60 PHYSETERID-E. 



FamHy 7. PHYSETERID^. 



Physeterina, Gray, I. c. pp. 386, 390. 

 Physeteridse, Gray, Synops, Whales 8f Dolph. p. 4. 



Head depressed, rounded in front. Blowers linear (often only 

 the one on the left side open), at the back of the forehead. Mouth 

 small, inferior, rounded. Dorsal fin compressed, falcate. Pectoral 

 fin elongate, falcate. Skull short; crown concave; hinder part of 

 the wall formed by the maxillaries, and divided, as it were, into two 

 subequal parts by a central bony ridge, which is more or less twisted 

 towards the right side. Upper jaw toothless. Atlas and cervical 

 vertebrae all united into a solid mass. 



1. PHYSETER. 



Physeter, Gray, I. c. pp. 196, 210, 386 ; Synops. Whales ^' Dolph. 

 p. 4. 



Head large, rather depressed in front. Skull ? 



Only known from Sibbald's description, which, like his others, is 

 very specific ; and all his other accounts of animals have been proved 

 to be correct. 



Mr. Flower has no faith in Sibbald's account of this animal, and 

 says, " If the Linnaean genus Physeter is to be kept in abeyance 

 until the rediscovery of Sibbald's 'Balcemt maa^ocephala tripinna,^ it 

 is to be feared that it may ultimately disappear altogether from zoo- 

 logical literature." — Tram. Zool. Soc. vol. vi. p. 369. 



1. Physeter tursio. 



Physeter tursio, Linn.j Gray, I. c. p. 212 ; Synops. Wliales i^ Dolph. p. 4. 

 Inhab. North Sea, Scotland (Sibbald, 1687). Length 52 or 53 

 feet. 



2. KOGIA. 



Kogia, Gray, I. c. pp. 196, 215, 386, 391 ; Floioei-, Trans. Zool. Soc. 

 vol. vi. p. 114. 



Head moderate, blunt and high in front ; left blower only open. 

 Skull short and broad ; the septum that divides the crown of the 

 skull very sinuous, folded so as to form a funnel-shaped cavity. 



1. Kogia breviceps. 



Kogia breviceps, Gray, I. c. pp. 217, 391 ; Synojis. Whdles Sf Dolph. 

 p. 4. 



Inhab. Cape of Good Hope. 

 Perhaps the next is the same species. 



