144 BULLETIN 31}, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



by the palatines, as is also the case in the skull figured by Messrs.Vau 

 Beiiedeu and Gervais {Ostcof/., PI. l, fig. la). In a skull in the national 

 collection, now to be described, they are practically in contact. 



Jn examining the skulls of killer-whales in the National Museum, I 

 have found a complete cranium, a mandible, and a beaiv with the teeth 

 in position, which belong to this species. The cranium was obtained 

 from the Athenteum Museum, Nantucket, Mass., and is stated to have 

 come from the " northeast coast." Very probably it was originally 

 obtained in Davis' Strait. It closely resembles the skull of P. cram- 

 dews figured by Reinhardt, both in proportions and details of structure, 

 and differs only in having a somewhat shorter tooth-row. 



In the four skulls in the Royal College of Surgeons the proportional 

 length of the tooth-row varies somewhat, being 33.9 per cent, of the 

 total length in one instance, and 3G.7 per cent, in another, so that I 

 do not regard the shorter tooth row of the skull under discussion as 

 worthy of special consideration. 



In the following table are given measurements of this skull, together 

 with Reiuhardt's measurements (reduced to English inches) of the 

 Refsntes specimen, and as many of Burmeister's measurements of 

 Globloceplialus Grayi (presently to be considered) as may be compared 

 with the former : 



Measurements. 



Length of the hoad. measured from the occipital con- 

 dyles to the tij) of beak --- .. .. 



L^'uj^tli of head, measured to tlie middle of the inferior 

 margin of the occipital foiamen 



Leniith of the cranial portion, measured from tlie occi 

 pit.il condyles to the posterior wall of the nasal canal 



Lengtii of tlie beak, measured from its origin on a level 

 witli the anterior extremities of the zygomatic bones 



Greatest breadth of the head (across the zygomatic 

 processes of the temporal bones) 



Breadth of the head across the postoibital processes of 

 the fron tals - - - ■ 



Breadth across the occipital ridge at its union with the 

 temporal ridges 



Breadth acro.ss the prominences formed by the froutals, 

 the superior maxillaries and the zygomatic bones in 

 front of the orbit 



Breadth of the beak at its origin 



Breadth of the beak towards the middle, just before the 

 most posterior tooth but two. - 



Height of the occipital foramen 



Breadth of the occipital foramen . . . 



Distance from the inferior margin of the occipital fora- 

 men to the posterior margin of the pteryj.oid bones.. 



Length of the dental row in the upper jaw 



U. S. Nat. 

 Mus., No. 



10320. 



' Northeast 



coast." 



Skull from 

 lie I sni.es 



(from Rein- 

 hardt). 



Inches. 

 24.5 



13.1 



8.2 



7.7 

 2.5 



8.85 



Inc 



hes. 

 24.7 

 23.9 



9.0 

 11.3 

 15.3 

 14.7 



9.3 



13.4 



8.5 



8.0 

 2.3 

 2.2 



8.4 

 10.5 



G. Grayi 

 ( — P. crassi- 

 dens), from 

 Burmeister. 



Inches. 



24.8 



8.4 

 ?12. 8 



15. C 



7.0 

 2.2 

 2.0 



8.4 

 10.0 



Orca destrKcfor Cope. 



The beak and mandible referred to (No. 3679) are from off Paita, 

 Peru, and form the basis of Professor Cope's Orca destructor. He states 

 that it differs from P. meridionalis "in the greater breadth and obtuse- 

 ness of the muzzle of its cranium and mandible — all we possess of it — 



