610 Description of a « White Fish," or " White Whale." 



connected with each other by narrow strips of cartilage. 

 The subdivisions of the trachea are unsymmetrical ; the 

 first branch, about half an inch in diameter, is the small- 

 est, and is given off on the right side ; the second, an inch 

 in diameter, about three inches lower down to the left 

 side ; and the third, of about the same size, is continued in 

 the direct line of the trachea. As stated by Dr. Jackson 

 with regard to the dolphin, a free communication exists 

 between all parts of the lung; by blowing into one of the 

 upper branches of the bronchial tubes, the whole lung was 

 inflated.* 



The intercostal rete mirabile is not largely developed, 

 and was not even noticeable, except on cutting through 

 the pleura. 



The eye is proportionally very small, about an inch 

 in length. The auditory openimf- is, as usual in ceta- 

 ceans, very minute, of a size sufficient to admit a bristle, 

 and surrounded by a very slight elevation of the integu- 

 ment. The tongue is remarkable only for a series of 

 appendages forming a kind of fringe on its border, — such 

 as is seen in the foetal pig. 



The descriptions of this species by dilTcrent naturalists 

 are quite defective, and render the identification of it quite 

 difficult. By Lacepede and Cuvier, and also by Hamil- 

 ton, (" Naturalists' Library," Vol. XXVI., Whales, p. 204,) 

 it is described as being without a dorsal fin, — an error 

 which doubtless grew out of the small size of this part. 

 The last-mentioned author states also that the " blow- 

 hole" has its concavity backwards, instead of forwards, as 

 in our specimen. According to Lac^^pede and Cuvier, the 

 number of teeth is ? y =36 ; according to Dr. Neil, ;! i! =30 ; 



* Hunter states that, in cetaceans generally, the different portions of a lung 

 communicate with each other ; but Dr. Jackson has shown that this assertion 

 is not true with regard to the sperm whale, nor tlie black fish (D. (jlubkeps). 

 We have found it true in the little "puffing-pig," or "snuffer," (D. phocana,) 

 which we have recently dissected. 



