7. oi;cA. 285 



curved outvrard on the sides. Tliis similarity of the external colour- 

 in'? in two species of such different geographic distribution, easily 

 explains why they have been considered the same species though 

 they are half the globe apart. The examination of the skeleton, and 

 especially of the skidl, shows that they are quite distinct. It is the 

 same with the species of Ghbiocephalus of the North Sea and of the 

 Southern Ocean. 



b. Brain-cose Jit'yh, sulu/lobidar. Rostrum very short, narrowed in front. 

 Teeth small, slender. Orcaella. 



4. Orca brevirostris. 



The brain-case subglobular, evenlj- convex above. The rostrum 

 very short, tapering, and subacute in fi'ont, about two-thirds the 

 length of the brain-case to the notch. The maxilla narrow in front, 

 wider in the middle, where it is about as -wide as the intermaxillary 

 on each side. The premaxillary broad, rather convex, solid, sepa- 

 rated bj" a ■wide central groove. The rostral triangle very large, 

 produced much in front of the notch. Palate flat in front. Teeth 

 jl )^ , slender, subcylindrical. 



Pliocsena (Orca) brevirostris, Owen, Zuol. Trans, xf, ined. 



Inhab. East coast of India, the harbour of Vizagapatam. 



a. Skull. Presented by Walter Elliot, Esq., of Woolflee. The skull 

 described by Professor Owen. 



The following description, by Professor Owen, is taken from the 

 skull of a small Cetacean which was cast ashore in a decomposed state 

 in the harbour of Vizagapatam, east coast of India. It belongs to 

 Conner's section of Blunt-headed Dolphins, in which, by the form of 

 the teeth, it is allied to the Phoccna (jhhicejys. Cuv. ; but it indicates, 

 by the shortness of the muzzle and some osteological characters, a 

 nondescript species, for which the name Phocana brevirostris is 

 proposed. 



"The basioccipital forms the lower fifth of the foramen magnum, 

 inten^ening, for an extent in a straight line of 10|^"', between the 

 lower ends of the occipital condyles ; it is here thick, concave trans- 

 versely, becoming thinner vertically and expanded transversely as it 

 advances to join the basisphenoid, with which it has coalesced. 



" A sUght median longitudinal obtuse indge divides the back part 

 of the under surface of the basisphenoid into two shallow concavities, 

 from the sides of which the otocranial plates extend, which bend 

 slightly downward to form the lower and inner or mesial wall of the 

 otocrane. 



"The occipital condyles (2', fig. 57) are narrow, vertically elongated, 

 oval convexities, wider at their lower half, with the mesial margin 

 gently convex, the lateral or outer margin sinuous, through a slight 

 concavity marking off the upper third of the condyle : the length of 

 the condyle in a straight line is 2" 1'", the greatest breadth 1" 12'" : 



