22 



analogy of other Whales, that when we shall have had the 

 opportunity of accurately comparing the bones and the va- 

 rious proportions of the parts of the northern and southern 

 kinds, we shall find them distinct. Wishing to call atten- 

 tion to this subject for future examination, I may observe 

 that Beale (A^. H. Sperm Whale, 22,/. 1,14) describes the 

 Southern Sperra Whale as grey. Female one-fifth the size 

 and bulk of the males, more slender and large in propor- 

 tion. Young black, skin thicker. Varies sometimes black 

 and gray mottled. 



Quoy gives an engraving of a drawing of a Sperm Whale, 

 which was given him by an English captain, which is pro- 

 bably the Southern Whale. He calls it Physeter polycy- 

 phus (and Desmoulin re-names it P. australis) because its 

 back appears to be broken into a series of humps by cross 

 ridges. In this particular it agrees with the Scrag Whale 

 of Dudley (on which Bonnaterre established his B. gibho- 

 ■sa) ; but it cannot be that animal, as Dudley says it is a 

 Whalebone Whale. Quoy's figure differs from Beale's in 

 being much longer, but as Beale observes, when speaking 

 of the figures of the northern kind, this is the common 

 fault of all the drawings of the Sperm Whales. 



Colnet, in his Voyage, p. 80, f. 9, (copied by Brandt and 

 Ratzeburg, t. 14, f. 3) gives a very good figure of a Sperm 

 Whale, 15 feet long, from measurements; with details of 

 the manner of flenching or peeling it. It agrees with 

 Beale's in proportions. It was caught in the North Pacific 

 near Point Angles, on the coast of Mexico. This figure 

 escaped Cuvier's researches. 



Purchas says the Sperm Whale is found at Bermuda, 

 where it is called Trumpo, a name which Lacepede ap- 

 plied to the northern animal ; and Dudley describes those 

 found on the east coast of North America. 



The Japanese distinguish three varieties of this animal, 

 according to their size. They live in herds on the Japan- 

 ese coast. — Faun. Japan. 



Upper jaw in British Museum : — 



Length, entire, 179 inches. 



„ of beak, 127 



Width at notch, 67 



„ at middle of beak, .... 52 



Lower jaws in British Museum : — 



No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. 



Entire length, 157 inches. 92 inches. 51 inches. 



Length of teeth-groove, .... .... 29 



„ symphysis, 85 44 21J 



Teeth on each side, 23 21 19 



Width at condyle, .... .... 31 



In these, the beak is not quite twice the length of the 

 breadth at the notch, and more than -J the length of the 

 entire head. The lower jaw appears to increase in length 

 in front, for in the older specimens the symphy.sis is more, 

 and the younger ones less, than half the entire length of 

 the jaw. 



There is the head of a very young specimen, probably a 

 foetus of this animal, in the Museum of the College of Sur- 

 geons : the bones are of a very soft structure. The follow- 

 ing are its measurements : — 



Length, entire, 32 inches. 



„ of nose, 20 



„ of lower jaw, .... 28 



„ of symphysis, .... 9"6 



Width at notch of nose, .... 12'6 



„ of condyles apart, 16 6 



Camper (Cetac. t. 17, 20 — 22, from the church of Scher- 

 clinge, t. 18, 19, 27, Mus. Paris), figured the skull of this 

 Whale. He represents the nose of the skull as nearly 

 twice and a half as long as the width at the notch. 



II. KoGiA. Short-headed Whales. 



Head moderate, broad, triangular. Lower jaw wide be- 

 hind, slender, united by a short symphysis in front. Jaw 

 bone of skull broad, triangular, as broad as long. 



This genus is intermediate between Catodon and Del- 

 ph inns. 



The Short-headed Whale. Kogia breviceps. 



Physeter breviceps, Blainv. Ann. Anat. P/tys. iii. t. 15. 



Inhab. Cape of Good Hope, Mus. Paris. 



Of this species only a single skull is known, which M. 

 de Blainville thus described. 



Skull very broad and high, the frontal crest very distinct, 

 and the nasal pit very deep, rather like that of the Cacha- 

 lot. Nose very short and pointed, very rapidly tapering, 

 only 1 inch longer than the breadth of the occipital bone. 

 The lower jaw is very wide apart at the condyles, bent 

 sharply inwards, and united in front by a moderate sym- 

 physis, and very narrow but rounded at the end. Teeth 

 14 or 15, narrow, slender, conical, acute and rather arched 

 inwardly. Length of the skull 14 inches 6 lines. Lower 

 jaw 13 inches, separation at the condyles 12 inches, sym- 

 physis about f of the length of the lower jaw. Beak the 

 length of the width at the notch. 



This skull bears no resemblance to the skull of the 

 young Sperm Whale. 



III. Physeter, Artedi. The Black-fish, or Cachalot. 

 Physeter, part, Linn. Sfc. Cetus, Brisson. 



Head rounded, convex above; upper jaw longest ; the 

 blowers on the middle of the top the head, separate, " co- 

 vered with one flap," [Sihbald) ; pectoral fin moderate, 

 triangular ; dorsal fin high, falcate ; teeth conical, com- 

 pressed; the male organ is under the front edge of the dor- 

 sal, and the vent nearly under its hinder edge. 



They produce spermaceti according to Sibbald, but this 

 is denied by Beale ; eat Porpesses and small Cetacea, and 

 even attack the larger Whales and Seals. 



Cuvier, in his ' History and Examination of the Syno- 

 nyma of the Cachalots or Sperm Whales' (Oss. Foss. v. 

 328, 338), regards the description of this animal given by 

 Sibbald as merely a redescription of the Sperm Whale, and 

 finds great fault with Artedi, Bonnaterre, and others, for 

 having considered them as separate ; and he regards the 

 second blunt-toothed specimen as either a Delphintis glo- 

 biceps, or a D. Tursio, which had lost its upper teeth ; 

 this error is important, as it vitiates many of his remarks. 

 To have come to these conclu.sions he must have over- 

 looked Sibbald's figure, with ample details, of the first, and 

 of the teeth of the second, which must have at once shown 



