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DESCRIPTION OF A 



mal from Mr James Cornish of the same place. 

 From the very great resemblance the animal bore 

 to Delphinus delphis in its form, situation and shape 

 of its fins, it was generally considered as that spe- 

 cies ; but Mr Cornish very properly doubted it, 

 from the very different appearance the teeth exhi- 

 bited from what the dolphin is described to possess. 

 Mr Cornish describes it to be twelve feet in length, 

 and about eight feet in circumference in the largest 

 part ; the colour of the back black, with a purplish 

 tinge, gradually becoming dusky on the sides, and 

 sullied white on the belly ; the spiracle or blow- 

 hole was placed between the eyes, it was semi-oval 

 with the convexity forwards, and was two inches in 

 length ; its distance from the point of the snout, 

 fourteen inches and a half. But the remarkable 

 part of Mr Cornish's observation was, that the teeth 

 were numerous in each jaw, placed close together, 

 with their surfaces circular, perfectly flat and even 

 with the gums. For a good representation of the con- 

 tour of the animal, I was referred to the figure of 

 the Dolphin in Shaw's Lectures. 



Being extremely anxious to examine any remains 

 of the head that could be obtained, Mr Cornish 

 undertook to recover it, if possible, from the Dart, 

 into which river the bones of the animal had been 

 thrown after boiling ; and I am happy to say, that 

 after the indefatigable research of that gentleman, 

 by dragging the river, the skull, with the connected 

 upper jaw, and also the lower jaw, were the fruits 



