604 Description of a « White Fish," or " White Whale." 



pounds, is of an ashy gray color, which is nearly uni- 

 formly distributed. An obscure band of several inches 

 in breadth, of a somewhat darker tint than the general 

 surface, extends obliquely across the head behind the 

 blow-hole. The hinder border of it is double, and has 

 a semicircular emargination on the middle line ; forwards, 

 this band shades off into the tint of the rest of the sur- 

 face ; on either side it ends in an ill-defined oval patch, 

 which surrounds the eye. The edge of the dorsal fin 

 is bordered by a well-marked black band, and another 

 exists on the upper edge of the tail, extends a short dis- 

 tance forwards on the base of it, and backwards between 

 the flukes, {Fig. 3.) The hinder edges of the pectoral 

 limb and of the flukes are each bordered with a narrow 

 dark band. 



The heady when seen from above, presents a strongly 

 marked oval convexity in front of the blow-hole, consist- 

 ing of dense fibrous tissue, containing oil, and extending 

 forwards nearly tp the lips. The blow-hole is about two 

 inches in length, is concave forwards, and somewhat un- 

 symmetrical, as in many cetaceans, the largest portion be- 

 ing to the left of the median line. 



The largest part of the trunk is in front of the dorsal, 

 and is separated from the head by a slight constriction, 

 forming, for a cetacean, an unusually distinct neck. The 

 following table represents the relative position of parts. 



ft. in. 



Length of body, 10 



Distance of blow-hole from anterior extremity of head, in a horizontal line, 1 2 



Distance of eye from the ?:une point, 1 



Distance of ear from eye, 6 



Distance of dorsal fin from end of tail, 4 10 



Transverse diameter of flukes, ... 22 



Antero-posterior diameter of flukes, 12 



Length of fore limb, 12 



Breadth of do., 9 



The dorsal fin is very low, scarcely rising above the 



