specimen of Sownrhy s Whale. 277 



■\vliieli was a female. The jaws were a|)i)arently comi)letely 

 edentulous, and altliougli it was possible to feel through the 

 gutns a slight prominence on either side in the position of the 

 teeth of the male, we could not by this means definitely satisfy 

 ourselves with respect to this point, nor were we able to 

 ascertain the presence of any other rudimentary teeth in either 

 jaw. The evidence which exists on this subject is favourable 

 to the view that the female of this species is not provided with 

 any teeth which are large enougli to pierce the gums. Both 

 the rostrum and the lower jaw were distinctly longer and more 

 slender than in Sir William Turner's specimen, in our com- 

 parisons with which the difference in sex and age must be 

 borne in mind. Tlie rostrum and lower jaw together were 

 nearly cylindrical when the mouth was closely shut and both 

 were evenly rounded at the tip, the lower jaw projecting about 

 half an inch beyond the rostrum. The contour of the mouth 

 also differed considerably from that of the specimen figured by 

 Sir W. Turner — the mandible passed backwards in a nearly 

 straight line for a considerable distance, the lower edge of the 

 mouth then curving upwards and again downwards. 'J.'he 

 gape was small, the angle of the mouth being nearly 4 inches 

 in front of the point of junction of the upper and lower lips, 

 which, behind the angle of the mouth, bounded a groove 

 continuing the direction of the mouth. Beneath the lower 

 jaw were the two singular gular sulci characteristic of the 

 members of the subfamily Ziphiinae ; these were expansible 

 straight grooves in the skin 11| inches long, converging at 

 their anterior ends, which were only half an inch apart, and 

 diverging to their posterior ends, which were separated by an 

 interval of 9| inches. 



The eye was contained in a horizontal slit 1^ inch long, 

 the iris being brown ; the pupil, a long oval with its major 

 axis horizontal, appeared to be black. It was situated at a 

 distance of 7| inches from the termination of the furrow 

 formed by the mouth-slit and l^ inches behind the actual 

 angle of the mouth. 



The aperture of the ear was very minute and not easy to 

 discover in the adult specimen ; a comparison with the foetus, 

 however, enabled us to convince ourselves that a minute 

 aperture situated about 3 inches behind the eye in the adult 

 specimen, and into which we were able to pass a fine bristle, 

 was really the external auditory meatus. This aperture was 

 distinctly below the level of the eye, as shown in licinhardt's 

 figure, and not in a line with it as in Sir \V. Turner's * 

 figure. 



* Loc, cit. 



