BEAN] HISTORY OF THE WHALE SHARK I4I 
and the name as printed, Rhincodon, was probably a mistake of the 
printer, so that we deem it best to now use the name finally adopted 
by Dr. Smith in his illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, 
wherein a figure of the species is given, plate 26, published in March, 
1845, and a description published in the following October. In his 
account of the distribution of vertebrate animals, C. L. Bonaparte in 
1832 listed the name Rhincodon (p. 121). Muller and Henle in 
1838 used the name Rincodon, and in the same year (1838-1839) 
William Swainson refers to this fish under the name Rineodon, 
(1, p. 142), Rhineodon, (11, p. 191), and Rhiniodon (11, p. 317). 
Swainson seemed to be under the impression that at least two differ- 
ent sharks were in question, or else he was careless in the construc- 
tion of his artificial keys. In two places he refers to the small spir- 
acles (II, pp. 191, 317), while in another key he says “ spiracles 
wanting ” (11, p. 314). In their valuable work entitled “ Systematis- 
che Beschreibung der Plagiostomen,” pp. 77 to. 78, Berlin, 1841, 
Muller and Henle used the name Rhinodon typicus. 
The year in which Dr. Smith founded this genus Rhinodon (mis- 
spelled Rhincodon) has all along been erroneously given as 1841— 
see the nomenclators—instead of 1829; the correct date being en- 
tirely overlooked by authors. We shall endeavor, in the bibliography 
appended to this paper, to give ready references to the literature and 
thus save future students much loss of time and avoid as far as 
possible chance for confusion in adding to the history of this shark. 
Thirty years after the capture of the Cape of Good Hope specimen 
of Rhinodon the Smithsonian Institution received from Captain Stone 
a dental plate and other parts of the same shark, taken in the Gulf 
of California. On account of the erroneous descriptions of the teeth 
by Smith, and figure of the same by Muller and Henle, Dr. Gill 
was misled and described the California example as a new genus 
and species (Micristodus punctatus), properly referring it to the 
family Rhinodontide. Dr. Gill’s notice and description of this 
specimen was published in the Proceedings of the Academy of 
Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1865, p. 177, and reads as follows: 
“ON A NEW GENERIC TYPE OF SHARKS. 
By THEoporE GILL. 
“In the year 1858 the Smithsonian Institution received, from Capt. Stone, 
the jaws and vertebre of an enormous species of shark existing in the Gulf 
of California and known to the inhabitants of the neighboring regions as the 
‘Tiburon ballenas,’ or ‘whale shark.’ The specimen represented by the spoils 
was said to have been ‘twenty feet long,’ with a ‘head six feet wide,’ ‘ pec- 
torals three feet long’ and ‘flukes six feet between tips.’ ‘The back from 
