HARD WICKE'S S CIENCE- G O SSI P. 



59 



angry snap, while from each tooth stood out laterally 

 two or three large barnacles, giving it a wild and 

 extraordinary appearance. Of these cirripedes only 

 parts of the peduncles remained when I got posses- 

 sion, but, as the captors said, they were not common 

 barnacles (Lepas Anatifera), so well known to all 

 dwellers on the sea-coast ; I am inclined to believe 

 they were another well-known species {Conchoderma 

 Aurita). The presence of these barnacles seems to 

 discountenance an opinion which some might rashly 

 entertain, that the sharp strong teeth, if not confined 

 to the male, were used to impale the animals' prey, 

 while being crushed by the powerful beak ; but if 

 such were the case, the impudent and daring guests 

 would be rubbed off before they could become firmly 

 fixed to their strange abode, so close to the maw of 

 their monstrous host. On the other hand, the ex- 

 tremely sharp point of the tooth would seem to 

 indicate constant use. As to the colour of the 

 animal, the skin on the head of the Fermoyle speci- 

 men was of a glossy satiny black, badly represented 

 in the photograph, owing to the reflection of light, 

 but I cannot now speak with certainty of the mouths 

 proper and the tongue. In the Brandon Pier speci- 

 men I cannot speak of the head, but the deep pha- 

 ryngeal pouch was of the usual reddish colour of 

 mucous membrane. I obtained a few square pieces 

 with the natural skin, not torn or gnawed, black and 

 glossy, but vermicularly marked with white streaks, 

 up and down and across, in irregular network. Many 

 of the "streaks bore a singular resemblance to old 

 cicatrices — scars from greedymarine warriors, inflicted, 

 perhaps, by grampuses or sharks. Though I will 

 vouch for it that Ziphius himself, if angry or jealous, 

 could give a sharp nip to an enemy or rival, yet I do 

 not believe that these teeth were given for attack or 

 defence ; if fixed at the point of the beak, they would 

 be powerful instruments for either species of warfare. 

 One of the spectators asserts, that when first stranded, 

 the unhappy animal "roared like a bull." Another 

 insists that he was perfectly silent. In this, as in 

 almost every case, I would be inclined to believe the 

 less sensational witness. 



A recital of the synonyms applied to our long- 

 beaked friend — ungallantly assuming that the tooth- 

 less specimens are the females — would fail to interest 

 your readers. Diodon, Physeter, Delphinorynchus, 

 Mesodiodon, Dioplodon, Mesoplodon, are a few of 

 the jaw-breaking epithets, dangerous to any jaw less 

 mighty than its own! "Ziphius Sowerbii," like 

 Aaron's Rod, has swallowed the others. 



My friend, Mr. William Andrews, the zealous and 

 learned naturalist who has done so much for Irish 

 Natural History, and especially for that of West 

 Kerry, has given them all, and much information 

 besides, in an excellent paper read to the " Royal 

 Irish Academy," descriptive of Brandon Ziphius No. I, 

 to which I may refer all readers for information be- 

 yond the scope of my " gossip." 



I placed the few fragments of skeleton No. i at the 

 disposal of Lord Ventry, and of No. 2 at the disposal 

 of Mr. Andrews, and I believe they are now in the 

 museum of the " Royal Dublin Society." 



J. W. Busteed. 



THE SEALS AND WHALES OF THE 

 BRITISH SEAS. 



No. VIII. 



By Thomas Southwell, F.Z.S., &c 



ONE more British Ziphioid is known, Sowerby's 

 Whale {Mesoplodon Sowerbiensis, De Blain- 

 ville) ; it was first described from a specimen which 

 came ashore at Brodie, Elginshire, in 1800, and has 

 since been found three times in Ireland ; there is also 

 a skull in the Museum of Science and Art at Edin- 

 burgh which belonged to a specimen believed to have 

 been captured somewhere on the Scotch coast ; the 

 remains of five others are preserved in various 

 Continental museums. 



Of the individual which came on shore on the 

 coast of Kerry, in March, 1864, Mr. Andrews has 

 given a description in the " Transactions of the Royal 

 Irish Academy," for April, 1867. Fortunately it 

 came under the notice of Dr. Busteed, of Castle 

 Gregory, who being interested in zoology, and aware of 

 the great importance of the occurrence, photographed 

 the head in several positions while it was yet fresh : 

 Dr. Busteed's photographs were reproduced in the 

 Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. The head 

 had unfortunately been removed immediately behind 

 the frontal portion of the skull, the base of which is 

 lost, as also the other parts of the skeleton. The total 

 length of the animal was about fifteen feet, the two 

 teeth largely developed and projecting like the tusks 

 of a boar ; these teeth are believed to be developed 

 only in the males. On the under part of the throat 

 the V-shaped furrow was very conspicuous. Sowerby's 

 specimen was coloured black above, and nearly white 

 below. The skin smooth like satin. ' ' Immediately 

 under the cuticle the sides were completely covered 

 with white vermicular streaks in every direction, 

 which at a little distance appeared like irregular cuts 

 with a sharp instrument." 



The remaining family, Delphinida, as has been 

 said, is a very numerous one, it has ten representatives 

 in the British fauna, contained in seven genera, 

 the first of which, according to the arrangement I 

 have adopted, is that of Monodon. The Narwhal 

 {Afonodon monoceros, Linn. ) is a native of the Polar 

 seas, seldom leaving the ice ; stragglers have occurred 

 three times on the British coast, one in 1648 in the 

 Firth of Forth, another came ashore alive at Boston, 

 in 1800 ; the third was taken in Shetland in 1S08. 

 This species is very numerous in the frozen seas 

 to the north of latitude 65 , and is remarkable 



