1864. | DR. J. E. GRAY ON BRITISH CETACEA. 219 
have been found dead, floating in the sea, at Plymouth on the 2nd 
of October 1831, and to have been 102 feet long and 75 in circum- 
ference. The cervical vertebree are all free and separate; the second 
with a broad lateral expansion, pierced at the base ; the third, fourth, 
fifth, and sixth with rings, the ring of the third being the broadest ; 
the seventh with only a superior lateral process, without a small tu- 
bercular rudiment of a lower process; the lateral processes of the 
second and third cervical bent backwards, of the fourth straight, 
and of the fifth and sixth bent forwards. The hinder vertebre large 
and heavy. Caudal vertebrze without chevrons 7, with chevrons 10, 
lumbar 17, dorsal 13, and cervical 7=54. The sternum is sinuous; 
but the front edge is truncated, on a line with the widest part, with- 
out the subtrifoliate front edge; it is 18 inches wide and 142 inches 
long. 
The skeleton at Black Gang Chine is said to be 75 feet long. 
Ribs 14/14. Vertebree: caudal 18, lumbar 15, dorsal 14, cervical 7 
=54. Baleen blue-grey, white-streaked on the narrow inner side. 
The second cervical vertebra with a broad lateral expansion, pierced 
with an oblong hole; the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical with 
ring-like lateral expansions. 
In the skeleton from Plymouth, prepared by Mr. Gerrard, now in 
the Alexandra Park, the lateral processes of the second cervical are 
large, produced, obliquely truncated, with a moderate-sized oblong 
perforation, not half the length of the process, on a line with it, and 
not more than one-third the length of the lower edge ; of the third, 
fourth, and fifth vertebrze ring-like, not quite so long as those of the 
second vertebra, slender, thin, and weak; the processes of the fifth 
vertebra are the thickest and strongest, especially below; the sixth 
has upper processes only, which are very thin and slight; in the 
seventh they are like the sixth, but much thicker and larger, and 
bent back so that the two processes are close together at the upper 
edge: the sixth vertebra has small short tubercles in the place of 
the lower lateral process; none are present in the seventh vertebra. 
The sternal bone is subtrifoliate, much broader than high, with an 
elongated strap-like process below, and without any central perfora- 
tion. The bodies of the second and third cervical vertebre are ob- 
long transverse, much broader than high. 
The skeleton at Rosherville is said to be 70 feet long, and was 
taken in the Hope Reach in 1858 or 1859. The lateral process of 
the second cervical is large, elongate, produced, obliquely truncated 
at the upper edge; the perforation is moderate, not half the length 
of the process, on a line with the lower edge of the opening. The 
lateral processes of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical vertebrze 
are narrow, ring-like, thin, with a large central cavity; the seventh, 
like the dorsal, has only an upper lateral process. Lower jaw 13 feet ; 
paddle 14 feet. 
The young male, 42 feet long, caught near the mouth of the Somme, 
on the coast of France, described and figured by Ravin, Ann. Sci. . 
Nat. x. 266, t. 11, xv. 337, t. 9, under the name of Balenoptera 
rostrata, from the form of the skull, seems to be a species of the 
