162 FOSSIL WHALE. 



regard the difference as accidental, perhaps from weathering, and regard the possession 

 of characteristic fossils as the principal distinction. " The marine brown clay is most 

 extensively distributed through Addison County, most of which, below the level of 300 

 feet above Lake Champlain, is covered with it. It lies directly on the drift, over blue 

 clay, or on the lower silurian rocks. We have not yet found it above or beneath the 

 pleistocene sands, but it appears to pass into them laterally." Its fossils are, Beluga Vcr- 

 montana Thomp., the fossil grampus, " a few remains of seals and fishes," several shells 

 such as Sanguinolaria fusca, Saxicava rugosa, Mya arenaria, and My til us edulis, and a 

 sponge. 



BELUGA VERMONTANA. THOMPSON. 



We deem it advisable to present tlie account of this cetacean, which was given by Professor Thompson 

 in his Appendix to the History of Vermont : 



" As many rare fossils are rendered nearly valueless by the want of an accurate knowledge of their local- 

 ities, and of the circumstances in which they were found, I have deemed the above-mentioned fossil, which 

 is undoubtedly the most interesting of the organic remains yet found in Vermont, of sufficient importance 

 to justify a minute history of its discovery and position. The discovery of this fossil took place in August, 

 1849. While widening an excavation for the Kutland and Burlington Railway, in the' township of Char- 

 lotte, the workmen struck upon a quantity of bones, which were embedded in the clay at the depth of 

 about eight feet below the natural surface of the ground. Some of the Irishmen remarked that they were 

 the bones of a dead horse buried there ; but little notice, however, was taken of them, till the overseer 

 observed something peculiar in the form of several of the bones, and was thereby induced to examine them 

 more carefully. It was soon found that the bones discovered belonged to the anterior portion of the skele- 

 ton of some unknown animal, the head of which had already been broken into fragments by the workmen, 

 and many of the fragments carried away with the earth which had been removed. On carefully removing 

 more of the clay, a number of vertebras were found, extending in a line obliquely into the bank, and appar- 

 ently arranged in the order in which they existed in the living animal. These vertebras were taken out, 

 and, together with the sternum, fragments of the head, ribs, etc., were forwarded to Burlington, and, by 

 the kindness of Messrs. Jackson and Boardman, engineers on the railroad, were placed in my hands. 



" By a careful examination of these bones, I found that they belonged to some animal with whose skele- 

 ton 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 vertebras 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 vertebras. 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 caudal fin, and that it therefore belonged 

 to the order of Cetacea, or Whales. 



" After having carefully removed from the bones I had received the adhesive clay, in order to prevent 

 their crumbling by exposure to the air, and secure their preservation, 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 miss- 

 ing. By spending 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 bones, and portions of ribs. From the portions of the head which I obtained, and the fragments 

 previously received, I was able to re-construct so much of the upper and anterior portion of the head, as to 

 exhibit distinctly its spiracles, or blow-holes, showing unequivocally that it belonged to the whale family. 

 My next object was to ascertain whether it was a living, or an extinct, species of this family. Being with- 

 out specimens for comparison, my only reliance for aid was Cuvier's great work on Fossil Bones. By a 



