204 



DESCRIPTION OF A SPECDIEN 



the greater part of the work was done by these gentlemen, to whose ceaseless vigilance we 

 owe the perfection of the skeleton. Decomposition being far advanced, the accommoda- 

 tions on the island barely comfortable for the season, and communication with the main 



Fig. 1 — Dorsal Fin. 



Fig. 2. — Flipper. 



land irregular, all ideas of making a study of the muscles and viscera were abandoned, and 

 all the care concentrated on the bones. (In this paper, to avoid too much repetition, I shall 

 occasionally allude to this as the Boston Whale, it being the only large whale in the city 

 proper, and the only specimen of this species that is likely to be here). 



External Ajjpearance. The following measurements and description are Mr. Allen's. 



/(. in. 



"Totallenglh . 48 



Gircurafevence of the bead at the eye 23 8 



Distance from the eye to the end of the upper jaw 9 8 



" " angle of the mouth to the end of lower jaw .... 11 1 



" " eye to the blow-holes ......... 36 



" " " " auricular opening 2 3 



« « « " base of the fore limb 4 11 



« " end of the upper jaw to base of fore limb .... 14 7 



« " dorsal fin to the fork of the tail 11 5 



« « anus to the fork of the tail 14 8 



" between anus and vulva 13 



« " « umbilicus 6 8 



" from the umbilicus to the fork of the tail 20 11 



Length of the fore limb 54 



Greatest width of the same 14 



Length of the dorsal fin (measured along the anterior edge) .... 12 



Breadth of the dorsal fin at base 2 7 



" " tail two feet in front of the flukes 3 



" « flukes at the base 2 7 



" " tail just in front of the flukes 2 6 



Distance from the median line of the back to the insertion of the fore limb . . 5 4 



Distance between each flipper and the blow-holes 4 8 



Length of the mammarial fissure 11 



Length of the eye (entire length) 4.5 



Breadth of the eye 1.83 



Length of the eye ball 2 



Breadth of the eye ball 1.75 



Length of the blow-holes 6 



Greatest diameter of each fissure 1.5 



Distance apart posteriorly 6.5 



Distance apart anteriorly 5 



