IIARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



87 



Nat. Hist." (3rd series) for August, 1864, vol. xiv. 



P- 133. 



The last species on the British list, the White- 

 beaked Dolphin {D. albirostris, J. E. Gray), fig. 64, 

 is also of rare occurrence : it is a native of the North 

 Atlantic, but little is known of its habits. A dolphin 

 of this species was killed at Hartlepool in 1S34, but 

 not recognized at the time : the skull is now in the 

 Cambridge Museum. It was, I believe, first de- 

 scribed as British by Mr. Brightwell, under the name 

 of D. tursio, from a specimen taken off Yarmouth in 

 1846. His paper, with a figure from a drawing 

 made by Miss Brightwell, will be found in the "Ann. 

 and Mag. of Nat. Hist.," first series, January, 1846, 

 vol. xvii. p. 21. Another specimen was shot by 

 Mr. H. M. Upcher, near Cromer, and will be found 

 recorded by Dr. Gray in the same Magazine, for April, 

 1866, vol. xvii. p. 312. A fourth was taken at the 

 mouth of the Dee, in December, 1862 ; and a fifth 

 on the south coast in 1S71. A few Continental 

 specimens are also recorded. 



In September, 1875, a young female was taken off 

 Grimsby, and in March, 1876, a young male was 

 captured off Lowestoft. The first-named of these 

 latter formed the subject of a communication to the 

 Zoological Society of London, by Dr. Cunningham, 

 of Edinburgh, and the latter of a subsequent notice 

 Mr. J. W. Clark, of Cambridge. Both papers will be 

 found printed in the " Proceedings of the Zoological 

 Society " for 1876, p. 679, et seq., and figures of the 

 two specimens are given on the same plate. Through 

 the kindness of Mr. Clark I am enabled to give a 

 figure of the Lowestoft specimen (fig. 64). Mr. Clark's 

 figure differs considerably from Dr. Cunningham's 

 both in outline and in the disposal of colour, being 

 much more slender, and showing considerably less 

 white ; both, however, differ still more from Mr. 

 Brightwell's figure than they do from each other. Mr. 

 Clark's specimen was glossy black on the upper part, 

 and creamy white on the under ; the upper lip white, 

 with a black spot at the tip, and a few irregular pale 

 grey cloudings on its surface ; the coloration exceed- 

 ingly beautiful, and such as no drawing could give 

 an adequate idea of. Mr. Brightwell's specimen had 

 the whole upper part and sides rich purple-black, 

 the lips, throat, and belly cream-colour, varied by 

 chalky white. This specimen, an adult, measured 

 8 ft. 2 in. in length, Mr. Clark's 5 ft. $\ in., and Dr. 

 Cunningham's 4 ft. 2 in. The teeth vary in number, 

 but are about twenty-six on either side each jaw. 



This species concludes the short list of the twenty- 

 two British Cetacea, of which I have endeavoured to 

 give a popular, but I hope at the same time, so far as 

 it is at present known, a reliable account, my principal 

 object, as I stated in my introductory remarks, being 

 to induce those residing in suitable localities to take 

 up the study of this interesting family, and to assist 

 in the identification of those specimens which from 

 time to time are cast upon our shores. 



MICROSCOPY. 



The American Microscopical Journal. — We 

 have just received parts 1 and 2 of vol. iii. of the 

 A merican Journal of Microscopy and Popular Science, 

 and we have much pleasure in calling attention to 

 this unpretending periodical. It is not like our 

 own quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science, in- 

 tended for specialists only, but addresses itself to all 

 who are anxious to know what is being done in those 

 branches of natural history requiring the aid of the 

 microscope. This periodical started into existence 

 in 1876, the annual subscription being 50 cents. : 

 with the commencement of the present year that has 

 been increased to 1 dollar, and the work enlarged 

 from 16 pp. to 24 pp. Amongst its contributors are 

 Professor H. Smith, of Hobart College, N. Y. (the 

 celebrated diatomist), Professor Hitchcok, J.Edwards 

 Smith, Zeus Zundlach, and others. A subscription 

 of 5s., which may be sent in English stamps, entitles 

 the subscriber to a copy every month, post-free. 

 Mr. Charles Stodder, 131, Devonshire Street, Boston, 

 has consented to receive subscriptions. 



Machine for Mounting. — I send you a sketch 

 of a little mounting machine, which I have found 

 very useful. A is a zinc vessel to hold hot water ; 



Fig. 65. Machine for Mounting Slides. 



B are brass rods, topped with screws ; C are nuts ; 

 and D are brass springs. By turning up or down 

 the nuts C, any degree of pressure can be obtained 

 upon the thin glass. — Albert Smith. 



A new Posting-box for Slides. — A new 

 style of posting, or as our American brethren call it, 

 "mailing" box contrived by Dr. R. H. Ward, has 

 proved successful beyond anything tried before. An 

 account of it is therefore published in the hope that 

 it may be made more generally useful. In the boxes 

 hitherto used for posting slides, the slides are occa- 

 sionally found shattered to pieces, while the box con- 

 taining them is quite uninjured or only a little 

 strained. In some boxes containing six or twelve 

 slides, half or more of the slides have been found 

 broken in a perfectly sound box. This seemed to in- 

 dicate not the effect of a crushing blow but the result 

 of the inertia of the slide itself, which was only sup- 

 ported by the wooden racks at the ends and more or 

 less perfectly by the cotton stuffed around it. An 



