RISSO'S GRAMPUS. 451 



Cuvier himself thought that they might prove to be 

 identical. More recently M. Fischer has arrived at the 

 conclusion that they both belong to one very variable 

 species (Ann. Sc. Nat, 1868, p. 363), a view which has 

 been fully confirmed by Prof. Flower in the " Transac- 

 tions of the Zoological Society" for 1871, and by Dr. 

 Murie {Journ. Ann. Phys. v. V.). Cuvier's specific name 

 was changed by Dr. Gray in the " Annals of Natural 

 History" for 1846 into cuvieri, on the ground that the 

 colour of the animal was black, and not grey, but as 

 will be seen, this character is one liable to the greatest 

 variation. 



On the English coast Risso's Grampus has hitherto 

 only been found in the Channel. One ran aground near 

 Puckaster in the Isle of Wight in the spring of 1843, 

 and its skull was presented to the British Museum by 

 the Rev. C. Bury, who described the specimen in the 

 "Zoologist" for 1845. An adult female, ten feet six 

 inches long, was taken in a mackerel-net near Eddystone 

 Lighthouse on the 2Sth Feb. 1870, and was brought to 

 London ; it is now in the British Museum, and is figured 

 and described in Prof. Flower's memoir. About a month 

 later a young female, about six feet long, was sold in 

 the fish-market at Billingsgate, and was described both 

 by Mr. Flower and Dr. Murie ; the exact place where it 

 was taken could not be ascertained, but it was probably 

 also from the Channel. 



Nothing can be said to be known of the habits of this 

 rare cetacean, which seems only to have fallen into the 

 hands of naturalists on eleven occasions, eight times on 

 the French and thrice on the English coasts. Four 

 were stranded together in La Vendee in June, lS2i3, and 

 large herds were taken in the Mediterranean in 1829 

 and 1854. D'Orbigny notices that the VendecMi aninials 



