168 Prof. Eschricht on the Gangetic Dolphin. 



been accomplished. I considered it necessary to have a faithful and 

 unaltered copy of the drawing ; and I felt convinced that good 

 and detailed figures of the skeleton, and some of the individual 

 bones, would supply a very great desideratum, as they are still 

 very rare and defective in European collections. It was of im- 

 portance, next, to -verify all Cuvier's data ; to extend them so as 

 to answer questions, which have of late years been raised in 

 cetology ; and to establish the peculiar character of the Gan- 

 getic dolphin, both as to its structure and habits, in order to fix 

 its proper position among other toothed whales — inquiries which 

 form the principal object of the present memoir. Finally, 

 M. Reinhardt's notes, obtained at Calcutta from trustworthy 

 sources, have been of considerable value, under the existing scan- 

 tiness of our information respecting the locality and habits of 

 the animal. Besides the cranium which he brought home, I 

 had the use of a smaller one sent to the Royal Museum of Na- 

 tural History, many years ago, by the late Mr. Christopher 

 Mundt, Surgeon at Serampore in Bengal, and most readily 

 placed at my disposal. It is 17 inches long, while the cranium of 

 the "Galathea" skeleton (measuring 62 inches) is 17f or 1 8inches. 

 Several parts were broken off, such as the ossa tympanica or 

 bullae tympani ; but this afforded me the opportunity of exami- 

 ning the parts underneath. I had hopes to be able to offer also 

 the earliest information, how the Gangetic dolphin, so distinct 

 in regard to form and skeleton, differs in its viscera. There was 

 a fcetus in spirits among the collectious of the " Galathea," be- 

 longing to Professor Behn. But my request to that effect was 

 declined by my respected colleague, who, I doubt not, will in 

 due time do justice to the subject. 



M. Reinhardt's specimen measures in length 62 inches, as 

 noticed above, while that in the Museum of Paris is 87 inches 

 (about 90 inches Danish measurement) j and Lebeck's and 

 Roxburgh's specimen was 6i English feet, or about 76 Danish 

 inches. The dried skeleton measures 61" 11'" (64^ English 

 inches) : namely, the head 17" 10'"; the neck 3" 10'"; the chest 

 8" 11'"; loins 8" 11'"; the tail 22" 5'". In my description I 

 follow Cuvier step by step, referring steadily to my figures. 

 He commences by observing* that the very long upper jaw is 

 extraordinarily compressed sideways, and that the intermaxillary 

 bones occupy its upper (PI. VI. fig. 2 i), the upper maxillary 

 bones its lower part (m). It deserves to be remarked here, 

 that in the 3£ feet long skeleton, as well as in the smaller 

 cranium in the Royal Museum, these bones are entirely grown 

 together on each side and anteriorly, so that in the latter direc- 



* Ossemens Foss. vol. i. p. 2.98. 



