PROF. W. H. FLOWER ON THE GENUS MESOPLODON. 419 
& xy. The length of the animal is stated by Dr. Knox to have been 9 feet 3 inches. 
The skull is now in the British Museum. 
2. The skeleton of a perfectly adult animal, attributed by Dr. Hector to the same 
species, prepared from a specimen cast ashore in Lyall Bay, and described by 
Dr. Hector in Trans. New-Zeal. Inst. vol. vii. p. 262, 1875. This is also in the 
British Museum 1. 
3. The skeleton of an adolescent male MW. grayi, stranded, with others, on the coast 
near Saltwater Creek, about thirty miles north of Banks’s Peninsula, New Zealand. 
4. The rostrum, mandible, and mandibular teeth of an old male animal, stranded 
in December 1875 on the east coast of the North Island, attributed by Dr. v. Haast to 
the same species. 
The last two were presented to the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons by 
Dr. Julius v. Haast, F.R.S., of Christchurch, New Zealand. 
Of the specific distinction or identity of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th I am not perfectly 
satisfied, as the materials at hand are unfortunately not sufficiently complete for the 
purpose of arriving at a definite conclusion. 
No. 3, though a perfect skeleton, is still immature. No. 2, though adult, is incom- 
plete as regards the very important evidence furnished by the dentition. No. 4 is 
only a fragment, and, although identified by Dr. v. Haast with his species MW. grayi, 
presents strongly marked differential characters which seem beyond the range of 
individual variation. Under the circumstances, it is somewhat difficult to know what 
course to pursue with reference to the names by which these specimens are to be 
respectively distinguished; but on the whole it will lead to less confusion if I designate 
them, provisionally at least, by specific appellations, bearing in mind that it is quite 
possible that further information and more abundant materials may cause a modi- 
fication of this view. I shall therefore, in the present memoir, speak of the British- 
Museum skeleton from Lyall Bay as W. australis, and the fragmentary skull from the 
east coast of the North Island as VW. haasti. 
Skull—tThe skull of animals of the genus Mesoplodon is very easily distinguished 
from those of the other Ziphioids by the characters previously given (T. Z. S. vol. viii. 
p. 208). The ossification of the mesethmoid cartilage, and its coalescence with the 
surrounding bones to form a solid rostrum, appear to be greatly dependent upon 
the influence of age. It has not hitherto been found wanting in any thoroughly adult 
example of any species of Mesoplodon or of Ziphius; on the other hand, it appears 
never to occur either in Hyperoodon or Berardius. 
! T am indebted to Dr. Giinther’s kindness for facilities in examining and comparing these specimens, which 
were sent to the British Museum by Dr. Hector, F.R.S., of Wellington, New Zealand. 
* Almost simultaneously with my memoir appeared an excellent description of the skull of M. sowerbyi, com- 
pared with that of Ziphius cavirostris, by Professor Turner (Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 
yol, xxyi.). 
