628 niOCEKDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. vol.xxi. 



From the Corej^oiii};- (Icsciiptiou wc arc able to extract the followinjj; 

 cb.ara(!ters • 



IJody v«'iy hm^ and slender. 



Head ohlonj; iind noiMier very acute nor vory obtnse. 



Color black on the biicdt; while on the lielly. 



The following; nicasiirtuMints arc 8tat('tl : 



Foet. Iiichus. 



Extremity of Hnont to lliikcs 4(5 



Circumference of body near insertion of pectoral fius 20 



Hrcadth of the ridges of the throat 1 



From the eye to the pectoral \\\\ 5 



From the dorsal iin to the (hikes h (> 



Girth of the body near the dorsal (in 12 



From anua to (lukce 14 



From penis to the navel r> 6 



From extremity of the lower jaw to the navel 24 (J 



Iheadth oC the lliikcH 1» G 



IJreadth of lower jaw near the middle 4 (5 



l^(;nj;th of (<iny;ue 5 



Breadth of tonj^ue n(!ar the roots 3 



Hlowholc to extremity of snout (J S 



Lenf^th of blowhole 8 (or 9) 



Length of month 10 



Breadth of mouth 4 2 



Length of jjeetoral (ins 5 



Breadth of iiectoral iins 1 (> 



We learn fiom these characters and measurements that tlie body was 

 "very long and appeared more slender in form by the proportion of the 

 thickness to the h^ngth;" that tlic dorsal fin was ])laced very far back, 

 accordiii.u to the mciisuromeiits even i)()steri()r the comnuMiccmcnt of 

 tlic last fourth of the length of the body; that the i)ectoral fins were 

 quite short, or about as 1 to 1)^, c()mi)ared with the length of the body; 

 that the lower Jaw was moderately long, or about as 1 to 4^|, compared 

 witli the- Icngtli of the l)o<ly. 



All these characteristics, especially the emaciated form, i)oint very 

 strongly to the common finback, usually called HaUvnoptera muscidus. 



Fvou\ B. rostratu it is distinguished by size (total length, 4(1 feet), 

 ba(;kward position of the dorsal tin, longer jaws, aiul many other 

 characters. 



From /»'. horcalis it is distiugiushed also by the backward position of 

 tlii^ dorsal tin and by the laiger pectoral tins. 



In some features, espi^cially the position of the dorsal tin, it coincides 

 closely with the blue whale, />. sibhaldii, and might be thought to rep- 

 resent a young individual of that species, but the slender form, the 

 decidedly smaller pectoral tins, and somewhat shorter jaw militate 

 against that identitication. b'urthermore, Sibbald describes another 

 whale, which, as will be seen presently, is much more likely to have 

 been the blue whale, and is (piitci dilfereut from the present one. 



In the nuitter of color there is an apparent deviation from the com- 

 mon finback, since Sibbald describes his specimen as black on the back 



