34 Lesser and Greater Rorquals. 



as having floundered on to the Leigh Marsh, 1806 ? and two 

 younger ones, 17 feet and 14 feet 8 inches, have respectively got 

 up river to Deptford (1789 ? and October, 1842).* 



If a Baleen whale is captured, say between 15 up to 30 feet, 

 with a white patch on the front of the flipper, there is every 

 chance of its turning out to be a Lesser Rorqual ; if beyond this 

 measurement, then as surely will it be one or other of the two 

 subjoined species. The Piked whale is a dire enemy to the cod 

 family, herring and dog-fish. 



(2.) The COMMON RORQUAL, or Razor-back (Balcenoptera 

 Physalus), when full-grown, attains double the dimensions of 

 the preceding, or more. Of Thames examples there have been 

 several recorded. In June, 1658, a 60 feet long fellow was 

 killed near Greenwich. Another, 46 feet in length, got ashore 

 on the Foulness Sands, circa 1826 ? ; some of its bones and 

 the lower jaws afterwards graced the grounds of Middletoii 

 Hall, Prittlewell. In 1849, an example, 58 feet long, was 

 secured near Grays. One, which must have been nigh 60 feet 

 when alive, was captured off Margate, 1850, and its skeleton 

 exhibited in that town for several years. In May, 1859, a male 

 Razor-back, spied near the Lower Hope, perished by sword 

 wounds inflicted by the Thames Haven coastguard. The huge 

 creature was towed to Gravesend, there made a show of for a 

 few days, then floated to the opposite shore, Grays Reach, 

 where the late Frank Buckland and Dr. Marie dissected it.f 

 It proved to be a full-grown male, 60 feet in length. The flesh 

 and offal were used as manure, and the skeleton became a 

 Rosherville Gardens attraction. The oil merchant who 

 purchased the animal itself estimated the entire body at 

 45 tons weight, and the rough flensed skin and blubber at 

 4 tons. A Greenland Right Whale of equal length would 

 weigh 70 tons, whereof 30 tons would be valuable oily blubber. 

 In the above case, this Common Rorqual turned out a windfall 



* The latest has been a female 17 ft. long, killed in the Blackwater 23rd Sept., 1900. 

 See Fitch, Zool., Nov., 1900. 



t Curiosities of Nat. Hist. 2nd Series, and Proc. Zool. Soc., 1865. 



