RUDOLPHl'S RORQUAL 101 



RUDOLPH I'S EOEQUAL. 



BAL^NOPTERA BOEEALIS Less. 



In September 1872 a whale, which Sir William Turner has 

 since shown to have been an example of Eudol phi's Eorqtial, 

 was captured at Snab, Kinneil, about a mile from Bo'ness, on 

 the Firth of Forth, by some men who, seeing it floundering in 

 shallow water, proceeded to the spot, and, having fastened a 

 rope round its tail, hauled it nearer the shore, and then 

 killed it. The " Scotsman " of 26th September contained a 

 notice of the occurrence. The length of the animal from the 

 tip of the beak to the end of the tail was about 37 feet, 

 and its girth about 15 feet. The carcase, after being stripped 

 of the blubber, was secured by Professor Turner, who, in 

 order to thoroughly clean the bones and free them from the 

 oil they contained, had them buried in the Botanic Garden 

 in a mixture of earth and leaves, in which they were allowed 

 to lie till the summer of 1881. The skeleton was then 

 prepared for the Anatomical Museum of the University, 

 where it is now preserved. Although captured in 1872, it 

 was not till the skeleton had been carefully examined ten 

 years later that Professor Turner became satisfied " that the 

 animal was the Cetacean named by zoologists Balcenoptera, 

 borealis or laticeps " see his paper read to the Eoyal Society 

 of Edinburgh, 20th February 1882, and printed in the 

 "Journal of Anatomy and Physiology," voL xvi., p. 471, 

 in which he minutely describes the specimen. This is the 

 first properly authenticated example of the species taken 

 on the British coasts, and is an addition to Alston's list 

 of Scottish Mammalia. 



