116 Dr. J. E. Gray on the Berardius of New Zealand. 



from the skull ; and the two skulls evidently belong to two 

 different species. 



Berardius. 



Head beaked ; the beak short, thick ; forehead rounded ; pec- 

 toral fins moderate, acute, on the sides of the chest ; dorsal fin 

 small, rather more than two-thirds of the length from the head ; 

 tail forked ; cervical vertebrae separate. The scapula triangular, 

 broader than long, with very long coracoid and acromion pro- 

 cesses, both flat and truncated at the end ; the forearm-bone 

 about as long as the upper one, separated by a straight groove. 

 (See Trans. New Zeal. Instit. vol. iii. tab. 13.) 



Dr. Hector and Dr. Knox describe and figure two skulls of 

 this genus. 



The skull of the third or larger specimen killed at the en- 

 trance of Port Nicholson in January 1870, which was 27 feet 

 long. 



Dr. Hector gives the length of the skull as 59| inches, of the 

 dental groove 15 inches, of lower jaw 43 inches; width at 

 notch 14-5 inches, at orbits 24-5 inches, of blowhole 7 inches, 

 of nose 5 inches; height at occiput 19"5 inches. 



According to the figure the brain-cavity of this specimen 

 is very short, and the maxillary bones are much expanded 

 on the sides ; the beak is much broader than in the other 

 figure ; it is broad at the base, and gradually attenuated to 

 the tip. The intermaxillary bones are broad, linear, and flat, 

 the beak being very little more than two-thirds the entire 

 length of the head ; the intermaxillaries and vomer, as seen 

 in the palate, are broad, lanceolate. The lower jaw is gra- 

 dually rounded on the front half of the lower margin, without 

 any distinct gonys ; the sjTiiphysis is short, not quite one 

 quarter the entire length of the jaw. This skull is figured on 

 the 16th and 17th plates of the Trans, of the New Zeal. Instit. 

 vol. iii. p. 128. 



These figures agree with Duvcrnoy's and Gervais's figure 

 of the skull oi Berardius Arnuxii (Usteog. Cetaces, tab. 23). 

 Dr. Hector observes that the form of the tooth is more 

 tumid than in the other specimens ; but the variety is probably 

 due to age, this animal being said to be full-grown. 



The smaller or second specimen of Dr. Knox was killed 

 in Tatai Bay, Cook's Straits, in January 1866. It was only 

 9} feet long; its skull is figured on tabs. 14 and 15, and is 

 said to be 2 feet long. The figure shows that it has a very 

 slender beak, thrce-iiftlis the entire length of the head ; the 

 expansion of the maxillary bone is great, and the nostrils or 

 blowers are hooded behind by the development of tlic inter- 



