KG LECTURE IV. 



nsean Balsenje is the B. rostrata, rostrated or 

 taper-snouted Whale. It seldom reaches to the 

 length of twenty feet, and is of an elegant shape, 

 its colour is blueish-black above, and white be- 

 neath, and the skin, from the throat to the middle 

 of the body beneath, is marked in a longitudinal 

 direction by very numerous, deep furrows, the in- 

 sides of which are of a red colour: this furrowed 

 structure of the skin beneath the fore-parts of the 

 body, appears to be a wonderful institution of 

 Nature for enabling the animal to increase at 

 pleasure its diameter, and render itself specifically 

 lighter ; by inflating a vast cavity situated beneath 

 the breast and communicating with the throat : 

 during this action the furrowed skin becomes ex- 

 tended laterally, and the insides of the furrows 

 being thus laid open, give the appearance of so 

 many beautiful red stripes, along the sides and be- 

 neath the body. This curious structure, which, 

 perhaps, was first distinctly described by the late 

 Mr. Hunter, is not peculiar to the present species, 

 but exists in some others. The Rostrated Whale 

 is a native of the Northern seas, and has occasion- 

 ally been taken on our own coasts. 



The genus PHYSETER, containing what are 



