159 Dr. J. B. S. Jackson's Dissections of a 
The second specimen was from a whale taken the year before 
between Cape Hatteras and the Bermudas, and said to have 
made 100 bbls. of oil. Length on the median line 15 feet 
7 inches ; between the articulating surfaces 53 feet, and to the 
back tooth 5: feet ; on the right side there were 25 teeth, and 
on the left 27, opposite to each other towards the front, but 
soon became irregular, and were more so than in the other 
specimens ; towards the front also they were quite pointed, 
but further back rounded or ovoid ; the back teeth were much 
the smallest, the surface being worn so as to show the struc- 
ture. F. Cuvier says, that fifty-four is the greatest number of 
teeth that has been met with, and that the number increases 
with the size of the animal ; but, if this last is in proportion to 
the length of the lower jaw, the rule does not apply to the 
present specimens. He says, moreover, that they are conical 
in the young and ovoid in the old; they were conical in the 
small and undoubtedly young specimens presently to be men- 
tioned, but so were the anterior teeth in this second specimen, 
which belonged to a full grown adult. The same author thinks 
that the sperm whale sheds its teeth, and that, too, more than 
once; and T. R. Jones (Comp. Anat. p. 666,) has an.idem - 
with pea to the cetaceans, that, as they advance in 386 
new teeth are formed in the back of the jaw, w whilst those in 
front drop out, the alveoli becoming absorbed ; but, in the 
present specimens, I found nothing to favor either of t 
ns; the front teeth in the largest individuals were 
periods preserved, there were nowhere any deficiencies, and 
there were in one of the smallest specimens about as man 
teeth as are generally found in the adult. : 
The third specimen was 8 feet 5. inches in length, 3. feet 
9 inches between the articulating surfaces, and the same 10 ie 
the back tooth. There were 20 teeth on each side, arranged 
regularly opposite to each other, and very little if at all worn; 
. anteriorly they were comparatively large and strong; midway 
more slender, and posteriorly small. ae 
"The fourth, specimen was 7 feet 10 inches in length; 4 ud : 
between the articulating surfaces, and 3 feet 2 inches to 
back tooth ; on the right side 26 teeth: and on the left 23 ; 
