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THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



I. On the External Characters of two Species of British Dolphins (Delphinus delphis, 

 Linn., and Delphinus tursio, Fabr.). By William Henry Flower, LL.D., 

 F.B.S., P.Z.S., &c. 



Received May 6th, read May 6th, 1879. 



[Plate I.] 



It is somewhat remarkable that no really adequate figure of so well known an animal 

 as the Common Dolphin [Delphinus delphis, Liun.) is to be found in any zoological 

 publication. The best with which I am acquainted is one given by Reinhardt 

 (" Notits om en paa Ostkysten af Jylland fanget Delphinus delphis," in ' Naturh. Fore- 

 nings Vidensk. Meddelelser,' Nos. 10, 11, 1866), from an animal 5 feet 4 inches long, 

 taken near Grenaa, on the Jutland shore of the Cattegat in November 1865. This 

 tio-ure however, is not coloured, and wants the details of the markings seen in the 

 specimen to be described presently. 



Perhaps the next best figure, and, indeed, in some respects superior, is that given in 

 the illustrated edition of Cuvier's ' Regne Animal,' which is stated Lo be " d'apres ime 

 peinture originale de Marechal faisant partie des velins du Museum." The figures in 

 the volume on Cetacea in the ' Naturalists' Library,' by Dr. Hamilton, and in Bell's 

 ' British Quadrupeds,' are apparently founded on this, though in the latter the tail is 

 diff'erently formed, the gradations of colour are badly given, and the whole creature 

 has t(30 thick and clumsy an appearance. Klein's figure (Hist. Piscium Naturalis, 

 ii. 1741) professes to be original, from an animal 9 feet 2 inches (Rhenish) in length, 

 in which case it could not have been D. delphis, but was more probably D. tursio, 

 as surmised by Cuvier. It is reproduced by Bonnaterre (Cetologie, 1789) and by 

 . VOL. XL— PART I. No. I.— January, 1880^__^ B 



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