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Show 726 CAPT. D. GRAY ON THE BOTTLENOSE WHALE. [Dec. 19, of the College of Surgeons, and that of a young male to the University of Cambridge. The skull of a fcetal male, which was being towed overboard for the purpose of cleansing, was unfortunately lost; but next year it may be hoped that Captain Gray will have an opportunity of still further contributing to our knowledge of this interesting subject. The presence of spermaceti in the head of the Hyperoodon, though subsequently denied by other observers, was noticed in 1779 by Chemniz, who in his account of a male taken near Spitzbergen says, after speaking of the oil, " Ausserdem aber auch aus seinem Kopfe und den ubrigen Theilen einen Anker desjenigen reinsten Oels, so den Namen Wallrath oder Sperma ceti fiihret, gesammlet "'. Postscript.-Since the above note was communicated to the Society, I have received a letter from m y friend Mr. Robert Collett, of the Christiania Museum, giving some account of a specimen of Hyperoodon latifrons (as, according to the common belief, he names it) which was washed ashore at the Loffoden islands in April 1881 2. He describes the head as perfectly quadrangular, just like a " Kuf-fert" (portmanteau) with rounded angles, and altogether more like that of a Physeter than an ordinary Hyperoodon, the anterior part of the forehead being perpendicular, and the rostrum scarcely projecting beyond it. The body was proportionally slender as compared with the large head. It will be seen that this description exactly corresponds with Captain Gray's sketches (figs. 1-5, p. 728). With regard to these drawings it is important to observe that, as they were not drawn to scale, the bodies appear shorter and stouter than they would if composed from exact measurements, the reason being that, in any long object when seen from a single point of view, the effects of perspective diminish the length much more than the breadth. 2. Notes on the Characters and Habits of the Bottlenose Whale {Hyperoodon rostratus). By DAVID GRAY, Commander of the Whaling Steamer 'Eclipse.'' (Communicated by Prof. FLOWER, F.R.S., P.Z.S.) [Received November 28, 1882.] These Whales are occasionally met with immediately after leaving the Shetland Isles in March, and north across the ocean until the ice is reached, near the margin of which they are found in greatest numbers ; but they are seldom seen amongst it. Although it is not their nature to keep in amongst the ice, thev like to frequent the open bays, for the shelter it gives them from the sea. Sometimes a point of ice overlaps them; it is only then that they are seen going out again towards the ocean. They are also to be met with from the entrance of Hudson's Straits and up Davis Straits, as far as 70° north lat., and down the east side round Cape 1 Loc. cit. p. 185. '• See "Meddelelser o m Norges Pattedyrs i Aarene 1876-81," by R. Collett. |
