DESCRIPTION OF A NARWAL. I35 



with the size of the animal. In all probability, 

 they serve only the purpose of rudders in chan- 

 ging the direction of the course of the animal, and 

 do not aid its progressive motion in any consider- 

 able degree. 



The tail was placed in a horizontal position, as 

 in the other genera of the cetacea. It was di- 

 vided by a slight indentation into two lobes of 

 equal size. The outer edge of the lobes, did not 

 extend farther than three inches beyond the notch 

 which separated them. The lobes of the tail 

 were pointed and turned from the body, and the 

 distance between their extreme points, was thirty- 

 two inches. Like the fore-paws, the tail was 

 wedge-shaped, thickest in the middle, and grow- 

 ing thin towards the edges. This part of the a- 

 nimal appears to be the principal organ of ad- 

 vancing motion. 



This narwal had one tooth projecting from the 

 left side of the upper jaw, and pointing a little 

 downwards. There was no external appearance 

 of any tooth on the right side ; and in the cranium 

 itself, only a small canal was observable, but no 

 appearance of a tooth. The external length of the 

 tooth was twenty-seven inches, and the remaining 

 portion of the base inserted in the socket twelve 

 inches, thus making its whole length thirty-nine 

 inches. The weight was twenty eight ounces. 

 In diameter at the base, where it entered the up- 

 per lip, one inch and a quarter. It was spirally 

 grooved or twisted, and striated from right to left, 



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