234 DR. J. VON HAAST ON ZIPHItJS NOV^-ZEALANDI^. [Apr. 6, 



Measurements (continued). ft. jn. 



From fork of tail to vent 5 4 



From fork of tail to pudendum 6 6 



Breadth of caudal fin 6 1 



Base of dorsal fin 1 I 



Height of dorsal fin 8 



Breadth of pectoral fin 7 



Length of pectoral fin 2 6 



Eye, horizontal diameter 1^ 



Eye, vertical diameter 1 



Before giving a description of the external appearance of the speci- 

 men under review, I wish to allude to another female, 21 feet 6 inches 

 long, of the same species, stranded on May 15, 1879, on the sea- 

 beach near Kaiapoi, and of which the skeleton was also secured. 

 This was doubtless a full-grown, aged animal, the terminal epiphyses 

 being so well ankylosed to the body of the vertebrae that even the 

 line of junction could be scarcely distinguished, while in the New- 

 Brighton specimen these disks were still unankylosed and detached 

 themselves readily during maceration. 



In form of the body and coloration this animal resembled iu every 

 respect the New- Brighton specimen. 



However, the two teeth existing at the tip of the lower jaw could 

 not be felt when passing the fingers over the gums, and were only 

 disclosed when making incisions. The teeth are the smallest of all 

 those known to me, being r98 and 2 inches long, and only '46 of 

 an inch broad. The left tooth weighs 66, and the right 62 grains. 

 The flattened root is square, and somewhat constricted a quarter of 

 an inch above the base, after which the tooth expands, being broadest 

 about the middle. It then contracts rapidly, running out to a sharp 

 point. There is thus confirmatory evidence that the teeth with age 

 are absorbed and disappear gradually below the gums, although it is 

 possible that even below the gums they may still be of some use to _ 

 the animal. It is a peculiar character of the small teeth of the 

 Kaiapoi specimen that they should be so very thin and terminate in 

 a sharp point, and that the latter should be covered with real enamel, 

 different from any observed upon the dentine in any other teeth of 

 the same species. 



Returning to the first-mentioned specimen from the New-Brighton 

 beach, and of which the annexed sketch (Plate XXIII. j gives a 

 faithful representation, it must strike us with astonishment to see the 

 skin of this animal (a female) so fearfidly lacerated. The late taxider- 

 mist of the Museum, when giving me some notes of the external 

 appearance of what remained of the specimen stranded in Lyttelton 

 Harbour in July 1 872, informed me that the upper portion was marked 

 by numerous oval spots, two to three inches across, like the skin of 

 the Leopard; this, as I have observed already, was the lower portion. 

 Moreover he thought that the animal must have had fearful struggles 

 amongst the rocks, the skin appearing torn in all directions. These 

 peculiar oval spots were visible at the first glance on the skin of the 



