514 BULLETIN UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



1823. CuviER, G.— Continued. 



troisifeme lombaire, fiff- 18, quatrifeme lomlaaire, fig. 11, omoplate ; fig. 14, humerus et avant-bras, 

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

 Narwala et tie Cetaces voisins des Uyperoodons et des Cachalots, pp. 349-357. Article 

 premier. Fragmens fossiles de Narval, pp. 349, 350. Article II. Sur une tete p6tiifi6e de 

 C6tace d'un genre ihconnu, voisin des cachalots et des hyperoodons, trouvee sur la cote de 

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

 Article III. Sur des tetes du genre caracterise dans Tarticle precedent, completement p6lri- 

 fiees, deterrees en creusant les bassins d'Anvers, pp. 352-35G, pi. xxvii, figg. 4-6, criine. [Cette 

 espfece est nommee Ziphius pla7iirostris.] Article IV. D'un morceau qui indique una espfece 

 voisine des precedentes, mais a museau plus allong6, pp. 356-357, pi. xsvii, figg. 9, 10, partie du 

 rostre. [Cette espece est nommee Ziphiusi longirostris.] 



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

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

 critique]. Article H. Osteologie. §1. De la tete, pp. 370-377, pL xxvi, figg. 1-4, crtoe de ror- 

 qual du Cap ; fig. 5, crane de rorqual de la Mediterranee ; fig. 6, cr4ne de rorqual de la mer du 

 !Jford; pi. XXV, figg. 1-4, crdne d'une baleine propiement dite d'apr^s un .ieune individu du 

 Cap ; figg. 5-8, d\ipr6s un adulte de la meme espfece ; figg. 9-11, d'aprfes un adulte du Groen- 

 land ; pi. xxvii, figg. 10-15, os de I'oreille d'aprfes I'esp^ce 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, ouzieme 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 

 espfece, fig. 8, omoplate, d'aprfes de baleine franche. 2". Dans les rorquals, pp. 381-385, pi. 

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

 geoire, toutes les figures d'apres le rorqual du Cap; [quelquesobservationssurl'osdu bassinet 

 sur I'os hyoi'de des c6tac6s], pp. 385-388, pi. xxvi, fig. 24, os du bassin d'aprfes le rorqual, fig, 25, 

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

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

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

 des rorquals, dont il a et6 dfiterre deux squelettcs en Lombardie, pp. 390-292, pi. xxvii, fig. 1, 

 squelette, copi6e de M. Cortesi. Article II. D'un fragment considerable de tete de Baleine 

 d6terre dans le sein de la viUe do Paris, pp. 393-396, pi. xxvii, fig. 16. 



Resume de cette scpti6rae partie, pp. 397-399. Addition importante k cette septifeme partie 

 [relative au Delphinus frontatus, nomme k 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 litero.- 

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

 vast amount of chafi"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, ho 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 m the inner court of the Paris Museum, is one of 

 this kind; secondly, that the Black-fish [Physcter Tiirsio. Gray], and the Sperm "Wh.ile 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 Speira AVhale; 

 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 

 t)f Sibbald, Artedi, and others, on these animals." — (Cat. Mam. Brit. 2Ius., pt. i, Cetacea, 

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



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

 Gray's Physcter 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 flr»t time reduced 

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



