4 PROFESSOR FLOWER ON BISSO'S DOLPHIN. 



mottled border, which, again, was separated from the general dark colour of the surface 

 by another white line, so that there were three white and two black lines, altogether 

 nearly half an inch in width. In some places the central white line was absent ; and 

 then the marking showed only a dark centre, bordered by white. There are also many 

 round and oval patches of white, generally with a dark centre. On close inspection it 

 was seen that these dark lines and patches were really formed by aggregations of 

 minute black dots and fine linear streaks placed transversely to the main line, and that 

 they depended altogether upon the disposition of the pigment in the cuticle, the peculiar 

 coloration passing through its entire thickness. 



Nothing but the drawing can convey any idea of the extraordinary and irregular 

 manner in which these markings were distributed. Though there was a general corre- 

 spondence between their arrangement on the two sides, there was no symmetry in detail. 

 They were entirely absent from the dorsal, pectoral, and upper surface of the caudal fins, 

 though on the under side of the right lobe of the latter were some broad, rather 

 indistinct, white lines, parallel with the anterior border of the lobe, and following its 

 curve. There were no corresponding markings on the other lobe. 



The viscera generally, as far as I had an opportunity of examining them, appeared 

 closely to resemble those of Globicephalus. The stomach was nearly empty, containing 

 only a little fluid, and in its last compartment a single crystalline lens, apparently of a 

 small Cephalopod. 



Skeleton. — The condition of the bones showed that the animal was adult but not 

 aged : all the epiphyses of the limb-bones were completely united with the shafts ; and 

 the disk-like terminal epiphyses of the bodies of the vertebrae were likewise joined with 

 the rest of the bone, with the exception of a few in the lumbar region, which still 

 remained distinct. 



In general appearance the skeleton presents the same kind of resemblance to that of 

 Globicephalus that the external figure of the animal does, the proportions of the dif- 

 ferent regions of the trunk being very similar ; but as the vertebrae are more numerous, 

 especially in the lumbar region, they are individually shorter from before backwards. 

 The spinous and transverse processes are also longer and more slender, approaching 

 in this respect Delphinus and Lagenorhynchus, and deviating greatly from Orca and 

 Pseuclorca. 



The most noticeable peculiarity of the vertebral column, taken as a whole, is the very 

 feeble development of the metapophyses. 



The total number of vertebrae is 68, which may be divided into 7 cervical, 12 thoracic, 

 19 lumbar, and 30 caudal 1 . 



The seven cervical vertebra; are all firmly united together by the laminae of their arches 

 and the spines ; but the body of the seventh is quite distinct from the sixth, and that of 



1 Exactly the same numbers as those found by Fischer in a specimen of Gramjms griseus, stranded in 1867, 

 on the west coast of France. (Annales des Sciences Naturelles, 5th ser. viii. p. 363, 1867.) 



