198 PROCEEDINGS OP THE ACADEMY OF 



Tropidodipsas sartorii, (Leptognathus Himaotodes cenchoa. 



dumerili, Jan Elenco,) s. n. Elaps, sp. 



.Sibon septentrionale et var. Trigonocephaly atrox. 



Himantodes leucomelas, s. n. Crotalus ravus, s. n. 



Elaps elegans. Caudisona polysticta, s. n. 

 Trigonocephaly atrox. 

 Bothriechis mexicanus. 



A Contribution to a Knowledge of the DELPHINIDJ2. 

 BY E. D. COPE. 



Thirty specimens of species of this family at my disposal indicate twenty- 

 two species, of which ten are in the Museum of the Academy. They are : 



Monodon monocerus. Specimens from Drs. Hayes and Kane; the 

 latter complete. 



Beluga c a t o d o n . Three complete skeletons, from Drs. Kane and Hayes. 



Phocaena, undetermined. 



Globicephalus intermedins Gray, Harlan. Jour, Acad. Nat. Sci., 1829, 

 51 ; Gray, Catalogue B. Mus. 



One specimen from Cape Cod, Mass , kiDdly lent me from the Mus. Salem, 

 Mass., (No. 223,) through my friend F. W. Putnam, indicates a form differing 

 little from the European G. m e las, or Pilot Whale. 



The muzzl.e from the maxillary notch is longer, and the premaxillaries a 

 little narrower on its terminal two-thirds than represented by Cuvier's plate 

 (Ossemens Fo?siles 222), or Gray's measurements of the me las. Like the 

 m e 1 a s, it is characterized by the straightness of the plane between the fora- 

 men magnum and the supraoccipital crest, by the large exposure of the vomer 

 to beyond the maxillary notch, and of the inner portion of the maxillaries 

 from the nasal meatus to opposite the notch. The concavity of the cranium 

 at this point is 1 in. 4 1. below the plane connecting maxillary alue at the 

 notch, and the intermaxillaries fall very much out of view, except on the 

 terminal half of the mu/zle. 



In this specimen the supraoccipital crest and spine and the protuberance 

 of the nasal bones are remarkably developed ; and the palatines and ptery- 

 goids regularly rounded and without angle in section. 



In. Lines. 



Length from end of muzzle to occipital condyle 24 6 



" " to maxillary notch 13 6 



" " " to occipital crest.... 22 4 



" from occipital crest to foramen magnum 6 2 



Breadth of muzzle at middle 7 2 



" " at notch 9 3 



" of premaxillaries at front of blow hole 6 4 



between orbits 15 4 



" , " temporal crests ' 11 



Elevation of nasals above maxillary plate 2 6 



Teeth 9or]0 



? 

 Orca meridionalis Flower, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1864, 420. 



A muzzle and jaws of this formidable tyrant of the Australian seas are in 

 the Mus. Salem, Mass., unfortunately without locality. The specimens in its 

 museum are derived from the merchant vessels which trade between that port 

 and various parts of the world. 



The form is massive, and agrees closely with the description and figure 

 above cited ; the end of the muzzle is perhaps a little more arched. The out- 

 line is more acuminate and the intermaxillaries broader, the mandibular rami 



[Oct. 



