38 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XV, 



ON TWO CETACEANS FROM TRAVANCORE, 



By H. S. Ferguson. 



WITH A NOTE ON THE SAME, 



By R. Lydekker, b.a., f.r.s., f.g.s., &c. 



( With plates A <y B.) 



(Bead before the Bombay Natural History Society on 5th February 1903.) 



On the 14th of February, 1901, word was brought to ine that 

 a whale had been stranded on the beach in the neighbourhood of 

 Trivandrum, I at once sent Mr. Shaukara Narayana Pillay, the head 

 taxidermist of the Museum, with men to secure the animal and 

 make the necessary arrangements for skinniug it and obtaining its 

 skeleton. He made the following measurements and notes on the 

 spot : — 



Length, taken in a straight line from tip of snout 



to the bottom of the notch in the flukes 

 Greatest circumference 



Do. do. at genital. 



Do. do. at anus 



Caudal fin from tip to tip ... 

 Dorsal fin (falcate) 



Do. vertical height... 

 Flippers (falcate) ... 

 Blow-hole on the top of the head situated a little to the left of the 

 middle line 21 inches from the tip of the snout. Head not distinct 

 from neck. Beak not distinct, colour smooth glistening black through- 

 out. After skinning it, he made the following notes on the internal 

 organs : — 



Heart from root of aorta to apex ... ... ... 1ft. 4in. 



Do. circumference ... u ... ... ... 2ft. 5in. 



Liver lobe (a) 2ft. 2in., (6) 2ft. lin. 

 Kidneys, right 1ft. 6in., left 1ft. 2im 



Stomach resembling a wide sack 32im long and 15in. broad. 

 Intestines 109ft. 4in. long. 

 The stomach contained two fish, one 4ft. lin., the other 1ft. tun. 

 long, in a half-digested state. 



To enable the skin to be set up and at the same time to retain the 

 skeleton complete, a cast of the skull was taken and was utilisod in set- 



