<Si€ Zoological Society : — 
PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 
ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
May 24, 1853. — Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair. 
Notes on a Cetaceous Animal stranded on the North- 
east COAST OF Ireland. 
By George Gulliver, F.R.S. 
On Saturday, May 14, 1853, a herd of cetaceous animals appeared 
at Dundrum Bay, many of which got away, and others were stranded. 
I saw on the following days about twenty-five of them lying dead 
there on the sand. The largest was nearly nineteen feet, and the 
smallest between nine and ten feet long. They were all furnished 
with perfect teeth. The greater number were females ; in a group 
of nine large ones, lying near together, six were females and three 
males. 
I was told that their death-throes were dreadful; they rose on 
their tails, bellowed like bulls, floundered about, and spouted bloody 
sand and water, as they were attacked with different destructive in-r 
struments by the peasantry. From one of the animals, between six- 
teen arid seventeen feet long, a perfect foetus, presently to be described, 
was taken, so that the breeding time of this species may be considered 
as now determined. One of them had the iron head of a harpoon 
imbedded in its back, and the wound completely healed over. In the 
second large compartment of the stomach were numerous fish-bones, 
completely denuded of all soft parts by digestion. The following 
measurements may be useful for future reference : — 
m. 
vhdfi 
Measurements of a Male. ^, 
Length from the snout to the end of the middle 
of the tail 18 6 
Greatest girth, excluding back fin 12 6 
Length of pectoral fin 5 
Breadth of base of pectoral fin 1 
Breadth of pectoral fin at one foot from its point 4 
Length of base of back fin 3 
Height of back fin I 2 
Breadth of tail from point to point 3 10 
Measurements of a Female. c^ 
'' ft. 111. 
Length from snout to end of middle of tail .... 16 
Greatest girth, excluding back fin 9 
Girth one inch behind eyes .......,., 5 3 
Length of each side of mouth , .^u*p*'.^. . 1 
From snout to eye .'. .... . 1 6 
From eye to blowhole 1 2 
From snout to base of pectoral fin 2 10 
The blowhole behind a line intersecting the eyes I 
Mr. G. Gulliver on Belphinus melas. 
• ^ ^ ft. in. 
From the snout to beginning of dorsal fin ... . 4 11 
From the end of the base of the dorsal fin to 
the end of the middle of the tail 8 6 
From snout to vent 10 4 
From snout to the orifice of the vagina 10 
From snout to the mammary slits 10 
From point of lower jaw to the navel 6 
From the eye to the angle of the mouth 4| 
}j., The eye above a line drawn from the base of the » 
h upper jaw along centre of the sides of the body 3 f ^^^ 
fj,;,. From the knob of the snout to the upper lip . . 10 .;>. X 
r^f! : Length of the mammary slit 'Sjf- ,if 
|.j,, Transverse distance from mammary slit to ori- 
,^r fice of the vagina 4 
, Dorsal fin at its base 2 6 
Dorsal fin over its convexity 3 
,j(, Height of dorsal fin ■ .,} ^,.^ ^ 
^.. Length of pectoral fin ; S^^.lin^u^^y 
^j,'/ Breadth of base of pectoral fin .^ 's,-^ V5ri4»»ij' Tii)ii',P ],t)i9b[Ui2i. 
-?i^ .Length of opening of eyehd . . .t. . . . .^/:..., -^ ^4^ yi\%uvjHiik 
,l)a(fi^iameter of eyeball ^-tmS^ Imli'idir 
b9r:.l)Piameter of cornea ..,,,., -..x.Mfifli o»^ivj:^ii?,m: 
aooii-it^^S^^ of crown of tooth -^nC*)*. tkwimTOftb ItttI j^b 
"^^ ' Measurements of a Fcefus.'^'l'i^'f^t^'^''^ 
^jj^,^^.,X|ength from snout to the end of the middle of ,,^^yj 
: the tail 4 S-tynr 
Girth, excluding back fin 2 5|- 
From centre of snout to opposite the base of the 
pectoral fin I 
Snout to beginning of the back fin 2 
From the upper lip to the blowhole 
From point of lower jaw to navel 7^ ' 
From point of lower jaw to vagina 2 |i 
From the eye to the centre of the snout 
Length of base of back fin 8 
Height of back fin 3 
Length of pectoral fin 1 1^ 
Breadth of base of pectoral fin 3^ 
Length of intestines 30 
Anatomy. — Through the kindness of Mr. Brabazon, the excellent 
surgeon of Downpatrick, I had an opportunity of examining the foetus 
of which the measurements have just been given. As the dissectioii 
was suddenly stopped, the details are imperfect, though accurate as 
far as they go. The skin was of a dark leaden colour, and the 
blubber on the sides of the body about half an inch thick. There 
were soft fringes or processes of the gums, corresponding in situatioa 
Und immber to the coming teeth. 
The thymus of moderate size, at the usual situation in the chest, 
S20 Zoological Society : — 
and sending no process to the neck. The spleen and a spleniculus 
together scarcely so big as a walnut. A flat rounded gland, about 
three-fourths of an inch in diameter, situated above the renal vessels 
on each side, and at a distance of upwards of an inch from the kid- 
ney, had more the appearance of a lymphatic gland than of the supra- 
renal body. 
On opening the chest, each lung was seen to be covered with lym- 
phatic vessels, running to a gland at the sterno-ventral aspect of the 
free edge of the lung. The gland was very juicy, had every appear- 
ance of a lymphatic gland, and measured one inch and a quarter long 
and five-eighths broad. This pulmonary gland in the adult is harder, 
more fibrous, and less juicy, and measures four and a half inches long 
by two broad. 
The stomach with two chief compartments ; the first continuing 
backwards on a line with the gullet, and lined, like it, with a white 
thick smooth membrane and epithelium ; the second, or true digest- 
ing stomach, lined with a mucous membrane in folds, and somewhat 
smaller than the first, of a more rounded form, and extending from 
its middle to the duodenum. In the first was a quantity of thick;* 
opake, whitish fluid, and in the second a little mucus. 
There was no gall-bladder. The bile-duct, close to the duodenum, 
was as thick as a goose quill. The last portion of the intestine was 
full of meconium, like that of the human foetus. 
There was no csecum ; the intestines were nearly uniform in size 
throughout, their surface smooth and not at all cellulated. Length 
of the whole intestinal canal, from stomach to vent, thirty feet. 
The kidneys large and lobulated throughout ; the lobules from a 
quarter to half an inch in diameter, and having each a very delicate 
capsule of connecting tissue. The blood-vessels enter the kidney, not 
near its middle, but at its fore and inner or atlanto-mesial end. 
The mesenteric glands moderate in size and number, of uniform" 
consistency, and without any cavity or hollow in them, unlike those 
of the whale described by Mr. Abernethy. 
The womb with two horns, and the ovaries in the usual situation ; 
mammary slits on a level with and near to the orifice of the vagina. 
Urinary bladder empty, and the urethra opening just behind the 
clitoris. 
Descriptive Characters. — Teeth conical and slightly curved inwards/ 
from eight to twelve on each side of the jaws, making from thirty-two 
to forty-eight teeth altogether ; but eleven on either side of each jaw 
is a common number, and there is sometimes one more in the upper 
than in the under jaw on each side. Dorsal fin large, convex above 
and extending behind into a hooked or curved point. Pectoral fins 
long, narrow, and tapering to a point. Tail crescent-shaped. Mouth 
sloping downwards and forwards. Eyes above and behind the angles 
of the mouth. Top of the head round, and not prominent, though 
the snout is remarkably so. No nipples y<et protruding, but merely 
a longitudinal mammary slit on each side of the orifice of the vagina 
in the female ; a large penis in the male. Skin smooth, shining, and 
black throughout, save two whitish-brown patches at the throat and 
Mr, G. GulliVei' on Delphiniis melas. S^l 
iiear the vent and genitals ; in a few males and females this light 
colour extends in a narrow strip from these points along the under 
part of the hody, hut never behind the eye, or elsewhere. 
The blubber was If ths inch thick on the sides, much thicker on 
the back, and composing the whole thickness of the snout. The 
cuticle, which on its outer surface was like oil skin, when stripped 
off, exhibited on its under side a jet-black velvet-like rete mucosum, 
furnished with a very great abundance of black pigment. Around 
the eyeball was a firm bony plate in the sclerotic coat ; and a white 
funnel-shaped ligament, extremely thick, tough and strong, was at- 
tached by its base to the eyeball, and surrounded the optic nerve. 
As there is no opportunity here of consulting the published de- 
scriptions and figures of the Cetacea, I am uncertain at present of 
the species of this one. It does not correspond with any description 
in the Rev. Leonard Jenyns's * Manual of the Vertebrata,' a copy of 
which is my travelling companion. The present animal approaches 
nearest to his Grampus {Belphinus orca) and Ca'ing Whale (D. me- 
las of Traill and D. deductor of Scoresby) . But it is smaller than 
either of them, though I suspect it will prove to be Traill's D, melas^ 
and has not the white spot behind the eye, nor the broad pectoral 
fins of the Grampus, nor the very convex top to the head, the small 
average number of teeth (which he makes only twenty-four in all), 
nor the colour of the skin of his Ca'ing Whale. The animals which 
I examined had a convex rounded snout, its thickness made up of 
gristly blubber, which it is possible may have been erroneously de- 
scribed as the "top of the head." The Rev. Charles Archibald, 
whom I had the pleasure of meeting among the carcases, directed my 
attention to the difference between the pectoral fins of this species 
and those of the Grampus. 
The relative position of the back fin, so much more forward in the 
adult than in the foetus, is remarkable ; and, indeed, the comparative 
measurements exhibit some interesting facts as to development. 
Dundrum, co. Down, May 20, 1853. 
Postscript. — The animal is undoubtedly the same as that described 
under the name of the Uyea Sound or Ca'ing Whale by Mr. Patrick 
Neill in 1806, and afterwards figured by Dr. Traill from a drawing by 
Mr. James Watson ; by Cuvier ; by Captain Scoresby, Mr. Bell, and 
Mr. Couch. 
But though these figures are sufficient to identify the species, they 
all represent the pectoral fin as narrower at the base than it really 
is ; and most of tliinn show a twist of the tail, which was observed in 
none of the specimens at Dundrum Bay. Cuvier' s plate is the only 
one that gives an idea of the pointed end of the dorsal fin ; all the 
others represent this posterior termination of the fin too blunt, 
rounded, or short, though Mr. Couch correctly describes it as fal- 
cate. 
No doubt, the foetus, 4 feet 8 inches long, from Dundrum Bay, 
was nearly ready for birth in the middle of May. Dr. Traill men- 
tioned sucklings five feet long in December 1806, at Scapay Bay, one 
922 Zoological Society : — 
of the Orkneys ; Mr. Neill says that most of the adult females at 
Uyea Sound, Unst, were either pregnant, or giving suck to their tooth- 
less young, in February and March 1805 ; and in January 1812, in 
the neighbourhood of Paimpol, near the northern extremity of Bre- 
tagne, M. Lamaoiit found the young seven or eight feet long, and 
with cuttle-fish, cod, and milk in their stomachs. 
M. F. Cuvier states that this species is remarkable for the sphe- 
rical form of the anterior part of the head, and that his brother had 
named it ^' glohiceps, a cause de la forme arrondie de sa tete.'^ But 
the *'very rounded top of the head," or '* remarkably convex and 
prominent forehead," included by systematic writers in the specific 
characters of the Ca'ing Whale, and even among the otherwise judi- 
cious observations of Mr. Couch, does not properly belong to it ; for 
the forehead of the skull is flat, as in other porpoises, though the 
prominent upper muzzle or snout-knob is suflficiently remarkable, and 
not badly represented in the plates already mentioned. 
But, as I have caused a young skull to be sent to the British Mu^' 
seum, and Mr. Brabazon has presented a complete skeleton of the 
adult male animal to the same national collection. Dr. Gray has exa- 
mined them, and that eminent zoologist has favoured me with the 
following note of the result : — " I have compared the skeleton with 
the species which have been usually described under the name of 
D. glohiceps, and it would appear that the shape of the head of the 
animal scarcely justified that name ; I can find no difference between 
the Irish and the other specimens." 
June 14. — Dr. Gray, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
Dr. C^isp exhibited the alimentary canal and ova of a Cuckoo 
(C canorus), dissected on the 30th of May last. Some facts were 
observed that were thought of sufficient interest to place before the 
Society. A perfect egg was found in the oviduct, ready for expul- 
sion, and about fifty in the ovary ; two of the size of large peas, the 
others much smaller; a circumstance which tends to confirm the 
opinion that the eggs of this bird are deposited at intervals of seven 
or eight days. 
The gizzard was lined with a hair-like substance, which, und'er the 
microscope, proved to be the spines from the legs of beetles. The 
gizzard contained a large quantity of the remains of the Cockchafer, 
and one of the Click-beetles, but no trace of a Caterpillar was dis- 
covered. In 1834 Mr. Thompson exhibited the gizzard of a Cuckoo 
at the Society (Proceedings, p. 29), and at first the hairy lining was 
supposed to be a natural structure, but Prof. Owen, on microscopic 
examination, believed that the hairs were from the larva of the Tiger- 
moth {Arctia caja). 
Dr. Crisp thought the subject worthy of future inquiry, and that 
it would be important to ascertain whether this hairy lining is present 
in the Caprimulgidce and other insectivorous birds. As regards the 
spines of the beetles and the hairs of the larva of the Tiger-moth, 
the microscope shows this important difference, — the hairs are all 
Mr. P. L. Sclater on a new species of Dendrocolaptes 233 
furnished with alternate lateral aciculse ; the spines of the beetles are 
smooth, with sharp points. 
Explanatory drawings of the parts were exhibited. 
Dr. Crisp also showed two new species of worms which he had 
recently obtained ; one from the lung of the Egyptian Cobra {Naja 
Haje) which had been in the Society's collection. It is 3 inches 
long, and its chief peculiarity consists in its annular protuberances, 
twenty-eight in number. 
Dr. Baird has described this worm as a new species, in the British 
Museum Catalogue, under the name of Pentastoma annulatum *. 
The other specimens were two nematoid worms, which Dr. Crisp 
obtained from the knee-joint of the common Coot {Fulica atrd). 
They are of a cylindrical form, highly elastic, and coiled in a spiral 
manner round each other ; the larger of the two, when extended, is 
about two inches in length, the smaller about an inch and a half; the 
extremities are tapering ; the tail pointed ; the head more orbicular. 
Under a power of 50 diameters, the alimentary canal can be distinctly 
seen. 
Dr. Crisp believed that this worm had not been before described ; 
it most resembled the Spii^optera Falconis of Rudolphi, or the Spi- 
roptera serpentidus of Diesing. In the Museum of the London 
College of Surgeons (prep. 170) there are two Filarice, one about 
six inches long, from the knee-joint of the Kangaroo {Macropus 
major): and Diesing, in his 'Systema Helminthum,' 1850, mentions 
the Filaria suhspiralis, from the tendons of the foot of a Crane ; and 
the Spiroptera serpentulus, from the leg and foot tendons of several 
species of Falcon. 
On a new species of Dendrocolaptes. 
By Philip Lutley Sclater. 
The fine species of Dendrocolaptes which I now bring before the 
notice of the Society, was discovered by Mr. Wallace in the neighbour- 
hood of Para. My specimen is from the Capin river, where it was 
collected in June 1849. A second, in Mr. Wallace's own collection, 
marked *Para,' is the only other I have seen. Had I not the 
authority of Mr. Eyton and the Baron de la Fresnaye for considering 
the present bird as hitherto undescribed, I should hardly have ven- 
tured to characterize a species of this family, which is one of those 
most perplexing to ornithologists, by reason of the great similarity of 
colouring that pervades the group. The Baron de la Fresnaye, who 
has lately written a most complete monograph of these birds in the 
* Revue de Zoologie,' has mentioned this species in a recent number 
of that periodical, under the MS. name I had proposed for it when 
on a visit to him eighteen months ago. This makes it desirable, I 
think, to give it specific characters at once, in order to avoid the 
evils of leaving a published name without a published description 
attached. 
* Described by Dr. Baird at p. 73 of the present volume of this Journal. 
S24i Zoological Society i— 
The specific rianie is in honour of Mr. Eyton, who has worked k 
great deal at the Vendrocolaptince, and pubhshed the results of his 
labours in the shape of descriptions of several new species, and a 
general list of the whole subfamily, in the * Contributions to Orni- 
thology ' for last year. 
Dendrocolaptes Eyton I, Sclater. D. supra cinnamomeo-hruri' 
neus ; caudce colore intensiore, primariis i7itus ad apices obscit' 
rioribus ; capitis collique superi plumis nigrescentibus, linea 
lata mediali fulvo-albida ; subtus, mento et gula albis ; pectore 
toto et ventre summo albido fiammulatis, singulis plumis plaga 
mediali albida utrinque brunneo marginata ; ventre imo et la^ 
teribus fulvis ; tectricibus subalaribus pallide brunneis ; rostro 
paululum incurvo ; mandibula superiore nigrescente^ inferiore 
corneo ; pedibus nigris. 
Long, tota, 9-5 ; alse, 4-0 ; rostri a rictu, 1-9 ; a fronte, 1-5. 
Hab. in vicinitate Parse, imp. Brasiliensis. 
July 26.— Dr. Gray, F.R.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. 
On some Staphylinidjs, found in the Nests of 
Termites. By M. Schiodte. 
It has long been known that some species of ants keep insects be- 
longing to different orders. The intention of the communication I 
am going to make is to point out that the same extraordinary phse- 
nomenon exists among the Termites. 
The insects which I have now the honour to bring under the 
notice of the Society, dwell amongst a certain species of Termites in 
the Brazils, and were collected, together with the Termes, by Mr. 
Reinhardt, whilst travelling for the Royal Museum of Natural History 
in Copenhagen through the province Minas Geraes. 
This Termes belongs to a peculiar little group of small species, the 
nests of which are built around branches of trees, and contain in their 
interior only a labyrinth of uniform passages, without any separate 
cell for the queen. The soldiers are not much larger than the work- 
ing individuals, and are nearly as numerous ; their head has its great- 
est dimension in the height ; the front extends below in a large horn ; 
the mandibles are not elongated, but exceedingly broad, and have a 
crenulated edge and a considerable horn on their outside. 
From physiological as well as from anatomical reasons I am of 
opinion, that the constitutional state of the society of Termites is 
established on the same fundamental laws as the societies amongst 
the Hymenoptera. Several species of ants have also soldiers. The 
working Termites are quite different from the larvae. In the species 
here mentioned they may be distinguished by the form of the instru- 
menta cibaria, especially by the two teeth at the end of the interior 
lobe of the maxillse, which are separated by a pointed incision in the 
working individuals, but in the larvae by a rounded one. 
The strangers or guests of Termites known to me are Staphyli- 
nidee, belonging to the group of Aleocharini ; they constitute two 
M, Schiodte on some species of Staphylinidse. 223 
new genera. They agree with Lomechusa and Dinar da, in having a 
corneous hook on the end of the interior lobe of their maxillae, but 
in other respects they present characters in the construction of the 
parts of the mouth and of the tarsi, which strikingly separate them 
from all other genera of that group. The abdomen is constructed in 
a most extraordinary manner, being membranaceous, of an enormous 
size, bent upwards so as to cover the thorax, and fixed in this po- 
sition by the dorsal faces of the second and third segments having 
grown together. 
Of one of the genera, which I have named Corotoca, two species 
are known to me {Corotoca Melantho and C. Phylo) ; they are about 
3 millim. in length from the front to the end of the second segment 
of the abdomen. Of the first of these I have observed both sexes. 
The male is a little smaller than the female, but otherwise only to be 
distinguished by the dissection of the organs of generation. 
Of the other genus, named by me Spirachtha, the male is still un- 
known to me. The abdomen is furnished with three pairs of appen- 
dages, which are elongate, cylindrical, 2-jointed, membranaceous, and 
moveable by mu-scles at the base. These appendages are perhaps in- 
tended for the same purpose as the tufts of hairs on the abdomen of 
the genus Claviger^ which are known to be sucked by the ants ; even 
in Lomechusa there are similar hairy appendages on the sides of the 
abdomen. Of this genus only one species is known to me {Spi- 
rachtha Eury medusa), of about 2 millim. in length, from the front 
to the end of the second segment of the abdomen. 
In the abdomen of both genera I have found eggs in different 
stages of development, in Corotoca even eggs with fully developed 
larvae ; so that, beyond doubt, these animals are viviparous. 
If the Strepsiptera are to be considered as belonging to the order 
Coleoptera, an opinion which I endeavoured to prove as early as the 
year 1840*, this will be the second instance of viviparous Coleoptera. 
Fam. Staphylini. 
Trib. Aleocharini. 
Genus Corotoca, 
Maxilla mala interiori cornea, uncinata. Palpi maxillares A-arti- 
culati. Ligula lata, rotundata, paraglossia obsoletis. Palpi 
labiates 3-articulati. Tarsi A-articulati, posteriores articulo 
primo valde elongato. Abdomen membranaceum, fr actum ; 
parte posteriori fixa, maxima, globosa, dorso anteriori animalis 
superposita. {Kopr], tikt<jj.) 
1. Corotoca Melantho. Fusca, fronte foveolata, pronoto 
midtifoveolato, disco bituberculato ; tibiis posterioribus fusi- 
formibus, fuscis ; scutis ventralibus segmenti quarti quintique 
transvo'sis. — Mas, Fem. 
Long, a fronte ad apicem segmenti secundi abdominis 2|^-3 mill. 
2. Corotoca Phylo. Fusca, vertice foveolato, pronoto multi^ 
* See the introduction to * Danmark's Eleutherata/ p. 21, note. 
Ann. ^ Mag, N, Hist. Ser. 2. Vol xv. 15 
Z2B Zoological Society : — 
foveolatOy disco trituherculato ; tihiis jposteriorihus Unearihus, 
nigro-fuscis ; scuiis ventralibus segmenti quarti quintique sub- 
quadra tis. — Fein. 
Long, a fronte ad apicem segmenti secundi abdominis 2^-3^ mill. 
Genus Spirachtha. 
Maxilla mala interiori cornea, uncinata. Palpi maxillares 3-arti' 
culati. Ligida nmpla, rotundata, paraglossia obsoletis. Palpi 
labiales S-articulati, minutissimi, verruciformeSy ligula super- 
tecti. Tarsi A-articulati^ posterior es articulo primo subelon- 
gato. Abdomen membranaceum, maximum, fractum ; parte 
anteriori articuli secundi globosa ; parte posteriori Jixa, conica, 
anterius ascendente, tribusque utrinque munita appendicibus 
onembranaceis, filiformibus, biarticulatis. {^neipaydrjs.) 
Spirachtha Eurymedusa. Albissima, membranacea; antennis, 
capite, scutis thoracicis et abdominalibus pedibusque corneo- 
membraneis, pallide fuscis, coxis, femorum basi, trochanteribus 
posticis tibiisque fuscis, oculis fusco-nigris. — Fern. 
Long, a fronte ad apicem segmenti secmidi abdominis 2 mill. ; la^ 
segmenti secundi abdominis 1 mill. ^ 
November 8. — Dr. Gray, Vice-President, in the Chair, 'J*^' I*\ 
On the Anatomy of the Walrus. "? 
By Professor Owen, F.R.S., F.Z.S. etc. '^ 
Professor Owen communicated the chief results of his dissection 
of the Walrus {Trichecus rosmarus) which died at the Gardens of 
the Zoological Society, October 1853. The author prefaced his ana- 
tomical description by some remarks on the physiognomy, attitudes 
and movements of the living animal ; and more especially dwelt on 
the superior strength of its fin-shaped limbs, as compared Vv'ith the 
ordinary Seals, the Walrus being able, when it moves on dry land, to 
raise its trunk from the ground — in other words, to walk — a mode of 
progression which strikingly contrasts with the awkward shuffle of 
the Seal, as it trails its belly on the earth, aiding its fore fins with 
the action of its powerful abdominal muscles. Both the bones and 
muscles of the fins of the Walrus are more powerfully developed than 
in the Seal, and this, the author concluded, had reference to its 
natural habitat among bergs and floes of ice, and the necessity of 
clambering among and over their rough, irregular surfaces. The 
sex of the animal dissected was female ; the mammae were four in 
number, two abdominal and two inguinal. There was no trace of ex- 
ternal ears. The eye is defended by a circular external eyelid, and 
by a broad thin membrana nictitans ; there is a small Harderian, or 
inner lacrymal gland, but no true lacrymal gland, punctum lacry- 
male, nor ductus ad nasum. The subcutaneous cellular tissue was 
very coarse, tough and elastic, almost granular to the touch, and re- 
sembling a corpus cavernosum. The disposition of the peritoneum 
find of the viscera of the abdomen was minutely described, and it was 
Prof. Owen on the Anatomy of the Walrus. 227 
remarked that the odour of the visceral cavities and parts in this 
"Wahus resembled more that of ordinary land quadrupeds than the 
peculiar odour noticed in the dissection of Seals ; but the flesh of the 
Walrus was dark coloured, as in the Seal tribe : the young animal 
dissected, had been fed, since its captivity, on oatmeal, milk, and 
water. The stomach had the form of an elongated siphon closely 
bent upon itself. The liver was divided into seven lobes. There 
was a large gall-bladder. The intestines in this young animal, which 
did not exceed four feet in length, were seventy-five feet long, the 
great intestine being only one foot in length, and the ccecum coli 
one inch and a half. The kidneys were very complex, each being 
made up of about 400 small kidneys or renules, and each of these 
showing the normal structure of a simple kidney, such as is found in 
the dog or lion, viz. with the cortical and medullary part, the pelvis, 
mammilla and ureter. In the description of the viscera of the chest, 
the large thymus gland was noticed, and the notched or serrated cha- 
racter of the anterior margin of the lungs. The foramen ovale and 
ductus arteriosus were both obliterated. 
The following is the description of the heart of the Walrus : — 
The blood is returned into the right auricle by a large precaval and 
postcaval vein, and by the coronary vein, which terminates close to 
the latter : there is a small semilunar valve at the coronary orifice, 
but no eustachian valve. A broad crescentic fold, looking down- 
wards, divides the sinus or fossa receiving the precaval vein, from 
the larger and deeper one receiving the postcaval vein : this fold 
answers to the upper border of the * fossa ovalis' in the human heart ; 
there is no orifice in the ' fossa ' communicating with the left auricle. 
The appendix of the auricle extends in front of the base of the aorta 
as far as the pulmonary artery ; it gradually contracts to an obtuse 
point : in the Cystophora proboscidea the auricular appendix is short, 
broad and bifid ; in both it is occupied by a reticular arrangement of 
carnese columnae. The ventricles are broader in proportion to their 
length, and the apex is not produced, as in the Cystophora proboscis 
dea : the carnese columnse of the anterior division of the tricuspid 
valve, and a few of those of the right or external division, are attached 
to a short and thick fleshy column from the free wall of the ventricle ; 
this column is connected by a short and thick * trabecula ' with the 
septum : most of the other tendinous chords are attached to the sep- 
tum ; and a few to trabeculse connecting that fixed wall with the free 
wall of the ventricle. The pulmonary artery presents no peculiarity ; 
it is connected by the ligamentous remnant of the 'ductus arteriosus,' 
which is 10 lines long and 5 lines in diameter, to the under part of 
the aortic arch, just beyond the origin of the left subclavian; its 
cavity is obliterated, but a short, thick, semilunar fold of the lining 
membrane of the aorta, with its concavity turned towards the end of 
the arch, indicates the place of the former foetal communicating chan- 
nel. The left auricle and ventricle oifer no peculiarities. The coats 
of the aortic arch are thickest near the origins of the great vessels 
sent to the head and fore-limbs, especially at the lower part of the 
arch, where they are 3 lines thick. The right subclavian and carotid 
Urise close together, but scarcely from a common trunk: the left 
15* 
^Ji8 Zoological Society, 
carotid and left subclavian have more obviously separate origins. The 
aorta suddenly diminishes beyond those primary branches, where it 
is connected with the consolidated and contracted * ductus arteriosus.' 
There is no arrangement, even in the very young "Walrus here de- 
scribed, for accommodating the animal to its aquatic habits, by any 
direct intercommunication between the right and left sides of the 
heart. The hepatic veins, in their dilatations, resemble those of the 
ordinary Seals. 
The brain weighed 1 lb. 9 oz. avoir. ; its convolutions and struc- 
ture were described. The hip-joint was found to be devoid of the 
ligamentum teres. Drawings were exhibited of the viscera of the 
thorax and abdomen, and the Memoir was terminated by a minute 
account of the dentition, and a disquisition on the homologies of the 
teeth of the Walrus, as elucidated by the state of the dentition in the 
young animal dissected. 
Professor Owen detected the following minute teeth exposed or 
buried in the gum, and adhering to the gum and periosteum of the 
jaws : — two denticles in each premaxillary bone ; two denticles in 
each maxillary bone ; together with a deciduous canine, and four den- 
ticles in each ramus of the mandible. He gave the following as the 
formula of the deciduous dentition of the Walrus : — , , . „ , .,, 
.2-2 1—1 2—2 ,o -:)«m9rfJ98Xr 
*^. c^,. ^ii:i = 18. r.r. .^^ 
Of the permanent series, the canine tusks had pushed through the 
gum, and on laying open the substance of the jaws, the following 
teeth were found in course of formation : — in the premaxillary, the 
successor of the second minute incisor ; in the maxillary, the succes- 
sors of the two deciduous molars, together with a third molar. In 
the lower jaw the successor of the second deciduous incisor, the suc- 
cessors of the two deciduous molars, and a third similar permanent 
molar. The germ of the permanent tusk, confined to the upper 
jaw, was 2 inches in length, and, like the germs of the smaller per- 
manent teeth, its base was widely open, and contained a large forma- 
tive pulp. 
In addition to the upper canine tusks, the normal number of per- 
manent and functional teeth in the Walrus is four on each side of 
both jaws ; these teeth are simple, short, thick and obtuse, having 
the office of grinders. With respect to their nature and homologies. 
Professor Owen argued that the first, from its position in the pre- 
maxillary bone, was an 'incisor'; the two following teeth, by their 
position in the maxillary bone, and their relation to the deciduous 
denticles, were * premolar' teeth; and he also regarded the last of 
the series of four, from its minor degree of development, as belong- 
ing rather to the same (premolar) series, than as being the first of 
the true molars. As the first of the molariform permanent teeth in 
the lower jaw passes in front of the permanent incisor above, when 
the mouth is closed, it must be regarded as an ' incisor ' ; the other 
three grinders as being ' premolars,' two being proved to be such by 
displacing vertically their predecessors, and the third also appearing 
to be of the same series by its state of development. The Professor 
Royal Society* 229 
accordingly proposed the following as the formula of the normal or 
functional dentition of the Walrus : — 
' . 1-1 1—1 3—3 1 o 
But, as might be expected in a dentition deviating so remarkably from 
that of other Mammals of the same order, varieties are not unfre- 
quently met with in the number of the teeth of the Walrus. Pro- 
fessor Owen cited instances of such varieties in ten skulls of the 
Walrus, of different ages and sex. The result of which was, that 
occasionally a small tooth was found anterior to the normal series of 
four, and more commonly in the upper than in the lower jaw ; and 
that, more rarely, a small tooth was superadded behind the normal 
four, in the upper jaw, and still more rarely in the lower jaw : the 
formula of the dentition of such varieties, in excess, being, — 
.lii lIMiOkM, .2-2 1-1 3-3 1-1 oa 
The additional anterior small incisor was due either to the reten- 
tion and growth of the first deciduous denticle, or to the develop- 
ment of a small successor to it. The additional posterior grinder was 
due to the occasional development of a germ in the back part of the 
gum or jaw. The minute milk-teeth relate, by their gubernacula, to 
the development of the permanent teeth, but seem never to be put to 
use themselves; the milk- canine was buried in the gum outside the 
protruded point of tjie permanent canine ; so that this tooth is extri- 
cated and cuts the gum before the tooth of which it is the successor 
makes its appearance, that tooth being probably removed by absorp- 
tion. Here, therefore, was another instance, analogous to that of the 
rudimental teeth in the foetal Whale, of parts developed without any 
obvious office as organs of mastication, but serving to illustrate the 
relation of adhesion to a more normal type of dentition. In conclu- 
sion. Professor Owen remarked that the food of the Walrus consisted, 
in a state of nature, of sea-weed, crustaceans and moUusks ; and that 
although, by the totality of its organization, it must be placed near 
the Seals, and with them be classed in the order Carnivora, yet that 
the incisors and premolars were alike well adapted to pound marine 
plants, and to break and crush shells. Fragments of a bivalve shell, 
a species of My a, had been found with pounded sea-weed, by the 
Surgeon of Parry's Polar Expedition, in the stomach of a full-grown 
Walrus. The great descending canine tusks serve as weapons of 
offence and defence, and to aid the animal in mounting and clamber- 
ing over ice-blocks, bergs and floes in the Arctic Seas, in which the 
Walrus has been organized to enjoy its existence. 
«0 3B£l 9d.T h 
gaohd hr. J/! ROYAL SOCIETY. tfjilJi? yijj 
m fft^Novemher 23, 1854.— Thomas Bell, Esq., V.P.. in the'CMalVJ* 
ivMlxt Qji ^|jg Impregnation of the Ovum in the Stickleback." By 
W. H. Ransom, M.D. 
1 purpose placing before the Royal Society in this communication, 
JoeestloiS 'MiT tnHi(i(fol')/^)f)'to -