4 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



while a third individual said it squealed ! It had been 

 stabbed in the throat and bled in the same way as pigs 

 are slaughtered, and when I examined it, the body was 

 positively undamaged in any way, with the exception of the 

 cut under the throat. I made the following notes of its 

 appearance on the spot : — 



Dimensions. — Total length, 8 feet. 



Girth in front of dorsal, 54 inches. 



„ midway betwixt snout and dorsal, 5 2 inches. 

 ,, ,, ,, dorsal and tail, 22 ,, 



,, just before expansion of tail, 13 ,, 



Flipper. — Length, 16 \ inches. 



Width, 5 

 Dorsal. — Length, 16 ,, 

 Height, 10J 

 ,, Breadth in middle, 7 inches. 



Tail fins from tip to tip, 18 inches. 

 Lower jaw from point to angle of mouth, 9I inches. 

 Upper „ „ „ 10 



Sex. — Female. 



Colours. — Eye, dark brown ; pupil round and black. General 

 colour of upper parts of a dark slaty tinge, greenish in certain lights, 

 bluish in others. Colour of upper parts passing through the different 

 shades from slate colour to grayish at the median line, and gradually 

 passing to pure milky white from vent to flippers, but becoming 

 darker on the under side betwixt the flippers. Flippers deep black. 

 White on throat extending to gape, and then over the upper jaw, 

 covering all the nose and forehead except a deep black moustachial 

 patch of pretty regular outline, beginning over the upper part of the 

 nose and extending downwards on each side. Round each eye was 

 a large deep black patch of irregular outline shading off to gray at 

 the edges. The white lines usually assigned as a specific character 

 were altogether absent, with the exception of a silvery white line 

 lying obliquely across the back of the neck. It was about 8 inches 

 long and enclosed a deep black line along its centre half an inch in 

 width. There was one group of seven black spots on left side mid- 

 way between dorsal and belly. The largest of these spots was the 

 size of a half-crown, the smallest the size of a threepenny piece, and 

 they looked precisely as if some one had been throwing ink on the 

 skin. There was a large number of scattered white spots the size of 

 peas, just behind vent and a little to left side. Three white 

 spots outlined in deep black were situated just above middle of left 

 upper lip ; several white spots were also to be seen along the edge 

 of left under lip. There were no other spots or lines anywhere on 

 the beast, and those described were anything but conspicuous. 



