23 



him his error. That he did so is certain ; for when he 

 comes to Schreber's reduced copy of Sibbald's figures of 

 the first (p. 337), he says Schreber does not indicate its 

 origin, but here he goes on to remark of what he has be- 

 fore regarded as a Sperm Whale, "fi-om the form of its 

 lower jaw it most resembles a large Dolphin which had 

 lost its upper teeth." 



Thus, while he was reducing the numerous species of 

 Sperm Whales that had been made by Bonnaterre, Lace- 

 pede, and other compiling French authors, to a single 

 species, he has inadvertently confounded with it the very 

 distinct genus of Black-fish, or Physeter of Artedi, which 

 has a perfectly differently formed head, its top flatter, and 

 with the blow-hole on the hinder part of its crown, and 

 with a distinct dorsal fin, particulars, all well described by 

 Sibbald and O. Fabricius, two original and most accurate 

 observers, and conscientious recorders, and not badly re- 

 presented by Bayer. 



Some parts of Sibbald's description, and his reference to 

 Jonston's figure, might lead to this error, but his figures, 

 which exactly agree in proportion with his description, at 

 once set this at rest, the drawing being -^ of the natural 

 size, that is to say, 6 feet to an inch; and he observes that 

 his animal is longer and more slender than Willoughby's 

 figure of the Sperm Whale. 



J. Bayer (Act. Nat. Cur. 1733, 111, 1, t. 1) gives a rather 

 fanciful but very recognizable figure of a male specimen of 

 this genus, which was thrown ashore at Nice, on the 10th 

 of Nov., 1736, where it is called Mular. He compared it 

 with Clusius' description of the whale which was stranded 

 on the coast of Holland, and observes that it has a dorsal 

 fin, very small pectorals, and other characters not noticed 

 by Clusius ; and he says it agi'ees in all points with the 

 Whale noticed by Ray (Syn. Pise. 14), which is extracted 

 from Sibbald as above quoted : and F. Cuvier remarks on 

 this figure, " Elle est en efiect d'un Cachalot ; mais elle le 

 rend de la maniere la moins fidele." — Cetac. 267. 



The Black-fish. Physeter Tursio. 



Physeter Tursio, Linn. S. N. i. 107, from 



Balajna macrocephala, Sibbald, Phal. t. \.f. 5, copied 

 P. microps, Schreber, t. 339, also Anderson, Ice. 248,/. 



Black-fish, Beale, H. Sperm IVltale, 11. 



Ph. microps, Litin. S. N. i. 107. O. Fab. Faun. Groenl. 

 44, from 



13. macrocephala, n. 2. Sibbald, Phal. 13, t. 2,/. 1, 2, 4, 

 5, teeth. 



Ph. Mular, Bonnat. Cei. 17. 



Mular, Bayer, Act. Nat. Cur. \\\,t. 1, male. 



Ph. orthodon, Lacep. C'et. 236, from Anderson, 246. 



Delphinus Bayeri, Risso, Eur. Merid. iii. F. Ctiv. 

 Cetac. 224. 



Black. Teeth 11 to 22 on each side, conical, compress- 

 ed ; head nearly 5^, pectoral fin ^ the entire length ; the 

 length 50—60 feet. 



Inhab. North Sea. Greenland, common, O. Fab. Scot- 

 land, Sibbald. Nice, Bayer. 



The only zoologists who appear to have had the oppor- 

 tunity of seeing and describing this Whale are Sibbald 

 and O. Fabricius. Bayer appears only to have had the 



drawing sent to him. This species has been divided 

 into two, according to the more or less truncated state 

 of its teeth. I shall quote their descriptions, somewhat 

 abridged. 



Fabricius says it "has in the lower jaw 22 teeth, 11 on 

 each side, arched, falciform, hollow internally as far as the 

 point, projecting scarcely a third part (and this visible part 

 is enamelled, compressed-conical, with the point sharp, 

 curved inwardly and at the same time verging a little back- 

 wards ; but the concealed part broader and having two 

 parts, compressed anteriorly and posteriorly, and, espe- 

 cially on the side nearest the throat, channelled) ; of the 

 length of a finger, and li inch broad, the middle ones lar- 

 ger, the anterior and posterior smaller. Beak rather ob- 

 tuse. Beside the pectoral fins it has a long, erect, dorsal 

 fin. In size, it is to be considered as amongst the smaller 

 Whales. Skin glabrous, black; the fat thick, but little 

 oily; flesh red." — Fabricius, Faun. Groenl. 



Sibbald observes that " the superior part of the body 

 was swelled to a prodigious size. In length it was 52 or 

 53 feet, its height 12 feet, its girth above 32 feet. Its 

 head was so large that it was (the tail being removed) half 

 the length of the whole body. In form it was oblong- 

 round, somewhat compressed in the upper part; inferior 

 part of rostrum beyond lower jaw 2j feet, the superior 

 part nearly 5. Lower jaw 10 feet long. The extreme 

 part of the rostrum was distant 12 feet from the eyes, 

 which were very small for the size of the head, about the 

 size of those of the haddock. A little above the middle 

 of the rostrum is a lobe, which is called "the lum," with 

 two entrances covered with one operculum, called the 

 " flap." The size of the cranium may be estimated by the 

 fact that four men were seen inside it at one time, extract- 

 ing the brain, which contained several cells or alveoli, like 

 those which bees keep their honey in, and in these were 

 round masses of a white substance, which, upon examina- 

 tion, were proved to be sperm. Some of this substance 

 was also found externally on the head, in some parts to the 

 thickness of 2 feet. In the superior jaw were 42 alveoli, 

 hollowed out for receiving the teeth of the lower jaw ; they 

 were of a cartilaginous nature. In the inferior mandible 

 there were 42 teeth, 21 on each side, all of the same form, 

 which was like that of a sickle, round and a little com- 

 pressed, thicker and more arched in the middle, and gra- 

 dually becoming thinner, terminating superiorly in an acute 

 cone turning inwards. Inferiorly it becomes thinner, and 

 terminates in a more slender root, which is narrower in the 

 middle. Of these teeth those in the middle of the jaw are 

 larger and heavier, those external are smaller. One of the 

 larger, 9 inches long, weighed 18|- oz., and at the thickest 

 end was of the same length as breadth. The smallest tooth 

 which I got was 7 inches long and 5 in girth. The osse- 

 ous part of these teeth projected 3 inches beyond the 

 gums, was like polished ivory, smooth and white, the fang 

 of each tooth was provided with a large cavity, which was 

 so constructed that in the larger teeth there was a cavity 3 

 inches deep. It had 2 lateral fins, each about 4 feet long, 

 and besides these a long fin on the back. Colour of skin 

 black. The throat was observed to be larger than usual in 

 whales. Only one stomach was found." 



