Sir James Hector exhibited the skeleton of a young female whale of a rare species—Mesoplodon hectori, Van Beneden—which, with its mother, was captured last March at Titahi Bay.

Only four specimens of this species had, he said, been met with. The first two were fragments only. The adult specimen on this occasion the Museum, unfortunately, had not been able to secure, and this was, therefore, the only perfect skeleton available. Strangely enough, the two other specimens had been found in the same little bay. The Mesoplodon might be regarded as a miniature species of the family of which the great sperm whale was the type. A northern species was known, differing in several points from the New Zealand species.