1. Observations on the Anatomy of the Rorqual (a Whalebone Whale of the largest magnitude), drawn up from the dissection of a specimen found dead off North Berwick

Extract

This paper, composed ehiefly of anatomical details regarding the anatomical structure of the Rorqual, scarcely admits of abridgement. The author has described the skeleton of the cavity for receiving the brain and the mechanism of the larynx at greatest length. The entire length of the whale, measured by a straight line, drawn on the sand from the nose to the middle part of the tail, and making a slight allowance for the curved position in which the animal lay, was 80 feet. Length of the head 23 feet. The girth of the carcass at the pectoral extremities (though the animal had been ten days on the beach, and was much collapsed) 34 feet. Breadth of the tail from tip to tip' 20 feet. The author describes the appearance of the mouth, lined with whalebone, as very surprising.