378 MR. T. SOUTHWELL ON THE OCCURRENCE OF SOWERBY’s WHALE. 
assistance he fastened a noose over its tail and secured it by an 
anchor ; it was then placed on a trolley and drawn up the gangway 
to a shed on the cliff, where we saw it. The animal was alive 
when first observed, but died before it was taken from the water. 
As placed, it was unfortunately in such a position that it was 
impossible to photograph it, and our attempts proved unsuccessful. 
I believe no photograph was taken after it had been removed from 
the shed. Before our arrival it had been evicerated, and a very 
advanced foetus was taken from it. We made a very careful 
examination of the exterior, and hope to publish a full description 
both of the old female and the young one in due course.* In the 
mean time I may say that the female was of a uniform glossy black 
colour, with the exception of the anterior edges of the flukes of the 
tail and the jaws, which were grey of various shades, in places 
almost white ; and the body was spotted and blotched with white 
or pale grey in a very curious manner. The fishermen told us that 
when fresh out of the water there was a bluish shade pervading 
the whole. The young animal was black above, and reddish on 
the sides and lower parts, probably owing to the effusion of blood 
into the skin, which would doubtless otherwise have been white. 
The principal measurements were : 
The present is the nineteenth known example of this remarkable 
animal, all of which have been met with in the North Atlantic in 
the present century, but with the exception of one taken in 1889 
at Atlantic City, which came into the possession of the United 
States National Museum at Washington — and of which no account 
has at present been published — in no other instance has an 
example in a perfect state come under the notice of a cetologist. 
Individuals or their remains have been found in Scotland and 
Ireland, but the only previous English example was met with at 
the mouth of the Humber in September, lS85.f 
Both mother and little one were purchased for the Hon. Walter 
Rothschild, and are being preserved for his museum at Tring. 
Total length in straight line 
Across the flukes of the tail 
Female. Foetus. 
16 ft. 2 in. . 5 ft. 2 in. 
3 ft. 8 in. . — 
* Sec Aim. and Mag. Nat. Hist., April, 1893, p. 275, plate xv. 
t Southwell and Eagle-Clarke, Aim. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Jan. 1886, p. 53. 
