154 Prof. M'Intosh's Notes from the 



stated to be over 20 feet in length (though the measurements 

 show that it was only 20), the dead carcass of which floated 

 shorewards on the 25th December, 1876. It was secured 

 for the University by Prof. Pettigrew, and buried in a field 

 on the estate of Den bras, then in the hands of Dr. Watson 

 Wemj'ss. It apparently had been forgotten, for word came 

 to the Museum in 1882 that its bones were being sold by 

 the farm-servants, and immediate steps were then taken to 

 secure the remainder, which consisted of the cranium, half 

 the mandible, a scapula, and a few ribs and vertebrae. 



The other example, an old female, came on shore alive in 

 March 1882, and its skeleton, excellently prepared by Mr. 

 John Herd Bruce, formerly a medical student in Edinburgh, 

 was lately secured for the University Museum. So far as 

 was observed, the animal seemed to be feeble from old age, 

 had nothing in its stomach, quietly allowed a rope to be 

 hitched round its tail in front of the flukes, and without a 

 struggle it was dragged by a boat round to the pier, where, 

 while it was still alive, an intruder cut through the blubber, 

 causing free bleeding, so that it died in a short time. 



The adult male was measured in 1876 by Mr. William Robb, 

 and a rough sketch of it was also made. Its length was 20 ft., 

 or from the mouth along the curve of the under surface 

 21 ft. 10 in. From the mouth to the vent 13 ft. ; length of 

 the genital and vent-region 1 ft. 9 in. ; and behind to the 

 tail 7 ft. 1 in. The length along the front curve of the 

 dorsal fin was 2 ft. 9 in. and the flipper was 2 ft. 9 in. long. 

 a measurement which shows that the dorsal tin was not so 

 high as those observed in former years on the western 

 shores, or as described by Reinhardtand other Scandinavian 

 writers. The breadth of the base of the flipper was 22 inches ; 

 the breadth of the base of the dorsal fin 24 inches ; and the 

 breadth at the base of the tail 21 \ inches. The breadth 

 from the mid-cleft of the tail to the outer edge of the 

 fluke was 2 ft. 7 in., making the total breadth of the tail 

 5 ft. 2 in. Length from the tip of the snout to the 

 nostril or " blower" 2 ft. 8 in., from the snout to the front 

 edge of the dorsal fin 8 ft. 3 in. ; whilst the girth from the 

 dorsal to the middle of the abdomen was 6 ft., giving a 

 total girth of about 12 ft. 



The skull of this male has the measurements indicated in 

 the following table, and it is evidently that of a powerful 

 adult: — 



