105 



The skin, what was left of it, was glabrous and showed no hairs. I did 

 not even find any hairs at the front part of the head, whereas in other species 

 of Balaenoptcra the occurrence of a few sporadic bristles is mentioned. It is 

 however not impossible that these hairs, like the whalebeards had been already 

 removed by the native people. 



Among the relatively small number of baleenblades that could be collected, 

 there are six not of the largest, still connected together at the basal end. This 

 group of six laminae, not aggregating 4 c.M. in thickness gives some idea of 

 the very large number of beards that must have hung down to the right 

 and left from the outer rim of the palate which is over 4I/2 ^- long. In 

 connection with this it is clear that the number of 400 baleenplates to each 

 half of the upper- maxillary, which is occasionally mentioned as belonging 

 to the big Balaenopfera- species, can be easily reached. 



These triangular horny plates, the largest of which, inclusive of the 

 fringe-like border, is not more than 105 c.M. long, are all black, and therefore 

 agree in this respect with those of Balaenopfera musculus L. 



The pectoral flipper measured from the ball-and-socket joint of the hu- 

 merus-bone was 332 c.M. long, i.e. slightly less than Yq of the entire length 

 of the body; it must be taken into consideration that a small part of the 

 damaged distal end of the breast-flipper was missing. 



The dorsal fin, embedded in the sand, was altogether soft and fatty, 

 and was approximately situated on the last quarter of the body. The small 

 dimensions of the back-fin yield some further resemblance with Balaenopfera 

 musculus L. 



The immense caudal flipper was 450 c.M. broad, consisting as regards 

 the extremities and margins of a strong stiff connective tissue, and was 

 marked by a convex roundness in front, the back-rim being the shape of an 

 accolade or brace. 



The Skeleton. 



The bone was generally speaking soft and spongy. It was permeated 

 by a great quantity of fat and, in spite of its being very light owing to its 

 porous structure, the entire skeleton still weighed 6390 K.G. and that after 

 42 days transport, during which time it was frequently exposed to the fierce 

 sunrays. 



In the caudal vertebrae and a large part of the lumbar vertebrae the 



