Prof. Eschricht on the Gangetic Dolphin, 167 



made to furnish a better representation of the Gangetic dolphin 

 than the two old ones ; but unfortunately subjects were wanting. 

 R. P. Lesson* had the stuffed specimen in the Parisian Museum 

 before him. His greatly reduced figure resembles most Lebeck's ; 

 but the teeth, breast-fins, and blowhole are very faulty. Frederic 

 Cuvierf seems to have given nothing but a more elegant copy 

 of Roxburgh's ; the singular curvature in the back has been in- 

 creased so as to be very unlike the general form of a whale. 

 Sir W. Jardine's figure J exhibits an arbitrary deviation from all 

 the others ; the jaws are much too thick ; the eyes large ! But 

 J. E. Gray has been the most unsuccessful in these respects. In 

 tHe^elebrated costly work on Indian Animals § is a coloured 

 figure, about 1^ foot long, of a young animal, and certainly not 

 reduced beyond three-fourths of the natural size. Some of the 

 details are evidently faithful representations of nature, namely 

 the jaws and teeth ; but the body is curved like that of a reptile, 

 contrary to what occurs in any of the Cetacea ; the whole animal; 

 seems to be lean ; the skin is stretched over the vaulted head! 

 and sunk deeply into the neck ; and apart from the whale-tail, it 

 loses altogether the physiognomy of an animal of that family ; 

 not to mention that the eye, ear, and blowhole are far too 

 large ||.^ ^ _ \ 



In this state of things, the materials brought home in the 

 Corvette " Galathea" by M. Reinhardt, could not but prove highly 

 welcome, since it was particularly desirable to obtain a faithful 

 representation of the recently caught animal, and as regards 

 osteology, a perfect and complete skeleton. Both these objects have 



* Complement des CEuvres de Buffon, oil Histoire natiirelle generale et 

 particuliere des Mammiferes et des Oiseaux decouvertes depuis 1788 

 jusqu'a nos jours. Paris, 1828, 8vo, Cetaces, Atlas, pi. 3. f. 3. 



t De r Histoire naturelle des Cetaces, ou Recueil et Exaraen des faits 

 dorit se compose 1' Histoire naturelle de ces Animaux. Paris, 1836, 8vo, 

 pi. 8. f. 2. 



X The Naturalist's Library, vol. vi. Mammalia. Edinb. 1837, 12mo,pl.28. 



§ Illustrations of Indian Zoology, consisting of coloured plates of new 

 or hitherto unfigured Indian animals from the collection of Major-General 

 Hardwicke. Selected and arranged by J. E. Gray. London, 1830-1834, 

 pt. XV. xvi. pi. 4. 



II Mr. Gray has kindly enabled me to compare the original drawing at the 

 British Museum, which I have known very many years. The original and 

 copy are alike in all respects but two ; the tail-part in the latter has been 

 curved laterally, in order to suit the size of the paper, and the eye and ear 

 have not been duly reduced. On it is Major-General Hardwicke's own 

 handwriting in pencil, stating that it " was made from a living specimen 

 1000 miles above Calcutta," — consequently far above the place w4iere the 

 Ganges sends off the Hoogly. This corresponds with what Cuvier says : — 

 " II remonte en grand nombre dans le Gauge, aussi haut que ce fleuve est 

 navigable, mais se plait particulierement dans les nombreuses branches 

 qui arrosent le delta du Bengale" (Oss. Foss. v. prem. partie, p. 2/9). — 

 Transl. 



