23 



2. Rorqualus major, Hump-back. 



In the autumn of 1831, a whale of unusual dimensions was observed 

 moving about in the Firth of Forth, and was ultimately stranded near North 

 Berwick, within about twenty-five miles of Edinburgh. I was requested by 

 my brother, Professor Knox, to visit the locality, and endeavour to purchase 

 the animal. This I accomplished, after much trouble, and no small cost ; the 

 comparative anatomy was ascertained ; the most interesting parts, such as 

 sections of the baleen matrix, the arch of the aorta, plaster casts of the brain, 

 etc., together with the baleen in sitA, were exhibited in the Royal Institution 

 for some time, and were ultimately handed over to the Town Council of 

 Edinburgh. As the skeleton occupied a space of one hundred and twenty feet 

 by forty-five, it was expensive even to afford it house room, and therefore it 

 was put up at the Zoological Gardens. 



As an assistance to collectors in New Zealand, I am able to give a careful 

 drawing of the skeleton of this whale. (Plate 2a, Fig. 1.) 



The specimen exhibited the characteristic plica? or folds of the integuments 

 on the abdominal surface. Immediately above the generative organ (male) 

 there was the hunch or hump, so diminutive in size, as to require to be looked 

 for. It is worthy of remark that a similar hump is observed on the Cachalot, 

 and that the Rorqual and Cachalot should equal each other in size, in habits, 

 and even in the oil, that of the Hunch-back Rorqual being quite equal to 

 sperm, and indeed containing the spermaceti about the head in considerable 

 quantities. The action of both the Rorqual and Cachalot, upon being attacked, 

 have also a stoong resemblance ; they retaliate, or as the practical whaler 

 expresses it, " run upon the harpoon or lance," and consequently endanger 

 the boat and crew. 



The following measurements were made of the fresh specimen : — 

 Snout to tip of tail ..... 100 feet 



Greatest circumference . . . . 36 ,, 



The following measurements were made of the skeleton : — 



Snout to occipital foramen . . . . 22 feet 



Length of spinal column . . . . 67 „ 



Total length of skeleton . 89 



Length of lower jaw, external surface . . 24 



VERTEBRA. 



Cervical (all jointed) ...... 7 



Dorsal ........ 15 



Lumbar and Caudal . . . . . . 43 



Total number of vertebrae . .65 



RIBS. 



Sternal ........ 3 



A. Sternal 12 



The sixth, the longest. 



Pairs . . .15 



Baleen, the longest blade .... 5 feet 



Total weight of the skeleton . . . .28 tons 



ascertained by the tollage charged on passing from North Berwick to 



Edinburgh. 



