606 Description of a " White Fish,'' or " White Whaled 



face, a, in front, and of about one inch in diameter ; this 

 eminence is a true odontoid process. The third vertebra 

 is the only one of the series which has a foramen for the 

 vertebral artery, the succeeding pieces having only bifur- 

 cated transverse processes, except the seventh, which is 

 provided with a short tubercle in place of the anterior 

 branch ; it is with this that the head of the first rib ar- 

 ticulates, its tubercle being attached to the end of the 

 transverse process of the first dorsal vertebra. 



We have then, in addition to a neck, better defined out- 

 wardly than is usual with cetaceans, the bones of it pre- 

 senting a transition from the cetacean to the ordinary 

 mammalian type ; i. e. all the bones of the neck separat- 

 ed "from and moving freely upon each other. In the por- 

 poise and the Greenland whale {B.mysticetus) the seven 

 bones of the neck are consolidated into one ; in the sperm 

 whale the atlas is separate and the remainder are con- 

 solidated. In the herbivorous cetaceans which are true 

 Pachyderms, as the dugong and manatee, the different 

 bones, though quite thin, are always distinct. We have 

 also noticed for the first time, among true cetaceans, in so 

 far as we know, an odontoid process, forming a true artic- 

 ulation with the atlas ; no transverse ligament was found. 



The number of the teeth is as follows : '^^ y= 37. 

 They are quite small, the hindmost scarcely projecting 

 above the gums. From the appearance of the lower jaw, 

 it is not unlikely that two of the lower teeth on each side 

 have been dropped, as well as one on the right upper side. 

 If this supposition be correct, the whole number would be 

 forty-two. This number is larger, as will be seen further 

 on, than that given by any of the naturalists who have 

 described the dentition of this species. 



The stomach was inflated and dried ; its cavities, there- 

 fore, were not opened. The cuticular lining of the first 

 cavity was easily detached from its connections, and with- 



