Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1850-03-29


bones of the limbs, were wanting in order &c
complete the skeleton. To recover these i
possible, | Immediately visited the locality
and at this and a subsequent visit, succeeded
IN obtaining most of the anterior portion of the
head, nine of the teeth and thirteen additional
vertebr@, together with the bones of one fore.
arm, several chevron bones and portions of
rlbs My first object being to insure the pre-
servation of the bones, | carefully clcanscd
them from the adhesive clay, and then saturated
them with animal glue.
When first looked at the bones, I was in
doubt whether they belonged to an animal Of
the cetaceous or saurian family, but my doubt
was soon removed by careful examination of
the caudal vertebre. These found to have
their artlculatlng surfaces convex and rounded
In such manner as to allow of very extensive
vertical motion of the tail and but very little
lateral motion. This circumstance plainly in
dlcated that the movements of the animal in
the water were effected by means of hor-
zontal caudal fin, and that it, therefore, be-
longed to the family of Cetacen
But, II there had stlll remained any doubt with
regard to the general character of the animal,
! II would have been entirely removed when |
| sucCeedHd afterwards, in recOnsructnr out of
the fragments of bones which had procured
so much OF the upper anterior portion of the
mead, as to exhibit distinctly its sprac7eS, or
olow-noles, showing uneqnivocaly that it be-
longed to the Whale family. My next object
was to ascertain, if possible, whether it b.
Ionged to an extinct, or to living species or
genus OF this family BY careful examina-
tlnn OF Cuvier's great W )rk on Fossil Bones.
became satisfied that, in the oseology of the
mead, 1t bore strong resemblance to small
arctic ceiacean, called the B luga, or white
Whale. r
p 291. pl. xxi, fig. 5 and 6, Paris ed. 1921
and mat it therefore belonged rather to the v
ing than TO the extinct types and this opinion
was confirmed by Prof AgaSsiz, to whose un
riVaIed skill and kind assistance. in the iuves-
tEallon OF these fossils. | am deeply indebted.
an head OF the skeleton, as already re.
"iarked, was broken into a great number of
pieces, but enough Of these have been recoy-
cred and matched to determine very nearly the
form and entire length OF the head and of one
side OF the lower jaw, and of its svmphvsis with
the other side. The fragments of the anterior
portion OF the upper jaw were found and match
ca, win the exception of SO much of the max
lllary bone as formed the alveolar marpir of
the Ieit side. The alveolar margin on the RIGHT
sue measures o'o5 inches in length, and con-
'a'nS oig't aveoll. In the corresponding side
OF the lower jaw there are seven alveol in a
"
tending three inches farther backward, but not
perforated for teeth
1t appears, from what has been said above.
that the animal had sevcn teeth in the lower
Jaw and elsh; in the upper on each side max
ing thlr'y teeth ~ the whole. The teeth are
all OF one. KIND, being conica, with fiat or round
ed crowns: and their substance is very dense
ana lirm. Ihey vary in length from one TO
nearly two inches, with diameter of about
halt an inch Only nine of the teeth have been
rp'""or"d and mono of these were III tnei
places in the jaws when obtained them but
tnat they were in their places up to the time
the bones were first discovered by the workmen,
appears evident from the fact, that, while every
other cavity in the bones was filled with clay, ,
the alveoli were all empty.
Of the yertebre have secured fortv-one. of
which four are ccrvical, eleven dorsal, ten lum- |
par and sixteen caudal. Three of the ceryica
Vefteor1, the first, fifth and sixth, are evidently !
missing, which, with those obtained, would |
make Seren the usual number These verte.
oI are all tree, not being soldered together as
IN The common dolphin ard some other ceta
ceaps.
Ot the dorsal verebrn, the second and
twelfth are missing making their whole num-
Der thirteen.
Two of the lumbar verebre, the sixth and
twelfth, are missing, making twelve in the
whole. They all have the same general form.
out the lateral winged processes are more de.
cayed and broken in some of them than in the
one represented. The eleventh and seven.
teenth caudal vertebra are missing, and per-
'aPs nineteenth and twentieth, making their
probable whole number twenty.
from these statements it appears. that tho
whole number Of vertebrp in the skeleton was
ElpVpp OF bps Al;
winch are known to have been taken away
alter they were dug up, and may perhaps be-
recovered, ArtlcnIating surfaces on the under
sides OF the caudal verteb'e, indicate five che
vron bones, of which have all but one. only
the fourth being gone.
lhe total length of the vertebral column.
ldue allowance being made for the eleven miss
ing Verteb Us, but none for interverlebrai car
tiageS. is Just ten feet, or one hundred and
twenty inches. OF this length. the ccryical
verteblH occupy eight inches, The dursal thirty
slX, the lumbar forty-twu, and the caudal thirty
four. The lumbar vertebrR are largest. havinp
an average Iergh of about four inches and a
diameter Of three inches. The total Ienpih of
the animal including the he; and caudaI fin,
must have been at least thirteen feet. The
hyotd bonni and the Mraum, are both very large
and strong IN proportion To the size of the ske
Il
inches in "A straight line from point to point
and the latter is fifteen inches long, from three
to seven inches wide, and on an average near
ly ono inch thick There are four articulatino
cavities for ribs on each side.
The RIOS are considerably decayed and much
broken. The longest rib, in one piece, mpa-
snres Just twenty'tour inches along the curve.
Inc ribs which form the anterior pair are very
strong, and unbroken, and consist, on each
side, of two parts of solid bone.
OF the limbs, the two scapu'e, one humerus.
and the two forearm bones on one side, and the
ulna OF the other side are secured all the
other bones of the fins are missing. The heiohr
OF the scapula is seven inches, the length of
lhe humerus five, and Of the forearms four in
ches,
There are several of the recovered bones.
whose places are not yet ascertained Some
OF these may be appendages to the hyod bone
and others may belong to rudimentary pel-
Wis Professor Agassiz, who has manifested as
already stated, deep interest in these fossils.
has kindly consented to give them that further
careful investigation, aud illustration, which
their importance demands and for which Ia l. !