292 Prof. Eschricht on the Gangetic Dolphin. 



the right path, and which has caused the science to retrograde 

 instead of advancing. May these hints prove a strong induce- 

 ment to obtain fresh light, and fresh materials for investigation, 

 from the Ganges, the Indus, and generally the large rivers of 

 Asia ; and also on account of the as yet imperfect state of our 

 knowledge of the dolphin of the Amazon, from the rivers of 

 America. Not less important would be the examination of the 

 viscera, especially the stomach and intestinal canal, as well as the 

 small eye, in order to ascertain, as regards the former, whether 

 the conformity is greatest with the highly characteristic group 

 of Hyperoodons (the many-folded stomach and deeply-celled in- 

 testine), or the Whitefish and other dolphins ; and as regards the 

 eye, whether a complete organization exists, and whether in that 

 case it is in accordance with the known type of the eye in whales, 

 or differs. Embryos would probably supply the required infor- 

 mation, at least with respect to the intestinal canal. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES V. VI. VII. 



Plate V. 



Fig. 1 . A young female Gangetic dolphin, taken from an individual mea- 

 suring 62 inches, caught in a fishing-net below the Botanic Gar- 

 den near Calcutta, on the night of the 2nd and 3rd of December 

 1 845, and presented to the Galathea Expedition by Dr. Wallich ; 

 drawn by M. Christian Thornam, painter in natural history, under 

 direction of M. Johannes Reinhardt, zoologist to the expedition ; 

 reduced five-sixths*. 



Fig. 2. Skeleton of the same in its natural connexion, on a black ground, 

 with the natural outline of the animal. 



Plate VI. 



Fig. 1 . Cranium of the same seen from above. 



Fig. 2. Jaws seen sideways. 



Fig. 3. Cranium seen from behind. 



Plate VII. 

 Fig. 1. Cranium seen from below. 

 Fig. 2. Cranium seen from before and a little below. 

 Fig. 3. Seven cervical vertebrae (1-7), and 9 thoracic (8-16) from above. 

 Fig. 4. The three hindmost cervical vertebrae, and the first thoracic, from 

 below. 



On the figures of the cranium are represented by — b, os bregmatis or pa- 

 rietale; e, (PI. VII. fig. 2) os ethmoideum ; /, os frontale ; g, os 

 tympanicum or bulla tympani ; i, os intermaxillare ; k, processus 

 condyloideus ossis occipitalis ; m, os maxillare ; n, os nasi ; o, os 

 occipitale ; p, palatal plate of the upper jaw nearest the middle 

 line of the palate (PI. VII. fig. 1 ), os palatinum ; /, os temporum ; 

 t', processus zygomaticus ossis temporum ; u, os pterygoideum ; 

 v, (PL VII. fig. 2) os vomer ; x, os maxillare inferius ; z, os zygo- 



* The reader should bear in mind that all the figures accompanying this 

 translation have been further reduced }ths. 



