Description of a specimen of Bernardius Arnuxii

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 3, 1870, Unnumbered Page

2. Dr. Knox then gave a description of a specimen of Bernardius Arnuxii, which had been recently captured in the harbour, and the most important parts of the skeleton of which he had secured for the Museum. The animal was evidently full grown, and measured 33 feet, and what he desired to draw special attention to was the fact that while it pre-

sented well-developed teeth, yet they did not project through the gums, but were included in a deep socket with the tip covered in by thick fleshy gums. The use of such teeth, he considered, must be limited to the stimulation of the salivary glands by a reflex nervous process, as they could neither seize, divide nor masticate the food of the whale. Messrs. Mantell and Travers both considered that the teeth exhibited marks of the attachment of the gum round a projecting point of polished enamel, and that the teeth were probably enclosed in the retractile sheath of the gum. Dr. Hector stated that, in a recent description by Dr. Haast of a whale of the same species, it was stated to have shown its teeth when infuriated, which supported the view that the teeth were not completely undeveloped externally.