204 PROFESSOR TURNER'S ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT FINNER WHALE 



side of the neck of the parent animal. The head of the calf indeed was so far 

 forward that the tip of its beak was only 2 feet 9 inches behind the condyle of 

 the mother's right mandible. An additional mass of blubber was then taken away 

 from the exterior of the ribs on the right side, when more of the calf was ex- 

 posed. It was lying obliquely between the blubber and the muscles which 

 covered the outer surfaces of these ribs, and the space in which it was contained 

 had obviously been formed by a forcible separation of the blubber from the sub- 

 jacent muscles ; for when the blubber was cut through, the pressure on the 

 calf, owing to its position between a weighty mass of blubber and the elastic 

 ribs, was so great that its head protruded through the incision, and even 

 partially tore through the superficial textures. 



The lower jaw of the calf was directed towards the ventral surface of the 

 mother, and the left side of its body was in relation to the outer surface of her 

 right ribs, and its tail was directed to her abdominal cavity. After the removal 

 of an additional portion of blubber, the calf was extracted by my assistants, and 

 in the process of removal it was observed that about 5 feet from the tail the body 

 of the calf was so twisted on itself, that the position of the two lobes of the tail was 

 reversed. A large quantity of the foetal membranes lay alongside of the calf, 

 more especially near its caudal end ; but they were torn, and had lost their bag- 

 like form. Some coils of the intestine were also situated beside the tail. It 

 is much to be regretted that the uterus could not be preserved in the course of 

 this examination. The huge size of the coils of the intestine, and the desire 

 which the men employed had to get rid, on account of the smell, of the con- 

 tents of the abdominal cavity, rendered it impossible to make such an exami- 

 nation of these viscera as was desired. 



From a consideration of the position of the calf there can be no doubt that 

 either immediately before or after the death of the mother, the foetus had been 

 disconnected from its proper attachments and extruded into an artificial space 

 external to the abdominal cavity. The torn state of the foetal membranes and 

 umbilical cord, the presence of coils of the intestine in the space in which the 

 foetus was lying, and the loose mass of baleen in the abdominal cavity of the 

 mother, all point to a rupture not only of the uterus, but of the wall of her 

 abdomen, which had permitted the passage out of the cavity both of the foetus 

 and of portions of the gut. 



To what cause, then, are we to ascribe the rupture and consequent displace- 

 ment % Some of those who examined the whale were of opinion that they had 

 been occasioned by a severe injury sustained by the mother prior to, or at the 

 time she came ashore. But I am rather inclined to think they must have 

 occurred whilst she was being towed by the tail across the Firth from Long- 

 niddry to Kirkcaldy. For, during the two weeks she lay on the beach at the 

 former place, decomposition had advanced to a considerable extent, putrid 



