Anatomical Structure of certain of the Cetacea. 391 



dentition of the animal had been brought forward and supported 

 with great ingenuity by the eminent anatomist and physio- 

 logist already named, whose labours have contributed so much 

 to support the cause of comparative anatomy in England ; but I 

 knew also that something doubtful was mixed up with these re- 

 sults, notwithstanding their seeming ingenuity ; and I was aware 

 also, and was the first to point out, long ago, that the osteology 

 of the dugong, contained in the justly celebrated " Ossemens 

 Fossiles" had been drawn up from an imperfect skeleton, sent 

 to its distinguished author by MM. DIARD and DUVAUCEAL *. 

 I felt, therefore, that any well ascertained fact must be a valuable 

 addition to the history of the animal, and such appeared to me, 

 whatever observations should result from a careful inspection of 



* There are no proofs whatever that there now exists any where in Europe, a 

 perfect skeleton of the dugong ; by perfect, I mean a skeleton prepared under the 

 immediate superintendence of an anatomist. The engraving of the skeleton in the 

 Ossemens Fossiles, from which M. CUVIER drew up his account of the osteolo- 

 gy of this interesting animal, represents it to be without a sternum. Now, it mat- 

 ters not whether the bones were sent home in this condition to M. CUVIER by the Na- 

 turaliste Voyageur, or whether the animal reached him entire, preserved in spirits, 

 or otherwise, and the bones of the sternum were afterwards lost in preparing the 

 skeleton ; I insist chiefly on the fact, that the skeleton is, from some cause or other, 

 imperfect. Extensive experience as to those matters has convinced me, that no ske- 

 leton can be properly prepared and in a way to be entirely depended on, with a view- 

 to anatomical and zoological inquiry, which has not been dissected and prepared un- 

 der the immediate superintendence of a good anatomist. Mr ROB ISDN, who did me 

 the honour to convey personally to M. CUVIER a memorandum from me, containing 

 an outline of this inquiry, has since informed me that Baron CUVIER assured him 

 that he now possessed five complete skeletons of the dugong ; they must, of course, 

 have come into his possession since the publication of the last edition of the " Osse- 

 mens Fossiles " in 1825 ; but it remains to be shewn before we agree to these skele- 

 tons being complete, by whom they were prepared, and if the separate bones were 

 sent to Europe, or the entire animals 



