190 



B AtiENOPTEEIDjE . 



The skull figured in ' Zool. Erebus and Terror,' t. 2, is 46| inches 

 long, 28 at the beak, 23 inches wide at the orbit, 16| at the notch, 

 and 10| in the middle of the nose. The nose of the skull is elon- 

 gate-triangular, -with straight, reg-ularly converging sides, not quite 

 twice as long as the width at the notch. The first cervical vertebra 

 is rather broader than long. The central hole is half as high again 

 as broad. The second and third cervical vertebrae are united toge- 

 ther by the upper edge. The second cervical vertebra has a broad, 

 mnch-expanded, lateral process, with an oblong central hole near 

 the body of the vertebra, reaching rather more than half its length. 

 The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cervical vertebrae have two (or 

 upper and lower) lateral processes. The upper process of the third 

 is the shortest and least developed, and they increase in length to the 

 sixth. The lower process of the third is the thickest. The fourth 

 and fifth are rather small ; and in the sixth the basal part of the 

 process is shorter and the upper part much elongated and thinner. 

 The seventh has only the upper process, which resembles that of the 

 first dorsal in form, but is smaller. 



This species, which is the smallest of the family, scarcely if ever 

 exceeds 25 or 30 feet in length. 



Fig. 51. 



Eifth cervical vertebra of Balcenoptera rostrata. 



The skeleton of the " young Balcma Boops" (No. 1194, Mus. Coll. 

 Surg.), which formed part of the Hunterian collection, and is pro- 

 bably the skeleton of the B. rostrata described by John Hunter (as 

 the head is atout 4 feet long, which agrees with the measurements 

 of his figure of the animal), belongs to this species. The cervical 

 vertebrse are aU free. The skeleton and baleen are described by 

 Professor Owen in Cat. Osteol. Coll. Mus. CoU. Surg. ii. 441. 



Mr. Knox examined a young Rorqual, 9 feet 11 inches long, 3 feet 

 from snout to ear, and 4 feet 8 inches in girth at the end of the 

 folds, which was cast ashore near Queensferry, Firth of Forth, in 

 1834. He considers it quite distinct from the Great Eorqual (B. 



