| OCR Text |
Show 708 DR. H. BURMEISTER ON A N E W FINNER WHALE. [June 27, side. Here I observed the usual deep furrows from the inner edge of the under jaw to the middle of the body ; each furrow was £ inch deep, and the flattened intervals 1 inch broad. The animal was a male, with two hinder longitudinal openings- the former (somewhat in advance of the position of the dorsal fin) being the sexual opening, and the hinder (under the same fin) the anus. On the fore side of this second opening are the two small mammarial fissures. Of the internal organs nothing was to be seen, these being already destroyed by putrefaction and eaten by some millions of larvae of Muscce, which resembled living waves consuming the whole organic substance of the carcass. Even the whalebones of the mouth had fallen out, and no trace of them was to be seen on the shore; but one month later we had the good fortune to find one side of them very well preserved in the ground of the river some miles higher up. The fisherman told me that when he found the body the mouth was already open, and without whalebones, the tongue being very much swollen, like a balloon. This mav have forced the whale- •* bones from their position. Since this first inspection I have visited the body from time to time to preserve the bones for the Museum. During the last week all the bones were brought to the establishment, and have been arranged in such a manner that I can give a short description of the whole skeleton. Beginning with the skull, I will not describe its general form, which is very well shown in the figure of the skull of the European Balcenoptera rostrata in the * Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' Mammalia, pt. 2, and the description given by m y friend Dr. J. E. Gray in the same work. Comparing the skull of this new species with his figure, I find that it is certainly much larger, but presenting the same relation between the two principal portions, being from the tip to the nasal bones 4' 4" long, and from these to the occipital foramen 2' 8". But there is some difference in the construction of this hinder portion, as the fore end of the vertex reaches to the hinder end of the nasal bones, covering entirely by its middle prolonged protuberance the small frontal bone from above. Much smaller also in m y skull is the lateral part of the same bone, which forms the orbital cavity, and somewhat stronger the hinder lateral process of the temporal bone to which is attached the under jaw. These differences leave no doubt that the two animals belong to different species. The transverse extent of the front part immediately before the nasal bones is 2' 10", that of the hinder angles of the frontal bones behind the orbit is 4', and that of the vertex behind across the occipital foramen 2' 6". The lower jaw is, including the curve, 7' 5" long on the outside. The whale-bone, which was attached to the underside of the large excavated maxillary bones, is of the usual form and construction. W e have the left side nearly complete, wanting only a small portion |
