DR. J. MURIE ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CAAING WHALE. 239 
abdominal region. Some, however, attribute to this black colour a shining lustre, 
“like oiled silk,” which G. Cuvier’ defines as gris noirdtre. In the specimen dissected 
by me, the head, body fins, and tail were decidedly of a black hue. When the surface 
of the skin was moist it possessed an appearance which might be compared to the 
outer polish of fresh india-rubber; but as the integument dried it assumed more of a 
lamp-black or sooty tint. This variation in shade, there can be no doubt, was attributable 
to the reflection or partial absorption of the rays of light, according as the superficial 
layer of the cuticle was wet or dry. A similar alteration in depth of tint has been 
observed by Heddle” and myself* as occurring in the genus Physalus. I have suggested, 
as a partial explanation of the phenomenon‘, that the epidermis, readily separable into 
superimposed delicate layers, allows, under certain conditions, less or more of the sub- 
jacent pigment to predominate. 
As remarked by the various writers, Globiocephalus melas (=G. svineval, Gray) is 
characterized by having a long posteriorly narrowed white stripe upon the abdomen. 
This commences at the hinder end of the throat, and widens in the pectoral region in a 
kind of heart-shaped or partially cruciferm manner; thence it gradually narrows as it 
goes backwards on the abdomen, and finally terminates in a point a little in advance of 
the genital fissure. In these respects our specimen agreed. I had intended to have 
figured this abdominal view, as Baron Cuvier’s illustration in the ‘ Annales’? is rather 
deficient in clearness, but my chance was frustrated by my assistants partially flensing 
the belly during my temporary absence. 
It is noteworthy that the dark colouring of the sides of the body shades by an inter- 
vening olive-green and grey tint into the yellowish rather than pure white of the 
abdomen. ‘This assimilation of the extremes of colour by neutral or median tints, is 
the same which obtains, but with more mottling, in the Common Porpoise. 
I believe Cetaceans, like other animals, vary within certain limits according to age 
and sex. The general outward conformation of this female might not inaptly be com- 
pared to a club with three outstretched falcate processes (dorsal and pectoral fins) 
abreast of its middle, and a semilunar transverse keep (the tail) at the narrow or handle 
end. ‘This fancied resemblance to such an instrument is no mere stretch of the imagi- 
nation, as the bird’s-eye dorsal view (fig. 2) more especially certifies. In the lateral 
aspect of the body (fig. 1) the snout is seen to be very globose and prominent; hence 
Cuvier’s term Globiceps. This protuberant swelling projects vertically nearly as far as 
the upper lip, a wide shallow sulcus, however, intervening. 
The mandible and its dense labial covering are shorter than the premaxillary portion 
angustis: rostro obtuso: maxilla superiore preclinante: dentibus acutis conoideis parum incurvatis” (Nichol- 
son’s Journal, 1809, xxii. p. 83). 
' Ann. du Mus. d’Hist. Nat. t. xix. p. 3. 2 P. Z.8. 1856, p. 193. > P.Z.S8. 1865, p. 207. 
* See also a remark thereon by Professor Turner in Balenoptera sibbaldii (1. c. p. 203). 
° Lc. pl. 1. figs. 2( 3g) and 3(@). 
