708 DR. H. BURMEISTKR ON A NEW FINNER WHALE, fjuiie 27, 



side. Here I observed the usual deep furrows from the inner edge 

 of the under jaw to the middle of the body ; each furrow was ^ inch 

 deep, and the flattened intervals 1 inch broad. 



The animal was a male, with two hinder longitudinal openings — 

 the former (somewhat in advance of the position of the dorsal fin) 

 being the sexual opening, and the hinder (under the same fin) the 

 anus. Oil the fore side of this second opening are the two small 

 mammarial fissures. 



Of the internal organs nothing was to be seen, these being already 

 destroyed by putrefaction and eaten by some millions of larvae of 

 Muscce, which resembled living waves consuming the whole organic 

 substance of the carcass. 



Even the whalebones of the mouth had fallen out, and no trace 

 of them was to be seen on the shore ; but one month later we had 

 the good fortune to find one side of them very well preserved in the 

 ground of the river some miles higher up. 



The fisherman told me that when he found the body the mouth 

 was already open, and without whalebones, the tongue being very 

 much swollen, like a balloon. This may have forced the whale- 

 bones from their position. 



Since this first inspection I have visited the body from time to 

 time to preserve the bones for the Museum. During the last week 

 all the bones were brought to the establishment, and have been ar- 

 ranged in such a manner that I can give a short description of the 

 whole skeleton. 



Beginning with the skull, I will not describe its general form, 

 which is very well shown in the figure of the skull of the European 

 Balanojdera rostrata in the ' Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' 

 Mammalia, pt. 2, and the description given by my friend Dr. J. E. 

 Gray in the same work. 



Comparing the skull of this new species with his figure, I find that 

 it is certainly much larger, but presenting the same relation between 

 the two principal portions, being from the tip to the nasal bones 

 4' 4" long, and from these to the occipital foramen 2' 8". But there 

 is some difference in the construction of this hinder portion, as the 

 fore end of the vertex reaches to the hinder end of the nasal bones, 

 covering entirely by its middle prolonged protuberance the small 

 frontal bone from above. Much smaller also in my skull is the 

 lateral part of the same bone, which forms the orbital cavity, and 

 somewhat stronger the hinder lateral process of the temporal bone 

 to which is attached the under jaw. 



These differences leave no doubt that the two animals belong to 

 different species. The transverse extent of the front part imme- 

 diately before the nasal bones is 2' i 0", that of the hinder angles of 

 the frontal bones behind the orbit is 4', and that of the vertex behind 

 across the occipital foramen 2' 6". The lower jaw is, including the 

 curve, 7' 5" long on the outside. 



The whale-bone, which was attached to the underside of the large 

 excavated maxillary bones, is of the usual form and construction. 

 We have the left side nearly complete, wanting only a small portion 



