BEAKED WHALES, FAMILY ZIPHIID^ TRUE. 63 



HISTORY OF THE CENTERVILLE, CALIFORNIA, SPECIMEN. 



The Californian specimen (Cat. No. 49725) was first made known in a letter 

 addressed to me by President Jordan, of Stanford University, under date of October 

 27, 1904, inclosing one from Mr. J. H. Ring, of Ferndale, California, dated October 

 23, 1904, which was as follows: 



Enclosed find three views of an animal stranded on the beach near this place [Ferndale, Humboldt 

 County, California], and as its identity seems rather uncertain we hope you will kindly classify it and 

 inform us of its true name and habitat, if possible, from the photographs and incomplete description. 

 Its total length is about 41 feet. Greatest circumference 16 feet, tapering probably to 18 inches near 

 the tail. It also tapers toward the head, terminating in a sharp beak, the upper jaw being about 16 

 and the lower 19 inches long. 



On each side in the lower jaw well to the front is a conical tooth, the crown of which is exposed one- 

 half an inch. The head is full and rounded, resembling that of an elephant, with depressions corre- 

 sponding to the ears, and small eyes a little ahead and below. 



On top of head is a heart-shaped opening, evidently for breathing purposes. There is also evidence 

 of a dorsal fin, while each fork of tail is 3J feet or so long. The underside of the animal is too bruised 

 to show anything of importance. The flippers are also in bad shape, one being bmied in the sand, 

 while the other is entirely denuded of flesh, leaving a bony stump about 6 inches long and which moves 

 readily in any direction. We think it is a ''bottle-nose" whale, but as some claim that they are not 

 to be found on this coast and do not exceed 30 feet in length, it may be something else. 



Mr. Ring was immediately communicated with, and very generously presented 

 to the Museum the skull of the animal, which he had secured and cleaned with much 

 labor and some danger to himself. He also undertook to have the skeleton cleaned 

 and sent to Washington, and it was received in due course in June, 1905. Mr. 

 Ring wrote under date of May 15, 1905: 



You will notice that the point of the beak, as well as the points of the lower jawbones, are a little 

 damaged, some hunters having shot the teeth out and then set a fire inside the jaws. 



When received, the skeleton lacked the flippers and also two of the teeth. 

 Regarding the former, Mr. Ring wrote on November 18, 1905, as follows: 



I wrote you that one flipper was entirely gone and the other worn down to a stump, as shown in the 

 picture. I have interviewed the man who stripped the specimen, and he says the stump was badly 

 crushed and broken and fears it was lost one night when the extremely high tide had turned the whale 

 over, and only the anchors and lashings I had secured it with prevented its going out to sea. 



This skeleton was mounted recently and placed on exhibition in the Museum. 

 The flippers were modeled from those of the St. George Island specimens (which 

 were also imperfect) and from the figures of B. arnuxii given by Flower. The end 

 of the beak was also restored, and a facsimile of the teeth substituted for the real 

 ones. This remarkable skeleton shows in a manner hitherto unapproached the great 

 size which this genus of ziphioid whales attains, and the peculiar conformation of 

 the body. While the vertebra? rival those of the large whalebone whales, such as 

 the Humpbacks, in their dimensions, the head is remarkable for its small size as 

 compared with the immense proportions of the saine part in the Right whales. 

 (PI. 42, fig. 4.) 



Mr. Ring sent to the Museum three photographs of the Californian specimen 

 above mentioned, two of which are reproduced on PI. 42, ligs. 2 and 3. Although 

 rather indistinct, they show the general form of the body, the peculiar bulbous 

 head, with an indication of a neck, and the long beak. 



