons.
Tab.
Skull large, heavy, solid, the reflexed p a rt of th e maxillary
bones very thick an d thickened internally, so as nearly
lo touch each other in front o f the blower, much higher
th an the hinder part o f the skull.
Inhab. North Sea. Orkneys, B r it. Mus.
This head is so different from any of those figured by
Camper, Cuvier, Baussard &c., th a t I am inclined to consider
it as distinct. Its measurements are as follows : —
Length o f skull (wanting th e end) 62 inches.
He ig h t o f skull behind, .... 42 inches.
Delphinus densirostris, Desm. Nouv. Diet. N . ix. 178.
Mam. 522, note.
Only described from a fragment of a jaw , 9 inches long,
24 inches high, and 2 inches broad a t the widest part,
straight, pyrainidical, triangular a t th e end, and without
any teeth or cavity for any tooth in th e lower jaw. I t is
very heavy and dense. P robably the end o f a Hyperoodon.
One o f these species may probably be the Goose-beaked
Whale of P ontoppidan, His t. N a t. Norway, chap. v. 123,
Z i p h iu s , Cuvier, Oss. Foss.
Diodon, Lesson, Bell. Anodon, Lesson.
Head contracted behind ; nose produced, n o t separated
from the forehead; eyes moderate ; blowers on crown lu nate
; teeth two, largo, compressed, in the middle o f the
lower jaw ; throat with two diverging furrows ; body elong
a te ; pectoral fins small, low down, oval, ta p e rin g ; dorsal
falcate, behind the middle o f the b o d y ; .skull-nose elongated,
produced, keeled on each s id e ; skull-cavity sm all; forehead
h ig h ; hinder wing of th e maxilla expanded, horizo
n ta l; palate smooth ; lower jaw broad behind, narrowed
and b en t down in front of the large lateral teeth.
This genus is very like Delphinorhynchus, b u t is easily
known by th e peculiar form aud large size o f tlie tee th in
the middle o f each side o f th e low’er jaw. Cuvier eslablished
the genus on three fossil fragments o f heads :
1. Z. curvirostris, Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 350, t. 27, f . 3.
2. Z. Iatirostris, Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 352, i. 27, f . 4—8.
3. Z. longirostris, Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 356, t. 27, f . 9, 10.
Cuvier remarks, describing the first head, th a t “ celte
tê te a, comme ou voit, de grands rapports avec le Cachalot,
e t encore de plus grands avec l’H yperoodon. E lle ne diffère
de ce dernier que parce que les maxillaires ne redressent
p o in t sur les côtés du museau en cloisons verticales,
e t que l’espece de m ur de derrière les narines ne se borne pas
à s’elever verticalment, mais qu ’il se recourbe pour former
un demi dome au dessus de les cavités.”— Oss. Foss. v. 352.
S o w e r b y ’s Z i p h i u s .
Tab.
Ziphius Sowerbiensis.
P hyseter bidens, Sowerby, B r it. Mis. t. Icon. ined.
Mus. B r it. t.
Diodon bidens, B e ll, B r it. Quad. 497, fig . cop. Sowerlg.
De lphinus Sowerbii, J a rd in , N a t. L ib . t. 12, cop. Sowerby.
D. Sowerbiensis, Blainv.
D. Sowerbeyi, Desm.
Delphinorhvnchus bidens, Grau, Ann. 8c May. N . H.
1846.
Black, gray b e n e a th ; lower jaw moderately broad b e hind,
and gradually narrower and slightly b en t down in
front of the teeth.
In h ab . North Sea. Elginshire, Brodie, 1800.
Length of entire animal 16 feet, circumference 11 feet.
Besides th e beautiful figure engraved in Sowerby’s
‘ British Miscellany,’ there i.s a drawing of the head as sent
by Mr. Brodie, made by Mr. Sowerby, and exhibited by
him a t one o f Sir Joseph Banks’s Sunday-evening parties,
now preserved in the Banksian collection iu the British
Museum. The skull was preserved in Mr. Sowerby’s
Museum, in Mead’s Place, and w'hen distributed a t his
death, Mr. James Sow'erby informs me it was purchased bv
the Rev. Dr. Buckland, the Dean of Westminster, and
sent to one of th e museums in Oxford. 1 have examined
these collections with Mr. Hugh Strickland, b u t have
not been able to discover it. F ortunately, while in Mr.
Sowerby’s possession, M. De Blainville, wlien on a visit to
England, made a slight sketch o f the skull, which I discovered
in his portfolio, and he has kindly sent me a
viging o f this sketch (which has been reduced in t a b / “
which has enabled me to determine th at it be-
^ to the genus Z ip h iu s o f Cuvier, before only
known in a fossil state. Before I was so fortunate
as to discover tbe di-awing o f the skull, I was induced
to regard this species, from th e lateral position of the
teeth, to be tlie same as the Delphinorhynchus microp