PEOFESSOE FLOWEE ON THE EECBNT ZIPHIOID WHALES. 215 



" I may here observe that, from the form of the slnill and some other characteristics, it appears evident that 

 this whale is the Berardiits a-muxii of Duvernoy, of which a specimen was caught in 1846, in Akaroa harbour, 

 the skull of which, of the length of four feet, is at present in the Imperial Museum in Paris. The animal to 

 which it belonged is described as having been 32 feet long, and possessing a large dorsal fin, with a large boss 

 or hump in front of it. As putrefaction and the cutting off of the blubber had greatly changed the outlines of 

 the animal, I could not observe whether it possessed the larger boss in front. Mr. Walker did not speak of it 

 when he gave me a description of the animal as it appeared when captured. However, as the figure of the 

 skull, as given by Duvemoy in the 'Annales des Sciences Naturelles,' and copied into Dr. Gray's British- 

 Museum ' Catalogue of Seals and Whales,' is identical with that of our own specimen, I do not hesitate to state 

 that both belong to the same species. It also seems to me that this whale is very local, probably inhabiting 

 only the coast of New Zealand, and perhaps the regions south of it, because, as far as I can find, it has never 

 been observed elsewhere. It has without doubt not been met with on the coasts of Australia (or it would not 

 have passed unnoticed), as, amongst others, the energetic director of the Australian Museum, Gerard Krefft, 

 F.L.S., has not observed it. I may here state that the form of the skuU is very peculiar, reminding one 

 strongly of that of a dolphin. 



" There seems to be nothing known of this peculiar whale, except its external appearance and its skull ; and 

 it is therefore a matter of congratulation to us that we shall be able to supply all the details of its osteological 

 characteristics, which are peculiar in many respects. 



"The specimen in our possession was evidently a young animal, because aU the disk-like epiphyses of the 

 vertebrEe are still detached. The same is the case with the epiphyses of the limb-bones, which are not yet 

 united with them ; also the sutures of the cranium are not yet obliterated. The beginning of coalescence is, 

 however, to be observed in the seven cervical vertebrae, of which the first three are already anchylosed, the first 

 two completely, and the second and third only partially, as the neural arches and transverse processes are not 

 yet united into one bone. In the allied Hyperoodon all the cervical vertebrae coalesce ; and it is therefore 

 possible that when Serardius is in an adult state the same will take place. The Ziphius has six cervical 

 vertebrae separate ; and it will therefore be necessary to examine very carefully into the character of the 

 uncoalesced vertebrae of our skeleton before giving a decided opinion upon the subject. It possesses ten dorsal 

 vertebrae, in common with Ziphius sowerhiensis ; the Hyperoodont Whales have nine, and the Dolphins thirteen 

 to fifteen. I have not yet been able to count and examine the lumbar and caudal vertebras, as the animal was 

 in such a state of putrefaction that, after cleaning the bones as well as possible and leaving often a great 

 portion of the vertebral column together, we put them at once to macerate. We obtained only one of the 

 small pelvic bones, the other having probably been washed away by the surf ; it might, however, owing to its 

 diminutive size and sticking loosely in the flesh, easily have been overlooked. As soon as the bones are clean, 

 so that I can examine them, I shall offer a few more observations upon the osteology of this remarkable 

 animal, for the complete skeleton of which the Canterbury Museum is indebted to the members of the Philo- 

 sophical Institute, without whose pecuniary assistance I should have been unable to secure it for the 

 Provincial collections." — Proc. Phil. Institute of Canterhury, Neiv Zealand, May 5, 1869 ; also Annals and 

 Magazine of Nat. History, October 1870, p. 348. 



It is much to be regretted that no mention is made in this account of the sex of the 

 animal, especially as some of the allied forms are supposed to present considerable 

 sexual differences. 



4. In January, 1870, a large Ziphioid Whale was stranded in Worser's Bay, near the 

 entrance to Port Nicholson, and was captured. Its dimensions are thus given by 

 Mr. Knox: — 



