Occurrence of the Bottle- Nosed or Bccilcecl Whale. 33 



When placed on its belly at full length, it measured in a 

 straight line 20 feet 6 inches from the tip of the lower jaw to 

 the mid-point of the tail ; but when the tape-line followed 

 the curvature of the back it was 22 feet 4 inches long. The 

 beak was attenuated, and only 13 inches long, and the lower 

 jaw projected scarcely one inch beyond the tip of the beak. 

 The mouth slit was 21 J inches long, and no mandibular 

 teeth were seen projecting through the gum. At the base of 

 the beak the head ascended rapidly and almost vertically, 

 though with a slight convexity forward. It presented a 

 boss-like protuberance looking directly to the front, and 

 measuring from the base of the beak 19 inches high by 13 

 inches wide. It gave to the front of the head a highly 

 characteristic appearance. Behind this boss the outline of 

 the head showed a slight depression; behind which, again, 

 the outline of the back ascended by a gentle curve to the 

 highest point of the back, which in a vertical line was 3 feet 

 11 inches above the platform on which the whale rested. 

 The highest point of the head in a vertical line was only 

 2 feet 10 inches from the platform. From the highest point 

 of the back, which was about midway between the root of the 

 pectoral fin and the inferior border of the base of the dorsal 

 fin — being 3 feet 9 inches from the latter — the outline of the 

 back sloped gently backwards and downwards to the dorsal 

 fin. Behind the dorsal fin the outline of the back descended 

 very rapidly to the tail, and along this rapid descent the 

 summit of the back was keeled, and the keel was prolonged 

 for a short distance on to the dorsum of the tail. The sides 

 of the body between the plane of the dorsal fin and the tail 

 were flattened, receded from before backwards, and had a 

 very slight convexity from above downwards. In front of 

 the dorsal fin the body was much more bulky, and with 

 convex sides. A depression running antero-posteriorly marked 

 the lower border of the convexity, due to the great mass of 

 muscles of the back. The widest part of the head was 

 between the two eyes, and the greatest width of the body 

 only slightly exceeded the widest part of the head. 



The dorsal fin was behind the middle of the back ; it had 

 a convex anterior border and a falciform posterior border. 

 VOL, IX, . c 



