21 



recent authors, but elastic and prehensile. The food of the Natdtinus Greyii 

 I found to consist of insects of the Oi thoptera order. 



I conclude this short notice by drawing the attention of the Society to 

 the remarkable similarity in the skeletons of the Naultinus Greyii, and the 

 Tuatara, 



Lizard. — 1862. — External characters. 



Total weight ...... 



LENGTH. 



Snout to cloaca 

 Cloaca to tip of tail 



Total length 



Snout to nostrils .... 



„ to centre of eye .... 



,, to cleft of mouth 



„ to ear ...... 



Greatest circumference round the abdomen . .20 



2C0 



gi-ains. 





in. 



lines. 





3 



6 





4 









7 



6 









1 









H 



, 







n 









10 



Art. IV. — On the Bal^enidje or Whales with Baleen. By F. J. Knox, 

 L.R.C.S.E. With Notes . on the Cetacea, in the Colonial Museum, 

 Wellington, by Dr. Hector, F.R.S. 



(With Illustrations.) 



[Read before the Wellington Pilosophical Society, September 18, 1869.] 



Observations on the Natural History of the Balainidaz, or that division of 

 mammiferous animals called Cetacea, having the remarkable substance 

 known in commerce as Whalebone (Baleen), as a substitute for teeth. 



The habitat of the Cetacea has necessarily rendered it a difficult task to obtain 

 reliable descriptions of them. The naturalist and practical whaler know 

 nothing about the anatomy of the animal, and they accordingly record 

 measurements of the external surface. In those Cetacea of large size great 

 inaccuracy occurs even in obtaining this very deficient character in determining 

 genera or species. For example, in describing Cetaceans, the naturalist and 

 practical whaler invariably include the tail in their measurements, thus adding 

 from ten to fifteen feet to the actual length of the skeleton ; and when the sex 

 and age of the animal are also not given, the result must be the erroneous 

 increase in the number of species. Hence, a carefully prepared skeleton, the 

 sex of the specimen, and, if possible, the anatomy of the viscera, are 

 imperatively required to enable the naturalist to determine with accuracy 

 either genera or species. 



The following observations are the result of the dissection of three 

 specimens of the Balsenidse ; and the author proposes to reduce the number of 

 Balsenidse to four, distinguished by the following characters : — 



Average length of 



adult animal. 



Balazna Mysticetus, or Bight whale . " . 55 to 65 feet 



Rorqualus major (Knox), Hump-back . 80 to 100 ,, 



,, minor (Knox) . . 20 to 25 ,, 



,, Sp., Trigger-fin, Sulphur-bottom 30 to 55 ,, 



