Zoological Society. 277 



fairly continuous and form a loop of intestine, the posterior division 

 being evidently destined to form the cloaca and lower part of the 

 canal. The final development of the hepatic duct takes place about 

 the ninth day by a growth proceeding from the liver itself, and 

 consisting of exactly similar material ; this growth extends towards 

 the lower part of the loop of duodenum, which is now distinct, and 

 appears to blend with the coats of the intestine ; around it, at its 

 lower part, the structure of the pancreas is seen to be in process of 

 formation. The further progress of development of the hepatic 

 duct will, the author thinks, require to be carefully examined, but 

 the details he has given in this paper have satisfied him of the cor- 

 rectness of the statement that the structure of the liver is essentially 

 parenchymal. 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



June 8, 1847.— Harpur Gamble, Esq., M.D., in the Chair. 



The following papers were read : — 



1. On the Finner Whales, with the description of a new 

 species. By J. E. Gray, Esq., F.R.S. etc 



Sibbald has described and figured two specimens of Finner Whale. 

 Artedi, and after him Linnaeus, regarded these figures as represen- 

 tations of separate species, but the characters which they gave for the 

 species appear to depend solely on the state the specimens were 

 in when described and figured. These species have been generally 

 adopted in the Fauna of this country. 



The Whales appear to differ greatly from one another in the de- 

 gree of mobility of the neck, as is well -shown in the union or sepa- 

 ration of the cervical vertebrae, and in the variations in the develop- 

 ment of their lateral and spinous processes. 



The union or separation of the cervical vertebrae appears to afford 

 good generic distinctions. 



Duvernoy, in the second edition of Cuvier's ■ Comparative Ana- 

 tomy/ has observed, " In the Cetacea the seven cervical vertebrae 

 of the genus Balcena are all soldered together, and sometimes the first 

 dorsal is equally soldered to the cervical. 



" In the genus Physeter the atlas is distinct, and the six other 

 vertebrae are soldered. 



" In the Delphinus the atlas and axis only are united, and the five 

 other vertebrae remain separate, but they are very thin. 



" Lastly, in the Rorquals (Pike Whales), Delphinus ganyeticus 

 (the genus Platanista), the Dugong and Lamantin, they are all or 

 nearly all separate." — Duvernoy in Cuv. Anat. Comp. ed. 2. i, 195. 



I may further observe, that in Balcenoptera rostrata, which I have 

 considered as the type of Balcenoptera, the second and third cervical 

 vertebrae are united by their spinous processes, while the fourth, fifth, 

 sixth and seventh vertebrae are separate and well- developed ; while in 

 Physalus Boops, antiquorum and Sibbaldii, and in Megapteron longi- 

 manus they are all well-developed, and separate from one another. 

 In the Grampus (Orca gladiator) the first five cervical vertebrae are 



