1879.] PROF. FLOWER ON THE COMMON DOLPHIN. 383 



thick and clumsy an appearance. Bonnaterre's figure (Cetologie, 

 1789), professes to be original, from an animal nine feet in length, 

 in which case it could not have been D. delphis. It is reproduced 

 by Lacepede (Hist. Na\ des Cetaces, 1804), with the addition of the 

 conventional fountain from the blowhole. The earlier figures, all 

 more or less inexact in outline, rude in execution, and of course de- 

 ficient in colour, are those of Belon (1551), Rondelet (1554), and 

 Aldrovandus (1613). The two former, especially that of Rondelet, 

 have been repeated, with modifications, by the various compilers of 

 the last two centuries. 



On the 13th of March, Mr. F. Buckland kindly informed me that he 

 had just received from Mr. Matthias Dunn, of Mevagissey, a Dolphin 

 which had been caught in the mackerel-nets, about 20 miles south of 

 the Deadman Headland, Cornwall. It proved to be a young female 

 Delphinus delphis. The elegance of the form, and beauty and variety 

 of the colouring was such, that I thought it desirable to obtain a 

 correct coloured drawing of the animal while fresh, a copy of which 

 I propose to publish in the Society's • Transactions.' Instead of being 

 simply black above and white below as usually described, the sides 

 were shaded, mottled and streaked with various tints of yellow and 

 grey, the distribution of which can be better understood by a reference 

 to the figure than by any description. The colouring on the two 

 sides was exactly alike. The under surface was of the purest 

 possible white. The length of the creature in a straight line from 

 the tip of beak to the notch in the middle of the tail was 5 feet 1 1 

 inch. The other principal dimensions were as follows : — 



inches. 



Tip of beak to anterior end of dorsal fin 31 - 5 



Tip of beak to insertion of anterior edge of pectoral fin . . 161 



Tip of beak to angle of mouth 9*0 



Angle of mouth to anterior angle of eye 1 '9 



Length of eye-aperture 0'8 



Posterior angle of eye to external auditory meatus ...... 1*5 



Length of base of dorsal fin 8 - 7 



Height of dorsal fin 5"5 



Length of anterior margin of pectoral fin 10 - 



Length of posterior margin of pectoral fin 6' 9 



Breadth of caudal fin 138 



The dental formula was 53^47= 185, which corresponds nearly 

 with that usually observed in the species, some individual variation 

 always met with, even on the different sides of the mouth. There 

 are fifteen pairs of ribs, the last being unattached to its corresponding 

 vertebra, and 21 lumbar and 31 caudal vertebrae. 



This species is the Dolphin par excellence of the Mediterranean ; 

 but its exact geographical range has never yet been defined with pre- 

 cision, owing to the difficulty of distinguishing it from allied species — 

 a difficulty which, it is hoped, the present drawing, when issued, may 

 in some measure help to remove. It is not uncommon in the Atlantic, 



