726 CAPT. D. GRAY ON THE BOTTLENOSE WHALE. [Dec. 19, 
of the College of Surgeons, and that of a young male to the Univer- 
sity of Cambridge. The skull of a fcetal male, which was being 
towed overboard for the purpose of cleansing, was unfortunately 
lost ; but next year it may be hoped that Captain Gray will have an 
opportunity of still further contributing to our knowledge of this 
interesting subject. 
The presence of spermaceti in the head of the Hyperoodon, though 
subsequently denied by other observers, was noticed in 1779 by 
Chemniz, who in his account of a male taken near Spitzbergen says, 
after speaking of the oil, “‘ Ausserdem aber anch aus seinem Kopfe 
und den iibrigen Theilen einen Anker desjenigen reinsten Oels, so 
den Namen Wallrath oder Sperma ceti fiihret, gesammlet ”’’. 
Postscript.—Since the above note was communicated to the 
Society, I have received a letter from my friend Mr. Robert Collett, 
of the Christiania Museum, giving some account of a specimen of 
Hyperoodon latifrons (as, according to the common belief, he names 
it) which was washed ashore at the Loffoden islands in April 1881 . 
He describes the head as perfectly quadrangular, just like a “ Kuf- 
fert’ (portmanteau) with rounded angles, and altogether more like 
that of a Physeter than an ordinary Hyperoodon, the anterior part 
of the forehead being perpendicular, and the rostrum scarcely pro- 
jecting beyond it. The body was proportionally slender as com- 
pared with the large head. It will be seen that this description 
exactly corresponds with Captain Gray’s sketches (figs. 1-5, p. 728). 
With regard to these drawings it is important to observe that, as they 
were not drawn to scale, the bodies appear shorter and stouter than 
they would if composed from exact measurements, the reason being 
that, in any long object when seen from a single point of view, the 
effects of perspective diminish the length much more than the 
breadth. 
2. Notes on the Characters and Habits of the Bottlenose 
Whale (Hyperoodon rostratus). By Davin Gray, Com- 
mander of the Whaling Steamer ‘ Eclipse.” (Communi- 
cated by Prof. Firowsr, F.R.8., P.Z.S.) 
[Received November 28, 1882.] 
These Whales are occasionally met with immediately after leaving 
the Shetland Isles in March, and north across the ocean until the 
ice is reached, near the margin of which they are found in greatest 
numbers ; but they are seldom seen amongst it. 
Although it is not their nature to keep in amongst the ice, they 
like to frequent the open bays, for the shelter it gives them from the 
sea. Sometimes a point of ice overlaps them; it is only then that 
they are seen going out again towards the ocean. They are also to 
be met with from the entrance of Hudson’s Straits and up Davis 
Straits, as far as 70° north lat., and down the east side round Cape 
1 Loe. cit. p. 185. 
© See “‘ Meddelelser om Norges Pattedyrs i Aarene 1876-81,” by R. Collett. 
