The Zoologist— March, 1873. 3429 



the skull slightly concave. Condyles of moderate size. Lower jaw- 

 broad on the sides, very thick and solid in front. 



1. Orca stenorhyncha (Sharp-nosed Killer).— The beak of the 

 skull tapering and narrow in front; end narrow. Suppl. Cat. Seals 

 and Whales, p. 90, figs. 7 and 9 (skull). Inhabits British Channel 

 (skeleton from Weymouth), and Sweden. 



2. Orca latirostris (Broad-nosed Killer). Delphitius Orca, 

 Cuvier, Oss. Foss. v. tab. xxii. f. 4 (skull).— Beak of the skull 

 spatulate; side of the hinder half nearly parallel, of the front half 

 arched and converging; end rounded, middle rather wider at the 

 notch. Inhabits North Sea. Skull from coast of Essex, British 

 Museum. 



Eschricht observes that the fierce nature of the Orcas is perfectly 

 true, and that they partly subsist on large fish. They attack and 

 tear to pieces the very largest whalebone whales to feed on their 

 blubber, and they swallow porpoises and seals whole, and have 

 been known to eat as many as four, one immediately after the other, 

 and as many as twenty-seven in a few days ; but they are very much 

 afraid of the walrus. M. Eschricht seems to think there are two 

 species of Orca, one with a high and the other with a low fin, and 

 a third from the Faeroe Islands. Prof. Steenstrup proposes to call 

 the third Orca Eschrichtii, but he certainly does not give any 

 characters by which these species are to be separated; indeed 

 Eschricht was an excellent anatomist and physiologist, as regards 

 the Cetacea, but he was an industrious compiler as regarded their 

 history, and seemed to have little knowledge of zoological dis- 

 tinctions. 



The " killers" of the North Sea, of the west coast of France, and 

 of the Mediterranean have very similar skulls, but they differ greatly 

 in size, becoming smaller as they are found further south. They 

 may be different species or only geographical varieties. 



Family 10. Belugid.e. — Head rounded in front. Teeth in both 

 jaws more or less early deciduous, rarely wanting, or rather not 

 developed. Back without any dorsal fin. Pectoral fin small, ovate. 

 Skull with the lateral expansion of the maxilla over the orbit and 

 the side of the beak, shelving downwards. Fingers short; index 

 and middle fingers nearly the same length ; the rest rather shorter ; 

 phalanges 2, 5, 6, 4, 3. Cervical vertebrae generally free ; the second 

 with a large dorsal process. 



SECOND SERIES — VOL. VIIL N 



