178 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.—1912, 
snout, and are about 14 inch apart. They consist of a pair of shallow 
oval depressions (longest ones about } inch and 1} inch). At the hinder 
end of each of these depressions and partly closed by a small flap-like 
projection is a short canal running backwards and slightly upwards. 
These canals are from 3 inch to 1 inch in length in B. musculus when 
present, but in some cases, e.g., in Nos. 16 and 49, Table I., the canals 
were absent, and only the depressions remained. In B. sibbaldii the 
canals seem to have disappeared entirely, and in all the specimens 
examined only the depressions remained, situated in a similar position 
to those in B. musculus. 
The original function of Jacobson’s Organ was probably to bring 
the food taken into the mouth under the direct control of the olfactory 
nerve. This function has apparently been entirely lost in the whales, 
and the lower end of Stenson’s duct is all that remains, now entirely 
cut off from the main nasal organ. The fact that even these ducis 
may be absent points to the conclusion that this last vestige is in the 
process of extinction, 
XII. Conrents or THE STOMACH. 
1. Balenopiera musculus (L.).—The stomachs of the first three 
whales examined (Nos. 8, 9, 10, Table I.) contained large numbers of 
small fish. The length of the largest of these fish was about 5 inches. 
From the somewhat damaged specimens taken these fish appear to be 
small herrings. Whale No. 48, Table I., was said to be a ‘ Herring 
Whale,’ but there was very little food in the stomach. The little there 
was appeared to be the remains of sinall fish. 
In all other whales of this species the pharynx and stomach were full 
of a small red crustacean which appears to be Meganyctiphanes norve- 
gica (M. Sars). This small crustacean forms the ‘ krill ’ of the whalers. 
In the stomach the crustacea are reduced to a terracotta-coloured fluid, 
in which the eyes float as bluish spots. The feces consist of a semi- 
solid terracotta mass. 
2. Balenoptera sibbaldii (Gray).—In all cases these whales appear 
to have fed on the ‘ krill,’ nothing else in the way of food ever being 
found in their stomachs. 
XITI. Tue Eve. 
The eye is very similar in B. musculus and in B. sibbaldii. The 
length of the eye-opening in situ is from 4 to 5 inches, and vertical 
width 14 inch to 2 inches in the dead animal. When alive the vertical 
width of the opening is probably about 3 inches. The eyeball forms a 
globe of about 5 inches to 5} inches diameter. The long axis of the 
iris is from 1% inch to 2 inches, and that of the pupil from 2 inch to 
14 inch. 
At the anterior commissure of the eyelids there is a ridge with a 
short groove above and below, and there are one or two short grooves at 
the posterior commissure of the eyelids. There are also both above 
and below the eye one or two furrows which vary slightly in number 
and position. The eyelids do not appear to be very mobile. The iris 
is brown, with a bluish-white, narrow, irregular border. 
