The published measurements of specimens from the coasts of Europe and New Zealand, currently believed to represent the single species Z. cavirostris, are rather meager, and, furthermore, prove, on examination, to present so little uniformity that they are of limited use for comparison with measurements of skulls from the Atlantic coast of the United States. About all that can be said is that the latter skulls are of about the same size as the former and that the proportions do not present any striking differences. For detailed measurements of the American skulls, see [page 53].
On account of the uncertainty as regards the measurements, I have had recourse to the published descriptions and figures, especially those of Van Beneden, Sir William Turner, and Doctor Haast. So far as I can perceive, there is nothing in these descriptions that is not applicable to the skulls Nos. 49599 and 20971, from Newport, Rhode Island, and Barnegat City, New Jersey, respectively, in the National Museum, and I can find no reason for regarding the latter other than as representatives of Z. cavirostris.
HISTORY OF THE NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, SPECIMEN.
Of the Newport specimen, No. 49599, the Museum has the complete skeleton, together with external measurements and a photograph. From data at hand it appears that the animal was originally obtained in Narragansett Bay about October 30, 1901, and afterwards towed to Fort Adams, near Newport. A few days later it was sent adrift again and stranded in the harbor of Dutch Island, near Canonicut Island, which is opposite Newport. While at Fort Adams its existence was made known to the Museum by Dr. E. A. Mearns, U. S. Army, and his son, Louis Mearns; and a preparator was sent to obtain the skeleton. With the aid of Captain Soderman, of the government tug Monroe, he found it at Dutch Island, and reported that it was a male, 20 feet 1 inch in length, measured along the curves of the back (18 feet 6 inches in a straight line). The epidermis was nearly all lacking, but the back appeared to have been black. The length in a straight line, as reported by Mr. Louis Mearns, was 19 feet. The complete measurements taken by the preparator, Mr. J. W. Scollick, are as follows:
External dimensions of Ziphius cavirostris, male, Cat. No. 49599, U.S.N.M., Newport, Rhode Island.
| Ft. | in. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total length, along curve of back | 20 | 1 |
| Total length, in straight line | 18 | 6 |
| Tip of snout to posterior margin of dorsal fin | 13 | 10 |
| Tip of snout to axilla | 5 | 2 |
| Tip of snout to eye | 2 | 5½ |
| Tip of snout to anterior margin of blowhole | 2 | 4 |
| Length of mouth | 1 | 1 |
| Breadth of blowhole | 0 | 5½ |
| Length of pectoral fin, from head of humerus to tip, straight | 2 | 2 |
| Vertical height of dorsal fin | 0 | 10 |
| Breadth of flukes, from tip to tip | 5 | 3 |
| Greatest girth (estimated) | 10 | 0 |
The breadth of the pectoral fin, as shown by the skeleton, was 5¾ inches.
The photograph, which is reproduced in [Pl. 41], fig. 4, gives a good idea of the general form of the animal.
HISTORY OF THE BARNEGAT CITY, NEW JERSEY, SPECIMEN.
Of the Barnegat City specimen, No. 20971, the Museum has the complete skeleton, together with a cast of one-half of the entire animal, and another of the head, and some measurements, all of which were obtained by Mr. William Palmer and myself October 3, 1883. The Museum received notice of the stranding of this specimen from Capt. J. H. Ridgway, of the United States life-saving station at Barnegat City. It was an adult female, 19 feet 4 inches long in a straight line. The complete measurements, taken in straight lines with a rod and cord, are as follows: