63 
May 24, 1853. 
Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair. 
The following paper was read :— 
Notes on A CreTAceous ANIMAL STRANDED ON THE NortTH- 
EAST COAST OF IRELAND. By GrorGe GuLLIveER, F.R.S. 
On Saturday, May 14, 1853, a herd of cetaceous animals appeared 
at Dundrum Bay, many of which got away, and others were stranded. 
I saw on the following days about twenty-five of them lying dead 
there on the sand. The largest was nearly nimeteen feet, and the 
smallest between nine and ten feet long. They were all furnished 
with perfect teeth. The greater number were females; in a group 
of nine large ones, lying near together, six were females and three 
males. 
I was told that their death-throes were dreadful; they rose on 
their tails, bellowed like bulls, floundered about, and spouted bloody 
sand and water, as they were attacked with different destructive in- 
struments by the peasantry. From one of the animals, between six- 
teen and seventeen feet long, a perfect foetus, presently to be described, 
was taken, so that the breeding time of this species may be considered 
as now determined. One of them had the iron head of a harpoon 
imbedded in its back, and the wound completely healed over. In the 
second large compartment of the stomach were numerous fish-bones, 
completely denuded of all soft parts by digestion. The following 
measurements may be useful for future reference :— 
Measurements of a Male. 
ft. in 
Length from the snout to the end of the middle 
Orpihe taal oo... a « MUA te Oe En, POR 18 6 
Greatest girth, excluding back fin............ 12 6 
Hength of pectoral fin Ae 2 FOR et 0 5 0 
Breadth of base of pectoral fin .............. ere 
Breadth of pectoral fin at one foot fromits pomt 0 4 
Length of base of back fin.................. out) 
Bicight of, back fo ei. 602 3.2.0'3.5. HYPO a 
Breadth of tail from point to point .......... 3 10 
Measurements of a Female. gic 
Length from snout to end of middle of tail.... 16 0 
Greatest girth, excluding back fin............ 9 60 
Ril OMe Wel MENA CYES. om fies) aa 5 cn shod + 3 
Length of each side of mouth .............. La 0 
RPE RW TOME UO) EY Ca cc kn eo aca Moe) wails Dee 
From eye to blowhole eda eM pT La 2 
From snout to base of pectoral fin ete ne ad LL 
The blowhole behind a line intersecting the eyes 0 1 
