442 Proceedings of the 



baleen whale, to which the subsequent remarks applied, was 

 briefly as follows : — When passing near the Bell Rock, on the 

 7th of last September, the crew of a yacht, named the Spray, 

 observed a large animal floating on the water, apparently 

 dead or in a dying condition. They obtained permission to 

 have it taken on board the vessel, and brought to Leith, when 

 it afterwards became the property of a merchant there. This 

 animal was exhibited to the public for nearly a week, until 

 the process of decomposition having commenced, necessarily 

 put a stop to this proceeding. 



During the period it was thus publicly exposed to view, a 

 favourable opportunity was afforded for taking measurements, 

 and noting the external characters of the animal. And, for- 

 tunately, the great care and attention bestowed by those con- 

 nected with its capture and removal had kept it in so excel- 

 lent a state of preservation, that there was scarcely a scratch 

 to be seen on the outer surface. The length of the animal, 

 following the curve of the back, from the snout to the extreme 

 margin of the centre of the tail, was 14 feet 5 inches ; the cir- 

 cumference, at the fore part of the pectoral fins, 8 feet 4 inches ; 

 from the snout to the dorsal fin, 9 feet 3 inches, or nearly two- 

 thirds the length of the animal ; from the snout to the pecto- 

 ral fins, 4 feet 9 inches, exactly one-third the total length ; 

 length of the pectoral fin, 1 foot 7 inches, or one-ninth the 

 whole length. The dorsal fin was falcate-shaped, curving 

 backwards, ll£ inches in height in the line of the curve, and 

 8 inches long at the base. From the posterior edge of the 

 dorsal fin to the end of the tail, 4 feet 6 inches. The greatest 

 breadth of the tail was 3 feet 8J- inches. The colour of the 

 animal above was glossy black, extending half way down the 

 sides. Beneath white, with a delicate rose-pink, which, taken 

 along with the general symmetry, gave to it a positive ap- 

 pearance of beauty. From 60 to 70 deep longitudinal folds, 

 less than an inch broad, extended from the posterior margin 

 of the under lip along the chest and greater part of the abdo- 

 men, the longest measuring 8 feet 7 inches. Several stiff 

 bristles were situated at the end of the snout in each jaw, 

 the lower jaw projecting an inch or two beyond the upper. 

 The two rows of baleen plates in the upper jaw were of a 



