O. PHYSALUS. 139 



of skeletons from different localities, and if they could have examined 

 those in other museums and from other localities more in detail ; 

 but they give their opinions on specimens which they have not seen, 

 and, like many other Continental naturalists, without making suffi- 

 cient allowance for the very large extent of the collection in England, 

 or considering that the species here described are not separated until 

 after careful consideration and comparison. There is an inclination 

 in many of the Continental naturalists to believe that all the species 

 they do not possess are the same as, or only slight variations of, 

 those they have — an idea that is a fertile source of confusion and 

 error in reasoning. This theory of the limited number of species of 

 AVhales greatly detracts from the value of M. Eschricht's observations 

 on the anatomy of Whales, in his papers in the ' Danish Transactions' ; 

 for he constantly speaks of variations which would only be true if 

 they were found in the same kind of Whales, but are peculiarities 

 and important differences when they are found in different species 

 or kinds of animals. 



5. PHYSALUS. 



Pectoral fin moderate. Dorsal fin falcate, three-fourths the entire 

 length from nose. Cervical vertebrae all free ; the second with a 

 broad, expanded lateral process, with a large perforation in the upper 

 part of its base. Neural canal of cervical vertebrae oblong, transverse, 

 broad and low, not more than three-fourths of the width of the body of 

 the vertebrae. Tympanic bone oblong, elongate. Yertebrfe 60 or 64. 

 Eibs 14 to 16. First rib simple, compressed, not divided ; head with 

 a compressed internal pi'ocess near the condyle. Lower jaw thick, 

 convex on the sides, with a conical coronoid process. 



Physalus, Lacep. ; Gray, P. Z. S. 1847, 88 ; Cat. Cetac. 34, 1850 ; 



P. Z. S. 1864, 215 

 Physahs, Fleming, B. A. 1828. 

 Physelus, Pufin. 



Baloena tripennis. Pay ( Razorback). 

 Balrenoptenis, sp., Lacep. 

 BaliBnoptera, sp., Lacep. 

 Pterobala^na, sp., Esclir. 

 OgmobalKna, Eschr. WalUhiere, 1 , 1849. 



The head elongate, flattened, aboiit one-eighth the whole length. 

 The eye is near the angle of the mouth, and the blowers lunate, 

 covered by a valve and separated bj' a longitudinal groove. The 

 throat and chest with deep longitudinal folds and very dilatile. The 

 dorsal fin compressed, falcate, three-fourths the length of the body 

 from the nose, behind the line over the orifice of generation. The 

 pectoral moderate, about one-eighth the length of the body, one- 

 fourth the length of the body from the nose, of four fingers. The 

 vent \mder the front of the dorsal fin. Male organs two-fifths from 

 the chin, in front of line of dorsal ; female near vent. Vertebra? 

 60-64 ; cervical vertebrae all separate and free. The skull is broad, 

 depressed ; nose broad, gradually tapering, with straight sides, with 

 a narrow interorbital space (Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 373. t. 26). Maxilla 



