2C> 



average breadth of 10 or 12 feet; thus enormoiisly increasing the capacity of 

 the chest at the will of the animal, either thereby depressing the locomotive 

 power, or increasing it when determined on a rapid journey. 



It has been demonstrated by the comparative anatomist, that the 

 Mysticetse, and, in all probability, the Rorquals, at an early period of uterine 

 development, have numerous cone-shaped teeth, unfilled, for their future 

 existence. These teeth, accordingly, never proceed beyond the first stage of 

 development, and the young cub at birth, is a sucker. The palate, soon after 

 birth, becomes covered with numerous transverse ridges, and a white horny 

 substance begins to spring from them, lengthening with the growth of the 

 animal, and corresponding to the development of the jaws, longest where the 

 arch of the upper jaw is greatest, and diminishing towards the throat and 

 snout, to mere hairs. Thus, the animal destroys myriads of minute mollusca, 

 and even microscopic marine insects, which, from their enormous increase, 

 might become the source of pestilence, had it not been for their wholesale 

 consumer. 



Notes by Dr. Hector. 



The following is a list, with dimensions, of those specimens of 

 Cetacians in the Colonial Museum, Wellington, which possess interest from 

 their being rarely represented in collections. 



1. Bal^ena Marginata (Gray). 



Cranium presented by Sir George Grey : obtained at the Island of 

 Kawau — See Plate 2b, Fig. 1, upper surface; Fig. 2, lower surface; Fig. 3, 

 side view ; Fig. 4, section showing Baleen in situ. 



Weight of cranium . . . . . .58 lbs. 



,, of lower jaw . . . . . 13 ,, 



Total weight ..... 



Measurements. 



Snout to occipital foramen . . . 



,, to fronto-nasal suture . . 



,, to centre of orbit .... 



Breadth at nostrils ..... 



,, mastoid processes 



Lower jaw — length ; convex surface 



,, greatest depth .... 



Baleen, 29 inches long, 3J inches wide. 



From the character afforded by the baleen of this specimen, I conclude 

 that it is the head of the Balwna Marginata (Gray), or West Australian 

 whale. 



Dr. Gray says*: — "This species is only known from three laminae of 

 baleen. It is much smaller and bi^oader, compared with its width at the 

 base, than, and is differently coloured from, the baleen of any of the other 

 species. 



" The baleen very long, slender (nearly eight times as long as wide at the 

 base), piire white, thin, with a rather broad black edge on the outer 

 straight side. 



" This is, undoubtedly a very distinct species. The baleen is of nearly 

 the same structure as that of the Greenland whale ; but we do not know 



71 lbs. 



ft. 



in. 



4 



9 



2 



10 



3 



10 



2 



5 



2 



7 



3 



11 







8 



See "Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British Museum," p. 90. 



