r
23
analogy o f other Whales, th a t when we shall ha\’e h ad the
opportunity o f accurately comparing th e bones and the various
proportions o f the p a rts of th e northern and southern
kinds, we shall find them distinct. Wishing to call attention
to this subject for future examination, I may observe
th a t Beale {N. H. S p e im Wh a le, 2 2 , / 1,14) describes the
Southern Sperm Wliale as grey. Female one-fifth the size
and bulk o f the males, more slender and large in p roportion.
Young black, skin thicker. Varies sometimes black
an d gray mottled.
Quoy gives an engraving o f a drawing o f a Sperm W hale,
which was given him by an English captain, which is p ro bab
ly th e Southem Whale. H e calls it Physetei- polycy-
p h u s (and Desmoulin re-names it P . aiistralis) because its
back appears to be broken into a series o f humps b y cross
ridges. I n th is particula r it agrees with the Scrag Whale
o f Dudley (on which Bonnaterre established his B . gibbosa)
; but it cannot be th a t animal, as Dudley says it is a
Wha lebone Whale. Quoy’s figure differs from Beale’s in
being much longer, b u t as Beale observes, when speaking
of the figures o f the northem kind, th is is the common
fault of all th e drawings o f th e Speim Whales.
Colnet, in h is Voyage, p. 80, f. 9, (copied by B ran d t and
R atzeburg, t. 14, f. 3) gives a very good figure o f a Sperm
W h a le, 15 feet long, from measurements; with details of
th e manner o f flenching or peeling it. I t agrees with
Beale’s in proportions. I t was caught in the North Pacific
near Po in t Angles, on the coast o f Mexico. This figure
escaped Cuvier’s researches.
P u rch a s says th e Sperm Whale is found a t Bermuda,
where it is called Trumpo, a name which Lac epède applied
to th e n o rth em animal ; and Dudley describes those
found on th e east coast o f North America.
T h e Jap a n ese distinguish three vaiieties of this animal,
according to th eir size. T h ey live in herds on the J a p a n ese
coast.—Faun. Japon.
U p p e r jaw in British Museum : —
Length, entire, ...................... 179 inches.
„ o f b e a k ,...................... 127
W idth a t notch, ......................... 67
„ a t middle o f beak, .... 62
Lower jaws in B ritish Museum : —
No. 1. No. 2. No. S.
E n tire le n g th , 157 inches. 92 inches. 51 inches.
Length o f tee th -g ro o v e,....
„ symphysis, 85 44
29
214
19
31
T e e th on each side, 23 21
W id th a t condyle.
In these, th e beak is not quite twice th e length o f the
bre ad th a t th e notch, and more than -f th e length o f the
entire head. T h e lower jaw appears to increase in length
in front, for in th e older specimens the symphysis is more,
and th e younger ones less, th an h a lf the entire length of
the jaw.
There is th e head o f a very young specimen, probably a
foetus o f this auimal, in the Museum of the College o f Surgeons
: th e bones are o f a very soft structure. The following
are its measurements : —
L ength, e n tire ,...................... 32 inches.
„ o f nose, ............. 20
„ o f lower jaw , .... 28
„ o f symphysis, .... 9'6
W id th a t notch o f nose, .... 12‘6
„ o f condyles apart, 16'6
Camper (Cetac. 1 .17, 20—22, from the church o f Scher-
clinge, t. 18, 19, 27, Mus. Paris), figured the skull o f this
Whale. H e represents the nose o f th e skull as nearly
twice and a h a lf as long as th e widlli a t the notch.
I I . K o g ia . S h o r t -h e a d e d W h a l e s .
He ad moderate, broad, triangular. Lower jaw wide b e hind,
slender, united by a short symphysis in front. Jaw
bone o f skull broad, triangular, as broad as long.
This genus is intermediate between Catodon and Del-
p hin u s.
T h e S h o r t -h e a d e d W h .a l r . Kogia breviceps.
P h y seter breviceps, B la in v . Ann. Anat. P h y s .m . t. 15.
Inhab. Cape o f G ood Hope, Mus. Paris.
O f this species only a single skull is known, which M.
de Blainville thus described.
Skull very broad and high, the frontal crest very distinct,
and the nasal p it very deep, ra th e r like th a t o f the Cachalot.
Nose very sh o rt and pointed, very rapidly tapering,
only 1 inch longer th an the b re adth of the occipital bone.
T h e lower jaw is very wide apa rt a t th e condyles, bent
sharply inwards, and united in front by a moderate symphysis,
and very narrow but rounded a t the end. Teeth
14 or 15, narrow, slender, conical, acute and rather arched
inwardly. Length o f the skull 14 inches 6 lines. Lower
jaw 13 inches, separation a t the condyles 12 inches, symphysis
about-4 o f th e length o f the lower jaw. Beak the
length of the width a t the notch.
This skull bears no resemblance to the skull of the
young Sperm Whale.
I I I . P h y s e t e r , Artedi. T h e Black-fish, or Cachalot.
Physeter, part, L in n . S^c. Cetus, Brisson.
H e ad rounded, convex above; u pper jaw lo n g e s t; the
blowers on the middle o f th e top th e head, separate, “ covered
with one flap,” [Sibbald) ; pectoral fin moderate,
tria n g u la r; dorsal fin high, fa lc a te ; teeth conical, compressed;
th e male organ is under th e front edge o f the dorsal,
and the vent nearly under its hinder edge.
They produce spermaceti according to Sibbald, but this
is denied by Beale ; eat Porpesses and small Cetacea, and
even attack the large r W hales and Seals.
Cuvier, in his ‘ History and Examination o f the Synonyma
o f the Cachalots or Sperm W h a le s ’ (Oss. Foss. v.
328, 338), regards the description o f th is animal given by
Sibbald as merely a redescription o f the Sperm Whale, and
finds great fault with Artedi, Bonnaterre, and others, for
having considered them as separate ; and he regards the
second hlunt-toothed specimen as either a De lphinus glo-
hiceps, or a D. Tursio, which had lost its u p p e r t e e th ;
this error is important, as it vitiates many of his remarks.
To have come to these conclusions he must have overlooked
Sibbald’s figure, with ample details, o f the first, and
o f the tee th of the second, which must have a t once shown
him his error. T h a t he did so is c e rta in ; for when he
comes to Schreber’s reduced copy of Sibbald’s figures o f
the first (p. 337), he says Schreber does not indicate its
origin, b u t here he goes on to remark o f what he has b e fore
regarded as a Sperm Wha le, “ from th e form o f its
lower jaw it most resembles a large Dolphin which had
lost its up p er teeth.”
Thus, while he was reducing th e numerous species of
Sperm Whales th a t h ad been made by Bonnaterre, Lace-
p ld e , and other compiling French authors, to a single
species, h e has inadvertently confounded with it th e very
distinct genus of Black-fish, or Physe ter of Artedi, which
has a perfectly differently formed head, its top flatter, and
with the blow-hole on th e h in d er p a rt o f its crown, and
with a distinct dorsal fin, particulars, all well described by
Sibbald and O. Fabricius, two original and most accurate
observers, and conscientious recorders, and n o t badly represented
by Bayer.
Some p arts of S ibbald’s description, an d his reference to
Jonston’s figure, might lead to this error, b u t his figures,
which exactly agree in proportion with his description, a t
once set this a t rest, the drawing being /j- o f the natural
size, th a t is to say, 6 feet to an in ch ; and he observes that
his animal is longer and more slender than Willoughby’s
figure of the Sperm Whale.
J . Bayer (Act. Nat. Cur. 1733, 111, 1, t. 1) gives a rather
fanciful but very recognizable figure o f a male specimen of
this genus, which was thrown ashore a t Nice, on the 10th
of Nov., 1736, where it is called M u la r. H e compared it
with Clusius’ description o f the whale which was stranded
on the coast of Holland, and observes that it has a dorsal
fin, very small pectorals, and other characters not noticed
by C lu s iu s ; and he says it agrees in all points with the
Whale noticed by Ray (Syn. Pise. 14), which is extracted
from Sibbald as above q u o ted : and F. Cuvier remarks on
this figure, “ E lle est en effect d’un C a c h a lo t; mais elle le
rend de la maniere la moins fidele.”— Cetac. 267.
The B la c k - f i s h . Physeter Tursio.
Physeter Tursio, L in n . S. N . i. 107, from
Balmna macrocephala, Sibbald, P h a l. i. i . / 5, copied
P . microps, Schreber, t. 339, also Anderson, Ic e. 2 4 8 , /
Black-fish, Beale, H . Sperm Whale, 11.
Ph. microps, L in n . S. N . i. 107. 0 . Fab. Faun. Groenl.
44, from
B. macrocephala, n. 2. Sibbald, P h a l. 13, t. 2, f. 1, 2, 4,
5, teeth.
P h. Mular, B o n n a t. Cet. 17.
Mular, Bayer, Act. N a t. Cur. I l l , t. 1, male.
Ph. orthodon, Lacep. Cet. 236, from Anderson, 246.
Delphinus Bayeri, Risso, E u r . Merid. iii. F. Cuv.
Cetac. 224.
Black. Tee th 11 to 22 on each side, conical, compressed
; head nearly 4, pectoral fiu iir the entire le n g th ; the
length 50—60 feet.
Inhab. North Sea. Greenland, common, O. Fab. Scotland,
Sibbald. Nice, Bayer.
The only zoologists who appear to have had the opportunity
o f seeing and describing this Whale are Sibbald
and O. Fabricius. Bayer appears only to have h ad the
drawing sent to him. T h is species has been divided
into two, according to th e more or less truncated state
o f its teeth. I shall quote th eir descriptions, somewhat
abridged.
Fabricius says it “ h a s in the lower jaw 22 teeth, 11 on
ea ch side, arched, falciform, hollow internally as far as the
p oint, projecting scarcely a th ird p a rt (and this visible p a rt
is enamelled, compressed-conical, with th e point sharp,
curved inwardly an d a t the same time verging a little b a c k wa
rd s; b u t th e concealed p a rt broader and having two
p a rts , compressed anteriorly and posteriorly, and, especially
on the side nea rest the throat, c h a n n e lled ); o f the
length o f a finger, an d 14 inch broad, the middle ones la rger,
th e anterior an d posterior smaller. Beak ra th e r obtuse.
Beside the pectoral fins it has a long, erect, dorsal
fin. In size, it is to be considered as amongst th e smaller
Whales. Skin glabrous, b la c k ; the fat thick, b u t little
o ily ; flesh red.”—Fabricius, Faun. Groeiil.
Sibbald observes th a t “ th e superior p a rt o f the body
was swelled to a prodigious size. In length it was 52 or
53 feet, its height 12 feet, its girth above 32 feet. Its
head was so large th a t it was (the tail being removed) h a lf
the length o f th e whole body. In form it was oblong-
round, somewhat compressed in the u pper p a r t; inferior
p art o f rostrum beyond lower jaw 24 feet, th e superior
p art nearly 5. Lowe r jaw 10 feet long. The extreme
p art o f th e rostrum was distant 12 feet from the eyes,
which were very small for the size o f the head, about the
size o f those o f the haddock. A little above th e middle
o f the rostrum is a lobe, which is called “ the him,” with
two entrances covered with one operculum, called the
“ flap.” T h e size o f the cranium may be estimated by the
fa ct th a t four men were seen inside it a t one time, ex tra c ting
the brain, which contained several cells or alveoli, like
those which bees keep their honey in , and in these w^ere
round masses o f a white substance, which, upon examination,
were proved to b e sperm. Some o f this substance
was also found externally on the head, in some p arts to the
thickness o f 2 feet. In the superior jaw were 42 alveoli,
hollowed out for receiving the tee th o f the lower jaw ; they
were o f a cartilaginous nature. In the inferior mandible
there were 42 teeth, 21 on each side, all of the same form,
which was like th a t o f a sickle, round and a little compressed,
thicker and more arched in th e middle, and gradually
becoming thinner, terminating superiorly in an acute
cone turning inwards. Inferiorly it becomes thinner, and
terminates in a more slender root, which is narrower in the
middle. Of these tee th those in the middle of th e jaw are
larger and heavier, those external are smaller. One o f the
larger, 9 inches long, weighed 184 oz-j and a t the thickest
end was of the same length as breadth. T h e smallest tooth
which I got was 7 inches long aud 5 in girth. T h e osseous
p a rt o f these teeth projected 3 inches beyond the
gums, was like polished ivory, smooth and white, the fang
of ea ch tooth was provided with a large cavity, which was
so constructed that in the larger teeth there was a cavity 3
inches deep. I t had 2 lateral fins, each about 4 feet long,
and besides these a long fin on the back. Colour o f skin
black. T h e throat was observed to be larger than usual in
whales. Only one stomach was found,”