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Show 474 PROF. FLOWER ON THE DELPHINID.E. [Nov. 20, is from the Cape of Good Hope, and is about 4 feet long, with rather peculiar distribution of colours, the greater part of the surface being black, but with very distinct "white markings beneath, consisting of a transverse band in front of, and a triangular spot behind each of, the pectoral fins ; and of a longitudinal line on the belly, which separates just beneath the dorsal fin into three equal forks, the central one of which is continued in its direct course, while the lateral ones extend obliquely up the sides." These colours are no longer to be distinguished upon the specimen. The dorsal fin is low and triangular, its base measuring 6| inches, its height 3, its anterior edge 5, and its posterior edge 4 inches ; the latter is nearly straight. The caudal fin is of a crescentic form, not deeply excavated in the middle behind. The pectoral fins are small, and rather ovate than falcate in form. Two skeletons referred to this species, both from the Cape, are contained in the Leiden Museum, and there is one at Oxford ; there are also a skeleton and four skulls at Paris ; but it is at present not represented by osteological specimens in the British Museum. The vertebral formulae of these skeletons are as follows :-Leiden, No 1-C. 7, D. 11 (two pairs of ribs probably lost), L. 18, C. 29 = 65. Leiden, No. 2 - C . 7, D. 13, L. 15, C. 30 = 65. Oxford-C. 7, D. 13, L. & C. 46 = 66. Paris (according to Gervais), C. 7, D. 12, L. 17, C. 26 = 62 (probably not complete). The skeletons appear all to be those of rather young animals, and are all between 4 feet and 4 feet 2 inches long. The skulls vary in length from 270 to 293 millim. The numbers of the teeth of the different individuals are al' 2i» i9' a n d 30" Of the four skulls in the Paris Museum now assigned to this species, and which certainly appear alike, one has no locality; one is from the Cape and is marked " D. capensis, F. Cuvier, Dus-sumier, 1827;" one is "Des mers de la Nouvelle Zelande, 1841, Hombron ;" and the fourth from " Otago (Mr. Hutton), Voyage de M. Filhol." As the skull remains concealed in the skin of the type of this species, now in the British Museum, I do not know the reasons for which these skeletons and skulls were originally referred to it, but, judging by what can be seen of the teeth of that (probably young) individual, there seems no need to doubt the identification. In the 58th part of the ' Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes,' bearing the date of September, 1829, Fre'd. Cuvier describes and figures the external characters of a Dolphin brought from the Cape of Good Hope by M . Dussumier. In general form and size, and in the characters of the dorsal fin, it bears a considerable resemblance to Gray's D. heavisidii; but its colour is said to be entirely black, except a white spot (not shown in the figure) on each side. The name of " Marsouin du Cap,'" Delphinus capensis, is assigned to it *. I presume it is to this specimen that the skull in the Paris Museum marked " D. capensis, F. Cuvier, Dussumier, 1827," but now assigned to D. heavisidii, belongs. The same animal appears in 1 This is not the B. capensis of Gray's ' Spicilegia Zoologica.' p. 2 (1828). |
