MR. T. SOUTHWELL ON ANCIENT RECORDS OF CETACEANS. 31 1 
Although called a Grampus, Sir Nicholas’s excellent description 
of the animal at once indicates that it was a male example of 
H yperoodon rostratns, which came ashore at Ifolme, this is con- 
firmed by the accurate outline in the margin of the MS. (here 
reproduced) which Mr. le Strange has been good enough to have 
photographed,* and moreover from the conformation of the head, the 
great “ bunny ” or swelling particularly mentioned, it was evidently 
a nearly adult male, a condition in which it is of rare occurrence in 
our waters, adult females often accompanied by their young being 
of most frequent occurrence. Of course, at the time of this writing, 
the Ilyperoodon was not distinguished as a species, and the word 
“Grampus” had a wide application; but Sir Nicholas at once 
discerned that the species was different from that which came 
under the notice of his father, and was described earlier in the 
same volume. After the account of the cutting up and trying out 
of the oil, by which it appears that he obtained 180 gallons of oil 
at a cost of £1, including “some diett and drink allowed the men 
to make amends for ill savour of their work,” he proceeds to give 
a very intelligent account of the anatomical peculiarities, which 
in spite of the “ill savour” he did not fail to observe; thus, he 
traced the breathing apparatus from the “ blow-hole” to the palate, 
and ho may readily be excused for arriving at the conclusion that the 
passage was for the ejection of water instead of air, for it was not 
till long after that the full significance of the mode of respiration 
of the Cetaceans was understood. The two quarts of “sharp 
clawes” found in the stomach were the beaks of Cuttle-fish, 
which are now known to form the food of these animals ; and 
the great roll of “ dark spongy tlesh, the whole length of the 
back-bone ” consisted of the lungs with their great plexus of blood- 
vessels ; the apparent absence of functional teeth in either jaw 
which formed such a contrast to the well-furnished mandible of the 
“ Woolpack ” Whale did not escape his notice, nor of course the 
* The figure is perhaps rather too robust but on the whole fairly accurate, 
and it will be observed that there is no medial notch in the tail, the absence 
of which is a feature in this species. The first recorded example was, 
I believe, a young female stranded at Maldon, in Essex, on 23rd September, 
1717, which is figured (but less accurately) and described by Samuel Dale, 
in his ‘ History and Antiquities of Harwich’ (1730, p. 411, Tab. xiv.) : this 
earlier sketch of Sir Nicholas le Strange’s is therefore very interesting. 
x 2 
