BY H. H. SCOTT AND CLIVE E. LORD. 31 



GENERAL NOTES. 



Tbe Zi jihiuhr manifest a piimitive character that has 

 apparently less in common with the F rozeuylodonts , than 

 it has Avith the hyiDothetical generalised, ungulate progeni- 

 tor of Pi'ofessor Flower. This is the presence of both a- 

 malar plate (as well as the- jugal style common to- clolDhins) 

 and a lachr3nnal bone, of extensive area. Nothing akin 

 to this is found in the caiiiivora, but the like is common 

 to existing ungulates, and in the genus BOS, the malar 

 plate overlaps the lachrymal in a similar way to' that ob- 

 taining in the cetacean skull. The lachrymal is always an 

 important face bone in ungulates, being, where necessary, 

 liiodifiecl to meet the needs of the scent glands, but in the 

 hippopotamus, which Flower regarded as the nearest 

 living congener of the pro-ungulate3, the lachrymal is a 

 fairly solid plate-like bone, well up to the middle line of 

 the face. 



Our illustration of the skull is sufficient!}^ good to sup- 

 jDly all the ordinary data, for a comparative study of 

 ZipJiiiis, with other whales, but it may be wise to add the 

 following notes : — 



1 . The overhanging pre-fronto-nasal bosses, of 



Ziphius, cut it oit from Berardius. 



2. The shorter and stouter skull segregates it from 



Me-vjplodon . 



3. The males, according to Ti'ue, have — in addition to 



the ossified rostral cartilage — wide narial basiins, 

 and teeth with roots 25 to 30 mm. across, as 

 against 10 to 14 mm. for females. 



4. Ziphoid whales have lower jaws longer than the 



upper, by anything up to 60 mm. — measured in 

 position. 



5. The pterygoids are extremely large and thin, but 



in our skull they are sadly mutilated. 



NOTES TO STUDENTS. 



(1) The origin of the Cetacea is not a solved problem, 

 and, in spite of ai vast amount of writing in this direction, 

 even the group origin still awaits solution. Any informa- 

 tion that can be culled from the crania of the existing 

 whales (that relates to the pro-mammalian skull) should be 

 useful data., and years ago Mr. Scott set out to prepare 

 Dolphins' skulls by a long and roundabout process, hav- 

 ing for its object the preservation of cartilaginous and im- 

 perfectly ossified vestiges, that are not commonly pre- 



