690 MR. J. W. CLARK ON DELPHINUS ALBIROSTRIS. [Jutie 20, 



The oesophagus leads directly into a pyriform sac (A) about 

 7 inches deep. There was no sudden line of demarcation between 

 the oesophageal and gastric mucous membranes; but that of the 

 oesophagus seemed to be carried on into the gastric cavity, where it 

 was disposed in irregular folds, which were thickened and twisted 

 across the floor of the opening (a) into the second stomach (B). 

 This is nearly spherical, 4 inches in diameter, and lined with very 

 soft and delicate mucous membrane, puckered into wavy folds almost 

 like the cells of a honeycomb in shape. 



At a distance of little more than half an inch from («) a second 

 opening (b) led into the third stomach (C), which is long and 

 narrow, with very thin walls, and returned upon itself so that the 

 second portion, which is separated from the first by an incomplete 

 septum, is nearly parallel to the first. It leads by an oval opening 

 (d) into the long and narrow cavity (D), 7 inches in length, which 

 communicates by an orifice scarcely wide enough to admit a large 

 pin with the expanded duodenum (E). Into this the hepatic and 

 pancreatic ducts open at the summit of a papilla, three inches from 

 the above-mentioned orifice. Immediately beyond this the intestine 

 proper commences. 



The rest of the viscera do not present any peculiarity. The brain 

 was too soft to admit of examination. 



I may mention that I could find no trace of any parasites. The 

 same peculiarity is mentioned by Prof. Van Beneden in his descrip- 

 tion of what I think must be an individual of the same species. 



The external characters of this animal show plainly that it must be 

 referred to the genus Layenorhynchns ; and the number of its ver- 

 tebrae and ribs, together with the condition of its cervical vertebrse, 

 would determine it to be L, albirostris, were it not for the peculiarity 

 of its colouring. This differs somewhat remarkably from the examples 

 recorded by Dr. Brightwell, Prof. Van Beneden, and Mr. Moore. 



The first two of these descriptions have been so fully discussed by 

 Dr. Cunningham that I need not allude further to them, except to 

 mention that Dr. Brightwell's was a male, and Prof. Van Beneden's 

 both females. All three were apparently adult. 



Mr. Moore's specimen was taken at the mouth of the Dee, 

 Dec. 29, 1862. It was a male, 9 feet long, and therefore adult 

 like the others. His description, which agrees fairly well with our 

 specimen, is as follows : — 



"The general colour is a rich black. A long and narrow greyish 

 streak extends on either side diagonally across the ribs ; and a similar 

 greyish hue occurs on each side of the dorsal ridge, extending nearly 

 from the fluke to the tail. The beak white, irregularly blotched with 

 blackish, the white extending slightly above the constriction of the 

 beak. The under jaw and throat milk-white, which colour extends 

 along the belly, but becomes less clear as it approaches the vent"*. 



The descriptions agree in representing the whole of the underside 



of the body, the lower jaw, and the upper lip as white ; and Van 



Beneden's figure shows a patch of light grey behind the eye. His 



figure, making allowance for age, might well serve for that of our 



* Aim. & Mag. Nut. Hist. ser. ."., vol. xi. p. 269 (J863). 



