Mr. E. L. Layrad on the Whales of the Cape. 211 



Humpback (Megaptera). By the way, do you know the meaning 

 of Pees/cop 1 ! The Dutch are the dirtiest-minded people I ever met 

 with : they have heaps of such names for their animals and plants." 



" I have seen off the coast several species of Whale (one near 

 Agulhas, with an enormous elongated back-fin ; which could it be ?) 

 They are in sight for an hour at least." 



" I send you a drawing, by our friend Mr. Trimen, of the skull of 

 a Cetacean which I have taken to be a Ziphius, probably a very old 

 Ziphius sechellensis ; but the figure in your ' Catalogue of the Ce- 

 tacea in the British Museum,' t. 3. f. 2, does not convey any idea 

 how the curious flattened teeth arch over the upper jaw, as shown 

 in Mr. Trimen's drawing. I stood by him all the time, so can answer 

 for the correctness of the sketch ; and I took the measurements my- 

 self." The drawina; shows that it is the skull of an animal more 



a, b. Skull and lower jaw of Ziphius Layardii. c. Teeth of lower jaw, from front. 



allied to Ziphius micropterus than to Z. seychellensis. It differs from 

 Z. seychellensis in the lower jaw being elongate, slender, gradually 

 tapering in front, like the lower jaw of Z. micropterus. It differs from 

 the latter species in the tooth on the side of the jaw being elongated, 

 strap-shaped, with a small process* in the front side of the truncated 

 apex, and especially in these teeth being arched inwards, forming a 

 high arch " over the upper jaw," the crown of the lateral teeth 

 being short and triangular in Z. micropterus. It is evidently quite 

 distinct in the form of the rostrum of the skull and the shape of the 

 teeth from the Ziphius micropterus of the coast of Europe. I 

 therefore propose to call it Ziphius Layardii. 



The entire length of the skull, from condyle to tip of the rostrum, 



* The process is not so distinctly shown as it ought to be in the woodcut. 



15* 



