34 Quadrupeds, ^c. 



eyes were situated near the angle of the mouth ; they were 2|^ inches 

 long and wide in proportion, and at each comer of the eye was a 

 groo^'^e half an inch in length. The upper jaw was 32 inches long, 

 and the lower one, measured along the curve, 35 inches ; the upper 

 jaw was 24 inches wide, and the whalebone 5|- inches deep on the 

 outer side, and 8 inches deep on the inner or deepest part : from the 

 tip of the snout to the posterior extremity of the blowers was 39 inch- 

 es ; thence, measured along the back to a level with the anterior part 

 of the pectoral fin 19 inches ; thence to the anterior part of the dorsal 

 fin 58 inches ; and thence to the middle of the tail 60 inches, making 

 the entire length 14 feet 8 inches ; the body, measured across over 

 the back from one pectoral fin to the other, was 40 inches; the width 

 of each pectoral fin at its base, 11 inches ; its length along the ante- 

 rior edge, 24 inches, along the posterior edge 17 inches; the hinder 

 part of the body near the tail was compressed and sharp-edged above, 

 it was lOj inches in depth. The tail was 46 inches in width, and 

 the anterior edge of each division 25 inches long. The dorsal fin was 

 cut off during the night after the capture of the animal. The speci- 

 men, after passing through several hands, was purchased by the Brit- 

 ish Museum.* 



This whale appears to have been a young specimen of the Balaena 

 Boops of Linneus, the Balsenoptera Boops of Fleming, Cuvier, Bell 

 and others ; it is identical with the Balaenoptera Rorqual and B. gib- 

 bar of Lacepede, and with the Balaena rostrata, as published in the 

 ' Philosophical Transactions ' for 1787, p. 373, pi. xx : but Mr. Gray 

 remarks that in the Deptford specimen the front of the flapper and the 

 front of the dorsal fin was each one third from the ends of the body ; 

 while in Mr. Hunter's figure the middle space of the body between 

 the members is much longer than the distances between them and the 

 ends of the body ; still, if the admeasurements be taken fi*om the 

 description there is no discrepancy in the relative proportions of the 

 two. Both Mr. Hunter's and the Deptford specimens were females. 

 It is far from uncommon, and is well known among fishermen and 

 mariners generally by the names of finner^ Jin-hack^ Jin-fish and 

 (jihhar. 



These finners have continually made their appearance on our coast, 

 and not unfrequently been stranded and* captured, but they are not 



* After the drawing- at the head of this note had been prepared, Mr. Showell, of 

 Park Lodge, New Cross, most kindly brouglit to the editor a highly finished sketch of 

 the whale, made hv Mr. Bate. 



