202 ACCOUNT OF A FIN-WHALE. 



Airth, about two miles below Alloa, and on the 

 opposite side of the river. It was very much dis- 

 figured ; and consequently I had no opportunity 

 of examining some of the external characters. 

 For several of the particulars, therefore, which I 

 have now to state, I am indebted to Mr Robert 

 Bald, civil engineer, and manager of the collieries 

 at Alloa, who had carefully examined the animal 

 'when complete, and had taken the dimensions 

 with accuracy, and who most readily and politely 

 answered all the queries I put to him, as far as 

 the observations he had made enabled him to do 

 so. • 



I shall first describe the animal as fully as my 

 opportunities and information allow, and shall 

 then subjoin some remarks as to the species to 

 which it seems allied. 



The total length of this whale was forty-three 

 feet. Its circumference, where thickest, immedi- 

 ately behind the swimming -paws, (to use a term 

 suggested by the Reverend Mr Fleming*, for 

 their form and structure were more analogous to 

 those of a hand or foot, than of a fin), was about 

 twenty feet. 



It had a single dorsal fin, (if the horny protube- 

 rance on the back may be so called), only two 

 feet six inches high, and nearly the same in breadth 

 at the base, — very diminutive certainly when com- 

 pared with the bulk of the animal's body. This 



* Antea 9 p. 134. 



