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Show 492 PROF, F L O W E R O N T H E DELPHINID^E. [Nov. 20, Museum, upon which Dr. Gray founded the species, are extremely meagre. I have therefore taken considerable pains to endeavour to ascertain whether the specimen itself can still be appealed to. In the 'Zoology of the Erebus and Terror,' p. 36 (1846), Dr. Gray, under the head of Lagenorhynchus acutus (D. eschrichtii, Schlegel, being given as a synonym), says :-" This species was first described by me from a skull in Brookes's Museum, which is now at Leydeu, and Mr. Schlegel has described it from a skeleton sent from the Faroe Islands." The statement that the original skull is " now at Ley den" is repeated in the 'Catalogue of Seals and Whales' in the British Museum, 1866. Judging from the extract quoted above, Schlegel apparently was not aware of the specimen being in tbe Leiden Museum in 1841, which is rather remarkable, as he was at that time, although not actually in charge of the collection, a member of the staff; but this is no proof that it was not there. With the obliging assistance of Dr. Jentink, in August last I carefully examined all the Dolphins' skulls in the collection, with a view to ascertain whether Gray's type skull is there or not. A difficulty at once arose from the fact that none of the skulls have any number or mark upon them by which their history could be traced with certainty. They are all placed upon wooden stands, to which they are fixed in such a way that they can be readily taken off for examination and replaced ; the names and indications of origin are written on cards fixed on the stands, and there is unfortunately no guarantee that the latter may not have been changed, as in some cases it is quite evident has been done. Looking through the skulls, I found one which had been recently labelled "D. tursio," which evidently belonged to the species in question. There was no history on the card or any indication of its origin on the skull itself. The idea at once occurred that this might be the sought-for specimen. Comparing it with the figure and the description in the ' Spicilegia,' the agreement was quite as close as could be expected. The teeth, as near as they could be counted, were of the right number, the length of the beak (8 inches) and its breadth at base (4|) were exact; the only difference was in the length of the cranial portion of the skull, which Dr. Gray gives as 7 inches, and which I made as 8; but this is a difficult measurement to take exactly, especially if taken rapidly, as we know was Dr. Gray's habit. The absence of all indication upon the skull itself of its history in no way militates against its coming from Brookes's Museum; on the contrary, rather corroborates it, as the other skull in the collection, that of D. longirostris, also described by Gray in the ' Spicilegia,' and which Schlegel himself mentions in his ' Abhandlungen ' (p. 19) as having been received from the collection of Dr. Brookes, is equally without indication of its provenance, and is otherwise in much the same general condition. We have thus evidence from published writings of two Dolphins' skulls passing from the Brookesian to the Leiden Museum-the type of D. acutus, as stated by Gray, and the type of D. longirostris, as stated by Schlegel. Of the identification of the latter there is no doubt; its characters are quite unlike |