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Show l87/.] MR. H. LEE ON RISSo's GRAMPUS. 809 ft. in. Anterior edge of upper lip to angle of mouth .. 0 9\ Length of eye-aperture 0 1 Pectoral fin ; length from junction of anterior edge with body to tip 1 2 Pectoral fin, from junction of posterior edge with body to tip 0 11 Pectoral fin, breadth at base 0 5 Dorsal fin, height in perpendicular line 0 9 Dorsal fin from base to tip, following curve of anterior edge \ g Breadth of caudal fin 1 9 Sex.-Male. The number of vertebra"* is precisely the same as that given by Professor Flower as found in an individual of this species, 10 feet long, taken in a mackerel-net near the Eddystone Lighthouse, on the 28th of February, 1870; and also exactly coincides with the number found by M . Fischer in a specimen of Grampus griseus, 9 feet 2 inches long, stranded in 1867 on the coast of La Gironde, France, and taken to Arcachon. Although the absence of teeth in the upper jaw is constant and persistent, the dentition in the lower jaw varies considerably in this species. In Cuvier's specimen, described by him as Delphinus griseus from a skeleton and drawing sent to the Paris Museum from Brest, there were only two teeth on each side of the mandible, all much worn. In M . Fischer's specimen, already referred to, the dentition was the same as that of our Brighton Grampus; and of four others mentioned by D'Orbigny as having been stranded near 1'Ai-guillon, La Vendee, and recognized by F. Cuvier as identical with the Brest specimen, one, a young one 7 feet long, had the same number of teeth, namely four on each side of the lower jaw ; whilst two older ones had respectively six and seven, blunt, carious teeth similarly placed. In Professor Flower's adult individual, there were g-*-^ If the identity of " Risso's Dolphin " with Grampus griseus he accepted, the variation extends even to =-*-=• The colour of our Grampus from Sidlesham was the same as of those described by D'Orbigny, and of the specimen which ran aground, in the Isle of Wight, in the spring of 1843, the skull of which is in the British Museum-namely, bluish-black above and dirty white beneath. From the prevalent colour of this Isle-of- Wight specimen being black and not grey, Dr. J. E. Gray changed its specific name to " cuvieri," considering that the word griseus gave a wrong impression of the animal, and that Cuvier was induced to call it so by the bad colouring of the drawing sent to him. Professor Flower has so fully described this species and every thing of interest relating to it in his very complete and elaborate paper published in the 'Transactions of the Zoological Society,' vol. viii. part 1, March 1872, that I need only refer, for further information, to that admirable memoir. |