146 The Scottish Natwalist. 



it contained, and the carcase partly broken up — and otherwise 

 mangled— for the purpose of feeding pigs. The skull luckily 

 was unbroken, and as the lips had been cut away in the 

 flensing operation, all the teeth and intermediate bodies were 

 distinctly displayed. 



The latter were small objects, from T *g to \ of an inch 

 in height, conical shaped, with broadish somewhat oval- 

 formed bases, slightly grooved or wrinkled all round. They 

 were firmly attached to the gum, and when pressed by the 

 finger they did not move more readily than did the ordinary 

 teeth. It was impossible to remove any of them without tearing 

 away part of the flesh at the same time. They were regularly 

 inserted alternately between the normal teeth on both sides of 

 the upper and lower jaws, from the symphysis to the posterior 

 edge of the dental margin, and when fresh their points extended 

 well up between the spatulate portions of the ordinary teeth. The 

 accompanying figure [Plate II.] will give a general idea of the posi- 

 tion and appearance of these bodies; as it was taken, however, after 

 the skull was macerated and the gum considerably shrivelled, 

 they are not represented projecting so far up as they did when 

 in a fresh state. On drying the skull a number of these bodies 

 as well as some of the other teeth peeled off with the gum. 

 Ultimately, as the latter continued to shrink, the greater number 

 of the objects in question lost their hold altogether and fell 

 away. 



When examined in a detached state the base of each, by 

 which it adheres to the gum, is seen to be slightly concave. 

 When dry they are of a yellowish horn colour, and apparently 

 texture, not unlike the colour and appearance presented by the 

 base of the baleen in some of the larger whales, to which they 

 may have other and more important analogies. 



In all the small whales — and in the large ones too — the teeth 

 are loosely inserted in wide shallow groves in the margin of the 

 jaws, with little or no attachment to the bone except what is fur- 

 nished by the gum. In this respect they seem to have made 

 scarcely any advancement from the foetal condition in which 

 the teeth are placed in the jaws of their precursor, if not their 

 progenitor, the ancient Ichthyosaurus. 



The porpoise under consideration seemed from the size 

 and position of the fins to be the common species, but as 



