3. The lafet state, or the perfectly " adult," in which all the ver- 

 tehral epiphyses are anchylosed. Such adiilt skeletons of Whales are 

 rarely seen, but those of Hyperodon and other DelphinidsB are not 

 uncommon in collections. 



Family 1. BALiENID^ffi. 



Dorsal fin none. Belly smooth, without any longitudinal folds. 

 Baleen elongate, slender. Vertebrae of neck anchylosed. Pectoral fin - 

 broad, truncated at the end ; fingers 5, short ; phalanges 3.4.4.4.1. 

 Tympanic bone rhombic. Eostrum narrow, linear, rounded; the 

 maxilla narrow, linear, rounded. Lower jaw with only a rudi- 

 mentary coronoid. Scapula high, narrow, nearly as high as wide, 

 with a distinct coracoid process. The second cervical vertebra (or 

 axis) with a small, short, broad lateral process without any basal 

 perforation (except in Palceocetus?). The lateral processes of the 

 cervical vertebras anchylosed ; the lower processes of the second and 

 third are well developed, the others are rudimentary and laminar. 

 The baleen or whalebone is narrow, elongate, very gradually taper- 

 ing, fringed on the inner edge with numerous fine, soft, fiexible 

 fibres of a nearly uniform length, consisting internally of a thin 

 layer formed of several series of fibres, covered on each side by a 

 thick coat of enamel. 



Balsenidae, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864. 



BalSena, Oraj/, Cat. Cetac. 9 ; JRafin. Anal. Nat. 61, 1815 ; Lacip^de. 



Wallflsche (BaJtsena), Schlegel, Ahhandl. 36. 



Leiobatena, Esch. Wallth. 7, 1849. . . 



Balsena, sp., Idnn. ; IlUger, Prodr. 142, 1811. 



Baloena, Lesson, N. Tab. S^g. Anim. 202. 



Balsena, § a, Fischer, Syn. Mamm. 521. 



'f They live in the ocean, but come into the shallow and sheltered 

 bays to bring forth their young. 



" They roar hke an enraged buU. , The females are generally the 

 largest." — Beale, 13, 14. 



" The bones of the cranium are greatly arched, so as to leave a 

 wide interval between the upper and lower jaw. The rostrum nar- 

 row and compressed at the base ; the orbital process of the frontal 

 very much prolonged and extremely narrow and roimded on its upper 

 surface."— MoM/«r, Proe. Zool. Soc. 1864, 389. 



" The length, hke the breadth (of the baleen), is a mere consequence 

 of the extreme narrowness of the palate in the Mystkete compared to 

 that in the Bal(ena(Ph.ysalus)maximus." — Knox, Oat.Prep. Whale,2d. 



Through the kindness of Messrs. Smith and Simmonds, and Mr. 

 Smith of Messrs. W. WestaU & Co., "Whale-fin Merchants, I have 

 been enabled to examine numerous specimens of the whalebone or 

 baleen received from different countries, and to compare their pecu- 

 liarities as exhibited during its preparation. 



The fins or whalebones of each series together are called a " side 

 of bone"; the largest are in the middle, whence they gradually 



