66 CETACEA. 



The British species are no better known ; for in Fleming's excel- 

 lent work they are left in nearly the same state as when Linnajus 

 published his tweKth edition of the ' Systema Naturae '; and Mr. 

 Bell's account and figiu'cs are chiefly derived fi'om preceding authors. 

 In the former edition of this Catalogue I was led to take three or 

 four species from the list of British species ; I determined the specific 

 identity of one hitherto neglected, and added two or three species for 

 the first time to our fauna. 



In the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural History ' for 1846, 

 vol. xvii. p. 82, I gave a list of British Cetacea, raising the number 

 to seventeen, and added Lagenorhynchus albirostris and Grampus 

 Cuvieri to the previous list. 



In the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society ' for 1864, p. 195, 

 I published a paper '• On the Cetacea which have been observed in 

 the Seas surrounding the British Islands," in which I describe thirty 

 species belonging to twenty genera. Fleming only indicates as British 

 sixteen species of Cetacea, which Jenyns and BeU had reduced in 

 their works to fourteen species of the Order. 



The size of the head, compared with that of the body, varies 

 greatly according to the age of the specimen. In the newly-born 

 whale the head is small ; and it enlarges regularly, but at a more 

 rapid rate than the body, as the whale increases in size. In the 

 Greenland Whale the adult head is two-fifths of the length of the 

 body. 



The species of the different families have a very great similarity 

 when examined externally, and, as a whole, the best character for the 

 genera and species is to be obtained from the examination of the 

 skeleton, and especially of the skull, cervical vertebrae, and the bones 

 of the fore hmbs. But here, as in other vertebrate animals, it 

 requires great care to observe the external characters of the animal 

 and the peculiarities of its osteology, so that the outer form, colour, 

 &c. may be known, at the same time as the osteological characters, 

 and that the variations of either the skeleton or the outer appearance 

 may be corrected by the double comparison. 



We have until lately been chiefly indebted to Sibbald, John 

 Hunter, and Dr. Knox for the anatomy of the larger whales. 



More recently Eschricht has given an excellent memoir on the 

 Eight Whale, and on the long-armed and smaller Finner "V^Tiale, the 

 account of the latter being chiefly derived from dissection of the foetal 

 or newly-born specimen. 



No series of animals are more difficult to observe and describe 

 than the large Whales and Dolphins. They are only seen at distant 

 periods, and generally either isolated or each kind and age in the 

 same school or herd. They are only seen ahve at a distance from 

 the observer, and generally in rapid motion and under unfavourable 

 circumstances for study. They are unwieldy to collect and compare. 

 It is almost impossible to preserve their skin, it being very thin and 

 apt to crack and curl up ; and when preserved, they are difiicult to 

 keep without deterioration, on account of the fat and salt they contain, 

 and the odour they emit, especially in damp weather. For this 



