Miscellaneous, 255 



merely, not reaching to congelation, suffices to extinguish hfe *, and 

 that in the instances of other animals, especially the hybernating 

 and insects, a moderate reduction occasions torpor, ending in death 

 if too prolonged. That the organs generally suffer from congelation 

 M. Puget himself admits, as expressed in the subjoined paragraphf. 

 I have found, too, that the muscles, after having been frozen, ex- 

 hibit a marked change : thus, in one instance, that of a frog, in 

 which, after decapitation, an upper and lovper extremity were frozen, 

 the muscles of these limbs, when thawed, compared with those which 

 had not been frozen, showed a well-marked difference under the 

 microscope ; for whilst in the latter the striated structure was 

 very distinct, in the former it was no longer visible ; and after a few 

 hours, viz. on the following morning, whilst the unfrozen muscles 

 had undergone no perceptible alteration, those which had been frozen 

 had become of increased tenderness, yielding to a slight rending 

 force, and breaking short, as if the coherence of the particles forming 

 the fasciculi had become greatly diminished. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



On a Cranium q/Ziphius/oMwc? at Arcachon (Gironde). 

 By P. Fischer. 



A MAGNIFICENT cranium of a Cetacean, found in 1864 at Lanton, 

 on the shores of the harbour of Arcachon, has been sent to M. Fil- 

 lioux. The most superficial examination of this is sufficient to show 

 that it belongs to an individual of the genus Ziphius of Cuvier. 



If doubts have prevailed as to the origin of the Ziphius repre- 

 sented as fossil by the great anatomist (Ossem. Foss. tome v. V^ 

 partie, pi. 27. fig. 3) from an imperfect specimen dug up at the 

 mouth of the Galcgeon (Bouches-du-Rhone), there can be none as 

 to the cranium from Arcachon. Its perfect state of preservation, 

 and the presence of fatty matters in its cerebral cavity, prove that 

 the death of this Cetacean cannot even be very remote. 



The length of the cranium, from the occipital foramen to the 

 anterior extremity of the intermaxillary bones, is 89 centimetres ; 

 its breadth, from the orbital margin of the right frontal to that of 

 the opposite side, is 48 centimetres ; its height, from the base of the 

 cranium to the upper margin of the nasal bones, is 4 1 centimetres. 



The upper surface of the head is remarkable for the enormous 

 development of the intermaxillaries, and their want of symmetry. 

 In front they surround a very thick and prominent ivory-like tu- 

 berosity of the vomer ; posteriorly they spread out, rise up and cir- 



* Instances have occurred in the Lake District of persons who have perished 

 on the hills from prolonged exposure to strong wind and rain, storm-stricken, in 

 the language of the country. 



t "... La congelation complete a meme si profondement alt4r6 les tissus 

 de I'organisnie que quand I'animal est tout-a-fait degel6, son corps est flasque 

 et mou, ses cristallins sont blancs et opaques, et souvent sa coloration est tout-ii- 

 fait altt^r^e " (p. 24). 



