127 



Head — total lecgth of basal svirface 



ft. 



2 



in. 

 





„ breadth . . 



1 









„ height 



1 









3, Killed at the enti^ance to Port Nicholson, January, 



1870. 



r3 "^ 



Total length 



27 







oJy^'tt-'-i.' 



From beak to nostrils ...... 



3 



6 





„ nostrils to occipital foramen 



1 



6 





Total length over vertex ..... 



5 









Head — tip of beak to occipital foramen, basal surface 



4 









„ greatest height ..... 



2 









„ length of lower jaw .... 



3 



10 





„ „ symphysis .... 



1 









Breadth between condyles . . . . . 



1 



10 





„ at symphysis ...... 







6 





[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, June 25, 1870.] 



Since reading the preceding notice, I have made a section of the left 

 tooth, as nearly in its axis as the curves of the tooth would allow, and without 

 injuring the apex. It will be observed from this section that there is no 

 cavity for lodging a pulp ; it is composed of three distinct substances, well 

 defined, not only by difference in colour but in organization, but just of 

 sufficient hardness to take a fine polish ; the centre part, forming mvich the 

 greater proportion of the tooth, exhibits a homogeneous mass of fibres edged 

 with a series of imbricated laminse, more especially towards the apex, and 

 these are covered with a white dense osseous tissue, precisely similar to the 

 ivory or bone of the tooth of the sperm whale, of which I also have placed on 

 the table a fine section. Lastly, enamelling the tooth from the base to within 

 an eighth part of an inch of the apex, we have an osseous layer, not only 

 holding the place of the enamel in other teeth, but presenting its peculiar and 

 characteristic organization ; the section, at the same time, shows the last 

 mentioned tissue to be entirely covered by a substance similar to cartilage, as 

 if it was in a state of growth by the deposit of enamelling matter. 



The muscles chiefly performing the process of mastication are comparatively 

 small, and would scarcely serve the purpose of seizing, killing, and grinding 

 any resisting prey. 



It is sufficiently interesting to remark that th.& Delj^Mnidce are characterized 

 by the great number of teeth, some of them possessing as many as two hundred, 

 whilst the Ziphidce, the skeleton of which closely resembles the dolphin, may 



