288 Prof. Eschricht on the Gangetic Dolphin. 



measured 5 feet (4' 10" Danish); the female was 8 inches shorter 

 and more slender. In general, at the time the animal appears in 

 the Hoogly, the full-grown females are pregnant. This however 

 was not the case with the individual of which the drawing and 

 skeleton were brought home, owing most probably to its not 

 having attained its full growth (5' 2") ; although an individual, 

 which had been caught a few days before and was given to the 

 Asiatic Society, contained an embryo of 14 to 15 inches." [Very 

 likely the specimen brought home by Prof. Behn, to which we 

 alluded above (p. 168).] "The stomach," M. Bernhardt con- 

 tinues, " was filled with a quantity of small fish and shrimps ; 

 among which were recognized Clupea Telara, Hamilton, a species 

 of Pimelodes, and the large species of Palcemon and Penaus, 

 common in the Calcutta fish-market." Roxburgh says, "In the 

 stomach were found only some grains of paddy (rice in the husk), 

 a few minute fragments of shells, and many living active asca- 

 rides. Notwithstanding the contents of the stomach of this in- 

 dividual, there is no doubt of the animal being piscivorous." 

 According to Lebeck, " There were many living Ascarides, L., 

 more than an inch long, both in the mouth and stomach, and in 

 the latter grains of nellu (rice)." 



To determine whether the substances found in the stomach 

 bear any relation to any particular depth of the mud in which the 

 Gangetic dolphin penetrates for its food, requires that we should 

 possess a nearer acquaintance with the localities of the fishes 

 and Crustacea which M. Reinhardt mentions, and of the species 

 of corn named by the older observers. M. Reinhardt's notice of 

 the specimens, thrown up by the explosion by gunpowder of a 

 sunken vessel, obviously proves nothing as to their being found 

 near the bottom of rivers ; still it tends that way. But if it 

 should turn out that the animal does not exist at any greater 

 depth below the surface of the water than whales in general, no 

 other explanation remains but to connect its confined vision with 

 the yellow, turbid water of the river in contradistinction to the 

 clearness of the sea water ; and we are thence necessarily led to 

 the conclusion, that, although the animal actually leaves the river 

 Hoogly at the close of the cold season, and takes to the sea, the 

 quality of water just mentioned must be considered as its prin- 

 cipal element or home ; and thus we recognize in its peculiarly 

 formed eye a very marked instance of adaptation between animal 

 organization and the surrounding nature. Looking at its long, 

 many-toothed beak, we are naturally reminded of a similar struc- 

 ture in the Gharial of the Ganges ; and this coincidence between 

 these animals, otherwise so widely remote from each other, urges 

 on us the question, how far does this peculiar structure depend 

 upon the peculiar condition of the water ? If we are disposed 



