448 



Genus Hyper oodon. 



2479. The skeleton of the Bident Dolphin, or Bottle-nosed Whale (Hyperoodon didens). 



The cervical vertebra have coalesced with one another : beyond these there are thirty-eight 

 free vertebrae, of which only the nine anterior bear moveable ribs : the twenty-second vertebra 

 first bears haemapophyses attached to the under part of the centrum. The five anterior pairs 

 of ribs articulate with the sternum, which consists of three bones. The cranium is remarkable 

 for the development of the lateral border of each maxillary bone into a broad and lofty verti- 

 cal crest ; and for the backward prolongation of the posterior border of the same bones to the 

 occipital region, where it is developed into what seems to be an occipital crest. This animal 

 was taken in the Thames, near London Bridge, in the year 1 783, and is described and figured 

 by John Hunter, in the 'Philosophical Transactions' for the year 1787, pi. xix. It was 

 considered by him to be of the same species as that of which a female was caught at Maiden, 

 in Essex, and described by Dale in his ' History of Harwich,' 1730, 4to, p. 411. 



Huntcrian. 



2480. The anterior united portion of the lower jaw of an immature Bident Dolphin 

 (Hyperoodon bidens). 



One pair of the foetal denticles has been preserved in this specimen ; they are conical, 

 slightly curved, with an unusually sharp and slender apex tipped by enamel. Though loose 

 in their sockets, they project so little from them, and have such wide bases, that they have 

 not fallen out ; two smaller cavities in front, and the remains of a larger socket in the alveolar 

 groove behind the retained teeth, attest the former presence of other teeth. 



Hunterian. 



Genus Platanista. 



2481. The skull of a long and slender-jawed Dolphin from the Indus (Platanista 

 gangetica, var. minor). 



It shows all the characteristics that have been pointed out by Baron Cuvier (Ossemens Fos- 

 siles, torn. v. pi. 1. 4to, pp. 279, 299) and Prof. Eschricht (Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist. 

 1852, vol. ix. pp. 161 & 279), but is of smaller size, the total length not exceeding twelve 

 inches, and the anterior teeth being much longer, and more slender and acute. These differ- 

 ences may depend on the immaturity of the individual, but all the parts of the occiput have 

 coalesced, and not any of the sutural unions manifest any mark of immaturity. There are 

 twenty-one teeth on the left side of the upper jaw and nineteen teeth on the right side ; but 

 the alveolar grooves extend further back, indicating the former existence of teeth or germs of 

 teeth which have been lost. There are twenty-six teeth on each side of the lower jaw, behind 

 which is a short extent of an empty alveolar groove. The teeth in place are close together : 

 the anterior ones in the lower jaw are an inch in length, slender, and sharp-pointed, with the 

 points slightly incurved, and projecting outside those of the upper jaw : but the chief part 



