202 REINHARDT ON 



like the Kiel dolphin, had ten teeth ou either side of the lower jaw, of which, however, the two 

 hindmost ones were placed in a common socket, this, however, bearing traces not to be mistaken 

 of having originally consisted of two, now united into one. In the upper jaw, on the contrary, 

 there are only eight teeth on either side, or two fewer than the Middelfart specimen; 

 in the Refsnæs dolphin, finally, of which all the teeth, except one or two, were present, and still 

 fixed in their sockets, when it was disinterred from where it was buried, the number of the 

 teeth, both in the upper and in the lower jaw, was quite the same as in the Asnæs dolphin, but 

 the hindmost tooth in the upper jaw was lodged here in its own socket, perfectly well separated 

 from the last but one. In the Refsnæs dolphin the teeth were but little worn,^ and, more 

 especially, the teeth of the left side were a httle less worn than those of the right side ; the teeth 

 of the Asnæs dolphin must, to judge from those very few of which I obtained possession, have 

 been worn a good deal more, especially the foremost ones in the jaw ; yet the wear is not 

 greater, than will show perfectly clearly, that this dolphin keeps its teeth until the last period of 

 its life. We have hitherto only mentioned those teeth which are fixed into distinct sockets ; but 

 besides these, one or even two teeth are sometimes, at least, to be found quite anteriorly on either 

 side of the upper jaw; for these no sockets are to be found, and they can therefore only be 

 fixed in the gums. I have not seen these teeth myself (which have been observed neither in the 

 Middelfart dolphin, nor in the Refsnæs specimen), but I am indebted for my knowledge of them 

 to the kind information of Professor Behn, who told me in a letter that during the 

 preparation of the cranium of the Kiel dolphin, two small teeth were found lodged in the 

 gum ; he did not see them himself, until after they had been taken out, but the preparer stated 

 that he had found them in the upper jaw, and as to this point, at least, he can hardly 

 have been mistaken; but whether they were placed one on either side, or both on the 

 same side, Professor Behn found it impossible to ascertain. From the appearance of the 

 teeth, however, he thinks himself enabled to conclude, that two such diminutive teeth must, 

 originally, at least, have been found on either side ; for though there is no great diflterence in 

 their length, yet the one is so much thicker than the other, that it weighs three times as much 

 as the latter (the greater one twelve, the smaller one four grains) ; thus, it does not seem very 

 probable that they formed a pair, and if this supposition is correct, the original number of 

 teeth in the upper jaw of the Kiel dolphin must have been twelve in either side ; it may, how- 

 ever, be doubtful whether these teeth are always to be found, and I feel especially inclined 

 to believe that they were not present in the Refsnæs dolphin. 



In order to render my description of the cranium more complete, I shall here add several 

 measurements of the three skulls at my disposal ; to make the comparison with BeljMnus 

 griseus easier, I have chosen chiefly to give the same dimensions that Cuvier has given of the 

 cranium of this animal in his ' Recherches sur les Osseraens Possiles,' and finally, I have in a 

 fourth column added those measurements which Owen has given of his Phocæna crassidens, 

 reduced into Danish inches and lines.^ 



All the crowus of the teeth of the Middelfart dolphia having been broken off, one or two 

 excepted, before the skeleton arrived at this town, it cannot be ascertained^ whether its teeth have been 

 much worn or not ; though judging from the few uninjured teeth, we should say that the wear has not 

 been much greater in this specimen than it was in the one from Refsnæs. 



As to these measurements it must, however, be observed that they do not quite agree with those 

 given by J. E. Gray, though it is the same cranium that has been measured by both the English 



