1883.] PKOF. FLOWER ON THE DELfHINID/E. 47'J 



or that acquired by the specimen after being stuffed and dried he 

 does not say (Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete &c., i. 1841). 



This section includes the largest members of the group, of stouter 

 build than most of the others. The snout or beak is short, but 

 distinctly marked off from the prenarial adipose elevation by a V- 

 shaped groove. The pectoral fin is of the typical lanceolate form, and 

 the dorsal fin high and falcate. The skull has no lateral grooves on 

 the palate. The rostrum tapers moderately from base to apex. The 

 pterygoid bones are of the normal form, and united in the middle 

 line (see fig. 5). The symphysis of the lower jaw is short. The teeth 

 number from 21 to 25 on each side of each jaw. They are large (the 

 largest measuring 6 to 7 mm. in antero-posterior diameter at tiie 

 base of the crown). Their summits (at least in British specimens) 

 are commonly worn off in old individuals. 



An examination of a number of skeletons from European seas, in 

 various museums, proves that the usual vertebral formula is C. 7, 

 D. 13, L. 17, C. 27; total G4 ', Not unfrequently in skeletons, 

 apparently complete, there are but 63 vertebrae present, and in one 

 in the Leiden Museum but 62. In another specimen in the same 

 collection there is a fourteenth rib present on the right side only. 

 In one at Bordeaux there are 13 ribs on the right side and 14 on 

 the left. The chevron bones are 21 in number. The number of 

 phalanges (including metacarpals) of the digits of the manus are re- 

 spectively I. 1, II. 7, III. (i, IV. 3, V. 1. The length of full-grown 

 specimens is 3 metres, or about 10 feet, that of the skull being 530 

 millim. 



According to Gervais, skulls in the Paris Museum, received from 

 such various localities as the Cape of Good Hope, the Indian Ocean, 

 China, Japan, and New Zealand, cannot be satisfactorily distin- 

 guished from those of the common European form, indicating an 

 almost cosmopolitan distribution. There is, however, one skull in 

 the collection from the Cape of Good Hope, referred to T. aduncus, 

 Hemprich & Ehrenberg (from the Red Sea), which differs from the 

 ordinary form in little but its larger size, being 600 mm. (23| inches) 

 long. Its teeth are ^^, the antero-posterior diameter of their 

 crowns measuring as much as 8 millim. A figure of this skull is 

 given upon plate xxxiv. of the ' Osteographie des Cetaees.' Its claim 

 to be considered of a different species rests apparently only upon its 

 large size, but may be provisionally admitted. 



The species referred to this section in Dr. Gray's latest list are : — 

 1. Tursio trwicatus = Delphinus tursio. Hab. North Sea and 

 Mediterranean. 2. T. erebennus. Hab. Philadelphia (!). 3. 2\ 

 metis. Hub. West Africa? 4. T. cymodice. Hab. River Uragua ? 

 5. T. abusalum. Hab. Cape of Good Hope. 6. T. eurynome. 

 Hab. South Sea, India ?, Bay of Bengal. And 7. T. catalania. 

 Hab. Noith-west coast of Australia. The remark is added that 

 " these skulls are ail very much alike." The last named species is 

 founded on two specimens in the British Museum." In the Museum 



1 Fischer gives C. 7, D. 13 or 14, L. 14, 0. 30 or 31 ; total 64 or 65. 

 * These were obtauied off the north coast of Australia by Mr. John Mac- 



32* 



