NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 281 



known, I did not satisfy myself concerning the presence of palatine tuber- 

 cles. Another peculiarity of the head consists in the lower*maxillary bones 

 being provided each at its point with a single small and very sharp tooth. 

 These Were not noticed during the dissection, owing to their being too much 

 imbedded in the integuments ; they are now, however, quite visible. la the 

 cavity of the skull is a septum of bone separating the cerebrum from the 

 cerebellum, (i. e. the tentorium.) The first rib is very wide and short, and 

 presents a marked contrast to the others. -The sternum is quite flat and wide. 

 The pectoral fins are small, and have been carefully preserved, with the 

 various carpal and phalangeal bones kept together by their natural liga- 

 ments. As the skeleton stands, the fins consist only of the scapula, the hu- 

 merus, the radius, and the ulna, with but few phalanges. 



" The length of this specimen is between twelve and thirteen feet." 



Delphinus e r e b e n n u s, sp. nov. 



This species has been noticed, Proc. Academy, 1865, p. 199, as the D. 

 tursio. though sundry differences were there enumerated, and the possibility 

 of its distinctness pointed out. The only specimen at that time in the Acade- 

 my's possession was the skeleton of a young animal. Since then, the institu- 

 tion has been presented with a skeleton of a very old individual by Dr. Howell 

 of this city, who obtained the animal some years since from a fisherman's 

 seine at Red Bank, below opposite this city. Like a usual form of the t u r- 

 8 i o, the species is probably entirely black, but smaller, and possessed of 

 several less ribs and dorsal vertebras. The skeletons of the American species 

 agree in the following formula: C. 7. D. 11. L. 16. C. 4 to 8 to last neural 

 spine. The first perforated caudal is two vertebras anterior in the older, to 

 that of the younger specimen. The separate vertebras resemble those figured 

 by Cuvier (Ossemens Fossiles) except the 12th caudal. It is doubtful, how- 

 ever, whether the latter represents the t u r s io, as the vertebral formula dif- 

 fers much from that recorded by Hunter, (Philos. Trans., 1787, 383,) which 

 must probably be regarded as the type, {vide Gray, Cat. Brit. Mu3.,) as fol- 

 lows : C. 7. D. 18. L. and C. 37. 



The acromion in the erebennusis short, and broadly truncate. In the 

 small processes of the cervical vertebras the two specimens differ much, the 

 larger being much the more unlike the tursio. . Their position is elevated 

 opposite the middle of the ceutra, and two of them have a weak connection 

 with the superior process, forming a vertebral canal. The diapophysis of 

 the atlas is short. As in the tursio, this vertebra and the axis are anchy- 

 losed. The abbreviation of the sternum, apparent in the young specimen, is 

 borne out by the adult. All the original segments are abbreviated, but es- 

 pecially the posterior, which is not more than one-third the length given in 

 Ouvier's figure of the tursio; it is joined at much shorter distances by the 

 same number of haemapophyses five. In this specimen it is singularly un- 

 symmetrical ; the animal exoibits numerous exostoses, and a synostosis of 

 the body and processes of two of the lumbar vertebrae. 



This species has been also mentioned by Prof. Wyman as the tursio. 



The length of the specimen presented by Dr. Howell is seven feet and a 

 half. The teeth are truncated as in the adult tursio. 



The Annual Reports of the Recording Secretary and Curators were 

 read, as follows : 



1865.] 



