562 DR. S. F. HARMER ON 



Cetacean. When the skeleton of the Wexford specimen has 

 been cleaned I hope to be able to publish a further account of 

 these two animals, in conjunction with my friend Mr. W, P. 

 Pycraf t ; but the records are interesting enough to justify the 

 publication of a preliminary notice on the subject. 



The Wexford specimen was stranded on July 18, 1915, at the 

 entrance to Bannow Bay, on the east side of the point of land 

 separating that Bay from Watei'f ord Harbour ; and it was alive 

 when first observed, I am indebted to Mr. Dennis McCarthy, 

 of H.M. Coastguard, for valuable information with I'egard to its 

 appearance, as well as for the trouble he took in facilitating the 

 ax^qiiisition of the specimen by the British Museum. In a 

 written description sent after the despatch of the original tele- 

 gram, Mr. McCarthy states that the lower jaw " was narrow 

 and projected beyond the upper." The head was '* mostly white 

 in oolovir and along the upper part of the back as far as the fin 

 with numerous whitish streaks running downwards in all direc- 

 tions ; the remainder a darkish colour," This account is confirmed 

 by Ml'. Bishop, who made an excellent drawing of the animal, 

 based on his photographs, measurements and notes, on his return 

 to the Museum. This drawing represents the head, including 

 the whole of the lower jaw, and part of the back as white in 

 colour, the rest of the skin being black, or at least dark. The 

 white colour extends over the whole of the head and part of the 

 body, in front of an oblique line drawn from the anterior end of 

 the dorsal fin, and passing in front of the pectoral fin, to the 

 posterior end of the lower jaw. The coloiiring of this specimen 

 is thus extremely similar to that of the ISTew Zealand animal 

 figured by von Haast (1880, pi. xxiii.). Much of the skin was 

 covered by long, linear streaks, similar to those usually seen on 

 the skin of Oramjnis griseus, Accor'ding to the observations of 

 Mr, Bishop, who did not see the specimen until July 23, when 

 much of the epidermis had been lost, the streaks were ari'anged 

 singly. In the specimen figured by von Haast the skin is said 

 to have been marked with parallel, elongated streaks, in pairs, 

 as well as with oval scars, each with two dots in the centre. 

 These dots, and the two members of each pair of sti'eaks were a 

 constant distance apart, and were " evidently made by the teeth 

 of other individuals of the same species." 



One of the most striking features of the Wexford specimen 

 was its possession of a pair of large and massive teeth, situated 

 at the extreme end of the lower jaw, the left tooth being appre- 

 ciably larger than its fellow. The exposed parts of these teeth 

 p,re roughly oonical, the teeth diverging from one another and 

 being 20 mm. apart at their base. Other measurements of the 

 exposed parts of the teeth are : — 



Right. Left. 



Antero-posterior diameter, at base... 32 mm. 36 mm. 



Transverse diameter, at base 29 32 



Length 34 42 



