COMMON RORQUAL. 399 



On our own coasts a Finner of forty-six feet in length, 

 and probably of this species, was taken in the Firth of 

 Forth in November, 1690, and described by Sir Robert 

 Sibbald as " Balana tripennis quee rostrum acutum habet." 

 Since that date many large Rorquals have occurred on all 

 parts of our coasts, from Shetland to Cornwall, and from 

 Western Ireland to Norfolk. Some of these may have 

 belonged to the species next to be described, but latterly 

 almost every specimen has been examined by competent 

 observers, and in many cases a part at least of the skeleton 

 has been preserved. Without attempting to give a full 

 list of captures, we will note some of those in which the 

 exact species has been best determined. 



In Scotland the Common Rorqual seems to occur 

 not unfrequently in the Orkney and Shetland Isles ; three 

 specimens taken in 1856 were fully described by Mr. 

 Heddle in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society ; these 

 were made the types of a distinct species named Physalus 

 duguidii by Dr. Gray, but their identity with B. musculus 

 is now generally recognized. On the mainland of 

 Scotland several examples have been recorded — of these 

 one taken in the Firth of Forth in October, ] 808, was 

 described by the late Dr. Neil. In England more than 

 a dozen examples have been recorded as having occurred 

 within the last fifty years. The skeleton of one taken 

 near The Needles in April, 184^, is exhibited at Black 

 Gang Chine in the Isle of Wight, and that of one found 

 floating dead in Plymouth Sound in 1831, is in the 

 British Museum. The bones of a Razor-back taken at 

 Margate in 1850, are preserved in the Museums of the 

 Royal College of Surgeons and of the University of Cam- 

 bridge — the former collection also contains a specimen 

 obtained at Yarmouth in 1857, and the latter a male 

 stranded in Pevensey Bay in 1865. Two other complete 



