THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY, 



[SECOND SERIES.] 

 No. 51. MARCH 1852. 



XIII. — On the Gangetic Dolphin. By Dan. Fred. Eschricht, 

 Professor at the University of Copenhagen. Being a Supple- 

 ment to his Memoirs on Whales. Transactions of the Royal 

 Danish Academy of Sciences, 5th Series_, vol. ii. (separately 

 printed, Copenhagen, 1851, 4to.) Translated from the Danish 

 by Dr. Wallich, F.R.S., Vice-Pres. Linn. Soc. 



[With three Plates.] 



Among the harvest produced by the memorable circumnavigation 

 of the Corvette " Galathea " are important contributions to the 

 knowledge of the very remarkable Dolphin inhabiting the Ganges, 

 called Sousou^ by the Hindoos, the Delphinus gangeticus or Pla- 

 tanista gangetica of systems. 



While the vessel was moored off Calcutta during the night of 

 the 2nd and 3rd of December, a young, not quite full-grown in- 

 dividual was caught in a fishing-net, a little below the Botanic 

 Garden, which our countryman. Dr. Wallich f, presented to the 

 expedition. Scarcely ever has a more favourable opportunity 

 presented itself for its examination. Though by no means a rare 

 animal in that river, the Platanista, like all other sorts of the 



* Prof. Wilson has kindly furnished me with the following Indian no- 

 menclature of this remarkable animal : — 



Sanscrita, Sisumdra; Hindustani, Sons; Bengali, Sishuk, Sishumdr. — 

 N.W. 



t The translator omits the very flattering terms, in which his humble 

 services are mentioned by the distinguished author ; the more so, as he is 

 conscious he did only what was his bounden duty towards his native 

 country, and the situation he had the honour of holding at the time in 

 question. The friendly intercourse which he enjoyed, during the short 

 sojourn of the " Galathea " in Bengal, with her glorious commander and 

 officers, and the distinguished party of scientific gentlemen and artists ac- 

 companying the expedition, will always continue among the most pleasing 

 recollections of his Indian career. A very valuable and interesting account 

 of the voyage, by Commodore Steen Bille, has been completed at Copen- 

 hagen, 1849-1851, in 3 vols. 8vo. 



Ann. &^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol Ax. 11 



