Naturelle des Cetaces. 185 



name adopted from the natives. Its body is shorter and stouter 

 than that of many of the smaller Cetacea ; its snout is in the form 

 of a long and very slender beak, almost cylindrical, and obtuse at 

 its extremity. It has about 134 teeth ; incisors in front, and molars 

 curiously fashioned behind, where their summits are of an ir- 

 regular mammillary shape : the auditory opening is conspicuous ; 

 the blowing canal runs obliquely from before backwards, and opens 

 nearly over the pectorals. The swimming paws are large, bulky, 

 and obtuse at their extremities ; the dorsal starts two-thirds down 

 the back, and has more the appearance of a low ridge than a fin ; 

 the tail is large : total length about 12 feet. The colour varies, and 

 is generally a pale blue above, passing into a rose-colour beneath. 

 This species appears to be an inhabitant solely of the rivers, and 

 neighbouring fresh water lakes, far up the Amazons. It associates 

 in small troops, lives wholly on fish, and seems to come more fre- 

 quently to the surface to respire, and sometimes to masticate its 

 prey, than the salt water species. It manifests the usual strong 

 parental affection of the order. 



To M. D'Orbigny we are also indebted for a more accurate account 

 of the Griseus of Cuvier, than any we have hitherto met with. Our 

 author assigns to it the name of this enterprizing traveller, which, 

 however, we must deprecate, as being likely to lead to confusion. M. 

 D'Orbigny had an opportunity of examining four grown individuals of 

 the species, which were stranded on the coast of La Vendee, so that all 

 doubt is now removed concerning its long doubtful characters. M. 

 Cuvier has favoured us with a very fair representation of this and 

 the last named animal, the Inia. This he has likewise done with 

 regard to the beautiful Globiceps of Risso, taken from a specimen 

 stranded near Nice in 1829, and communicated to our author by M. 

 Lauvillard. This gentleman mentions a trait in the habits of this 

 species which we do not remember to have before heard of in regard 

 to any other. It was in the month of June that a troop of them ap- 

 proached the shore, in the Bay of St Jean. It was then observed that 

 they often placed themselves in a vertical position, head downwards, 

 with the tail and the posterior third of the body projecting from the 

 water, and continued in this position for ten or fifteen minutes at a 

 time ; they appeared as if observing what was passing at the bot- 

 tom of the sea, and were probably watching fur their prey. It is 

 also mentioned, that the colour of the sexes differs, the ground-work 

 of the males being bluish-white, and that of the females a uniform 

 brown. 



But our space warns us that we must be drawing to a close, and 

 we^the less regret this, as we have but few observations to make on 



