610 Observations on a rare British Dolphin. 



to clear up some doubts as to the identity of the small bottle- 

 nose whale of Hunter, and Delph. Delphis of the schools ; 

 and likewise whether Delph. truncatus of Montague is the 

 Delph. Tnrsio of Fabricius, or ought rather, from the short- 

 ness of its muzzle, to be referred to the Phocaean of Cuvier. 



On the 3rd of September, 1838, whilst the Rev. Mr. Kin- 

 sey and a party were sailing off Torquay, they observed four 

 cetaceans near the vessel, which were recognised to be the 

 same that had, for several days before, been seen from the 

 shore. As the party approached them it was found that one 

 of the troop had got partially entangled in the line of a net ; 

 and W. Loudon, the Rev. Mr. Kinsey's servant, succeeded in 

 lodging a ball in the left side of its head, and others in diffe- 

 rent parts of the trunk ; the vital fluid flowed profusely from 

 the wounds, and the piteous sobs and moans of their victim 

 announced that the conflict had been fatal to the vanquished. 

 At the commencement of the rencontre, the three companions 

 of the deceased, which were about the same size, and of the 

 same species, passed under the lines and bounded up the 

 coast with inconceivable velocity, leaving the party several 

 miles off in the short space of a few minutes. As soon as the 

 vital spark was extinct, a thick rope was cast round the tail 

 of the dolphin, and it was safely towed ashore by the united 

 strength of seven men. The specimen proved to be a female, 

 and measured eleven feet in length, and Jive feet six inches 

 in circumference at the dorsal fin. It is important to note 

 these particulars, as the salting of the skin to preserve it for 

 exportation has caused it to shrink considerably. 



The skin was first carefully dissected off, leaving the skull, 

 fins, and tail in situ. The adipose layer yielded about five 

 gallons of good oil. The skin, when freed from the viscera, 

 weighed 120 lbs., and was forwarded by the Rev. Mr. Kinsey 

 as a contribution to the Museum of the Literary and Philoso- 

 phical Institution of Cheltenham. Having for some years 

 past taken an active part in the zoological department of our 

 Institution, the specimen was forwarded to my house for in- 

 spection ; and after an attentive examination of its generic 

 and specific characters, I decided that it was a fine female of 

 a rare British dolphin, Delphinus Tursio, Fabr. 



The authentic facts which we possess relating to this inte- 

 resting species, considered as belonging to the British Fauna, 

 being exceedingly meager, I regard the capture of the sub- 

 ject of this paper as a great acquisition to our knowledge of 

 native Cetacea. These dolphins are frequently seen sporting 

 in the water not far from the shore, along the coasts of Devon 

 and Somerset; but no individual of the same species had 



