16 



' APPENDIX TO THOMPSON'S VERMONT. 



FOSSIL WHALE. 



BONES DESCKIBED. 



vertebrte were taken out, and, together 

 Avith the sternum, fragments of the head, 

 ribs, &c., were forwarded to Burlington, 

 and, by the kindness of Messrs. Jackson & 

 Boardman, engineers on the railroad, were 

 placed in my hands. 



By a careful examination of thjese bones, 

 I found that they belonged to some animal, 

 with whose skeleton I was not acquainted, 

 and that there were wanting, in order to 

 complete the skeleton, the greater part of 

 the head, all of the teeth, a considerable 

 number of vertebra and ribs, and the bones 

 of the limbs. I was at first in some doubt, 

 whether the animal belonged to the whale 

 family or to the saurian; but this doubt 

 was soon removed, by a careful examination 

 of the caudal vertebrfe. These were found 

 to have their articulating surfaces convex, 

 and rounded in such a manner as to allow 

 of a very extensive vertical motion of the 

 tail, but of a very limited lateral motion. 

 This arrangement plainly indicated that 

 the movements of the animal in the water, 

 were effected by means of a horizontal 

 caudnl fin, and that it, therefore, belonged 

 to the family of Cctacea, or ^Vhales. 



The manner i:i which these caudal ver- 

 tebra3 move upon each other may be seen in 

 the cut, where Fig. 1 represents the 13th, 

 14th and 15th vertebraj of the tail, — a, as 

 they appear viewed from above — b, as seen 

 laterally*. 



After having carefully removed from the 

 bones, I had received, the adhesive clay, in 

 order to prevent their crumbling by expo- 

 sui'e to the air, and secure their preserva- 

 tion, I saturated them with a thin solution 

 of animal glue, and then proceeded to 

 Charlotte in order to recover, if possible, 

 the bones, which were missing. By spend- 

 ing several days in the search, I succeeded 

 in obtaining most of the anterior portion of 

 the head, nine of the teeth, and thirteen 

 additional vertebras, together with the bones 

 of one forearm, several chevron nones, and 

 portions of i-ibs. From the portions of the 

 head, which I obtained, and the fragments 

 previously received, I was able to recon- 

 struct so much of the upper and anterior 

 portion of the head, as to exhibit distinctly 

 its spiracles, or blow-holes, showing un- 

 equivocally that it belonged to the Whale 

 family. My next object was to ascertain, 

 if possible, whether it v.-as a living, or an 

 extinct, species of this family. Being 

 without specimens for compai-ison, my only 

 reliance for aid was Cuvier's great work on 

 Fossil Bones. Bj a comparison of the 

 Fossil Whale with the descriptions and 



* The fractions after the number of the figure, 

 when introduced in the accompanying cuts, denote 

 the linear proportion of the cut to the olyect, which 

 it represents. 



figures in that work, it was found to re- 

 semble the living rather than the extinct 

 types, and that the osteology of the head 

 was very like that of the Beluga leucas,ov 

 small northern White Whale.* 



Having collected togetlier all the bones 

 and fragments of the Fossil, within my 

 reach, I proceeded with them to Cambridge, 

 Mass. , and submitted them to the inspection 

 of Prof Agassiz, who confirmed the opinion 

 I had formed respecting them, and, for two 

 days, very kindly lent me his aid, and his 

 great skill and knowledge of the subject, in 

 their collocation and arrangement. Hav- 

 ing, all together, more than four-fifths of 

 the bones of the skeleton, he was able, from 

 the number, position and size of these, to 

 determine the number, position and size of 

 those, which were missing, and thus to de- 

 termine the size and form of the whole 

 animal. 



The head of the skeleton, as already re- 

 marked, was broken into a great number of 

 pieces, and only a portion of the fragments 

 recovered; but enough to determine its 

 entire length and general form. Fig. '2 

 represents the head, as reconstructed out of 

 the fragments, viewed from above; and fig. 

 3, a side view, with the lower jaw dropped 

 a little below its true place. The entire 

 length of the head is 21.2 inches. The 

 maxillary bone on the left side is mostly 

 wanting, but on the right side, it is entire, 

 so far as to embrace the alveolar margin, 

 which is 6.8-5 inches in length, and perfo- 

 rated for 8 teeth. The corresponding alve- 

 olar margin of the lower jaw measures 5.5 

 inches, and is perforated for 7 teeth. Hence 

 it appears that there were 16 teeth in the 

 upper jaw and 14 in the lower, making 30 

 in the whole. 



The teeth are all of one kind, being coni- 

 cal, with flat or rounded crowns, much 

 worn, but, in their substance, very dense 

 and firm. They are from one to two inches 

 in length, with a diameter of half an inch. 

 Fig. 4 represents their different forms and 

 sizes. Only nine of the teeth were recov- 

 ered, and none of those were in their places 

 when found; but, that they were in their 

 places, up to the time the bones were first 

 discovered, is evident, from the fact, that, 

 while every other ca\ ity in the bones was 

 filled with clay, the alveoli were all empty. 



Of the vertebrie, 41 were secured, of 

 which four were cervical, eleven dorsal, 

 ten lumbar, and sixteen caudal. Three 

 cervical vertebr;^, the first, fifth and sixth, 

 are evidently missing, which, with the four 

 obtained, make seven, the usual number. 

 These vertebrae are all free, not being sol- 

 dered together, as in the common dolphin, 



* Cuvier's Osse. Foss., Vol. V, pas^e 299 and Plate 

 XXII, fig. 5 and 6,— Paris edition, 1825. 



