1876.] DR. J. VON HAAST ON A NEW ZIPHIOID WHALE. 1 1 



The crowns of the teeth stand at ahout the same level with the cen- 

 tral line of the palate. The opening along the upper surface of the 

 rostrum is still unclosed, thus showing that the animal is not so aged 

 as the next specimen, No. 2. 



I may here add that the rostrum in all three skulls is half an inch 

 shorter than the mandible, and that it lies in a well-defined groove in 

 the latter. 



Skull No. 2. — The measurements of this skull, as far as I was able 

 to obtain them, show that, as previously stated, it was not so elongate 

 as the former, but somewhat broader and more massive in all its pro- 

 portions. The rami of the mandible widen much sooner than those of 

 the former ; about 7 inches from their anterior extremity they ex- 

 pand considerably in order to form the alveolar cavity for a large tooth 

 which here rises conspicuously on both sides, having a vertical position. 

 This tooth has a compressed triangular shape, is 2^ inches broad at 

 its base on the line of the gums, and rises 1 ^ inch above them. 



On the inner side near the top it is slightly abraded, and on the 

 outside broken considerably, so as to suggest that the animal used it 

 for the purpose of defence or attack. This injury has taken place 

 on both teeth, so that they have lost their point and show a ragged 

 horizontal apex with a width of nearly a quarter of an inch. 



From behind the tooth the rami expand very little as far as the gape. 



A similar row of small teeth, described as occurring in the first 

 specimen, exists also in this second skull ; but there are apparently 

 only 17 of them. Their position is exactly the same as in the 

 foregoing, the first standing exactly above the posterior edge of the 

 base of the large tooth in the lower jaw. 



The teeth have the same form as those previously described, except 

 that they are generally thicker ; this becomes conspicuous with the 

 7th tooth, after which they gradually increase to the 13th, which is 

 ^ of an inch thick at its base and stands 0'45 inch above the gums. 

 They then keep nearly the same size to the posterior end of the series. 



As the space on which these 17 teeth stand is only 4*25 inches 

 long, besides their greater stoutness they are far more crowded than 

 in the first-described skull. 



Owing to the fact that the gums have dried more thoroughly in 

 this than in the two other skulls, iu both of which the teeth stand 

 erect with the curve of the apex directed inwards, the teeth in this skull 

 are no longer in their normal position, but lie somewhat forwards on 

 the palate. 



The groove in the upper surface of the rostrum, between the pre- 

 maxillaries, is filled by a convex ridge of dense bone with a small 

 channel on each side. That this is only caused by age, and that it 

 is neither a sexual nor a specific character, is proved by the fact 

 that the next skull, No. 3, which is doubtless a young half-grown 

 specimen of the same sex as the one under review, has this groove on 

 the top of the rostrum still open, and thus resembles the skull No. ], 

 although in the latter that groove is narrower and more shallow. 

 Skull No. 3. — Assuming that the last-described skull belongs to 



