S3 MAMMALIA. CETACEA. Physalis. 



Burntisland 10th June 1762, and which, in size and other particulars, agreed 

 with the one which came under his own observation. 



I have brought these three descriptions together, under the conviction 

 that they all refer to one species. Hunter, it is true, considers his indivi- 

 dual as belonging to the Balcsna rostrata of Fabricius (Faun. Green, p. 40.), 

 but the description there given conveys nothing precise in form or dimen- 

 sions, except that it is the least of the baleen whales, and it may not differ 

 from the Boops of the same author. Fabricius, in describing the last species, 

 states, " Rostrum rectum, elongatum magis magisque angustatus, desinens 

 tamen apice satis lato obtusoque. Ante nares in vertice capitis tres ordines 

 convexitatum circularium, huic forsan peculiare quid. Maxilla interior su- 

 periore parum brevior strictiorque versus superiorem oblique tendens." 

 41 Magnitudo ejus interdum 50-54 pedum ;" p. 36". These characters indicate 

 a species different from the one described by Sibbald and Neill, and may justi- 

 fy the adoption of the Balanoptera juLartes of M. Lacepede, characterised as 

 having tuberosities near the blow -holes. Sir Charles Giesecke, in the article 

 Greenland (Edin. Encyc. vol. x. p. 490.), states that the B. Boops comes 

 regularly to the coast about the end of July. It is " a smaller kind of whale, 

 its length being from 20 to 25 feet. It has a fin on its back, and also a pro- 

 tuberance which grows towards the tail." " The whalebones of this species 

 rarely exceed the length of one foot." Are we to rely on the size in the 

 determination of the species, and consider the B. rostrata as a distinct species 

 limited to 25 feet in length, and represented by the rostrata of Fabricius and 

 Hunter, and the loops of Giesecke? Future observers may determine the 

 point. 



Both the B. musculus and boops may be considei'ed as regular inhabitants 

 of our seas. On the 20th August 1822, I observed an individual of the latter 

 species at Longhope, Orkney. 



Gen. XXX. PHYSALIS. Razor-Back.— Skin destitute 

 of pectoral folds. 



47. P. vulgaris. — Length reaching to a hundred feet. 



Balsena Physalis, Fab. Fauna Gr. p. 35 Walker's Essays, p. 528 Ba- 



kenoptera Gibbar, Scoresby, Arc. Reg. i. 478. 



According to Fabricius, the length of the baleen does not exceed a foot. It 

 swims swiftly, and is with difficulty captured. Mr Scorseby states that he 

 has made several ineffectual attempts to secure this species. The animal, 

 when exerting its energies, dives and swims with such rapidity as to defy 

 the ingenuity of the whaler. He states, from report, that it has been found 

 105 feet in length, and 38 in cirfumference ; " head small when compared 

 with that of the common whale; fins long and narrow; tail 12 feet broad, 

 finely formed ; whalebone 4 feet in length, thick, bristly, and narrow ; blub- 

 ber (> or 8 inches thick, of indifferent quality ; colour bluish-black on the back, 

 and bluish. grey on the belly ; skin smooth, excepting about the sides of the 

 thorax, where longitudinal ruga; or sulci occur." From his own observa- 

 tion, he states, that " it seldom lies quietly on the surface of the water when 

 blowing, but usually has a velocity of four or five miles an hour; and when 

 it descends, it very rarely throws its tail in the air, which is a very general 

 practice with the mystketus. 



The individual mentioned by Sibbald (Phail. p. 84.) as having come ashore 

 at Boyne in Banffshire, probably belonged to this species. It was 80 feet 

 in length, exclusive of the tail. Dr Walker states, that this species some- 

 times comes ashore on the Island of Lewis. It is, however, in all probabili- 

 ty, only a straggler. 



Relics of a whale, of a large size, and probably belonging to Balanoptera 

 mmcnlus, or to the preceding species, occur in the marine diluvium of the Forth. 



1 



