Dissection of a spermaceti whale and three other cetaceans / by J.B.S. Jackson.

  • Jackson, J. B. S. (John Barnard Swett), 1806-1879.
Date:
[1845]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dissection of a spermaceti whale and three other cetaceans / by J.B.S. Jackson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    15/44 (page 151)
    with those of Mr. Beale, who, on this point, is the best of all authorities. Captain Chase has seen the blow-hole cut open, and describes it as a single, continuous tube, about as large as a man's arm, and without any lateral cavities such as are found in the dolphin ; inner surface smooth, and black; it extends backwards near the top of the head as far as the eye, and then turns down to the throat; this last descending portion he has never examined. The following parts have been preserved for the Society's Collection : — 1st, the stomach, with the oesophagus, and com- mencement of the intestine ; 2d, portions of intestine, show- ing the structure at different parts ; 3d, the heart, and large vessels; 4th, the tongue, palate, pharynx, larynx, trachea and large bronchi; 5th, the genital organs ; 6th, a cast has been made of one of the kidneys. Since this dissection was made, I have had an opportunity to examine the entire lower jaw from six different subjects, and I would here give the result of these observations, as there seem to be some erroneous views with regard to the teeth ; also, recently, Dr. Henry Wheatland, of Salem, has examined three others, and sent me his observations, which will be added to the above. The first specimen was from a sperm whale that was said to have made 110 barrels of oil, and that was taken only a week before, by a vessel bound into New Bedford. The length on the median line was 16^ feet, and from the back tooth to the articulating surface 5| feet. The teeth were generally more or less movable, the gum being still quite fresh; posteriorly they were small, and appeared but little above the gum ; on the right side there were 25, regularly arranged, but on the left only 24, the number often varying, not merely in different individuals of the same species, as a general rule in the ceta- ceans, but in the same individual on the two sides ; the ninth and tenth from the front, on the left side, though of full size, were so close together as fairly to touch, several of the teeth about them not being opposite to those upon the other side, as they generally were.