Sperm Whale and other Cetaceans 167 
under surface of the superior maxillary bones in both our 
specimens, however, are less broad and flat than he represents 
them. In the young one, there is considerable space between 
the occipital ridge and the nasal bones, formed, I suppose, by 
the interparietal bones fused to the occiput; the foramen 
opticum is not formed, but, in the place of it, a deep notch 
in the ant. sphenoid ; in the post. sphenoid is a large foramen, 
which I supposed to be the carotid, bat no rotundum nor ova- 
le, neither was there in the old specimen, though the optic was 
well formed. The condyloid foramina, in both specimens, 
were found in the lateral portion of the occiput. No bony 
tentorium, though, in the old specimen, it was "well marked. 
The sternum was composed of four pieces, the third being in 
two lateral portions, and the fourth quite cartilaginous ; deep 
notch in the first, as stated by Cuvier. Eleven pairs of ribs, 
the last five being connected only with the transverse pro- 
cesses of the vertebree, as stated by Cuvier ; cartilages ossified. 
Pelvic bones about 93 inches long, and half an inch in diam- 
eter. As to the phalanges, from the very imperfect degree 
of Ossification, the exact number was not ascertained, but 
they did not seem to correspond with Cuvier's description. - 
_ ANATOMY OF THE PORPOISE (ProcexA communis, L.) 
`- July 13th, 1842, Dr. Storer saw and examined a specimen 
that had just been taken at Nahant. Length 4 feet 5 inches. 
Externally it resembled the figure of the common porpoise in 
the Naturalist’s Library, though the form of the head was more 
like that of the Cape porpoise in the same plate. Pectoral fins 
“colored above, like the upper part of the body generally, 
but White below; in the work just quoted they are said to be 
brownish. Dorsal emarginated just back of the tip, and at the 
“pper part, anteriorly, it exhibited quite a number of small tuber- 
cles or dentations. At the suggestion of Dr. Storer, the organs 
Were then carefully removed by Mr. Johnson, of Nahant, and 
on the following day, were sent to me in a perfectly fresh state. 
