BOTTLEHEAD (synon. Battlenose, Bottle-headed Whale, Battle-nosed Whale, Beaked Whal41, a cetaceons 'animal occasionally but rarely met with on the British coasts, and on those of the continent of Europe. It was until recently placed in the genus di 1phi lots by naturalists, and is still ranked among, the delphirailes or dolphin (q.v.) family; hut some of its characters appear to make it a connecting-link between them and the halmnidtr, nr true whales. A new genus, hypereoclon (the name of which is derived from the Greek, and refers to the peculiarities of the dentition),, has been erected for it; but unfortunately several specific names have been adopted by different authors—as If. Butzkopl, II. Miens, and II. the increase of difficulty and obscurity; whilst it appears that there- is only one species to which they equally belong. The B. has the snout produced into a beak, as in the dolphins: the beak is short and strong; the forehead suddenly from the beak, and is remarkably elevated, a peculiarity which is owing to large bony crests over the bones of the upper jaw. The teeth are only two in number, and arc situated in the fore-part of the lower jaw, pointed, but much enveloped by the soft parts, and sometimes completely hidden among them: the palate and upper jaw are furnished with little hard points or tubercles, not one tenth of an inch in height, which, however, have . been doubtfully regarded as a kind of false teeth, and by envier as rudimentary vestiges of whalebone. There is a dorsal fin, rather
small in proportion to the size of the animal, and placed farther back than in the com mon dolphin. The blowhole is crescent-shaped, the points of the crescent directed back wards. The skin is smooth and glossy, of a blackish lead color on the back, gradually becominglighter on the sides, and whitish on the belly. The animal attains 'm length of about '25feet.
The B. has occasionally, been caught in consequence of its having entered harbors or the mouths of rivers. One was caught above Loudon bridge, anJ figured and described by Hunter in the Transactions for 1787. It is impossible that too great atten tion can be paid of the rarer cetacea caught or driven ashore on any part of the coast, and it is to be hoped that the obscurity and confitsion still so much prevail ing in this branch of natural history may soon be removed. Photography seems to afford new facilities for an exact comparison of specimens, of which advantage ought to be taken; and everything capable of being preserved should be so carefully, for the study of naturalists. There is a splendid skeleton of the B. in the museum of the royal college of surgeons, London.
The name BOTTLE-NOSED WHALE has been also given to a species of dolphin (q.v.), delphinua tarsi*, which is occasionally met with on the British coasts.