i^ Sontlicni Cross. 



11 ,, jvrtaiiily in kiiej.iii^' with tliu lornii(la])lo cuttini,' tooth 



,,!,.l .ui-^ively .Irwh.iK-a crntiial crests of this aniiiuil. The 

 ! I-S'ul may iht-ii hon-^anh'tl as the true carnivore oftlie group, 



in- on fish (an.l, when (hey can be obtained, birds), a prey 

 mI.i. h n..-.|s both (atching and hoUliug. For such a ?'d^c, requiring 

 l-!h sjMvd, strength and activity, besides its teeth, its elongated head 

 and IkhIv must Ix; eminently suited. The three remaining genera 

 arv mun- puzzling. In their case no difference of food or habits had, 

 i.!.!il iv<ently, been recorded. In spite of this I felt sure that the 

 of dentition must be correlated with differences of habit, 

 in ii-\n.\lt inconspicuous a degi-ee. In Lohodon and Leptonychotcs 

 |K)orlv developed cranial crests seem to indicate that no great violence 

 t»f jaw action is needed, a character in the second case supported by 

 lh«' feeble dentition. In Lohodon the teetli, although actually not of 

 ferble size, are not of a shape which would lend itself to much use in 

 jinawing and grinding, and the small extent to which they are 

 actually worn down bears this out. It is then not easy to imagine 

 what can l>e the u.se of teeth so unique in zoology. Possibly their 

 fonnation may be explained by some words of Dr. Eacovitza. 

 ][;, I.-,.. lint of the feedintr of Lohodon is as follows: — " Les 

 i. ^ torment sa nourriture habituelle: il nage la bouche 



«»uverte dans lea bancs de ces crustaces, a la fapon des Baleines, et en 

 consomme «le grandes quantites." On reading these words I was at 

 once .struck by the idea that the teeth of Lohodon might possibly 

 serve the animal as a sieve, whereby to rid its mouth of the water 

 taken in with the Enphanda, somewhat after the manner of baleen 

 ill the lidliunitlae. For tliis purpose the teeth seem to be exactly 

 uiiir,.,!. Tliey do not tit closely, but alternate with those of the opposite 

 HM that the cusps form a perfect sieve. I believe, therefore^ 

 the use of these extraordinary teeth is as I have suggested, and 

 I wouhl direct the attention of zoologists who visit the Antarctic in 

 future to what appears to be a point of great interest in the 

 iiisu.ry of this animal, and i.s, I l»elieve, a hitherto unparalleled 

 '\ for the teeth of a mammal. Even if my supposition 

 Mcorrert, attention should be directed to the study of 

 '■ • with a view to throw light on the use of its teeth. At 



•!! <v»'iiUs. if extensively u.sed for mastication, they would speedily 

 V the effects «if wear and tear in a far more conspicuous manner 



ihuy actually do. 

 Oil the Antarctic j.ack-ice the food af Lepto7iychotes, like that of 

 sai<l to consist of Euphansia. Its teeth are utterly 

 I -uggest that the foiin of the simple but not very 



'Uilt'HJIl' 



