1882.] ON THE CLASSIFICATION OF THE COMATUL^. 731 



thirteen feet one inch, the other twelve feet six inches, which may 

 be taken as the average size of the circumference of the head of the 

 full-grown male. 



In the past three seasons I have seen thousands of them ; and 

 from constant careful observation while they were in life, and verj'^ 

 often close about the ship — also when dead, examining many of 

 their skulls after being taken on board and flenched, the only con- 

 clusion that can be come to is, that there is but one species of the 

 Bottlenose Whale inhabiting the Northern seas. There are no flat- 

 headed females. It is only the older males that have the flat per- 

 pendicular heads notched back towards the beak, with high crest 

 and close frontal bones. 



The accompanying sketches of male Whales (figs 1-5, p. 728), 

 and photographs of their skulls (figs. 6-9, p. 729), will help to show 

 how their heads flatten, and also the progressive manner in which 

 the bones of the head enlarge and close up as they become older. 



3, On the Classification of the Comatulce. By P. Herbert 

 Carpenter^ M.A., Assistant Master at Eton College. 



[Eeceived November 23, 1882.] 



In the last part of the Proceedings of this Society Prof. F. J. 

 Bell '■ has proposed " a method of formulating the results attained 

 to, as regards our knowledge of the specific characters of the mem- 

 bers" of the family Comatulidce. 



That such a method is absolutely necessary for systematic work 

 in a family which comprises so few genera but so many species, was 

 made clear to me before I had been studying the group for many 

 months ; and I was therefore in no way surprised to hear that Prof. 

 Eell had arrived at the same conclusion soon after his commencing 

 the examination of the large collection of Comatulce in the British 

 Museum, together with the very remarkable series sent home by 

 Dr. Coppinger, of H.M.S. 'Alert.' I am sorry, however, that 

 Prof. Bell has so soon published his system of formulation ; for 

 I cannot but think that a little more experience of the remarkable 

 variations in the group-characters would have caused him to modify 

 it considerably. 



I had intended to reserve any publication of the method of for- 

 mulation which has gradually developed itself during my work on 

 the ' Challenger,' ' Blake,' and other collections, until the appear- 

 ance of the 'Challenger' Report. But the numerous errors con- 

 tained in Prof. Bell's paper require an immediate correction, which 

 would be out of place in the ' Challenger ' volumes. 



Prof. Bell's method is an ingenious one, especially where he 



1 "An Attempt to apply a Method of Formulation to the Species of the Co- 

 matulidcB ; with the Description of a new Species," P. Z. S. 1S82, partiii. pp. 53U- 

 536, PI. XXXV. 



