Gutty Marine Laboratory, St. Andrews. 159 



however, to atlribute the plenitude of the marine food-fishes 

 to such influences as to place the onus of their diminution 

 on the multitudes of piscivorous cetaceans and seals. The 

 effects of both arc important, but they do not in any way 

 interfere with the balance of Nature in the ocean. 



The density of the bones in the female Orca at once made 

 it apparent that, irrespective of the condition of the teeth, 

 the animal was very old. Hard steel instruments snapped 

 when holes were drilled in the cranium, and its great weight 

 still further corroborated its density. The supraocular 

 tuberosities of the maxillaries and frontals were much more 

 rough than iu the male, from what may be termed papillary 

 bony growths, and the same condition was present on the 

 narrower part of the maxillaries in front of the constriction 

 and notch ; whilst even the hollows of the upper part of the 

 premaxillaries were hirsute with bony points. The edge of 

 the supraoccipital was roughened by sharp tubercles, and. 

 the same bone and the squamosal externally were similarly 

 affected, as were also the edges of the body of the hyoid. 

 Similar bony granules occurred on the tips of the neural 

 spines and arches throughout, on the transverse processes in 

 the dorsal region, and on the caudal vertebrae. 



The skull was only about an inch shorter than that of the 

 male, but its weight and density were proportionally greater. 

 The twist of the nasal region to the left was somewhat more 

 pronounced than in the male, and the great foramen in the 

 maxillary above the eye was twice as large. No process of 

 the frontal separated the nasals, which were twice as thick 

 as in the male and firmly anchylosed. 



The teeth, with the exception of two of the rear teeth in 

 the maxilla, were all worn down to the gums, the row in each 

 jaw being 14 inches in length, and the number of teeth in 

 each row being 13. The polished abraded surface sloped 

 from without inward in most, so that the outer line was 

 slightly longer than the inner. The maxillary teeth were a 

 little longer than the mandibular. Some showed a con- 

 siderable opening into the pulp-cavity (that is, the latter had 

 been enlarged) , yet they were useful teeth and showed no sign 

 of being shed. Such an animal, however, could not sever 

 the parts in a seal with the ease of the male just described, 

 though the two foremost small teeth in the mandible gave a 

 certain hold. It may have found difficulty in capturing 

 such forms for food, though it is more likely that it perished 

 from extreme old age. The longevity of Killers is unknown, 

 but it is certain that no marine animal is capable of preying 



