OF THE SPERM WHALE. 
77 
opinions which have been hazarded upon the number of 
bones which the skeleton of this kind of whale possesses. 
It will be seen, if M. F. Cuvier’s account be referred to, 
published in his work on whales in 1836, that we are 
again destined to differ very much, particularly with 
respect to the number of the cervical and dorsal ver- 
tebrae, and consequently in the number of the ribs also. 
It is proper to mention here, that although the whale 
from w T hich this skeleton has been procured was a fine 
full-grown male, and somewhat aged, as the ossified 
parts of its fins and general appearance of the bones 
indicate, still it was not one of the largest of this kind 
of whale, as the author had an opportunity of measuring 
one which was captured at the Japan fishery, that mea- 
sured eighty-four feet in length ! while the individual to 
which the skeleton under consideration belonged, mea- 
sured, shortly after death, only fifty-eight feet six inches, 
according to Dr. Alderson. 
General Description of the Skeleton of an adult male 
Sperm Whale in the possession of Sir Clifford Con - 
stable , Bart., at Burton- Constable, near Hull . 
GENERAL CHARACTERS. 
Chest somewhat circular in form ; neck very short ; 
the cranium forming rather more than a third of the 
whole length of the skeleton ; great length of the ter- 
minal vertebrae. 
Extreme length of the skeleton, 49 feet 7 inches ; ex- 
treme breadth of the chest, 8 feet inches ; extreme 
