338 Zoological Collections. 



Taken near the entrance of Delaware bay, by the crew of a smack, after 

 a long and hazardous encounter. Its weight was supposed to be between 

 four and five tons. 



Dimensions- — Length from the fore margin of the head to the root of 

 the tail 10 feet 9 inches. The breadth from one extremity of one pectoral 

 fin to the other, measuring along the line of the belly, 16 feet ; when 

 measured across the convexity of the back 18 feet. The mouth nearly 

 terminal, and not situated on the under side. Its breadth from corner to 

 corner 2 feet 9 inches. There were two upper lips, both destitute of teeth. 

 There was a single lower lip, beset with small rough processes, resembling 

 those of a rasp, instead of teeth. There was in this huge mouth no ap- 

 pearance of a tongue. 



Branchial openings on each side beneath, Jive, and with the gill covers 

 of different lengths, from 12 to 24 inches, and varying in breadth from 

 7 to 10- The greatest breadth of the scull, or osseous part of the head, 5 feet. 

 Distance between the eyes 4 feet 2 inches ; between the nostrils 2 feet 

 3J inches ; between the eye and ear 1 1 inches ; between the eye and nos- 

 tril 1 foot 1 inch ; between the corner of the mouth and eye 1 foot 

 1| inches. The rostral fins were 2 feet 6 inches long, 12 inches deep, and 

 24 inches thick in the middle, whence it tapered toward the edges, which 

 were fringed before with a radiated margin. Each contains 27 parallel 

 cartilaginous rows. The natural flexibility and elasticity of these were 

 greatly increased by articulations alternating with each other through 

 every gristle and every part of the structure- Motion was communicated 

 to these cartilages with admirable effect, by means of muscles attached to 

 them, and lying under the common integuments which enveloped them. 

 The fin or wing so constituted could, from its flexibility, bend in all di- 

 rections, and be made in many respects to perform the function. The 

 phalanges of this fin were attached by strong ligaments to the upper jaw 

 and to the point of articulation with the lower jaw- These two organs, 

 which we may suppose rendered essential services to the animal, were 5 

 feet 9 inches apart, and could almost be made to meet in front, or be bent 

 into the mouth. There was no proper bone in the skeleton, except in 

 one spot a hump or knob, about the size of a hen's egg, at the root of the 

 tail behind the dorsal fin. The most remarkable parts of its organiza- 

 tion were the pectoral fins, or rather wings. 



There was a scapula, humerus, ulna, carpus, and an uncommon num- 

 ber of phalanges of the before mentioned cartilaginous structure. All these 

 limbs or joints were articulated with each other; but the articulations, 

 like those of the human sternum, had very little motion- This series of 

 stifFjoints was fixed in the flesh, and proceeded somewhat obliquely back- 

 ward. From this articulated but fixed extremity, proceeded obliquely back- 

 ward seventy-seven rows of cartilage of different lengths, but of almost same 

 parallelism, and not at all radiated. They were all articulated, and the 

 joints were very numerous. In the longest rew they amounted to twenty- 

 seven, and in the shorter ones proportionally fewer ; the cartilages, with their 

 articulations, were so alternated and diversified, that they, with the yield- 



