Mr. W. Thompson on the Bottle-nosed Whale. 3/7 



obtained on the Irish coast, but I could not ascertain the 

 locality whence it had been received : it is similar in size to 

 the smaller of the Dundalk specimens, and a very few inches 

 less than the larger, the measurements of which are as follow : 



ft. in. 

 Length from occiput to end of snout 4 6 



Breadth of cranium 2 4 



Height of ditto 2 



The crania of the four Hyperoodons preserved in Dublin are, 

 I conceive, referrible to one species, and are similar to those 

 represented in Cuvier's ( Ossemens Fossiles/ pi. 225. ed. 1834. 

 F. Cuviei-'s c Histoire Nat. des Cetaces,' pi. 9; and Bell's f Brit. 

 Quad/ &c. p. 496. From what has been already published on 

 the subject any further remarks on these specimens seem to be 

 unnecessary. As supplementary to what appears in Mr. Bell's 

 work, it may be added with reference to a specific character 

 about which there has been some obscuritv, that in the indi- 

 viduals particularly described by Dr. Jacob and Mr. Thomp- 

 son of Hull, two teeth were present in the lower jaw ; but in 

 neither instance were they apparent in the recent animal, but 

 were detected only when the gum was cut into in the prepa- 

 ration of the skeleton. 



Having heard on the 20th September last, that a whale had 

 been captured at Ballyholme Bay, near Bangor (county Down), 

 on the 16th, I immediately set out for the place accompanied 

 by a scientific friend, Mr. Hyndman. A small portion only 

 of the animal then remained on the beach, the head, tail, and 

 entire skin with the blubber having been removed. This whale 

 was seen on the evening of the 16th Sept. in shallow water 

 not far from the shore, and a boat with the small complement 

 of three "hands" gave chase. Fire-arms were discharged at 

 it, but these apparently not having any effect, its assailants 

 bound a rope to a pick-axe and drove this rude but successful 

 substitute for a harpoon into the animal, and about the same 

 time managed to throw a loop of rope round its body above 

 the tail, and thus with some little difficulty brought it captive 

 to the shore. Its length was stated to have been 24 feet, 

 the breadth of tail 6, the girth at the thickest part perhaps 

 from 18 to 20 feet; the weight was estimated at about 5 tons. 

 Ann. Nat. Hist. Vol. 4. No. 26. Feb. 1840. 2 e 



