514 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



1823. CUVIER, G. Continued. 



troisieme lombaire, fig. 18, quatrieme lombaire, fig. 11, omoplate ; fig. 14, hutn6rus et avant-bras, 

 figg. 6-10, machoire inferieure, exemplaires differens. Section II. Des Ossemens fossiles de 

 Narwals et de Cetaces voisins des Hyperoodons et des Cachalots, pp. 349-357. Article 

 premier. Fragmens fossiles de Narval, pp. 349, 350. Article II. Sur une tete petrifiee de 

 C6tace d'un genre inconnu, voisin des cachalots et des hyperoodons, trouvee sur la c6te de 

 Provence, pp. 350-352, pi. xxvii, fig. 3, crane. [Cette espece est nomme Ziphius cavirostris.] 

 Article III. Sur des tetes du genre caracterise dans 1'article precedent, completement petvi- 

 fiees, deterrees en creusant les bassins d'Anvers, pp. 352-356, pi. xxvii, figg. 4-6, crane. [Cette 

 espece est nomm6e Ziphius planirostris.] Article IV. D'un morceau qui indique une especo 

 voisine des precedentes, mais & museau plus allonge, pp. 356-357, pL xxvii, figg. 9, 10, partie du 

 rostre. [Cette espece e?t nominee Ziphius longirostris.] 



Chapitre V. Des Ossemens de "Baleines, pp. 359-396. Premiere Section. Des Especes vi- 

 vantes, pp. 359-388. Article premier. Determination des especes, pp. 360-370 [historique et 

 critique]. Article II. Osteologie. 1. De la tete, pp. 370-377, pi. xxvi, figg. 1-4, crane de ror- 

 qual du Cap ; fig. 5, crane de rorqual de la Mediterranee ; fig. 6, crane de rorqual de la mer du 

 Xord; pi. xxv, figg. 1-4, crane d'une baleine proprement dite d'apres un jeune individu du 

 Cap ; figg. 5-8, d'apres un adulte de la memo espece ; figg. 9-11, d'apres un adulte du Green- 

 land ; pi. xxvii, figg. 10-15, os de 1'oreille d'apres 1'espece du Cap. 2. Du reste du squelette. 

 1. Dans les baleines proprement dites, pp. 378-381, pi. xxvi, fig. 13, vertebres cervicales, fig. 

 14, quartrieme dorsale, fig. 15, onzieme dorsale, fig. 16, premiere lombaire, fig. 17, une des pre- 

 mieres caudales, fig. 11, sternum, fig. 7, omoplate, fig. 23, humerus, avant-bras et manus toutes 

 les figures d'apres la grande baleine du Cap ; fig. 18, vertebres cervicales d'apres une autre 

 espece, fig. 8, omoplate, d'apres de baleine franche. 2. Dans les rorquals, pp. 381-385, pi. 

 xxvi, fig. 19, atlas, fig. 21, quatrieme cervicale, fig. 9, omoplate, fig. 22, humerus et os de na~ 

 geoire, tontesles figures d'apres le rorqual du Cap; [quelques observations sur 1'osdu bassin et 

 sur 1'os hyoi'de des c6taces], pp. 385-388, pi. xxvi, fig. 24, os du bassin d'apres le rorqual, fig, 25, 

 os du bassin d'apres la grande baleine, pi. xxv, fig. 12, os hyoi'de d'apres les dauphins, fig. 14, 

 os hyoi'de d'apres la grande baleine du Cap, fig. 15, os hyoi'de d'apres le cachalot d'Audierne(?). 

 Section II. Des Baleines fossiles, pp. 389-396. Article premier. D'une baleine du sous-genre 

 des rorquals, dont il a ete deterre deux squelettes en Lombardie, pp. 390-392, pi. xxvii, fig. 1, 

 squelette, copiee de M. Cortesi. Article II. D'un fragment considerable de tete de Baleine 

 deterre dans le sein de la ville de Paris, pp. 393-396, pi. xxvii, fig. 16. 



Resume de cette septieme partie, pp. 397-399. Addition importante a cette septieme partie 

 [relative au Delphinus frontatus, nomme & p. 278], p. 400. 



Delphinus frontatus, pp. 278, 296, 400, D. griseus, p. 284, note 1, p. 297, spp. nn. ; Ziphius cavi- 

 rostris, p. 352, Z. planirostris, p. 356, Z. longirostris, p. 357, gen. et spp. nn. 



Cuvier, in his classic memoir on the recent and fossil Cetacea, thoroughly sifted the litera- 

 ture of the subject, critically separating, for the first time, the few grains of wheat from the 

 vast amount of chafi 7 that had already accumulated, placing the subject on a solid basis, be- 

 sides adding, in both his plates and text, a large amount of new and well-considered informa- 

 tion respecting the osteology of the species. In his historical resume, no less than in the 

 technical portions of the work, is seen the hand of the master. Unfortunately, however, for 

 the nomenclature of the subject, the species are largely treated under simply vernacular 

 names, but they may be easily identified with their proper systematic cognomens. A single 

 new genus (Ziphius) with three new species, and two or three new species referred to Del- 

 phinus, are for the first time defined, while the untenability of various nominal species is 

 clearly shown. In some instances, however, he appears to have overstepped the bounds of 

 judicious criticism, but not to the extent claimed by Dr. J. E. Gray, who says that Cuvier, in 

 examining previous authorities, approached "the work with a predisposition to reduce the 

 number of species, which his predecessors had described, to the smallest number . . . To 

 make this reduction: first, he believes that the Hump- backed Whale, of Dudley, is only a 

 whale that has lost its fin, not recognizing that the Cape Rorqual, which he afterwards de- 

 scribed from the fine skeleton now shown in the inner court of the Paris Museum, is one of 

 this kind; secondly, that the Black-fish [Physeter Tursio, Gray], and the Sperm Whale are 

 the same species ; an error which must have arisen from his not having observed that Sib- 

 bald had figured the former, for he accuses Sibbald of twice describing the Sperm Whale; 

 and when he came to Schreiber's [sic] copy of Sibbald's figure, he thinks the figure represents 

 a Dolphin which had lost its upper teeth, overlooking the peculiar form and posterior posi- 

 tion of the dorsal fin, and the shape of the head, which is unlike that of any known Dolphin. 

 This mistake is important, as it vitiates the greater part of Cuvier's criticism on the writings 

 of Sibbald, Artedi, and others, on these animals." (Cat. Mam. Brit. Mus., pt. i,. Cetacea, 

 1850, 3. Cf. also Gray, I. c., p. 54. ) 



Gray's criticism, however, lacks the support of the best modern Cetologists, who discard 

 Gray's Physeter Tursio, based on Sibbald as above, and still known only from Sibbald's figure 

 and description, and the grotesque figure of Bayer's Mular. He for the first time reduced 

 the Cachalots to a single species, a conclusion amply sustained by later investigators. [622 . ] 





