DESCRIPTION OF A NARWAL. I4I 



Small-headed Narwal, le Narwal microcephale of 

 that author, a SDecies unknown to Linnaeus. 



I shall now briefly state those particulars in 

 which the Common Narwal and this Small-headed 

 kind differ from each other, as pointed out by La 

 Cepede, in his descriptions of the two species. 



The general form of the Common Narwal is 

 ovoid : the other species is somewhat conical, 

 thickest towards the forepart of the body, and 

 lengthened towards the tail. The tooth of the 

 Common Narwal never exceeds one- fourth of the 

 length of the body ; whereas, in the other species, 

 the tooth is sometimes equal to nearly one-third of 

 the length of the animal. The back of the com- 

 mon Narwal is raised and convex ; in the other, 

 rather flat and even. The head of the common 

 Narwal is large in proportion to the body, being 

 equal to one-fourth of the whole length ; the head 

 of the other is small, being only one-tenth of the 

 length of the body. The head of the NTarwal 

 which I examined,, was equal to one seventh part 

 of the whole length : but I am of opinion, that 

 this animal, as formerly said, had not attained its 

 full size, nor consequently, its adult proportions. 

 The lobes of the tail of the Common Narwal are 

 rounded, and turned from the body ; in the other 

 species, they are likewise rounded, but bent to- 

 wards the body, like the flukes of an anchor. I 

 must remark, however, that in the specimen which 

 I examined, the tail did not agree with either of 



