July n, 1907] 



NAIURE 



247 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



[The Editor does not hold himself responsible for opinions 

 expressed by his correspondents. Neither can he undertake 

 to return, or to correspond 7vith the writers of, rejected 

 manuscripts intended for this or any other part of Nature. 

 Xo notice is tahen of anonymous communications.] 



Layard's Beaked Whale (Mesoplodon layardi, Flower). 



On February 17 a Layard's beaked whale was found 



stranded on the beach a little south of Zwartkops River, 



north of Port Elizabeth, by Joseph G. Crawlurd. The 



showing no wearing away or indication of friction. The 

 small real tooth at the summit of each tusk is sharp, and 

 not wart-like. Again, though the figure given by Moseley 

 shows the teeth uniform, and not crossed, it is stated in 

 the text that their extremities cross. The second illustra- 

 tion to this article distinctly shows the absence of any 

 crossing of the tusks. This was ascertained before they 

 were removed from the jaws. The tusks were firmly 

 embedded in their sockets. 



In Sclater's '* Fauna of South Africa,*' vol. ii., p. 194, 

 is an illustration of the snout of a Layard's whale with 

 the lu^Us crossed, and the drawing shows important differ- 



^ 



R ^0 PLODON L ■» ■-^ K 





I.— Lsyard's Beaked Whale, from a drawing. Engraving pho:ographed by Mr. F. W. Fit 



director of the Port Elii 



itth Mu 



following morning I dispatched my assistant, Mr. Jas. 

 Crawford, to inspect the carcase. He brought the tusks 

 back, when the animal was identified as Layard's beaked 

 whale. Immediate action was taken, 'with the result that 

 the skeleton is now mounted in the Port Elizabeth 

 Museum. As the carcase was partially decomposed when 

 discovered, it was impossible to save the skin, hut measure- 

 ments and drawings were taken on the spot, and the 

 coloration of the s'tcin noted. 



So little is known of this whale that the present speci- 

 men is of considerable importance. The skull, teeth, 

 breast-bones, the entire skeleton, and other parts have 

 been photographed from every point of view, while photo- 

 graphs have also been taken from a sketch, to scale, of 

 the animal while lying on the beach. Any institutions 

 requiring copies of these photographs may have them on 

 application to me if they will defray the expense connected 

 with their reproduction. 



The following are the details : — 



The animal, which was a male, measured 19 feet 2 inches 

 in length, was entire, and showed no external injury. The 

 colour of the back was dark brown, inclining to black 

 on the dorsal surface, gradually merging to brown on the 

 sides and tail, and becoming whitey-brown or dirty while 

 on the belly. In Prof. Moseley 's description there is stated 

 to be a distinct line of demarcation between the black and 

 the white, but in the specimen under discussion the 

 blackish of the back gradually merged to brown on the 

 sides, and dull white on the belly. 



The flippers measured 22 inches ; the dorsal fin, which 

 is situated far back, was 13 inches wide and 11 inches 

 high ; the tail, 4 feet 6 inches across at extremes ; and 

 the intrrval from the point of the beak to the eye was 

 38 inches, and to the end of the jaw 4 feet. The exposed 

 portion of the teeth was 11 inches long and 23 inches wide 

 at the base, becoming slightly narrower towards the tip, 

 with the conical real tooth at the front of the summit. 

 This tooth is enamelled and sharply tipped. 



In the figure of the skull given by Moseley on p. 157 

 of "A Naturalist on the Challenger," there are marked 

 differences when compared with our specimen. Thus the 

 lower jaw shows an upward bend in front, whilst in oijr 

 specimen it is straight. The proportion of the slope in 

 the upper jaw is also dissimilar, w-hilst the teeth show a 

 kind of wearing-away slope toward the middle portion. 

 The teeth in our whale are uniform from base to tip. 



ences when compared with the photographs of our speci- 

 men. Inspection of the muzzle proved that this whale was 

 able to open its mouth from 4J inches to 5 inches at the tip. 

 The fleshy covering of the upper jaw beneath the teeth 

 showed no mark or abrasion, indicating that the beak 

 was opened only so far as the teeth allowed. Moseley 



Fig. 2.— Upper views of skull of Lavard's Beaked Whale. From a photo 

 graph by Mr. F. W. FitzSimons, oirectur of the Poit Ehzabeth .vlu.cum. 



states that the hollowing-out of the central part of the 

 tusks figured by him was caused by the friction of the 

 snout when the animal opened its mouth. The tusks of 

 our specimen showed no such sign, and the skin of ihe 

 beak displayed no indication of coming frequently into 

 contact with a hard body. Judging from the width of the 



NO. 1967, VOL. 7^1 



