5. pnrsALrs, 151 



wards, but not rcacliiiig the bodies of the vcrtebi'oe, the rest simple. 

 The greatest length of the cranium was 11^ feet, the greatest length 

 of the lower maxilla 11^ feet, from the tip of the pectoral to the 

 head of the humerus 6^- feet. The colour of the back of the head 

 and of the sides to a line passing from the tail beneath the pectoral, 

 black. The jaws, and under and upper sides of both pectorals and 

 tail, black. The black ivashed off at the sides into a brilliant white, 

 of which colour were all the other parts, except the hollows between 

 the folds. Scattered irregularly over the back were greyish spots, 

 three or four in a square foot, resembling the appearance produced 

 by touching the skin with a slightly whitened finger. The polished 

 surface gave the whole body a greyish appearance, and it was said to 

 be greij. 



" The baleen towards the snout gradually gave place to narrower 

 plates, three or four occuppng the place of one. This change com- 

 menced from the inside. At the snout the plates were still more 

 broken uj), and there assumed the appearance of small, slightly com- 

 pressed rods of baleen, of the thickness of a crow-quill, each tipped 

 with a tuft of long white bristles. The baleen completed the circuit 

 of the snout at a distance of 4 inches within the upper hp. At the 

 snout, the base of the baleen was 1 inch in width, gradually in- 

 creasing until, where the largest plates were inserted, it attained the 

 breadth of 9 inches, whence it decreased to a rounded point at the 

 interior angles of the mouth. Here the baleen entirely resolved 

 itself into white hair, which took its rise from the gums, Avithout the 

 intervention of the quill -like rods of the anterior extremity. 



" The gum (or cheese of the whalefishers) was from 2 to 4 inches 

 thick, and between the bones of the jaw intervened a callous bed of 

 muscular substance. 



" The tongiie tlesh-coloured above, and beneath leaden grey, 

 without distinct edges, of a very loose tissue. 



" The throat easily admitted the closed hand. 



" The trunk only separated from the head by a very slight depres- 

 sion behind the spiracles, the upper edge forming a beautifid and even 

 curve from head to tail, with the exception of the protuberance of 

 the dorsal fin. 



" The expansion of the tail continued 2 or 3 feet along the side of 

 the trunk. gi\-ing, with the dorsal and ventral keels, a rhomboidal 

 form to that part of the animal. These keels consist entirely of 

 fatty tendinous substance, permeated through their entire length by 

 strong round tendons an inch in diameter, and when these were 

 removed the parts became round like the rest of the trunk. 



" A female : lengtli from point of lower jaw to notch in tail 50 feet, 

 girth beneath the pectorals 2;?| feet, point of lower jaw to umbilicus 

 24i feet, to termination of the plicoB 26 feet, to reproductive organ 

 30 "feet. 



" The external ear in a shallow groove, with small aperture the 

 size of a quill. 



" The blowholes (see P. Z. S. 1850, t. 45. f. 1, 2, 3) in a hollow on 

 the summit of a low rounded eminence, immediately in front of a 



