242 PROFESSOR TURNER'S ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT FINNER WHALE 



From anterior border of foramen magnum over vertex to tip of beak, 



From nasal process of superior maxilla to tip of beak, 



From anterior border of foramen magnum to nasal process of superior 



maxilla, ..... 

 Breadth across upper ends of nasal processes, 

 Breadth of a single nasal process. 

 Breadth of dorsum of beak — 



3 feet in front of nasal end of superior maxillaries, 



5 ,',' 







6 „ 





" » 



h 







* » 





>1 1! 



8 ,. 





» » 



9 „ 





>> >■> 



10 „ 





» » 



11 „ 





17 1) 



12 







1 - » 





Jl •! 



13 „ 





>! >1 



14 „ 





» )! 



15 „ 





J5 IJ 



Breadth at the tip of the beak, 



Breadth 



between the orbits, . 



Length 



of lower ja'w 



' along the convexity, 



» 



>> 



in a straight line, 



Depth of ramus at coronoid process, . 



Length 



of humerus 



. 



>> 



radius, 





Feet. 



Inches 



20 



3 



16 



6 



3 



9 



1 



8 







6 



7 







6 



10 



6 



8 



6 



61 



6 



u 



6 



H 



5 



9 



5 



4 



4 



10 



4 



5 



3 



8 







Hi 



2 



l 







7 



9 



3 



21 



2 



19 



5 



2 



6 



2 



2 



3 



9 



Comparison with other Finners. — In instituting a comparison between the 

 Longnidclry whale and the other Fin whales which have been described by 

 different authors, with the view of determining the species to which it should be 

 referred, there is no need to compare it with either the Balamoptera rostrata, or 

 the Balamoptera laticeps. For these animals never, apparently, exceed the length 

 of 35 feet, and they differ so materially from the Longniddry whale in the number 

 of vertebrae and ribs, that there can be no possibility of confounding it with 

 either of them. My remarks, therefore, will be restricted to a consideration of 

 those described specimens of fin whales which have reached the length of 40 

 feet and upwards. As I have not yet given an account of the skeleton of 

 this large Finner, I shall almost entirely confine myself, on this occasion, to an 

 examination of the external characters of these animals. 



a. Sir R. Sibbald, in his observations on rare whales cast on the Scottish 

 coast,* describes two fin whales. One, he says, rostrum acutum habet, et plica s 

 in ventre ; the other maxillam inferiorem rotundam, et superiore multo latiorem 

 habuit. The one with a sharp beak was cast ashore in 1690 near Burntisland, 

 and measured 46 feet in length. It was in all probability an immature 

 specimen of the Razor-back. The other with the rounded lower jaw, much 

 wider than the upper, was stranded on the south side of the Forth, near the 

 old castle of Abercorn, in 1692. It was a male, 78 feet long, and possessed 



* Phalainologia nova. 



Edinburgh, 1692. 



