STRANDED AT LONGNIDDRY. 213 



Each wreath was estimated to contain about 370 rows of plates,* and each 

 row consisted of several plates or blades or bristles. The rows lay transversely 

 and parallel, though not in straight lines, for they were somewhat curved, the 

 convexity forwards, the concavity backwards, and the smaller inner subsidiary 

 plates were arranged in an oblique manner. Intervals varying from one 

 half to three-eighths of an inch existed between the rows in different parts 

 of the series. The transverse and vertical diameters of the plates varied 

 considerably, not only in different parts of the wreath, but also in each row, 

 for the plates diminished in size from the outer to the inner edge of the row. 

 At the anterior part of the mouth they were little more than coarse black 

 bristles, and the free part of these projected in some only half an inch, in 

 others one inch and a half, into the cavity of the mouth. Extending backwards 

 along the outer or labial part of the wreath the baleen increased in size, at first 

 being somewhat elongated narrow plates, and then increasing in their trans- 

 verse diameter at their base of attachment, until they assumed the unequally 

 four-sided form, with its surfaces directed forwards and backwards, of the blade 

 represented in Plate VI. fig. 12, which may be regarded as a very character- 

 istic specimen of one of the large plates of this Balamoptera. The dimen- 

 sions of this plate were as follows. The transverse diameter along its base of 

 attachment 1 foot 6 inches ; vertical diameter, inclusive of the part imbedded in 

 the intermediate substance, along outer free border, 2 feet 9^ inches, along- 

 inner free border 8 inches. Length along the border fringed with setae 3 feet 

 3 inches. The setae varied in their length, some measuring as much as 17 

 inches. On the surface of the plate numerous longitudinal parallel lines, which 

 at its inferior edge became continuous with the setae, were observed. Transverse 

 rings, which sometimes were close together, at others were separated by wider 

 intervals, passed from one surface to the other around the outer and inner free 

 edges of the plate. A plate of this form and of somewhat similar dimensions 

 formed the external or labial blade of each transverse row in by far the greater 

 portion of the wreath. 



Internal to this large plate the baleen, though of the same black 

 colour, was elongated and narrow ; the blades possessed the form represented 

 in Plate VI. fig. 13, their transverse diameter was not more than ^ths of an 

 inch, and their vertical diameter, inclusive of the part imbedded in the inter- 

 mediate substance, was in some 7, in others 6, in others 5 and 4 inches. Each 

 of these narrow subsidiary plates had an uniform breadth, and the setae, which 

 were often more than 6 inches long, arose not from the sides, but only from 



" Although, the rows of plates were counted without difficulty in the greater part of the wreath, 

 yet at the posterior end, and at the front, of the mouth the exact enumeration was attended with con- 

 siderable difficulty, owing to the bristle-like baleen being arranged in less definite rows than were the 

 blades of this substance. 



VOL. XXVI. PART I. 3 K 



