FOSSIL WHALE. 165 



" A Fossil Whale, found in Charlotte, Vt., in August, 1849, during the excavation for 

 the Rutland and Burlington Railroad. It was found in blue clay, lying from ten to four- 

 teen feet below the surface, the head almost four feet higher than the tail. The Irishmen 

 who discovered it, supposing it to be the bones of a horse, wantonly broke many of them, 

 and particularly the head. Enough of the head, however, was saved to give the blow- 

 holes, which are at once characteristic of the whale family. Of the thirty teeth belonging 

 to the whale, only nine were found. These, by their worn surfaces, indicate that the 

 animal was not a young one, but an adult. Of the fifty-two vertebras eleven are missing, 

 which Mr. Hitchcock had endeavored to supply by others, carved out of pine wood. 

 The caudal vertebra; are flattened horizontally, which is another important characteristic 

 of the whale family. The chevron bones, too, are nearly all present. The ribs are badly 

 broken ; of the twenty-six, the normal number, but five were found in a perfect state. 

 A few of the others have been wired together, and are attached to the skeleton. The 

 sternum is very remarkable for its size and excellent preservation. It is fifteen inches 

 in its largest diameter, and shows the indentations for the attachments of the ribs as per- 

 fectly as if it were a bone of an existing instead of a fossil whale. The anterior extrem- 

 ities, or fins, are also quite imperfect. The larger portion of the left fin, extending as far 

 down as the bones of the carpus or wrist, were preserved. They well show the great 

 strength which is so necessary in the propulsion of the animal through the water. 



"The length of the animal, when alive, including the intervertebral substance not here 

 represented, was about fourteen feet. 



"This Vermont whale is, without doubt, of the genus Beluga; and the specific name, 

 Vermontana, was given by the late Prof. Z. Thompson, of Burlington, Vermont, who, 

 with much labor and pains, saved these relics from destruction, and to whom, in fact, 

 we are indebted for many of the bones, since he himself removed many of them from 

 the railroad embankment and excavation." 



We have never seen any of the remains' of seals and fishes found in those days. Prof. 

 Thompson states in the Appendix to the Natural History of Vermont, that such remains 

 have been found, without specifying any particulars. 



Sanguinolaria fusca (Fig. 72) is found abundantly in various localities on or within a few miles of the 

 lake shore, and may be seen wherever water has washed away the banks, wells are dug, excavations made 

 for roads and railroads, or where the land has been turned up for cultivation. "As this is now found in 

 the bays of the New England coast, more abundantly than any other species of bivalve shells, so it is the 

 most common of the fossils of this brown clay. It is very frequently found with the "valves together, 

 indicating that such individuals lived at or near the spot where they are found. The Mya arenaria (Fig. 73) 

 occurs at several places, although it was by no means so generally diffused as the Sanguinolaria fusca ; 

 but thus far we have found it only in a mixture of gravel and blue clay, more or less broken, and of less 

 size than is common with the recent shells. It is the largest of the fossil shells ; and at some localities the 

 number of individuals is exceedingly numerous." 



FlG ' 72 ' Fm.73. 



Fio. 74. 



Sanguinolaria fusca. Mya arenaria. Saxicava rugosa 



