The Scottish Naturalist. 1 1 1 



it has undoubtedly been met with oftener than that. It extends 

 as far north as Greenland ; according to Scoresby, one of this 

 species was killed near Spitzbergen, in 1813. An example of 

 this whale was entangled in the salmon stake nets, and killed, 

 near Largo,* 15th May, 1832. Dr. Knox's "Rorqualus minor" 'f 

 was taken near Queensferry, Firth of Forth, in February 1834- 

 It was 9 feet 11 inches long; the baleen about 2 x / 2 inches in 

 length. Another individual was found, apparently dead, in the 

 sea near the Bell Rock, J 7th September, 1857. Its length was 

 about 16 feet; the longest baleen, about 5 inches in length. 

 Another, about 18 feet long, was stranded near Burntisland, 

 on the 8th September, 1870. Another specimen of this little 

 whale — the skull and baleen of which are in my possession — was 

 stranded near Arbroath, 29 July, 1869. It measured 13 feet 

 in length. The circumference in front of pectoral fins, 7 feet 



3 inches. From point of snout to dorsal fin, 8 feet i}i inches; 

 dorsal fin, about 20 inches high. From snout to pectoral, 



4 feet. Length of fin, t6 inches. The two blow-holes were 

 situated in a slight depression on the front part of the head, their 

 anterior ends 17^ inches behind the point of the nose, each 

 aperture 3^ inches long, and somewhat crescent shaped; near 

 each other in front, but diverging outward and backward, with 

 the concave side outward. From point of snout to interior edge 

 of eye, 25^ inches. There were two rows of baleen, one on 

 each side of the upper jaw. The longest plates of these measured 

 3^ inches in length, and were placed about the middle of the 

 posterior half of the length, from which they gradually became 

 shorter toward each extremity ; posteriorly each row was gradually 

 curved inward, approaching the posterior of the palate, until 

 within two inches of each other at the entrance of the oesophagus. 

 The baleen was of a brownish white, or pale horn colour ; 

 the apex and inner edges of each plate were closely fringed 

 with hair-looking fibres of a similar colour. The baleen of each 

 side, measured round the curve, was 26*^ inches in length. 

 The animal was jet black on the back, and about half-way 

 down the sides ; the lower side of a dusky white, and so was 

 about two inches of the upper surface of the pectoral fins. 



* Mag. of Nat. Hist., vol. v., 1832. f Naturalists' Library, vol. xxvi. 



X Proceedings.Roy.' Phy. Soc, Edinburgh, 1858. 



Univorsity, St. Andrews. 



