] . GLOWOCErUALUS. 321 



Blacktisli (Phocrena nigra), Clarke in Nunn, Nurrut. of Wreck of 



Faconrlte, 184, fig-. (1850, 8vo) Y 

 Bkckfish, Coliu'tt, Vol/. S. Pacific? 



Inhab. South Seas. 



a. Skull, imjjcrfect. Presented by Dr. MiUigan. 



Skull, Mus. Coll. Surg. Presented by J. Bennett, Esij. Called a 

 " Killer or Blackfish" : — 



iu. liu. 



Length, entire 24 



Length of nose 11 



Length from tip of nose to back of palate. ... 14 (5 



Length of teeth-line 5 (5 



Length of lower jaw IG G 



Breadth at preorbital notch 9 G 



Breadth at middle of nose 9 



Breadth at temple 17 



Breadth of intermaxiUarj- G 



Head thick, square, and short; the snout lilunt and but little 

 prominent. The angles of the hps are curved upwards, giving the 

 physiognomy an innocent smiling expression. Body clumsy, round 

 and broad, and the termination of the trunk in the tail-fin rather 

 abrupt. — Bennett, I. c. 233. 



Colnett (Toy. S. Pacific) speaks of innumerable shoals of Blackfish 

 on the shores of California. 



The contents of the stomach were chiefly cuttlefish. 



The Blackfish roam about the ocean in very large troops (a soU- 

 tarj individual is occasionally seen), are active and watchful, but 

 betray Kttle concern at ships or boats. They appear to inhabit the 

 greater portion of the aqueous globe, uninfluenced by the remoteness 

 or \'icinity of land. We observed examples in many parallels of 

 latitude between the equator and 50° N. and 53° S., in the central 

 part of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, as weU as off the coast of 

 California and in the Indian Archipelago. 



Sperm-whalers often attack this species with their boats in order 

 to obtain a supply of oil for ship consumption ; some risk, however, 

 attends their capture, for when harpooned they will sometimes leap 

 into a boat. A Blackfish of average size wiU produce from 3(>to ,35. 

 gallons of oil, which in its most recent state has a dark colour and 

 an unpleasant odour. — Bennett, 235. 



It is probable that ilr. Bennett in the above range confounded 

 together under the name of Bhiclcji^ih more than one species. There 

 can be no doubt of this being the case, as ilr. Flower has received 

 skulls of two genera, viz. J'seui/orca meridionalis and two species of 

 GlohiocephaluA, sent as the '• Bhu.-kfish " from a whaler in Australia. 



I am not sure that the skull described is that of the animal called 

 the " lilackfi.sh ;' ' at least, if it is, there must be more than one 

 genus of whales so called. 



There is a .^kuU of this species in the ^luseum of the lloval College 

 of Siu-geons, called the skull of the llound-headed Grampus {Del- 



X 



