A. E. Verrill

“ It is possible to imagine a sperm whale with an abnormally enlarged nose, due to disease or extreme old age, which, if detached, might resemble this mass externally at least. It seems hardly probable that another allied whale, with a big nose, remains to be discovered. Notwithstanding these difficulties, my present opinion, that it came from the head of a creature like a sperm whale in structure, is the only one that seems plausible from the facts now ascertained. ”

“ As soon as specimens of the tissues were sent to me, even a hasty examination was sufficient to show that this view was not correct, for instead of being composed of hardened muscular fibers, [3] as had been supposed, the thick masses of tissue were found to consist almost wholly of a hard, elastic complex of connective tissue fibers of large size. The masses sent vary from four to ten inches in thickness. They are white, and so tough that it is hard to cut them, even with a razor, and yet they are somewhat flexible and elastic. ”

“ It is evident that such a dense and thick covering of fibrous connective tissue could not have come from any mobile part of any animal, but must have served for passive resistance to great pressure or concussion.
The structure of this integument is more like that of the upper part of the head of a sperm whale than any other known to me, and as the obvious use is the same, it is most probable that the whole mass represents the upper part of the head of such a whale, detached from the skull and jaw. ”