*1883.] PROF. FLOWER ON RUDOLPHl's RORaTJAL. 513 



generically by some zoologists. The skeleton has not been described. 

 Perhaps D. borealis, Peale, from the North Pacific, also without 

 dorsal fin, and of which only the external characters are known, 

 may be allied to it. 



Steno, Gray, Zool. Erebus & Terror, p. 43 (1846). 



Rostrum long, narrow, and compressed, very distinct from the 

 cranium. Symphysis of the mandible as long as or longer than one 

 fourth the length of the ramus. Teeth ^ to ~, of comparatively 

 large size (5-6 millim. in diameter) ; surface of their crowns finely 

 furrowed. Vertebrse : C. 7, D. 12, L. 15, C. 32; total 66. 



S. rostratus (Cuvier), with the closely allied, if not identical, S. 

 compressus, Gray, S. reinwardtii (Schlegel), and (S. perspicillatus 

 (Peters). 



b. Pterygoid bones narrow, not uniting in the middle line ; their 

 inner borders not parallel, but diverging posteriorly. 



SoTALiA, Gray, Cat. Seals & Whales Brit. Mus. 2nd ed. p. 393 



(1866). 



Cranial characters, except as regards the form of the pterygoid 

 bones, much as in Steno. Teeth tolerably large (4-5 millim. in 

 diameter), g^ to ^, with smooth enamelled surface. Vertebrae : 



C. 7, D. 12, L. 10-14, C. 22; total 51-55. Pectoral fin broad at 

 the base, the breadth being caused by the considerable development 

 and position of the two outer digits. 



S. guianensis, Van Beneden, with the closely allied 5. brasiliensis, 

 Ed. Van Beneden. 



iS. pallida, Gervais. S. tucuoci, Gray. 

 S. sinensis (F. Cuvier). 

 S. plumbeus (Dussumier). 

 S. gadamu (Owen). 

 S. lentiginosus (Owen). 



2. On a Specimen of Rudolplii^s Rorqual [Balcenoptera 

 borealis, Lesson), lately taken on the Essex Coast. By 

 V^iLLiAM Henry Flower, LL.D,, F.R.S., P.Z.S., &c. 



[Eeoeived November 19, 1883.] 



Early in the morning of the 1st of the present month some fisher- 

 men discovered a Whale alive in shallow water near the mouth of the 

 River Crouch, in Essex. After considerable difficulty they sue 

 ceeded in capturing and killing it. It was exhibited for some time 

 at Southend, and was the subject of a Chancery suit regarding its 

 ownership between the Lord of the Manor of Burnham, Sir Henry 

 Mildmay, and the fishermen who caught it, which resulted in the 

 former establishing his claim to it as a "royal fish." 



