214 CATODONTIB.T':. 



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 osseous 

 part of these teeth projected 3 inches beyond the gums, was like 

 polished ivory, smooth and white ; the fang of each tooth was pro- 

 vided with a large cavity, which was so constructed that in the 

 larger teeth there was a cavity 3 inches deep. It had two 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." 



The male and female seen by Sibbald have been di\'ided into two 

 species, according to the more or less truncated state of the teeth. 



Mr. Wall thinks the skeleton at Burton Constable must belong to 

 this genus, but the nostrils were at the end of the snout (see 

 Anderson, 257). 



" A male with acute falciform teeth is described by Sibbald as found 

 at Limekilns in the Forth, in February 1689. It was 52 feet long. 

 The upper jaw projected 2^ feet beyond the lower. Lower jaw 

 10 feet long, and narrower than the upper towards the extremity. 

 From the snout to the eye 12 feet. In the lower jaw were 42 teeth, 

 21 on each side, curved and ending in acute points, the largest of 

 which was 9 inches long, and the least 7 inches ; these projected 

 3 inches above the gums, and contained a large cavity at the root. 

 Swimmers 4 feet long, tail 9 feet broad. Sibbald also mentions a 

 female with flat-tipped teeth, which came ashore in Orkney in 1687. 

 The head was 8 or 9 feet high, the blowhole in front. The tusks 

 were very little bent, and nearly solid externally, or with only a 

 lateral slit or a smaU cavit}'. Some of the teeth were 4 inches long 

 (figures 1-11). The dorsal fin was erect, like a mizen mast ; it 

 jdelded good spermaceti." — Fleming, B. A. 38. 



Mr. Lowe states that this species frequently comes ashore in 

 Orkney. One was caught at Hoy, 50 feet long. — Lowe, Orkney, 160 ; 

 Fleming, B. A. 39. 



Mr. Barclay, of Zetland, states that " the Physeter Tursio, or 

 High-finned Cachalot, is frequentl)^ seen on these coasts in summer, 

 and is easily distinguished by the long perpendicular fin on its back " 

 (Bell, Brit. Ouad. 513). 



Mr. WiUiam Thompson, of Belfast, published a sketch of the fin of 

 this whale as said to be seen by Captain Thomas "Walker of Kelmore, 

 Wexford (see Ann. & Mag. N. H. 1846, xviii. 310, fig.). ''There 

 were either five or seven of them, two much larger than the rest, 

 and apparently 25 feet long. When I first saw it I thought it was a 

 cot (small flat- bottomed boat) at anchor, her tarred sail made up to 

 the mast ; more then rose, and they crossed in a long file the bows of 

 my boat. They were not more than 3 or 4 yards from me, and the 

 back fin appeared 10 or 12 feet high, and had either before or behind 

 a round white spot on the back ; all the rest of the body was black, 

 like a porpoise. I did not see the head or tail. They went steadily, 

 not rolling like a porpoise." 



