484 PROF. FLOWER ON THE DELPHINID^. [NoV. 20 



ou plutot ffuillochee " surface of the teeth, under the name of D. 

 rostratus, Cuvier, by Desmarest in the ' Nouveau Dictionnaire d'His- 

 toire Natuvelk,' t. ix. p. 160 (1817), and the ' Mammalogie,' p. 515 

 (1822) ; and they appear imder the same name m the second edition 

 of Cuvier's ' Regiie Animal,' vol. i. p. 289 (1829). In the fourth 

 (posthumous, 8 vo) edition of the ' Ossemens Fossiles ' (1836) the 

 skulls figure under the name of rostratus, the editor, Fred. Cuvier, 

 saying, " Nous suhstitutons au mot frontatus du texte du quarto, celui 

 de rostratus qui est le nom veritable de cette espece, comme man 

 frere Va reconnu." In F. Cuvier's ' Histoire Naturelle des Cctacos,' 

 of the same date, these skulls are associated with Van Breda's figure 

 of the external form, with the remark that " le nom de rostratus est 

 sans doute celui que ce dauphin conservera dans les catalogues metho- 

 diques" (p. 158). Notwithstanding the very definite character of 

 these statements, and also Desmarest's determination in 1817, the 

 name frontatus as applied to this species has lingered on, as will be 

 seen by the synonymy below, probably in consequence of identifi- 

 cations made with the earlier editions of the ' Ossemens Fossiles,' 

 without regard to the later rectification. The objection that might 

 possibly be raised that this species is not the D. rostratus of Shaw, 

 as Cuvier at first thought it might be, is unimportant, as no confu- 

 sion can arise with that animal, which (if recognizable at all) belongs 

 to a totally different genus, and is now universally known by the 

 specific name of gangeticus applied to it by Lebeck, and which is 

 simultaneous with, if not prior to, Shaw's name. 

 The synonymy will therefore stand as follows : — 



1 Belphinus rostratus (Shaw), Cuvier, Ann. du Museum, xix. 

 p. 10(1812). 



Delphinus rostratus (Cuvier), Desmarest, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. 

 Nat. ix. p. IGO (1817), and Mammalogie, p. 515 (1822). 



Delphinus frontatus, (in part), Cuvier, Ossemens Fossiles, 2'' edit. 

 V. p. 278 (1823), which name was abandoned in the same work at 

 p. 400. 



Delphinus rostratus, Cuvier, Regne Animal, 2" edit. i. p. 289 

 (1829). 



Delphinus planiceps, Van Breda, Verhand. Nederl. Institut. 

 p. 235, figs. 7 & 8 (1829). 



Delphinus rostratus, Fred. Cuvier, Ossemens Fossiles, A'^ edit. 

 (1836), and Hist. Nat. des Cetaces, p. 156 (1836). 



Steno rostratus and Steno frontatus, Gray, Zool. of Erebus and 

 Terror, p. 43 (1846). 



Delphinus frontatus, Owen, Cat, Osteol. Spec. Mus. Roy. Coll. 

 Surg. Eng. ii. p. 453 (1853). 



Gbjphidelphis rostratus, Gervais, Zool. et Paleont. Frang. p. 301 

 (1859), and Osteographie des Cetaces. p. 594, tab. xxxvii. figs. 8-1 1 

 (1880> 



Steno frontatus, Gray, Synopsis of Whales and Dolphins, p. 5 

 (1868). 



It is very remarkable that though the skulls of this large and 



