48 
CETACEA. 
ft. in. 
Length from occiput to end of snout . . .46 
Breadth of cranium ...... 24 
Height of ditto 2 0 
The crania of the four Hyperoodons preserved in Dublin are, I conceive, 
referrible to one species, and are similar to those represented in Cuvier’s 
“Ossemens Fossiles,” pi. 225, f. 19 — 23, ed. 1834; F. Cuvier’s “Histoire 
Nat. des Cetaces,” pi. 9 ; and Bell’s “ Brit Quad. ” &c. p. 496. From what 
has been already published on the subject any further remarks on these 
specimens seem to be unnecessary. As supplementary to what appears 
in Mr. Bell’s work, it may be added, with reference to a specific character 
about which there has been some obscurity, that in the individuals par- 
ticularly described by Dr. Jacob and Mr. Thompson of Hull two teeth 
were present in the lower jaw ; but in neither instance were they apparent 
in the recent animal, but were detected only when the gum was cut into 
in the preparation of the skeleton. 
Having heard on the 20th September last [1839] that a whale had been 
captured at Ballyholme Bay, near Bangor (County Down), on the 16th, I 
immediately set out for the place, accompanied by a scientific friend, Mr. 
Hyndman. A small portion only of the animal then remained on the 
beach, the head, tail, and entire skin, with the blubber, having been re- 
moved. This whale was seen on the evening of the 16th September in 
shallow water not far from the shore, and a boat with the small comple- 
ment of t'hreei “ hands ” gave chase. Fire-arms were discharged at it, but 
these apparently not having any effect, its assailants bound a rope to a 
pick-axe and drove this rude but successful substitute for a harpoon into 
the animal, and about the same time managed to throw a loop of a rope 
round its body above the tail, and thus with some little difficulty brought 
it captive to the shore. Its length was stated to have been 24 feet, the 
breadth of tail 6, the girth at the thickest part perhaps from 18'To 20 feet ; 
the weight was estimated at about 5 tons. The entire upper surface was 
of a blackish grey colour, the under parts somewhat paler. The stomach 
is said to have contained the remains of shells, and what was described to 
be like the “ feet of fowls ” — these I have little doubt were portions of the 
arms or feet of cuttle-fish * ( sepiadce ). Although it was late in the even- 
ing when this whale was brought ashore, its captors at once commenced 
taking off the blubber, so that unfortunately no person who would have 
* Dr. Jacob says of the Hyperoodon he dissected, that the oval cavity into 
which the oesophagus opened “ contained a large quantity of the beaks of cuttle- 
fishes, perhaps two quarts.” Again, in the Catalogue of the Museum of the 
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, p. 161, there appears — “ Cuttle-fish-bills 
found in the stomach of a Balcena rostrata?” Apprehending that this rather re- 
ferred to the Hyperoodon than the Balcena, I wrote to Dr. Jacob respecting it, 
and learned in reply that the “ cuttle-bills ” so mentioned were those taken from 
the former species by him — this is noticed merely to prevent error. In the 
specimen of Balcena rostrata dissected by Dr. Jacob the remains of herrings 
only were detected. ( Dublin Phil. Journ. Novr. 1825, p. 343.) The Rev. Dr. 
Barclay remarks of the round-headed porpoise ( Delphinus melas ), that “ its 
favourite food seems to be cuttle-fish, of which great quantities are generally 
found in the stomach.” ( Bell’s Brit. Quad. 485.) In this species my friend 
Dr. Ball has likewise observed the remains of these cephalopods In Mr. 
Hyndman’s possession are the beaks of cuttle-fish taken from the stomach of 
a whale (but of what species I have not learned) captured on the coast of Wa- 
terford some years ago. The consumption of these animals by at least two 
species of our Cetacege would thus seem to be considerable. 
