PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



199 



All the females except the two smallest ones were iu milk. 



In the first two individuals included in this table the teeth had not 

 cut through the gums. 



When the nets were run out a second time on the same day sixty- 

 six porpoises were taken, of which thirty-one were males and thirty- 

 five females. These were mostly full-grown animals, having a length 

 of about 8 feet. The largest measured 8 feet 5 inches, and the smallest 

 5 feet 3 inches. In the latter the teeth had pierced the gums. Nine of 

 the females were in milk. 



I have summed up in the following table the number of males and 

 females taken in each haul, and the size of the largest and smallest in- 

 dividuals : 



Upon examining the figures in this table one is led to remark, first, 

 the nearly equal division between the two sexes of the individuals in 

 each group except the first ; and, secondly, the great disparity in size 

 and age among the individuals of each group. 



In considering the bearing of these facts it should be remembered 

 that the observations were made at the close of what the fishermen 

 believe to be a northward migration. At such a time it is to be sup- 

 posed that all the individuals, whether young or old, male or female, 

 which had remained behind from various causes, would move north- 

 ward together. The usual composition of the various herds or " schools" 

 might be disturbed. The fishermen were of the opinion that such was 

 the case. They stated that earlier in the season the schools were more 

 homogeneous as regards age and sex, and that they had encircled some 

 which were composed entirely, or almost entirely, of old males, and 

 others of young males. They were of the opinion that the porpoises 

 migrated northward in the spring and southward in the fall. They 

 stated, however, that a few remained in the vicinity of Hatteras through- 

 out the summer. 



Colonel Wain Wright informed me that the foetuses found in the 

 females captured in September were small, and that he had noticed a 

 gradual increase in size as the season advanced. I do not doubt the 

 correctness of this observation, but it appears to be true also that the 



