Sowerhy^s Whale (Mesoplodon bidens). 55 



The skin is described as very smooth and polished ; very- 

 dark slate colour or nearly black on the top of the head and 

 along the back, the sides a lighter shade of slate colour, and 

 the under parts much lighter still, but not quite white ; the 

 end of the beak and lower jaw rather lighter in colour than 

 the upper portion of the head. Winson significantly speaks 

 of the teeth as " tusks," and states that the animal uttered no 

 sound. Upon inquiry Winson also states that he noticed a 

 number of irregular marks on the sides and belly about 2 feet 

 in length and a quarter of an inch wide ; they were lighter in 

 colour than the outer skin of the parts on which they appeared, 

 and had " something the appearance of narrow strips of the 

 skin having been removed ;" to this cause he at the time 

 attributed them, not knowing that they were '' natural marks." 



As before observed, the individuals of this species have 

 hitherto always been so mutilated before they were seen by 

 any person competent to give a full and accurate description 

 of their external characters, that such a description is still a 

 desideratum ; but Prof. Turner, from such fragmentary ac- 

 counts as have been given by different naturalists and from 

 the specimen he was then describing, has compiled the fol- 

 lowing summary, which we venture to quote entire from his 

 paper sent to tiie Royal Society of Edinburgh on January 30, 

 1882^:— 



" Length in adult 14 to 16 feet. Beak long and slender. 

 Head swelling out considerably behind the beak. Body 

 elongated. Back dark bluish grey or slate-coloured, sides 

 lighter, belly whitish. Grey or whitish streaks and spots 

 scattered irregularly on the sides. Dorsal fin nearer the tail 

 than the head, falcate posteriorly. A dorsal keel in front of 

 the tail. No median notch between lobes of the tail. Flipper 

 small; both its anterior and posterior borders convex. Blow- 

 hole semilunar, concave forward, not quite symmetrical. 

 Mouth-slit straight in front, but concavo-convex further back. 

 A pair of furrows converging in front on the under surface of 

 the throat. A pair of laterally compressed teeth protruding, in 

 the male, between the lips at the side of the beak ; not visible 

 in the female. Rudimentary functionless teeth present in the 

 gum both of the upper and lower jaws." 



From the second Shetland specimen Prof. Turner was en- 

 abled to add very little to the above description, as it reached 

 him flensed and cut into blocks ; but the skin of the tail was 

 almost black on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces, and on 

 either surface a mesial keel was present. The posterior border 

 of the tail was convex and not notched in its middle part, and 



* ' Journal of Anatomy and Physiology/ April 1882. pp. 462, 463. 



