GLOBICEPHALUS MELAS. 135 



broader than is coiniiiou in that species aud iu beiug' a little narrower 

 across the orbits. It is doubtful whether these differeuces entitle it to 

 rank as a distinct species. The proportions of the skull are given in the 

 table on p. 130. 



Phocwna Edwardsii A. Smith. 



Sir Andrew Smith described this species from a drawing and descrip- 

 tion of E. Verreaux.* The description is partially made up of generic 

 characters, aud is also in part contradictory. For example, the sides 

 are said to be black in one sentence, and in the next, white. The teeth 

 are stated to be J.^ Ji;, the entire length of the body 12^ feet, the circum- 

 ference in front of the dorsal C,| feet, and the breadth of the flukes 25 

 feet. The breadth of the flukes, according to these measurements, equals 

 2L.9 per cent, of the total length. In D. Murie's specimen f the same 

 breadth is 20.S per cent, of the total length, and in the Paimpol si)eci- 

 men cited by Fischer (1. c, p. 187) 22.4 per cent. Since Smith's specimen 

 is intermediate between the other two, and the percentage of the breadth 

 of the flukes to the total length is intermediate between the percentages 

 furnished by the other two specimens, it is evident that this measure- 

 ment, which is practically the only tangible character given, is of no sig'- 

 nificauce as distinguishing the supposed species from G. melas. 



Furthermore, M. Fischer has shown (1. c, p. 193) that a blackfish 

 identical with the O. melas of European waters occurs about the Cape 

 of Good Hope, and finally Gray, who had Verreaux's original drawing', 

 states that ^'it is very like Glohiocephalus ^vineval of the European 

 seas" {Catalogue^ p. 325). M. Fischer is therefore perfectly justified iu 

 his assertion : 



II est (lone probable que le G. melas se luoutre sur toute la cote ouest d'Afrique 

 jusqn'au Cap, et <[no le nom de <!. Edwardsi doit passer en synonymie.t 



The Globkephalus of New Zealand waters. 



In his Notes on Neiv Zealand Whales, iu Vol. vii of the Transactions 

 of the !N^ew Zealand Institute, p. 201, Dr. Hector describes, under the 

 name of G. macrorhynchus, Gray, the blackfish common of l^ew Zealand 

 seas. But it is evident from the description and figures (1. c, PI. xvi, 

 figs. 3 and 3a) that this is not G. macrorhynchus, but rather a species 

 closely resembling, or identical with, G. melas. Professor Flower, who 

 has examined skeletons of the New Zealand form, finds nothing whereby 

 to distinguish it from G. melas {Characters and Divisions, p. 509). 



Sphcerocepha/us incrassatus Gray. 



There is api)arently no reason to doubt the generally accepted opinion 

 that this species, founded on a water-worn skull, is identical with G. 

 melas. 



* African Zoology. f Trans. Zool. Soc. London, vrii, pp. '210, 211. t L. c.. p. 194. 



