444 Proceedings of the 



The late lamented Dr John Fleming, Professor of Natural 

 Science in the New College of Edinburgh, took a great inte- 

 rest in this specimen, as he did in every object of investiga- 

 tion that tended to the advancement of science. He expressed 

 a wish that, if an opportunity occurred, Dr M'Bain would re- 

 peat the observations of Dr Robert Knox as to the number of the 

 vertebras and ribs found by that anatomist in the Lesser Ror- 

 qual, obtained at Queensferry in 1834. This task, owing to 

 the obliging liberality of the proprietor, had been fully car- 

 ried out. With the exception of the skull, retained in the 

 preserved specimen, the other bones composing the skeleton 

 had been kept, and were now in his possession. Owing to 

 circumstances which could not be avoided, the dissection took 

 place chiefly by candle light, and was consequently rough and 

 hurried. Many portions of the internal organization — the heart, 

 kidneys, and renal capsules, for instance — put aside until the 

 process was completed, and intended for future examination, 

 were feloniously abstracted by canine or feline visitors. The 

 occurrence of the dissection under such conditions was a 

 source of much regret, as several anatomical points of great 

 interest are still wanting in reference to the baleen whales ; 

 for example, the extent, connection, and function of a so-called 

 pharyngeal pouch beneath the tongue. On cutting into this 

 huge fleshy mass, a large cavity was found, from which air 

 issued freely. This was lined by a very delicate membrane, 

 and there appeared to be more than one of these cavities ; 

 but there was no time to ascertain their character or connec- 

 tion. They seem to be simply what has been conjectured, — 

 merely inflated portions of the areolar tissue, from com- 

 mencing decomposition, but certainly not the distended sto- 

 mach pushed up into this region, as suggested by M. F. Cu- 

 vier in his article on the Cetacea, in the Cyclopaedia of Ana- 

 tomy and Physiology. On removing the tongue, a great vas- 

 cular net-work was observed, spreading out between the two 

 branches of the lower jaw. This appeared to be a continua- 

 tion of that remarkable arterial plexus first observed by John 

 Hunter in a "piked whale," and partly described by him in 

 the Philosophical Transactions for 1787- Dr M'Bain said, 

 this structure had been afterwards examined, and traced into 



