702. MR. W. H. FLOWER ON PHYSALUS ANTIQUORUM. [Nov. 28, 
ring. These were evidently hair-follicles, from which the hairs had 
fallen out in consequence of the decomposition of the body ; fortu- 
nately one hair still remained in situ ; it was white, straight and stiff, 
about }inch long. It was so loosely attached that by the time I had 
brought home the piece of skin (now a preparation in the Museum 
of the Royal College of Surgeons) it was no longer to be seen. 
Whether any similar follicles existed on the outside of the upper lip 
I cannot say, as it was nearly buried in the shingle*; the same 
reason prevented me getting a view of the blowholes. The part of 
the skin in which the external auditory meatus should have been 
situated on the side turned uppermost was, unfortunately, completely 
destroyed by one or more of the before-mentioned causes. 
As to the colour, the remaining patches of cuticle on the upper 
surface of the body and the outer side of the pectoral fin were of a 
blue black ; those on the whole under surface, from the chin to the 
tail, including the under surface of the fin, were white. A consider- 
able portion of the large under lip was black. The cuticle remained 
attached to the bottom and sides of the furrows on the throat and 
abdomen, and, being in the greater part black, gave a very conspicu- 
ous appearance to the furrows when opened out, contrasting strongly 
with the white raised intervals. For a space of about 3 feet on each 
side of the middle line, on the throat, chest, and anterior half of the 
abdomen, the bottom and sides of the furrows were pink; on both 
sides of this and all across the posterior part of the furrows they were 
black. The demarcation between the two colours was very distinct ; 
but where the pink epidermis approached the black, it was spotted 
or mottled with the latter colour. 
A part to which the attention is sure to be soon directed in ex- 
amining a Whalebone-Whale is the roof of the mouth; but the 
structure and mode of growth of the baleen have been so fully de- 
scribed by Hunter, Ravin, Rosenthal, and, finally, Eschricht and 
Reinhardt, that few further observations are necessary. The central 
portion of the palate, covered by a pale-coloured mucous membrane, 
formed a high angular ridge, like the roof of a house, posteriorly ; 
but this gradually subsided anteriorly, until it became quite flat and 
very narrow (not more than 6 inches across). It expanded again in 
front to a width of 8 inches, and terminated by an almost abruptly 
truncated end. Around this the two sets of baleen met each other in 
the middle line, separating the palate by an interval of 13 inch from 
the front of the hard and tense upper lip+. The distance from the 
front edge of the conjoined sets of baleen to the tip of the snout was 
5 inches. The space was mostly covered by a rayed indentation, 
looking very like an old cicatrix ; but as it was situated exactly in the 
middle line and tolerably symmetrical, it was probably natural. 
The chief baleen blades were 23 inches long on their outer, some- 
* Tn Schlegel’s figure above referred to, hairs are represented on the ends of 
both upper and under jaws. 
t+ The two sets of baleen appear to meet in the middle line in front in all tie 
Rorquals; but in the Greenland Right Whale (Balena mysticetus) they are, ac- 
cording to Eschricht and Reinhardt, separated by a considerable interval. 
