36 Proceedings of the Boyal Physiccd Society. 



tance from the anterior border of the root of the dorsal fin 

 was 9 feet 8 inches. The eye as it appeared between the 

 two lids was small. It was almost in a direct line with the 

 angle of the month, and 19 inches behind it. The orifice of 

 the ear, which would only admit a probe, was in line with 

 the back of the eye, and 7 inches behind it. 



The ventral surface of the whale showed a pair of lateral 

 furrows in the integument of the under surface of the head, 

 which began 16 inches behind the tip of the lower jaw, and 

 extended for 19 inches backwards from their commencement. 

 Each groove was about half an inch deep. At their com- 

 mencement they were only 2\ inches asunder, but they 

 diverged from each other as they passed backwards, and tlie 

 posterior end of each was bent outwards, so that they 

 included between them a triangular area of integument. The 

 penis protruded through a mesial furrow in the belly, and its 

 place of protrusion was 8 feet in front of the middle of the 

 tail, and 13 J inches in front of the anal slit. This slit was 

 4J inches in antero-posterior diameter. The umbilicus was 

 22J inches in front of the spot where the penis protruded. 

 The anterior border of the dorsal fin was in a plane midway 

 between the umbilicus and the place of protrusion of the 

 penis. 



It is difficult to describe the colour of this Hyperooclon. 

 On the back, and for some distance down the sides, it was so 

 dark that it might be called black or blackish-grey; but 

 toAvards the belly a faint, somewhat indefinite yellowish tint 

 gave warmth to the dark grey hue; and on tlie ventral 

 aspect itself the yellow tint was intensified, so that the 

 colour might be termed yellowish-grey. NoAvhere was the 

 colour white or yellowish- white. The dorsum of the tail was 

 rich black, like polished leather, but the ventral surface of 

 the tail and the two surfaces of the flipper were blackish- 

 grey. 



As the cuticle peeled off, the cutis was exposed, and from 

 its red colour it obviously possessed considerable vascularity. 

 The blubber was thickest in proximity to the dorsal fin, 

 where it measured 5 inches in depth ; but its more usual 

 thickness on the body was about 3 inches. In the region of 



