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Show 1871.] MR. P. L. SCLATER ON CERTAIN PELICANS. 631 completely destroyed; but, thanks to the energy and skill of our articulator Mr. Henry Barnes, it has been so far restored that a tolerably correct idea may be formed of its original shape. The lower jaw was very much broken ; there appeared no teeth above the gum ; but after removing the flesh I found a very curious looking tooth in its alveolus, the points of which penetrated the bone on either side. The number of cervicals is three anchylosed and four free. Nine pairs of ribs, and a very small pair which appear to have no attachment. Five of the ribs join on to the sternum, which consists of five pieces. The lumbars and caudals amount to twenty-nine, with nine V-bones attached to them. The pectoral limb is of moderate size, bearing four fingers, with five, five, four, and three joints respectively. The number of carpal bones is six." Photographs of the skeleton, which accompanied Mr. Krefft's letter, were exhibited. Professor Flower stated that, as far as could be ascertained from the photographs, the skull of the new specimen agreed so closely with that described by Gray under the name of Ziphius layardii (P. Z. S. 1865, p. 358) that he believed that they should be referred to the same species, the differences of development of the teeth being probably due to the influence of sex or age. He trusted that before long Mr. Krefft would furnish the Society with an accurate and detailed description of this very interesting skeleton. Professor Flower, F.R.S., read a memoir on the classification of the Ziphioid Whales (Ziphiinee), which he regarded as a subfamily of the Physeteridee*, and in which he proposed to recognize four genera, namely Hyperoodon, Ziphius, Mesoplodon, and Berardius. To this was added a complete description of a skeleton of Berardius arnouxi, which had lately been received from New Zealand by the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, through Dr. J. Haast, F.R.S. This paper will be printed in the Society's ** Transactions.' The following papers were read :- 1. Additional Remarks on certain Species of Pelicans. B y P. L. S C L A T E R , M.A., F.R.S., Secretary to the Society. [Received October 4, 1871.] (Plate LI.) In May, 1868, I had the honour of reading before the Society some notes on the Pelicans, principally based upon the observation of the specimens of these birds living in the Society's collection!. * Cf Trans. Zool. Soc. vi. p. 113. t See Proc. Zool. Soc. 1868, p. 264 et seq. |
