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EL UT se BF ty Bots ON aed te r RAAT mcg are tea i ni * ut ! nt y DU eae Beis ia a ot ae at CAA UR ART of rN a VLA ty in x PE Da} . i Coho) router r’ ty tA AK i “ty age’ fiekie ROM eka vn DUNCAN AC bi aabteeu oe are eee Naa) POCA tha See Ree ue oe eter er Oey Path Ate BRS B¥eton eer a Li OMe 1 ee Sey ts 4 oe 4 Ce MR Se tide ux OCCA cba Bae Pens eres cee ‘ x) RO OO FA ahs preva Aa tier Paar eee eer ee Rael pete tert RODE Eien etter Uieasl-ees on hede phen are * oxse rs 5 ori baete y ¥ Cal oat uu ee, ‘ eRe tend Nene 3 aoe Sa oO oan . a Con . i? ys x MEER TIN eet Mad saree pas Son t ideas steer v i xh ALS iy eT PROP eT ORCA RT a CLM eat PRR ARE CLUE RRC 5 SBOn weer ke Cee en eae OMe tate E PeRUNR RAK K) Pee rere Pee TCL At RT Le aes cacteed Leet Ue PaO Pe el elidel gery ad AANA EE SERENE SMES Abo oe ORDO 23 ‘3 Wer CORE hey gid STRESSED REM DERN EE NT RU NI ae oaeta eT hg Pee Door \ vs Y % a SUMO AL ONRY OOD IOEK SST rad PRIOR) * Sarcepeca esas eeeeng treat GOODE VORA SS ON } set oe teacioor to [tikes dries Ay X ith: hee Ebest Ae, a theteb tenes PSs rhe tpicrobneormevtentas ae Ph) oe tar A Rr es Sh adic) sete) Maid Fed ar ee gy ET: ‘ rE ial oes 2 iu i hits ort Bey Pt EA Ay ean eee te ens * Uae es eo aewns a POUTC ON cr toon oy Srp BX all opie fetes tee Sweat talent lee COSA ERE, sad Raat nett Lene te eta SEE er eetet ert Ne Rete ee eee a eh kee emg enc eer hi cheno coeetetes COI tedinaleenenlted sangeet pope ae , Sines eta a easehA aye vitae tte Semmes Patent CR ee race ete ete ES ers het he ified P ooh i020) 6 jarnciry re ee K Os Coon Oe Vea ' ors oe sO errs Tey COC Mh een Wrielvehenerscteen} Cornet Vl Y Se Aerie rey PK Ay enon) 0 sey S25 Sears odes! CIN a Pak) at) Conor DOR Un tk TOR OO b 4 Oh knoe ein ‘ he aun DC ee ni ROR rons Na Pre On Rend wt ma Matt ey\cen an semi Wiki COO OCU MNT A) CoO on CORO MEN ERR Tene thy ‘i i Ren Or kk Pe nt OC KNORR RESO URC RAST Or RPO es noe t TAO, Ce MU e ia Coen) Oa SOK NNN ees —) CCR Me ICC n Och VA eR Oe eek each oesee CO KY Dorsett ee Deku ene ais DOC. COR Rene eh SOM ROR . ie ae Ooh ee aa ats co SS ct q Ch c Las eet! aries wy Or S Ary 4 i , ‘y ' R d ») r { that . 1 PD j a 5 9 f > mya} ; ' oe ¢ i 1 i , f t 0 ' i t i j j A To { net th tif iV int \ ! ‘ i { hoes vi awn if ‘ hy ‘ i e ay in ve iin SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE VOL. AX EVERY MAN IS A VALUABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY WHO, BY HIS OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCHES, AND EXPERIMENTS, PROCURES KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN.—SMITHSON, CLEY OROW ASHING TON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 1904 a uy 1 e , i iy 7 : 4 7 i 1 bap } ‘ ! v - ' os ye . ’ - > i ul : i v igy' @itaa - ta 2 - >. Mi = i + F : \ sf a - i x tr , : oy yy 9 1 er F tL female AS Ns, * 1 aa + mn i 7 a a ADVERTISEMENT Tus volume forms the thirty-third of a series, composed of original memoirs on different branches of knowledge, published at the expense and under the diree- tion of the Smithsonian Institution. The publication of this series forms part of a general plan adopted for carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of Jamxs Swrrnson, Esq., of England. This gentleman left his property in trust to the United States of America to found at Washington an institution which should bear his own name and have for its objects the “¢ecrease and diffusion of knowl- edge among men.” This trust was accepted by the Government of the United States, and acts of Congress were passed August 10, 1846, and March 12, 1894, constituting the President, the Vice-President, the Chief Justice of the United States, and the heads of Executive Departments an establishment under the name of the “SmrrHsontaNn LystrruTion, FOR THE INCREASE AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE among MEN.” ‘The members of this establishment are to hold stated and special meetings for the supervision of the affairs of the Institution and for the advice and instruction of a Board of Regents to whom the financial and other affairs are intrusted. The Board of Regents consists of two members ex officio of the establishment, namely, the Vice-President of the United States and the Chief Justice of the United States, together with twelve other members, three of whom are appointed from the Senate by its President, three from the House of Representatives by the Speaker, and six persons appointed by a joint resolution of both Houses. To this Board is given the power of electing a Secretary and other officers for conducting the active operations of the Institution. To carry into effect the purposes of the testator, the plan of organization should evidently embrace two objects: one, the increase of knowledge by the addi- tion of new truths to the existing stock; the other, the diffusion of knowledge, thus increased, among men. No restriction is made in favor of any kind of knowl- edge, and hence each branch is entitled to and should receive a share of attention. The act of Congress establishing the Institution directs, as a part of the plan of organization, the formation of a library, a museum, and a gallery of art, together with provisions for physical research and popular lectures, while it leaves to the Regents the power of adopting such other parts of an organization as they may deem best suited to promote the objects of the bequest. After much deliberation, the Regents resolved to apportion the annual income specifically among the different objects and operations of the Institution in such manner as may, in the judgment of the Regents, be necessary and proper for each, according to its intrinsic importance, and a compliance in good faith with the law. The following are the details of the parts of the general plan of organization provisionally adopted at the meeting of the Regents, December 8, 1847: lil IV ADVERTISEMENT. DETAILS OF THE FIRST PART OF THE PLAN. I. To rorEase Knowiepcr.—Z/t is proposed to stimulate research by offering rewards for original memoirs on all subjects of imvestigation. 1. The memoirs thus obtained to be published in a series of volumes, in a quarto form, and entitled “Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge.” 2. No memoir on subjects of physical science to be accepted for publication which does not furnish a positive addition to human knowledge, resting on original research; and all unverified speculations to be rejected. 3. Each memoir presented to the Institution to be submitted for examination to a commission of persons of reputation for learning in the branch to which the memoir pertains, and to be accepted for publication only in case the report of this commission is favorable. 4. The commission to be chosen by the officers of the Institution, and the name of the author, as far as practicable, concealed, unless a favorable decision be made. 5. The volumes of the memoirs to be exchanged for the transactions of literary and scientific societies, and copies to be given to all the colleges and principal libraries in this country. One part of the remaining copies may be offered for sale, and the other carefully preserved to form complete sets of the work to supply the demand from new institutions. 6. An abstract, or popular account, of the contents of these memoirs to be given to the public through the annual report of the Regents to Congress. Il. To morgask Know.eper.—T/t 7s also proposed to appropriate a portion of the income annually to special objects of research, under the direction of suitable persons. 1. The objects and the amount appropriated to be recommended by counsel- lors of the Institution. 2. Appropriations in different years to different objects, so that in course of time each branch of knowledge may receive a share. 3. The results obtained from these appropriations to be published, with the memoirs before mentioned, in the volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge. 4. Examples of objects for which appropriations may be made: (1) System of extended meteorological observations for solving the problem of American storms. (2) Explorations in descriptive natural history, and geological, mathematical, and topographical surveys, to collect material for the formation of a physical atlas of the United States. (3) Solution of experimental problems, such as a new determination of the weight of the earth, of the velocity of electricity, and of light ; chemical analyses ADVERTISEMENT. Vi of soils and plants ; collection and publication of scientific facts, accumulated in the offices of Government. (4) Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, and political subjects. (5) Historical researches and accurate surveys of places celebrated in Ameri- ean history. (6) Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to the different races of men in North America; also explorations and accurate surveys of the mounds and other remains of the ancient people of our country. [. To prrrusr KnowLeper.—/t ts proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an account of the new discoveries in science, and of the changes made from year to year in all branches of knowledge not strictly professional. 1. Some of these reports may be published annually, others at longer inter- vals, as the income of the Institution or the changes in the branches of knowledge may indicate. 2. The reports are to be prepared by collaborators eminent in the different branches of knowledge. 3. Each collaborator to be furnished with the journals and publications, domestic and foreign, necessary to the compilation of his report: to be paid a certain sum for his labors, and to be named on the title-page of the report. 4. The reports to be published in separate parts, so that persons interested in a particular branch can procure the parts relating to it without purchasing the whole. 5. These reports may be presented to Congress for partial distribution, the remaining copies to be given to literary and scientific institutions and sold to indi- viduals for a moderate price. The followiny are some of the subjects which may be embraced in the reports : I. PHYSICAL CLASS. 1. Physics, including astronomy, natural philosophy, chemistry, and meteor- ology. 2. Natural history, including botany, zoology, geology, ete. 3. Agriculture. 4, Application of science to arts. Il. MORAL AND POLITICAL CLASS. Ethnology, including particular history,comparative philology, antiquities, ete. Statistics and political economy. Mental and moral philosophy. . A survey of the political events of the world; penal reform, ete. COT AHN VI ADVERTISEMENT, Il. LITERATURE AND THE FINE ARTS. 9. Modern literature. 10. The fine arts, and their application to the useful arts. 11. Bibliography. 12. Obituary notices of distinguished individuals. Il. To prerusr Knowiepcr.—/t és proposed to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest. 1. These treatises may occasionally consist of valuable memoirs translated from foreign languages, or of articles prepared under the direction of the Institution, or procured by offering premiums for the best exposition of a given subject. 2. The treatises to be submitted to a commission of competent judges previous to their publication. DETAILS OF THE SECOND PART OF THE PLAN OF ORGANIZATION. This part contemplates the formation of a library, a museum, and a gallery of art. 1. To carry out the plan before described a library will be required consisting, first, of a complete collection of the transactions and proceedings of all the learned societies of the world; second, of the more important current periodical publica- tions and other works necessary in preparing the periodical reports. 2. The Institution should make special collections particularly of objects to illustrate and verify its own publications; also a collection of instruments of research in all branches of experimental science. 3. With reference to the collection of books other than those mentioned above, catalogues of all the different libraries in the United States should be procured, in order that the valuable books first purchased may be such as are not to be found elsewhere in the United States, 4, Also catalogues of memoirs and of books in foreign libraries and other materials should be collected, for rendering the Institution a center of bibliographi- cal knowledge, whence the student may be directed to any work which he may require. 5. It is believed that the collections in natural history will increase by dona- tion as rapidly as the income of the Institution can make provision for their recep- tion, and therefore it will seldom be necessary to purchase any article of this kind. 6. Attempts should be made to procure for the gallery of art, casts of the most celebrated articles of ancient and modern sculpture. 7. The arts may be encouraged by providing a room, free of expense, for the exhibition of the objects of the Art Union and other similar societies. ADVERTISEMENT. vil 8. A small appropriation should annually be made for models of antiquities, such as those of the remains of ancient temples, ete. 9. The Secretary and his assistants, during the session of Congress, will be required to illustrate new discoveries in science and to exhibit new objects of art. Distinguished individuals should also be invited to give lectures on subjects of gen- eral interest. In accordance with the rules adopted in the programme of organization, the memoir in this volume has been favorably reported on by a commission appointed for its examination. It is, however, impossible, in most cases, to verify the state- ments of an author, and therefore neither the commission nor the Institution can be responsible for more than the general character of a memoir. OFFICERS OF THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION THEODORE, ROOSEVELT, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, EX OFFICIO PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE INSTITUTION. MELVILLE War Ue bok CHIEF FUSTICE OF THE UNITED STATES, CHANCELLOR OF THE INSTITUTION, SAMUEL P. LANGLEY, SECRETARY OF THE INSTITUTION. RICHARD, RADTHBUN ASSISTANT SECRETARY. VIII MEMBERS EX OFFICIO OF THE INSTITUTION THEoporE RoosrvELr (Vacancy) Menvinte W. Futier Joun Hay Lestre M. Suaw . Wi1am H. Tarr Wixiram H. Moopy . Henry C. Payne. Paut Morton Eraan Auten Hitcucock James WILSON . Vicror H. Mercaue President of the United States. Vice-President of the United States. Chief Justice of the United States. Secretary of State. Secretary of the Treasury. Secretary of War. Attorney-General. Postmaster- General. Secretary of the Navy. Secretary of the Interior. Secretary of Agriculture. Secretary of Commerce and Labor. Metvitte W. Fourier Wuiu1aM P. Frye SHetpy M. Cuttom Orvitte H. Prarr Franois M. CockrE.u Roserr R. Hirer Rosert Apams, JR. Hueu A. Dinsmore . James B. ANGELL Anprew D. Wuartre Ricoarp OLNEY Joun B. HenprErson ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL GEORGE GRay . REGENTS Chief Justice of the United States, Chancellor. President of the Senate pro tempore. Member Member Member Member Member Member Citizen Citizen Oitizen Citizen Citizen Citizen of the Senate of the United States. of the Senate of the United States. of the Senate of the United States. of the House of Representatives. of the House of Representatives. of the House of Representatives. of Michigan. of New York. of Massachusetts. of Washington City. of Washington City. of Delaware. CONTENTS Advertisement iil List of Officers, Members, and Regents of the Smithsonian Institution vill The Whalebone Whales of the Western North Atlantic, Compared with those Occurring in with some Observations on the Species of the North Pacific. European Waters; (Smith- By Freperick W. TRUE. Published 1904. 4to, vil, 332 PP-, 5° plates. sonian Publication No. 1414.) XI oy os SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE VOL. XXXIII. ities WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC COMPARED WITH THOSE OCCURRING IN EUROPEAN WATERS With SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPECIES OF THE NORTH, PACIBIG BY PRE DERICK We TRUE HEAD CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM (No. 1414) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 1904 COMMISSION TO WHOM THIS MEMOIR HAS BEEN REFERRED: THEODORE GILL, J. A. ALLEN, LEONHARD STEJNEGER. ADVERTISEMENT Dr. Frederick W. True, the author of the present memoir, has here brought together extensive original data relative to the external and osteological characters of the large whales of the western North Atlantic, for the purpose of determining whether the species are the same on both sides of that ocean. The facts have been derived from a study of fresh specimens at the Newfoundland whaling stations, the collection of the United States National Museum, and the skeletons in other large museums of the United States. Special study was given to the type-specimens of American species proposed by Professor E. D. Cope and Captain G. M. Scammon, all of which, with one exception, were examined by the author. The investigation is preparatory to a study of the geographical distribution and migrations of the larger cetaceans in the North Atlantic, which could not be undertaken until the identity of the species themselves was determined. Numer- ous facts, however, relating to the occurrence of whales at different points off the coasts of North America, and the seasons of their appearance and disappearance, have been assembled. The results of the investigation show that several American species which have been proposed are quite certainly nominal, and that, as a whole, the species of the Atlantic coast of North America cannot be distinguished from those of European waters. Some attention has been paid to the whales of the North Pacific. The in- formation previously recorded has been brought together in orderly sequence and various new facts added, but the amount of material at present available is insuffi- cient to serve as a basis for discrimination of closely allied species. It is certain, however, that the whales of the North Pacific, with one exception, bear an ex- tremely close resemblance to those of the North Atlantic. The California Gray whale, Rhachianectes glaucus, has no counterpart in the Atlantic. One well-known European species, the Pollack whale, Balwnoptera borealis, not previously known in North American waters, was observed at the Newfound- land whaling stations while this volume was passing through the press. The illustrations include views of the type-specimens of the species proposed iii 1V ADVERTISEMENT. by Cope and Scammon ; also numerous representations of the different individuals of the Common Finback and the Sulphurbottom, from photographs taken by the author at the Newfoundland whaling stations. The latter are of special value for the study of individual variation in these huge animals. In accordance with the rule of the Institution this paper has been referred to a committee consisting of Doctor Theodore Gill, Associate in Zoology, United States National Museum, Doctor J. A. Allen, Curator of Mammalogy in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, and Doctor Leonhard Stejneger, Curator in the Department of Biology, United States National Museum. SP; LANGE: SECRETARY. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June, 1904. TABLE OF CONTENTS. GY StEO tame G MENT OURO Sie hes cre at \eyste evel dks a sfos Sve) ye 10ie ners AI OLS IG EE Ree vil MeO LUG HLOM weer per pees ey k-keels 2, ste Mea arc stsiesae Shoe wee nate a aoe Si ala ore een ere OE ED 1 CHAPTER I. The Earliest References to Whalebone Whales in American Waters............ 200000 6 CHAPTER II. A Chronological Account of Important Contributions to the Natural History of North PATTIE CANIM gale Onem\Vihal ese Nasty -eeie ain oeiaerieianeiieaiee i rmisneieiciette Bee | CHAPTER III. Aulueview.oL cope s.and Scammon’s Species... ..05c ese. slant hee nce orcniesseenda tic eee 78 CHAPTER IV. The Common Finback, Balenoptera physalus (Linn.)............20000 cece cece cececeees 107 CHAPTER V. ithesSulphurbottom, Balenoptera musculus (Iuinn:)........:...ss-0s50e cess cess ces 149 CHAPTER VI. The Little Piked Whale, Balenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacépede.............20ee cece renee 192 CHAPTER VII. The Humpback, Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre).............-2ce cece cece sce e ee eeees 211 CHAPTER VIII. The North Atlantic Right Whale, Balena glacialis Bonnaterre..........-.....2 020002 244 CHAPTER IX. Whalebone Whales of the Eastern North Pacific ‘Ocean ...............-..--- sees coon 269 CHAPTER X. (COM CIUSTOME Reece ire tetera ara Peleicie. sre Kore ass oro yee stele. 0 Move) ooo uer> mialelniatoraetasol scokeleVeletountatcholeyoierats 297 APPEND EN Cee StiO Lm VVOLK SA O1bEC yao. ayeroisi avs c= eraletaislelelolele/e\e's/e sJelaie | olelebe/ ele -\cfelelstsistcieleisi=1= 303 Apprnpix 2. American Specimens of Whalebone Whales in European Museums,....... 308 IE IXIPTPANCATTONSOR GATES! c.ci5, c .ci0c eo vio ole 00 ew oe seieisiviois.se eisieje) ies vs alee emis shvisinie) ns wleleis dll Texas HEN etre oes ever Sct nrc/che ol etl slehaga ie) = in'v\ «clei ewelsie ls) ofa) clupaietafelelaxeierantals leieaio\ialelo sels (> 319 LIST OF TEXT FIGURES. PAGE FiguRESs 1 to 7. Dorsal Fin of Baleenoptera physalus.........20+ceeee er cen ee crete teeter ee eeneres 126 Figures 8 to 32. Sternum of Baleenoptera physalus .. 1.1... 6-0 c cece eee center tenet teense ene enees 140 FIGURES 33 to 36. Scapula of Baleenoptera physalus.......--++eecee sree ee ee etree sete e scene cence esse es 142 FIqurEs 37 to 44. Dorsal Fin of Balenoptera musculus ...... 0.002020 eee eerste eee settee teen e sess 172 Figures 45 to 48. Scapula of Baleenoptera niusculus...... 0... -ee eevee reece testes tenets ssc ese scess 186 FIaures 49 to 50. Sternum of Balenoptera musculus ..... 1.0.0.0 eee eee eee e tree e entree tenses sees 187 FIGURES 51 to 52. Sketches of Balenoptera acuto-rostrata, by JOSEPH P. THOMPSON...----++++++++++++- 193 FIGURES 53 to 56. Scapula of Balenoptera acuto-rostrata......-- +-+++ 0 serertese ees steese sete s cesses 203 FIGURES 57 to 66. Sternum of Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata............seee sees settee tees setae ee sees 205 Fiaure 67, Pectoral Fin of Balenoptera acuto-rostrata from Greemlandls =) ape icicsctetsrafoi=1 * Lawson, JouN, The History of Carolina, London, 1714, p. 153. This is the 2d ed. ‘The first published in 1709, I have not seen. Allen states that the two editions are textually identical. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. a7 vod shape, one being call’d a Bottle-Nosed Whale, the other a Shovel-Nose [shark 7], which is as diferent as a Salmon from a Sturgeon, “There is another sort of these Whales, or great Fish, ‘though not common. I never knew of above one of that sort, found on the Coast of North Carolina, and he was contrary, in Shape, to all others ever found before him, being sixty Foot in Length, and not above three or four Foot Diameter [ Finback a Lawson includes, without comment, Acosta’s story, published more than a century before, of the Florida Indians killing whales by driving plugs into their blowholes. In Catesby’s Natural History of Carolina, the first edition of which was pub- lished in 1781-33, we read only that “whales of different species are sometimes cast on shore, as are Grampus's, in storms and hurricanes.” ? Brickell, in 1737, in his Natural History of North Carolina, repeats parts of Lawson (1709) word for word, with some unimportant additions of his own.’ In 1725 we meet with the first original account of the whales of New England by an American colonist. This contribution, entitled “An Essay upon the Natural History of Whales,” * was written by Paul Dudley, Chief-Justice of Massachusetts, who was at once a jurist, a theologian, and a naturalist. He probably had little acquaintance with the subject from his own observation, and took his informa- tion at second or even at third hand. He tells us that he was informed as regards ambergris by a Mr. Atkins of Boston, a practical whaler, “one of the first that went out a fishing for the Sperma Ceti whales,” and that on the other topics he had the assistance of Mr. J. Coffin of Nantucket and Rev. Mr. Greenleafe of Yarmouth, Dudley’s essay, on account of the amount of original and generally accurate information it contains, deserves to take rank with those of Martens, Sibbald, Scoresby, and Zorgdrager. It is not a systematic treatise, but the several kinds of whales occurring on the New England coast are named and briefly described, with notes on their habits, reproduction, and other matters. The whales mentioned are: (1) “The Right, or Whalebone Whale”; (2) “The Scrag Whale”; (8) “The Finback Whale;” (4) “The Bunch, or Humpback Whale”; (5) “The Sperma Ceti Whale.” All of these are recognizable and have been assigned to their proper places generically, except the “ Scr rag” whale, which is, and alws ays has been, a stumbling- block to cetology. It was accepted, without criticism, as a separate species by Klein, Anderson, and other writers. In 1869, Nathaniel E, Atwood, a practical fisherman, and a well educated and observant man, who resided for many years at Provincetown, Mass., stated that the whalers there recognized a “Scrag” whale, but regarded it as the young of the Right whale” Scammon remarks: “Our 1 Op. cit., pp. 153-154. Lawson was Surveyor-General of North Carolina. 2 This is from the edition of 1743, vol. 2, p. Xxxii, which, however, appears not to differ from the original edition. * BRICKELL, J., The Natural History of North Carolina, 1737, pp. 215-226 * Philos. Trans, 33, No. 387, Mch. and Apr., 1725, pp. 256-269. ° Aten, J. A., Catalogue of the Mammals of Massachusetts. Bull. ALus. Comp. Zodl., 1, No. 8, 1869, p. 203. 38 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, observations make it certain that there is a ‘Scrag’ Right whale in the North Pacific which corresponds very nearly to that of the southern ocean.”* Macy, in his His- tory of Nantucket, informs us that it was the appearance of “a whale of the kind called Scragg” in the harbor there which led to the establishment of the whale fishery on that island.’ From these three observations it is evident that the term “scrag” is regularly included in the whaleman’s vocabulary. That there is a separate species to which the name applies is improbable, but it is still uncertain whether it merely character- izes abnormal individuals of the various species of Right whales, or definite varieties of one or more species of Right whales, or abnormal individuals of the large whales generally. The word “scrag,” of course, means emaciated, ill-favored, or rough and crooked. Further reference to this subject will be made later on. In 1741, we have for the first time, in Klein’s Historia Piscium, a summing up by a systematist of the American observations prior to that date. His classifi- cation is somewhat artificial and his nomenclature rather unsystematic. His synoptic table, in so far as it applies to the large whales, is as follows”: . In Dorso levi apinnes. . In Dorso gibbo apinnes. . In Dorso pinnate. Dorso leevi apinnes. Dorso levi pinnate. Dorso gibbo apinnes. Dorso gibbo pinnate. I. Edentulz Physeteres i I Balen II. Dentate [ PON RF WN The various species enumerated are as follows: BALEN& EDENTULA. In Dorso levi apinnes. 1. Balena vera Zorgdragert. | = Bowhead.| 2. Balena albicans; Weisfish Martensit & Zorgdr. [ = White whale.] 3. Balena glacialis; ita communiter: Eisfisch. a, Australis; Zud-Eisfisch; dorso valde depresso, Zorgdragert. 6. Occidentalis; West-Eisfisch; dorso minus depresso, Zyusdem. c. Borealis; Nordkaper, Zyusdem. [= Atlantic Right whale. ] In Dorso gibbo apinnes. 1. Gibbo unico prope caudam. Axnglis: The Bunch or Humbak Whale . . . Fin- fisch. Vid. Transact. Phil. Vol. XXXIII. No. 387. P. 258. [ = Hump- back whale of Dudley. ] 2. Gibbis vel Nodis sex. Balena macra, Anglis: Scrag-Whale. . . . PAil. Trans., tbid. | = Scrag whale of Dudley]. In Dorso pinnate. 1. Ore Balene vulgaris, laminis corneis donato. a, Balzna edentula, corpoire strictiore, dorso pinnato Raj. Finfish Zorgdr. Physeter Gesx. Anglis. Finbak-Whale. . . . Phil. Trans. al. 1. [Includes the Finback of Dudley.] 6. Fubartes; Balena nove Angliz. [The Bermuda Humpback of the anony- mous writer in Philos. Trans., 1, 1665, pp. 11-13. ] 2. Ore rostrato. [Not American.] *Scammon, C. M., Marine Mammals, 1874, p. 67. * Macy, O., History of Nantucket, 1835, p. 28. * KEIN, J. T., Historie Piscium naturalis, pt. 2, 1741, pp. 9-16. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 39 BALZN#& DENTATS. Dorso levi apinnes. 1. Cete Clusti Exot. [Not American. ] 2. Cachelot s. Potfish Zorgdragert. [= Sperm whale. ] Dorso levi pinnate. 1. Balena major. {Not American. ] 2. Mular Nierembergii. [Do.]| 3. Linckit. [Do.] Dorso gibbo apinnes. Dudleji Balena. | = Sperma Ceti whale of Dudley. ] Dorso gibbo pinnate. Balena, Tigridis instar, variegata. In 1741 appeared the first edition of Egede’s Description of Greenland. Egede was for twenty-five years a missionary in that country and must have had many opportunities for obtaining information regarding whales. He mentions and briefly describes various cetaceans, including “ the Whale” (Bowhead), the “ Finned whale” or “Fin-Fish,” the “ Nord Caper,” and the “Cachelot.” The matter relating to the “Nord Caper” appears to have been extracted from some earlier author, but the remainder is original. It is for the most part accurate, and is of interest on account of the frequency with which it is quoted by later writers.’ In 1746 John Anderson, burgomeister of Hamburg, a scholarly writer and painstaking naturalist, published an excellent résumé of what was then known of whales in northern waters, in his Nachrichten von Island, Grénland und der Strasse Davis.” He appears not to have acquired any knowledge of the natural his- tory of the cetaceans by direct observation, but diligently pursued inquiries among the whalers and fishermen who came to Hamburg. He took every opportunity to examine the treasures in the various European museums then established, and as- sembled a natural history cabinet of his own. In the course of his essay on Greenland and Davis Strait, Anderson stops to consider the cetaceans. He includes and comments on the various species mentioned by Paul Dudley in 1725, and the earlier anonymous writer in the Philosophical Transactions. His classification and the species of whalebone whales mentioned are as follows: Genus Cefaceum. (1) Whales with blowholes. (2) 2) Whales with nostrils.° Or, (1) Whales with smooth backs. [=Zalenine.] (a) The true whale, or Greenland Right whale. [=Zalena mysticetus.] (4) The Nordcaper. [=JB. glacialis or biscayensis.] (2) Whales with the back grown out. [= Balenofpterine.] 1 Ecepr, H., A Description of Greenland. Translated from the Danish. London, 1745, pp. 65-82, pls.5 and 6. Ihave not seen the original edition. * Hamburg, 1746, pp. 95-103, 185-230. * Anderson comments on the fact that the Greenland whalemen have not seen any of the second class, and states that he would disbelieve in their existence but for Sibbald’s observations. Sibbald, however, while speaking of nostrils really describes the blowholes, having apparently be- come confused between the simple blowhole of the toothed whales and the double one of the whale- bone whales. 40 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, (1) With a dorsal fin. [=Zalenoptera.] (a) The Finfish. [=Zalenoptera physalus.] (4) The Jupiter, or Jupiter-fish. [Includes (with a query) the Humpback of the Bermudas, and the Balena vera of Rondelet, and Balenoptera physalus. | (2) With one or more knobs [Puckeln]. (a) “The Swordfish of our Greenland voyagers.” [= Orcinus.] (6) The American “ Pflockfisch."”. ,[=The Humpback of Dudley. ] (c) The “ Knotenfisch” or “ Knobbelfisch.” [=Scrag whale of Dudley.] On page 197, Anderson discusses the identity of the Jupiter-fish and remarks that he cannot state positively what it is. He gives, however, an excellent descrip- tion, derived from certain fishermen, of one killed in 1728, which is clearly Lalenop- tera physalus. He suspects that this is the same as the whale occurring in the Bermudas, described by the anonymous writer of 1665 in the PAzlosophical Trans- actions, and there said to resemble the “Jubartes”'; but in this he was mistaken as the whale there described was the Humpback. He gives Latin polynomial names to Dudley’s Humpback and Scrag whale, but adds nothing to their natural history. Anderson’s classification is less formal than Klein’s and is hardly an improve- ment upon it. The general accuracy of his natural history notes, however, and his earnestness and instinct for suspecting errors, though he could not always prove them such, are especially noteworthy. His only contributions to the natural history of species of whalebone whales occurring in American waters are the notes on the Greenland whale, 2. mysticetus, which he had from the whalers, and possibly the description of B. physalus (2), under the name of Jupiter-fish. Brisson’s Régne Animal, published in 1756, contains mention of the species described by earlier authors, but no new information. All the whalebone whales are included in the genus Balena. The species to which American localities are assigned are the “common Greenland whale” (= Balana mysticetus), “the whale of New England” (=the Humpback of Dudley), and “the whale with six humps” (= the Scrag whale of Dudley). To these is added “the Gibbar,” which is “ fre- quently found in India and in the New World.” The synonymy given in connec- tion with this species includes most of the natural history writers who preceded Brisson, and it is not clear from which of them he derived the information that it occurred in America, though probably he took it from Klein, who in turn refers back to Dudley’s account of the Finback, in the Philosophical Transactions. The next work to be considered —the tenth edition of Linnzeus’s Systema Nature (1758) —though it marks the beginning of a new period as regards zoological classification and nomenclature, is of very little importance in relation to American cetology. But four species of baleen whales are mentioned, and the statement that Balwna mysticetus “lives in the Greenland Ocean” is the sole allu- sion to anything American. Even this may refer to Spitzbergen rather than to Greenland proper, or “Old Greenland.” The twelfth edition (1766) mentions that Balena physalus “lives in the European and American Ocean,”* but nothing " Philos. Trans., 1, 1665, No. 1, p. 12. * Page 106. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 41 else of interest in the present connection. The various editions of the Systema after the twelfth, published in German, Dutch, English, ete., contain no original American matter on cetaceans, and, except Gmelin’s (1788), no improvements as regards classification. The earliest is Houttuyn’s Dutch translation (1762), which appears to have no original information. All the baleen whales remain together under the head of Balene. The Linnean species mysticetus, physalus, boops, and musculus, are de- scribed and commented on under their Latin names, after which occurs the “ Neiuw Engelandsche Penvisch” and the “ Knobbel Visch.” These are Dudley’s Hump- back and Serag whales, but our author obtains his knowledge of them through Brisson and Anderson. Farther on we come upon Acosta’s fable of the Indians killing whales by plugging their blowholes, which is inserted without comment or indication of its origin.' The only American references in Boddaert’s edition (1772), are as follows: “Vinviseh” (a) with two blowholes, and a knob on the back. Lives in New Eng- land. “Knobbelvisch” (2) whale, with two blowholes and six knobs on the back. These are, of course, Dudley’s Humpback and Scrag whales.’ In 1773 Miller published an annotated edition of the Systema, based on the twelfth edition and the work of Houttuyn. He has the four Linnean species of whalebone whales, all in the genus Lalwna, and adds three others (without Latin names) which he found in later authors. ‘Two of these are Dudley’s Humpback and Serag whales, under the names of “ Pflockfish ” and “ Knotenfish,” which Miller doubtless knew only indirectly through Anderson, or some other writer.” Gmelin’s edition of 1788, or the thirteenth Latin edition, is considerably fuller than the tenth or twelfth, but contains only one added species of whalebone whale, —Balena gibbosa. This is made up of Dudley’s Scrag whale and Humpback combined, though all the references are at second hand. The two forms are designated as a. and d., but not named as varieties. It is an interesting question whether the name gidbosa can be applied to the Humpback. Another nominal species included with the baleen whales is the Balena rostrata of Miller's Prodro- mus. This is, however, probably the Hyperoddon. The Nordeaper is included as “3,” under Balena mysticetus, but without a Latin varietal name; and Egede, Anderson, and Cranz are quoted in the synonymy.” In 1800 William Turton published an English translation of the Systema from Gmelin’s edition of 1788. Only two baleen whales have American habitats assigned to them, B. physalus (“Fin-fish”), which inhabits “the American and European seas”; and B. gibbosa. This latter is called “Hump whale” by Turton and is said to inhabit the “coasts of New England.” It is made by uniting Dudley’s ‘Hourtruyn, F., Natuurlyke Historie volgens Linneus, 1, pt. 3, 1762, Pp. 441-500. ? BoppaeErt, P., Kortbegrip van het zamenstel der Natuur, van den Heer C. Linnzus, 1, pt. 1, 1772; P- 93. *Mixter, P. L. S., Des Ritters Carl von Linné vollstandiges Natursystem, 1, 1773, P- 493- ‘See Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 21, 1898, p. 633. °GMeELin, J. F., Systema Nature, 13th ed., Leipzig, 1, 1788, pp. 223-226. 42 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Humpback and Scrag whales under one name as in Gmelin’s work, Turton omits all bibliographical references.’ While these various editions and translations of Linnzus’s works were in course of publication, numerous other systematic works on a more or less independent basis made their appearance. One of the earliest of these was O. F. Miller’s Pro- dromus of the Zoblogy of Denmark (including Greenland), published in 1776." It is a list of species under Latin binomials and polynomials, or diagnoses, with the Norwegian, Icelandic, and Greenlandic names added. The baleen whales are all included in the genus Lalena, and the following have Greenlandic names: B. mysticetus, Reid or Arbavirksoak |Bowhead]; 3. physalus, Keporkak,’ or Keporkarsoak [Finback]; 2. albicans, Killelluak [White whale]. The next important systematist, Erxleben, prefaces the list of cetacea in his ex- cellent Systema Regni Animalis (1777) * with the remark that the species are but imperfectly known. The baleen whales are all retained in the genus Lalwna, and the species are the Linnean ones with the addition of 2. gibbosa. Of L. mysticetus he gives the habitat as toward the North Pole, chiefly about Green- land and Spitzbergen, and among his numerous authorities cites Egede, Anderson, and Cranz. He is in doubt about the Nordeaper, and does not separate it for: mally from mysticetus. LB. physalus is given as occurring “in the European and American Ocean,” and the authorities cited include Egede (Finne-fiske), Anderson, and Cranz (Finnfisch). Erxleben is in doubt about the Pflockfisch (Dudley’s Humpback), but thinks it may belong with physalus, which is, of course, incorrect. The habitat given is “about New England.” He cites it at second hand from Klein, Anderson, and others. The habitat of 5. doops is in “the northern ocean.” Anderson and Cranz (Jupiterfisch) are cited among the authorities. 4. gibbosa is Dudley’s Scrag whale, which he takes at second hand from Klein, Anderson, and other compilers. No habitat is given.’ Three years later, in 1780, Otto Fabricius, who was for several years a missionary in Greenland, published his well-known Fauna Grcenlandica, a very concise and judicious work, and one whose influence on zoblogical nomenclature has continued to the present day. In treating of the cetaceans it is hardly to be expected that he would escape errors entirely, especially considering the back- ward state of cetology at the time, but his descriptions are for the most part remarkably clear. ‘For Czenpinski’s Totius Regni Animalis Genera in Classes et Ordines Linnewana methodo digesta, 1778, see Allen’s Bibliography, p. 468, No. 346. * MULLER, O. F., Zodlogiz Danicz Prodromus, 1776, pp. viii, 6-8. *On p. vill of the introduction Miiller transfers this name to &. doops [Humpback] on the authority of Fabricius. “Pp. 601-611. * Dr. J. A. Allen in his Bibliography of Cetacea, p. 467, No. 341, remarks that B. gidbosa of Erxleben is not the Scrag whale of Dudley, “ as usually stated, which is one of the ‘species obscure’ not formally recognized.” This is an error. The only one of the “ species obscure ”’ from Dudley cited by Erxleben, on p. 617 is the “ Dudleji Balena Klein.” ‘This is Dudley’s sperm whale. On the other hand, all the bibliographical citations under &. gédéosa and the diagnosis refer back to Dudley’s Scrag whale. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTIT ATLANTIC. 43 J The whalebone whales are brought together under the genus Balena as follows: Balena mysticetus | Bowhe: ad, B. physalus {Common EK inback |, 2. boops [Humpback], 4. rostrata [Little Piked whale], and 2. musculus. This last was not known to Fabricius himself, and he remarks regarding it: “A whale known under a Greenlandic name allied to the preceding [Be oops and rarely seen, which indeed its name indicates. I am perplexed regarding the synonyms of it and the wonderful confusion of them among authors; and being denied by fate to see one of them, I am able to determine nothing with certainty.” In 1818 Fabricius gave a further description of the Greenland Humpback, under the name of “Stub-Hval.”' He treats of its name, external characters and coloration, distribution and migrations, food, uses, enemies and parasites, and syn- onymy. The figure which accompanies the article, though interesting, is grossly inaccurate in many particulars. It is quite as good, however, as many others of its time. That it was not made use of by compilers subsequently is somewhat singular. An important list of American cetaceans was published in 1782 in a work whose title—Letters from an American Farmer—one would hardly expect to find in a bibliography of cetology.” The author, Hector St. John de Crévecceur, seems to have had more or less knowledge of the whaling industry from practical exper'- ence, and states that he was “well acquainted” with one kind of whale. His list purports to comprise the species known to the people of Nantucket, and reflects an accuracy of knowledge which is remarkable for its time. “The river St. Laurence whale [he remarks] which is the only one I am well acquainted with, is seventy-five feet long, sixteen deep, twelve in the length of its bone (which commonly weighs 3000 Ib.), twenty in the breadth of their tails, and produces 180 barrels of oil. ne This is, of course, the Bowhead, and its mention in this manner seems to sup- port the assertion made by Thomas Edge more than a century before (1625), that the Bowhead at a still earlier date was taken in the “Grand Bay of Newfoundland ” [Strait of Belle Isle]. See page 11. De Crévecceur proceeds: “The following are the names and principal character- istics of the various species of whales known to these people [of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard |: “The River St. Laurence whale, just described. “The disko, or Greenland ditto. “The right ‘whale, or seven feet bone, common on the coasts of this country, about sixty feet long. ‘Fapricius, O., Zoologiske Bidrag. 2det Bidrag. Om Stub-Hvalen, Balena Boops. K. Danske Videns. Selsh. Skrivter, 6, 1818, pp. 63-83, 1 pl. (unnumbered), fig. rt. 2Letters from an American Farmer describing the British Colonies in North America, London, 1782, pp. 167-169. Allen (Bibliog., p. 472), states that “ In the French edition of 1767 [ege 1787], the letter about the whale-fishery is dated ‘ Nantucket, 17 Octobre, 1772.’ a * Op. cit., p. 167. 44 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. “The spermaceti whale, found all over the world, and of all sizes; the longest are sixty feet, and yield about 100 barrels of oil. “The hump-backs, on the coast of Newfoundland, from forty to seventy feet in length. «The finn. back, an American whale, never killed, as being too swift. “The sulphur-bottom, river St. Laurence, ninety feet “long ; they are but seldom killed, as being extremely swift. “The grampus, thirty feet long, never killed on the same account. “The killer or thrasher, about thirty feet; they often kill the other whales, with which they are at perpetual war. “The black fish whale, twenty feet, yields from eight to ten barrels. “The porpoise, weighing about 160 pounds.” In this same year, 1782, was published Duhamel’s great Traité Général des Péches. He also alludes to the occurrence of Bowheads in the temperate waters of Canada. “T know that some small whales [| Nordcapers] are taken in Iceland, and that some large ones | Bow heads | are found sometimes accidentally in the more temper- ate Provinces, especially in Canada, where the large whales [ Bow heads| are for the most part wounded by harpoons; some even are “dead, which leads one to believe that they are whales which, having been chased and wounded in the northern parts, have left their home to retire into other quarters.” ? What led Duhamel to make this explanation is not evident, but if the Bow- head was really fished for in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it seems unlikely that wounded and dead whales would be the object of pursuit. Referring to the causes which induced the English to withdraw from the Greenland fishery, Duhamel remarks : “Others pretend that the Dutch having succeeded in carrying on the fishery [at Greenland] with more economy than the ‘English, the latter have found it more convenient and advantageous to carry on the fishery on the coasts of New England, New York, and Carolina, where they maintain many vessels, which carry the pro- duct of their fishery to England. The whales that are taken in these places are smaller than those found in the ice of the north ; nevertheless, in proportion to their size, they yield oil quite abundantly.” * On page 28 he gives Acosta’s story of the Florida Indians, without referring to the former, but remarks: “The truth of this which we have said has been attested by many ocular witnesses, among others, by many officers, who: have been ready to establish these facts.” This is the first time since 1590, I believe, that any one has been willing to vouch for the truth of Acosta’s story. A writer of this period who labored earnestly, and with some measure of suc- cess, to abate the confusion existing in cetology, was the Abbé Bonnaterre, whose Tableau Eneyclopédique was published as a supplement to the Encyclopedia * DUHAMEL, Traité Général des Péches, 4, p. Io. * Op. cit., 4, p. 28. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. + or Méthodique in 1789.’ He was well acquainted with the literature, conscious of the errors existing, and in his introduction endeavored to impress on his readers the necessity of more accuracy and detail in the descriptions of cetaceans. He seems, however, to have had little personal familiarity with the animals he treated of, and was therefore at a disadvantage in estimating the accuracy or inaccuracy of the naturalists who preceded him. The matter relating to the whalebone whales is almost entirely a compilation, but the scientific names applied to the various species are of interest. All the whalebone whales are assembled in the genus Balena. The species are as follows: 1. Lb. mysticetus. “Greenland Whale.” (P. 1.) oe This species is very common toward the North Pole, in the Greenland and Spitzbergen seas, chiefly beyond the 66th degree, north latitude.” (P. 3.) An excellent general account is compiled from various authors, including Fabricius, but there is no new matter other than a table of measurements of a specimen 48 feet long, reported by Captain de Pagés, 2. B. glacialis. “The Nordcaper.” (P. 3.) “Tnhabits the northern seas, about Norway and Iceland. 3. B. physalus. “The Gibbar.” (P. 4.) “Found in the seas of Greenland, the European Ocean, India, and the New World.” The account of the species is compiled chiefly from Martens, Linnzeus, and Fabricius. ” 4, B.nodosa. “The ‘tampon’ whale.” (P. 5.) “Found in New England.” This is Dudley’s Humpback. Bonnaterre quotes from Dudley’s account, but does not realize that this is the sole original source, and that all the other authors he cites take their information from it. 5. B. gibbosa. “The whale with ‘bosses.’” (P. 5.) “Tnhabits the seas about New England.” This is Dudley’s Scrag whale, though Bonnaterre takes his information from Anderson and Klein, and is at a loss to understand why the former should assert that it yields as much oil as B. mysticetus, while the latter calls it meagre (L. macra). This apparent contradiction is due, of course, to the fact that Dudley states that the Scrag whale is “nearest to the Right whale for quantity of oil,” while Klein has translated the word “scrag” by macra. 1 BonNNATERRE, Tableau Encyclopédique et Méthodique des Trois Régnes de la Nature— ° Cetologie. Paris, 1789. 4. 46 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 6. B. boops. “The Jubarte.” (P. 6.) “Pound ordinarily in the Greenland seas, between the 61st and 65th degrees of latitude, about Pamiuk and Pissukbik.” Bonnaterre paraphrases Fabricius’s account of B. boops, which relates, of course, to the Humpback. He closes with the naive remark: “Judging from the description of Otto Fabricius, it seems to me that there is a shght defectuosity in the figure which we have given.” As the figure given is from Sibbald and repre- sents a Finback rather than a Humpback, the “defectuosity” is not surprising. Bonnaterre also quotes in this place Sibbald’s measurements of this same Finback which Linnzeus called Balwena boops. By thus combining Linneus’s L. doops (a Finback) and Fabricius’s 4. doops (a Humpback) Bonnaterre caused confusion which has lasted until the present time. In a recent paper I endeavored to point out the facts in the case.’ It is somewhat singular that so critical a naturalist as 3onnaterre failed to discover that his 2. nodosa (from Dudley) and his 2. boops (from Fabricius) were very closely related, if not identical. A 7. £BL. musculus. “The Rorqual.” (P. 7.) “Tn Iceland, called Steipe Reydus.” Bonnaterre has the correct Icelandic name in this case. He quotes Sibbald’s account and measurements. 8. B. rostrata. “ Beaked whale.” (P. 8.) “Found in large numbers in the Greenland seas; it frequently visits the seas of Europe.” Bonnaterre quotes Fabricius and Hunter. This is the Little Piked whale, Balenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacépede. Nineteenth Century. In the opening decades of the nineteenth century decided advances were made in the classification of whales, in the observation of their habits, and in the descrip- tion of their structure. Lacépéde, Scoresby, G. Cuvier, F. Cuvier, Desmarest, Home, Camper, Brandt and Ratzburg, and Fischer were among the most important contributors to cetological literature at this period, but their work has little or nothing to do directly with American species or American observations. The narrative of Lewis and Clark’s memorable expedition to the Pacific coast in 1804—06 contains a few references to whales, which are so brief that they may be quoted here in full. The earliest incident dates from January 4, 1806, when * Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., 21, 1898, p. 624. It is true that Fabricius himself adopted Linnzus’s names, and cited the Systema Nature, but it is not likely that he had access to the sources from which the latter derived his facts, as Bonnaterre did. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 47 the travellers were on the Oregon coast near the mouth of the Columbia River, and is as follows: “Friday [January 4, 1806]. At eleven o’clock we were visited by our neigh- bor the Fia, or chief Comowool, who is also called Coone, and six Clatsops. Besides roots, and berries, they brought for sale three dogs and some fresh blubber. The blubber, which is esteemed by the Indians an excellent food, has been obtained, they tell us, from their neighbors the Killamucks, a nation who live on the seacoast to the southeast, and near one of whose villages a whale had recently been thrown and foundered. : “7.6. ~6©We continued for two miles along the sand beach [Jan. 8, 1806]; and after crossing a creek [Nehalem River, Oregon], eighty yards in width, near which are five cabins, reached the place where the waves had thrown the whale on shore. The animal had been placed between two Killamuck villages, and such was their industry, that there now remained nothing more than the skeleton, which we found to be one hundred and five feet in length.”? The second note refers to the Oregon coast in general, and is as follows: “The whale is sometimes pursued, harpooned and taken by the Indians, although it is much more frequently killed by running foul of the rocks in violent storms, and thrown on shore by the action of the wind and tide. In either case, the Indians preserve and eat the blubber and oil; the bone they carefully extract and expose to sale.” * The systematic treatises of Dr. J. E. Gray, beginning with the Spicilegia Zoologica in 1828, and ending with the Supplement to the Catalogue of Seals and Whales in the British Museum in 1871,° cover all groups of cetaceans and include many species founded on American material and observations. Gray was accus- tomed to establish genera and species ov quite slight differences, real or fancied, and in so difficult a group as the Cetacea this tendency had full play. A large number of the species which he recognized were rejected by the more conservative cetologists who were contemporary with him, or followed him, but in the case of some genera there is no doubt that the condensation has been too great. Among the genera and species which Gray recognized or established are some from American waters. In his Supplement, which contains his last published views, they are as follows: Family 1. Balznide. Balena mysticetus. [Greenland Whale. ] Eubalena? cisarctica. “Inhab. Atlantic.” [From Cope. The Biscay whale he makes a separate species, Hunterius biscayensts. | Family 2. Agaphelide. Scrag Whales. Agaphelus gibbosus. “ Inhab. North Atlantic.” [From Cope and Dudley. ] Rhachianectes glaucus. “‘ Inhab. California, San Francisco.” [From Cope. ] ‘History of the Expedition of Captains Iewis and Clark, 2, 1814, pp. 104, 110-111. Coues’s edition has the following note (2, p. 750): “ Clark I 99 erases ‘105’ and gives no dimensions.” * Ob. cit., p. 196. * Gray, J. E., Supplement to the Catalogue of the Seals and Whales in the British Museum, 8°, 1871. 48 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, Family 3. Megapteride. Humpbacked Whales. Megaptera americana. ‘“‘Inhab. Bermuda.” [From the anonymous writer of 1665 in the Philos. Transactions, Dudley, a tracing in the British Museum, and Hartt’s Geology and Physical Geography of Brazil. ] Megaptera osphyia. ‘‘Inhab. Atlantic.” [From Cope. | Megaptera versabilis. ‘“‘ Inhab. North Pacific, California coast.” [From Cope. | Eschrichtus robustus. ‘‘ Inhab. North Sea, coast of Devonshire, Sweden, Atlantic.” [The only American reference is Cope’s statement that there is aramus of an under jaw in the museum of Rutgers College. | Family 4. Physalidee. Physalus antiquorum. “ Inhab. North Sea, Greenland, Hampshire, etc.” Sibbaldius sulphureus. ‘‘Inhab. North Pacific, northwest coast of America, California.” | From Cope. ] Sibbaldius tectirostris. ‘‘ Inhab. North Pacific” [really Atlantic]. [From Cope. ] Sibbaldius tuberosus. ‘‘Inhab. northeast coast of America.” [From Cope. | Balenoptera velifera. ‘“‘ Inhab. Oregon, California, Queen Charlotte’s Sound.” [| From Cope. | In all this, it will be observed, there is but one species which Gray himself established, J/egaptera americana. For this the only original material he had was a tracing of unknown origin. It is singular that he does not give J/. longimana an American habitat, as in the Catalogue of 1866 he mentioned four specimens from Greenland as being in the British Museum. They were from Eschricht’s collection. In 1870 Dr. Gray published an article entitled “The Geographical Distribu- tion of the Cetacea,”? which is a kind of confession of faith as regards the discrimi- nation of species and allied matters. It presents in the clearest manner Dr. Gray’s views on these subjects, and is accompanied by an extensive list of species, which latter are divided among three geographical areas: (1) the northern and temperate seas, (2) the tropical seas, and (3) the south, or southern temperate seas. The list contains no less than 50 species and varieties of baleen whales. It is full of errors and misconceptions, and is chiefly interesting as showing Dr. Gray’s point of view at the time it was published. Much more can doubtless be said in favor of that part of the list which relates to the Delphinide than that which includes the Balenide. In Feb., 1874, Dr. Gray published a brief note on the Megaptera belicosa of Cope,” in which he expressed the opinion that the species was a very distinet one, but that the name was a synonym of A/egaptera americana Gray. Frederic Cuvier’s Natural History of Cetaceans, published in 1836,’ contains "Gray, J. E., The Geographical Distribution of the Cetacea. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), 6, 1870, 387-394. * Gray, J. E., On the Bermuda Humpbacked Whale of Dudley (2a/ena nodosa, Bonnaterre; Megaptera americana, Gray; and Megaptera bellicosa, Cope). Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), 13, 1874, p. 186. * Cuvier, F., Del’ Histoire Naturelle des Cétacés, 1836. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 49 a few references to American baleen whales. The work is a comprehensive one, and contains a summary of most of the important observations previously pub- lished. The treatment of species is conservative, but the conclusions reached have not all been confirmed by later researches. The whalebone whales are placed in two genera, “the rorquals” and “the whales.” For the former the new genus Rorqualus is established, and the species recognized are 2. boops, R. miusentes and &. antarcticus. Under fRorgualus, Cuvier mentions the observations of Dudley, Egede, and Anderson, which have to do with American whales. Regarding Dudley he says: ° “Dudley speaks also of two whales with folds under the body, and a dorsal protuberance: the ‘ Finback whale,’ of which the dorsal fin is 24 feet long, and the pectoral fins from 6 to 7 feet; the * Humpback whale,’ which, in place of a fin, has a simple hump a foot hich and pointed behind. — Its pectoral ane are somebimes 18 feet long and very white. But these ideas, derived from Dudley, seem to have been poorly appreciated up to this time.” ! This is an odd remark, as Cuvier himself seems not to have appreciated the singularity of a whale with pectoral fins “18 feet long and very white.” He makes no further reference to it, except to remark that “ the ‘ Humpback whale’ of the same author [Dudley] is not a whale, but a rorqual; for he says, in explicit terms, that this cetacean has longitudinal folds —like that of which he speaks immediately before (the ‘ Finback whale ’)— on the belly and sides, from the head to the origin of the pectoral fins.” Regarding Dudley’s description of the “Scrag whale” Cuvier remarks : “For ourselves, we only see in it a very insignificant note, which probably contains an error in citing the protuberances of the back as osseous; 1t only serves to arouse suspicions as to the value of the characters drawn from these protuber- ances, and further to make it doubtful whether this cetacean was not a rorqual, for the ‘Finback whale’ to which Dudley compares his ‘Scrag whale’ is a genuine rorqual,” * Cuvier rejects the Nordcaper as a separate species. The epoch-making works of Eschricht cover the period from 1840 to 1873. He investigated many phases of cetology beyond the scope of the present paper. On account of the diversity of the subjects treated of and the immense mass of facts accumulated, it is very difficult to summarize his work. The larger part of his investigations relate to baleen whales, and much of his material was American, having been obtained by Captain Holbéll in Greenland. This material consisted chiefly of specimens of the Greenland Humpback, both skeletons of adult individu- als, fcetuses, and anatomical preparations. Many of the skeletons were distributed to other European museums beside those of Copenhagen, and the descriptions of the Humpback published by Van Beneden and other European writers are drawn from these American specimens. . The main body of Eschricht’s work is the series of six essays in the Royal +Cuvier, F., De l’Histoire Naturelle des Cétacés, 1836, p. 309 Op cit. Ps 355: D0 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Danish Scientific Society’s Afhandlinger and Skrifter, 1845-1849." Being in the Danish language, they are a sealed book to many zodlogists, who either lack the opportunity, or have not the inclination, to acquire that tongue. For this reason they were not appreciated by Eschricht’s contemporaries as they might have been. Feeling this himself, he undertook to republish the series in German with many changes and additions, but the German edition was never completed. More will be said of it later. The essays themselves were preceded by several short papers, begin- ning in 1840, in which the scope and objects of the investigations were described. The essays may be summarized as follows: Essay 1.— Remarks on the earlier and present phases of cetology. In this essay Eschricht treats chiefly of the history of different departments of cetology, beginning with the De/phinide, The genus Hyperoddon is briefly consid- ered, and afterwards he treats of the sperm whale in much detail. Next follow the baleen whales, of which there are stated to be two groups—Right whales and Finbacks. Regarding the former, Eschricht remarks: ‘Since Cuvier’s time two kinds are usually distinguished, the northern Balena mysticetus, and the southern, B. australis.” At this date Eschricht seems not to have discovered that the Nord- caper was distinct from 2. mysticetus or even from the Humpback. He next takes up the question of geographical distribution, notes the reduction in numbers of whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but combats the theory that the distribution area shrinks at any time. He refers to the distribution of the Right whale in the South Atlantic, and quotes Holbéll as to the migrations of the Greenland whale on the west coast of Greenland. He mentions Dudley and gives the seasons for the whale fishery and other details. Next come the Finbacks, including under that head the Humpbacks. He describes their distribution; mentions Sibbald, the anonymous writer in the Phil. Trans., etc.; cites their use as a food resource by Greenlanders and Norwegians, and their relative value for oil, ete. He describes the early modes of fishing for large whales in Norway and elsewhere ; quotes Fabricius’s account of the Humpback fishery in Greenland and also that of Holbdéll; states that the Greenlanders cared little for the Finbacks, but that Humpbacks have been taken regularly at Greenland and also at Bermuda. He then takes up the question as to whether the Basque fishery of the sixteenth and seventeenth century may not have been for Finbacks, “1. Bemerkninger over Cetologiens tidligere og nzrverende Skjebne. Dansk. Videns. Selsk. natur, og math. Afhandl., 11, 1845, pp. 129-202. 2. Anatomisk Beskrivelse af de ydre Fosterformer hos to nordiske Finhval-Arter, med Anven- delse paa Physiologien og Zoologien. Do., pp. 203-279. 3. Om Fosterformerne i Bardehvalernes Ernaerings- og Forplantelsesredskaber. Do., pp. 281-320, pls. 1-4. 4. Om Nebhvalen. Do., pp. 321-378, pls. 5-8. 5. Finhvalernes Osteologie og Artsadskillelse. Do., 12, 1846, pp. 225-396, pls. 9-16. 6. Udbytte paa en Reise gjennem det nordvestlige Europa i Sommeren 1846, som Tilleg til de foregaaende Afhandlinger. Dansk. Videns. Selsk. Skrifter, 5te Rackke, natur. og math. Afd., 1, 1849, pp. 85-138. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 51 and leaves it with the remark that neither Right whales nor the Common Finback seem to fit the accounts. He states that there was apparently no regular coast fishery formerly from which opportunity could be had to investigate the Finbacks, and hence knowledge of them depended on occasional strandings. He gives a brief account of specimens examined on various parts of the coast of Europe at different dates. He then takes up the history of the development of knowledge regarding Finbacks, citing Dudley, Sibbald, Cuvier, Holboll, ete. Eschricht concludes that one may be convinced that there are many species of Finbacks in the south seas and the north, and states that the characters of these will be treated of in subsequent essays. He calls attention to the defects of anatomical descriptions, due to imperfect material, and to the use of fishery stations, especially in Greenland and near Bergen, and enumerates the advantages to be obtained. He then mentions the material obtained by him from Holboll and Christie (in Bergen). Essay 2.— Anatomical descriptions of the external form of the fatuses of two species of Northern Finbacks, with application to physiology and zoology. The two species of Finbacks are the Little Piked whale, Lalwnoptera acuto- rostrata, and the Greenland Humpback. Though of much importance, the descrip- tions are not germane to the purpose of the present paper, but the essay ends with a section “on the use of whale fcetuses in the determination of species,” in which the characters of Fabricius’s 2. boops and Rudolphi’s 2. Jongimana are carefully con- sidered, and the conclusion reached that “the 2. longimana of Rudolphi and Brandt really is specifically identical with Fabricius’s 2. doops.” Essay 3.—On the fetal forms of the alimentary and reproductive apparatus in the baleen whales. Essay 4.—On Beaked whales | Hyperoddon |. These two essays do not concern us in the present connection. Their contents are sufficiently indicated in the titles. Essay 5.—The osteology and discrimination of species of Finback whales. In this long and important essay the skeletons of Lalenoptera acuto-rostrata and the Greenland Humpback are minutely described and many bones figured. Eschricht then takes up the question of the specific characters of the two whales above mentioned and enumerates them seriatim, after which he enumerates the dif- ferences which seem to separate the Little Piked whale, or Tikagulik of Greenland, from the Vaagehval (B. acuto-rostrata) of Norway. Regarding this he says that as to whether they are specifically identical he has many times changed his opinion. Later he remarks: “As the Vaagehval and Tikagulik agree fully, especially in regard to the color of the baleen and the number of vertebra, as well as in the whole and every part of the different sections of the vertebral column, I have not thought that the above-mentioned differences can be considered as sufficient ground on which to establish specific distinctness.” He then describes a Common Finback which stranded on the coast of Norway in 1841, and discusses its affinities, and afterwards enumerates the kinds of whales found in Greenland waters and known to the Eskimos, and quotes a description and measurements by Moller of a Finback 52 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, stranded at Godhayn, Greenland, in 1843. He discusses MGller’s data and describes and figures one of the pectoral fins of this specimen which was sent to him, and connects the species with Holb6ll’s “ Kepokarnak ” and the Ostend Finback of 1827. He sums up the whole section as follows: That it is demonstrated that there are at least three different species of Finbacks in the northern seas: (1st) “In the long- handed group, the Greenland ‘ Keporkak,’ B. longimana ; in the short-handed, (2d) the Norwegian ‘ Vaagehval,’ B. minor, and (3d) the common, large short-handed Fin- back, B. boops.” That there are as good as certain (4th) a special large, short-handed species, B. musculus, and at least highly probable (5th) the Greenland “ Kepokar- nak,” and not improbable (6th) the Greenland “Tikagulik” or B. rostrata Fabr., distinct from the Norwegian “ Vaagehval.” Finally, Eschricht passes in review all the principal observations on the geographical distribution of these supposed species, including Holbdéll’s Greenland researches, and the early accounts concerning the Bermudas in the PAdlosophical Transactions. Essay 6.—Results of a journey through northwestern Hurope in the summer of 1846, as a supplement to the preceding treatises. This essay is divided into three sections, one on the Beaked whales, another on the Humpbacks, and a third, on short-handed, or true, Finbacks. Eschricht visited several of the more important museums of Europe, notably those of London, Paris, and Berlin, and examined many of the skeletons described by other authors, including the type of MJegaptera longimana, and other very important specimens. He not only comments on these, but reviews and revises his earlier observations, and this essay may be considered as embodying his final views regarding the species of Humpbacks and Finbacks. The paper is of much importance in the present con- nection, as the Greenland species are commented upon no less than the European ones, and at this time Eschricht had made actual comparisons of specimens of both. As already stated, Eschricht became apprehensive that his work would not receive the attention it deserved, on account of its publication in Danish, and hence resolved to republish it in German.’ The German edition, be tells us, is not to be regarded as a translation, but as a new working over of the whole material, with a more orderly presentation of data and conclusions. Certain it is that the two editions differ widely, and much that is in the Danish is not in the German. This is due in part to the fact that the latter was never completed. Only the first volume of the three which Eschricht planned was completed as he intended. The second, fourth, and fifth Danish essays are the ones most nearly reproduced in the German edition. In the latter, as in the former, the principal data of importance in the present connection are the descriptions of the Finbacks and Humpbacks of Greenland, and the opinions of Eschricht based on his comparisons of Greenland and European specimens of these whales. In addition to Eschricht’s own researches, translations are given of two communications of Holbéll on Greenland baleen whales, and one by Motzfeldt relating in part to the same subject. * Escuricut, D. F., Zoologisch-anatomisch-physiologische Untersuchungen iiber die nordischen Wallthiere, rte Band, Leipzig, 1849. ’ THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 53 The great work on the Greenland Right whale published by Eschricht and Reinhardt in 1861? interests us chiefly on account of the discussion of the relation of B. mysticetus to the Nordeaper, in the course of which numerous facts relating to the Right whale of the east coast of temperate North America are commented upon. In 1858 Eschricht published an article on a new method of studying the Cetacea,” in which he called attention to the desirability of making observations at the various whale-fishing stations in different parts of the world. Among the stations mentioned are those in Davis Strait, where Captain Holboll obtained so much valuable material for Eschricht’s researches. The manner in which this material was obtained is described, and a summary given of the species frequenting Davis Strait, their migrations and other data. Eschricht’s essay on the geographical distribution of the northern whales in earlier times and at present,’ which was published in 1849, relates chiefly to the Greenland whales. It is one of the earliest, as well as one of the best, treatises on the distribution of the cetaceans. His paper entitled “Researches on the Distri- bution of the Cetacea in the Northern Seas,” * published in 1864, is also almost entirely devoted to the Greenland whales, and treats particularly of the migrations of Balena mysticetus in Davis Strait. Ina work called “ Newfoundland in 1842,” Sir Richard Bonnycastle devoted a chapter to cetaceans, in which he calls attention to the whale fishery carried on there, and notes various cetaceans he has observed about the island. The article is unfortunately largely taken up by citations from Scoresby, Dewhurst, and other authors, and it is not always clear whether the statements made are based on Bonnycastle’s own observations or derived from the works mentioned. Deprived of extraneous matter, the article, in so far as it relates to baleen whales, amounts to this — that Sir Arthur saw a “ 2. acuto-rostrata, or sharp-nosed whale,” within a day’s sail of St. John in 1840; that the commonest species in Newfoundland waters, as he believes, is the “ 2. jubartes, or pike-headed finner,” with a dorsal fin 24 feet high, and which feeds upon capelin, etc.; that whales of various sizes and kinds are common in the St. Lawrence, about Gaspé, and on the Labrador coast; that he repeatedly saw a “black and grey” whale in the Bay of Seven Islands, St. Lawrence River, in 1831; that on the 23d of July, 1840, at the entrance to Conception Bay, Newfoundland, he saw a “ pipe-headed whale” about twenty-five feet long, with a brown back and white belly; that on July 24, 1840, he saw “ whales innumerable ” in Conception Bay and continued to see some of them all the way to St. John’s. 1 EscurICHT og ReiNHARDT, Om Nordhvalen. Dansk. Vid. Sels. Skrif., 5, 1861, 433-5809. Translation in Ray Society Publications, under the title of “Recent Memoirs on the Cetacea.” Edited by Sir Wm. H. Flower. : 7 Escuricut, D. F., Sur une nouvelle Méthode de l’Etude des Cétacés. Comptes Rendus Acad. Sct. Paris, 47, 1858, pp. 51-60. * Escuricut, D. F., Om de nordiske Hvaldyrs geographiske Udbredelse 1 nawrverende og i tidligere Tid. Forhandl. Skand. Naturforsk. 5te Méde, 1849, pp. 103-118, pl. 1. ‘ Escuricut, D. F., Recherches sur la Distribution des Cétacés dans les Mers Boréales. Ann. Sct. Nat., Zool., 1, 1864, pp. 201-224. * BonnycastT Le, A., Newfoundland in 1842, 1, pp. 239-255. 54 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, Jouan’s memoir on the Right whales and Sperm whales, 1859,’ is an excellent summary of observations on these forms, with some references to Finbacks, Hump- backs, Blackfish, etc. Though largely based on the data furnished by American whalers, it does not relate especially to whales in American waters. Jouan discusses the different kinds of whales, but is not fortunate in his discrimination of species. Of “ B. nodosa Lacep.” he remarks: “This is a Humpback, or perhaps a whale that is found in California, which the whalers designate by the names of ‘California Grey,’ or ‘Californian Ranger.’” Of the Humpback, which he places among “les baleinoptéres,” he remarks : “The Humpbacks are encountered in very great numbers in the same places as the Sperm whales and Right whales; but it is especially on the coasts of Chili, Peru, California, and New Zealand that ‘they are found most abundant. «“ We have seen the bay of San Carlos de Monterey, California, literally covered with these great cetaceans which swim like porpoises, going down head foremost, and elevating their broad tails in the air,’ Pierre Fortin’s report on the fisheries of the Gulf of St. Lawrence for 1861 and 1862, published in 1863 by the Fisheries Department of Canada, contains, at page 109, a list of cetacea, etc, of the Gulf. The species mentioned are the Right whale, Humpback, Common Finback, and Sulphurbottom. The notes on these whales occupy two pages, the facts cited being of some interest, but hardly as definite as could be desired. His report for 1865 (p. 49) contains a note on the whale fishery, but very little regarding the whales. The Gulf fishery is also the subject of a few paragraphs in the report for 1867 (p. 24). The cetological writings of P.—J. Van Beneden, both in number and in scope, greatly surpass those of any other zodlogist, and in importance rank with those of Esehricht and Flower. Though he compiled much from the writings of others, and repeated the same matter many times in different publications, the amount of original work he accomplished in cetology constitutes a monument of which any zoologist might be proud, and Van Beneden built himself many such. He had but little American material at command, but was familiar with the writings of American cetologists and included their observations in his summaries, frequently commenting on them at some length, and expressing opinions of his own regarding the facts brought forward. His Natural History of the Cetaceans of the Seas of Europe, published in 1889,” which is a combination of several papers on different groups, published between 1886 and 1889, contains references to all of Cope’s and Scammon’s species of baleen whales, and to some American material in European museums, but nothing not already in the Ostéographie and other earlier publications. In 1864, Van Beneden published the results of a comparison of the skeletons of the Humpback whales of *Jouan, H., Mémoire sur les Baleines et les Cachalots. Mém. Soc. Imp. Sct. Nat. Cherbourg, 6, 1859, pp- I-40. *Van BENEDEN, P.-J., Histoire Naturelle des Cétacés des Mers d’Europe. Bruxelles, 1889. 8° THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 55 the Cape of Good Hope and of Greenland.!’ He concludes that they represent two very distinct species. The figures and much of the matter of this article were after- wards re-published in his Histoire Naturelle des Cétacés. In 1868, Van Beneden published an essay on the geographical distribution of the Right whales,’ accom- panied by a chart on which are represented the distribution areas of the various species of Balwna. The chart shows the range of B. biscayensis as extending to the east coast of the United States. (See p. 56.) : Dr. Gray published ® criticisms of Van Beneden’s s map, contending that it was based on insufficient material and thus of no profit to science. In sustaining this contention he referred to most of the earlier American observations, including those of Dudley, Maury, Cope, ete., and commented on them at some length. In the same year, 1868, Van Beneden replied to the criticisms of Gray. One of the points involved is the relation of B. biscayensis to B. cisarctica. Regarding this Van Beneden remarks: “But the most important question, and that on which Dr. Gray and myself are not in accord, is that of knowing whether the Balena biscayensis is the same as that which Professor K. D. Cope “has made known under the name of Balwna cis- arctica, from a skeleton preserved in the Philadelphia museum. Dr. Gray says ‘Certainly not’; I, on the contrary, think it is. . . . The reasons on which Dr. Gray depends i in saying ‘Certainly not, are, in my opinion, far from having the impor tance which he would accord them. These reasons are: That the Balena cisarctica has 14 pairs of ribs and that the first is not bifid,—it is singleheaded.” Van Beneden’s conclusion is: “ We shall continue to regard the Balena cisarctica of Professor Cope as being a synonym of Balwna biscayensis.” * The monumental work of Van Beneden and Gervais on the Osteography of the Cetacea,’ (text dated 1880, but began to appear in 1868), is based chiefly on Old- World material and observations, but some American specimens are mentioned and described and the species established by American zodlogists are briefly discussed. The ear-bone of a specimen of Balena cisarctica Cope is described and figured. Reference is made to the occurrence of several skeletons of Megaptera from Green- land in European museums, and the figures of the skeleton of J. longimana are probably from this material, though it is not explicitly so stated. The same is true of the description and of a part of the figures of B. acuto-rostrata. A brief com- parison is made between the various nominal species of baleen whales established * Van BENEDEN, P.-J., Le Rorqual du cap de Bonne-Espérance et le Képorkak des Groen- landais. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 18, 1864, p. 389. ? Van BENEDEN, P.-J., Les Baleines et leur Distribution Géographique. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 25, 1868, pp. 9-21. * On the Geographical Distribution of the Balenide, or Right Whales. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), 1, 1868, p. 242; also (4), 6, 1870, pp. 193-204. * Van BENEDEN, P.-J., La Premiére Cote des Cétacés. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 26, 1868, pp. 7-16, pls. r—2. ° Van BENEDEN, P.-J., and Gervais, P., Ostéographie des Cétacés, vivants et fossiles. Atlas, 1868-1879. Text, 1880. 56 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. by European and American authors, and opinions expressed as to their identity. The text concludes with the chart previously mentioned, on which is indicated the distribution of species of Balena in North American waters. The portion of this work relating to the genus Balena having been finished by 1870, Dr. J. E. Gray took occasion to criticise it severely,' and in the course of his remarks touched upon certain American species. He refers to the objections which have been made to his own method of treating species and higher groups, and cites arguments sustaining his position. He criticises the chart showing geographical distribution, above men- tioned, and comments on the meagreness of the material on which Van Beneden and Gervais based conclusions in some instances. He gives a list of North Atlan- tic species of Balwna which he considers valid, and mentions the species of the North Pacific which have received names. Much of the criticism contained in this paper was doubtless just or at least useful, but later studies have not on the whole sustained Gray’s contentions regarding species and other matters. The American species cited are those of Cope, both Atlantic and Pacific, special mention being made of Balwna cisarctica, Agaphelus gibbosus, and Rhachianectes glaucus. In the same year Van Beneden replied to the criticisms of Gray on the Balenide of the Ostéographie des Cétacés* and in that connection made the following remarks regarding American material : “This whale | Nordeaper| which was hunted in the English Channel was the first destroyed, and if by hazard it presents itself still in Europe, it is always in the middle of winter. It was in February, 1854, that the last one made its appearance. We cannot say positively at what time of the year the whale which Prof. A. Agassiz has prepared for the Cambridge museum was captured, but we have reason to believe it was in summer. . . . We shall have therefore for this second species, as for the first [. mysticetus], fixed winter and summer stations. . . The whale captured on the coast of America and to which Prof, Cope has given the name of Balena cisarctica is, we believe, the same which formerly made its regular winter station in Europe. Dr. Gray ‘does not share this opinion. To solve this interesting question directly by observation we addressed ourselves to Prof. Cope, who has “kindly sent us from Philadelphia one of the ear-bones of his new species. We requested Prof. Reinhardt, of Copenhagen, to compare this ear-bone with that of the skeleton from Pampelune in his museum, the only one actually known in Europe. Although the first bone belongs to an adult and the second to a young animal, which renders comparison difficult, it is, however, evident, according to Prof. Reinhardt, that there is nothing which w ould lead one hoe suppose that the bones belonged to distinet species.” Van Beneden closes with four theses, of which three are as follows : (a) “There exist two species of true whales (Right whales) in the North Atlantic and on the coasts of Greenland,—one the common whale, called also the Greenland whale, and the other the Sarde or Nordeaper. "Gray, J. E., Observations on the Whales described in the Ostéographie des Cétacés of MM. Van Beneden and Gervais. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), 6, 1870, pp. 193-204. “VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Observations sur l’'Ostéographie des Cétacés. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 30, 1870, pp. 380-388. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. ik (6) “ Each of these two species has its stations at fixed times, and they do not frequent the same waters; the southern limits of one are the northern limits of the other. (c) “It is the same species which visits the coasts of Europe in winter and the coasts of America in summer.” In a paper entitled “A Word regarding the Whale of Japan,” published by Van Beneden in 1875,’ are a few interesting comments on the whales of the North Pacific which may be supposed to visit the west coast of North America, and on a collection of whalebone made by Capt. Scammon and deposited in the Vienna museum by Dr. Steindachner. A paper published by Van Beneden in 1878 under the title of “The Geo- graphical Distribution of the Finbacks,” ? contains numerous allusions to American material and observations, and an expression of opinion regarding the identity of various species of the east and west coasts of America described by Cope, Scam- mon, and other American writers. In 1880 Van Beneden published a brief account of the Right whale taken in Charleston harbor on Jan. 7th of that year. He remarks concerning it : “We connect this whale, without hesitation, with the species which the Basques hunted for centuries in the English Channel, the North Sea, and the At- lantic, and of which only a few individuals remain; the species is almost com- pletely exterminated. . . . We have been able to assure ourselves that the Balena cisarctica is the same which in winter visits the shores of Europe.” ® In 1885 Van Beneden published a note on information he had obtained from Dr. Holder of a small school of Right whales which appeared on the Atlantic coast of the United States in the preceding winter. He states that the school consisted of 6 individuals, of which 4 were captured, comprising 8 adults and one young,— the largest 60 feet long. As before, he expressed the opinion that the species is the same as the Basque whale, Lalena biscayensis.’ In describing a barnacle believed to have been taken from a whale captured in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or on the coast of Europe,’ Van Beneden takes occasion to set forth a number of theses regarding the geographical distribution of certain species of Balena and Megaptera, and their parasites. The statements regarding the Atlantie Right whale and Humpback are of interest in the present connection. Prof. Cope’s contribrtions to American cetology began in 1865, when he established the species Balena cisarctica on the basis of a specimen obtained from ‘Van BENEDEN, P.-J., Un Mot sur la Baleine du Japon. Aull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 41, 1875, p. 28. *2Van BENEDEN, P.-J., La Distribution Géographique des Balénoptéres. Aull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 45, 1878, pp. 167-178. * Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 49, 1880, pp. 313-315. ; . * Van BENEDEN, P.—J., Sur l’Apparition d’une Petite Gamme de Vraie Baleines sur les Cotes des Etats Unis d’Amérique. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (3), 9, oF 54, 1885, p. 212. *Van BENEDEN, P.-J., Une Coronule de la Baie de Saint-Laurent. Bul. Acad. R. Belg. (3), 20, 1890, pp. 49-54, 1 pl. 58 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. the coast of New Jersey. Cope possessed a wider knowledge of the Cetacea than any other American zodlogist and he was very properly looked upon as the foremost exponent of cetology in America. On account of the importance of his work his publi- cations will be given special consideration in a separate chapter. (See pp. 78 e¢ seq.). Reinhardt published in 1868 a supplement to Hallas’s article on the Iceland Sulphurbottom, in which he described the skull and some other parts of the skeleton of one of the specimens examined by the latter.’ He takes up the question of the identity of the Greenland “Tunnolik,” and concludes that it is the same species as the Iceland “ Steypiredr” and the European Sulphurbottom, usually known as B. sibbaldii | = B. musculus (1.)]. Dr. J. A. Allen published a catalogue of the mammals of Massachusetts in 1869, in which was included a list of cetaceans, with notes by Capt. N. E. Atwood, and identifications by Cope. Capt. Atwood was a lifelong resident of Province- town and thoroughly acquainted with matters pertaining to the fisheries, and his comments on the different species are of much importance.” In 1869 the name of Capt. C. M. Scammon first became known to zodlogists, through a remarkable contribution on the Cetaceans of the Western Coast of North America, published under the editorship of Prof. E. D. Cope.’ This paper was submitted to the Smithsonian Institution, and referred by the then Secretary, Joseph Henry, to Prof. Cope, “ with a request to publish such parts as should be deemed valuable to zodlogy, and to add such elucidation and explanation as would contribute to the same end.” As published, it really consists of two parts, a sys- tematic paper by Cope and a general natural history essay by Scammon. The correspondence of Seammon indicates that he was not well satisfied with this arrangement, and would rather have named the species himself. At a later date he did name a species, which he discovered in Puget Sound. The proportion of original matter in the article of 1869 is seldom equalled in zodlogical writings. It forms the basis of our knowledge of the cetaceans of the west coast of North America, and, indeed, has been but little added to, except by Scammon himself, either directly or indirectly. Scammon sent many valuable specimens to the Smithsonian Institution, including most of the material mentioned in this article and in his later and larger work, entitled “Marine Mammals of the North-western Coast of North America” (1874). A large part of the natural history matter relating to the Right whales was reprinted by Capt. Seammon in the Overland Magazine in 1871, with some slight modifications.‘ In 1872 Scammon published a diagnosis of a small species of Balenoptera * REINHARDT, J., Nogle Bemzrkningen om Islendernes “ Steypiredr.” Videns. Meddels. naturhist. Foren. Kyében., Aar. 1867, 1868, pp. 178-201. * ALLEN, J. A., Catalogue of the Mammals of Massachusetts: With a Critical Revision of Species. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zoél., 1, No. 8, 1869, pp. 202-207. *Scammon, C. M., On the Cetaceans of the Western Coast of North America. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1869, pp. 13-63. “Awnon., Northern Whaling. Overland Mag., June, 1871, pp. 548-554. Also in an earlier number. ‘This information I have from Prof. Spencer F. Baird. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. DY which he called £. davidsoni, from a specimen obtained in Admiralty Inlet, Puget Sound.t He afterwards figured this species in his Marine Mammals. The larger work already mentioned —Scammon’s Marine Mammals — ap- peared in 1874.” In this, the matter in the earlier article is repeated with various corrections and amplifications, and an extensive account of the American whale fishery is added. The book is illustrated by figures of various species of whales and porpoises which are among the best found in cetological literature, although not all of them are above criticism in point of accuracy. An appendix to the work was prepared by Mr. Wm. H. Dall, in which the North Pacifie species of Cope, Scammon, and other writers are arranged systematically, and elucidated by notes, measurements, ete. Dr. Moritz Lindeman published in 1869 a very comprehensive work on Arctic fisheries? Among the numerous subjects touched upon are the North Pacific Right-whale and Gray-whale fisheries, the Humpback fishery, etc. Relative to the North Pacific fisheries, Lindeman quoted a long letter from M. E. Pechuel, who accompanied the New Bedford whaler Massachusetts to Bering Sea in 1865. This letter contains much valuable information regarding the Right whale of the North Pacific. Lindeman also published a communication from Captain Seabury of New Bedford on the principal whaling stations of the world, containing numerous facts relative to the geographical distribution of the Right whales, Humpbacks, and Gray whales. Coming from persons directly concerned in the whale fishery, these two communications are of special importance. Dr. Lindeman’s article as a whole contains an immense amount of valuable information relative to the whale fishery. (See also p. 61.) The reports of the fisheries branch of the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries, beginning with 1870, contain a few notices of the whale fishery in in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but very little indeed is said about the whales themselves.* Pechuel in 1871 took up the subject of the whale fishery in a series of illus- trated articles published in the German periodical, Das A usland. The last article of the series is on the natural history of the whales, and is accompanied by original 1 ScamMon, C. M., On a New Species of Balenoptera. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sct., 4, 1873, pp- 269-270. Published in advance, Oct. 4, 1872. 2 Scammon, C. M., The Marine Mammals of the North-western Coast of North America, described and illustrated ; together with an account of the American Whale-Fishery. San Fran- cisco, 1874. 4°. * LinpEMAN, M., Die Arktische Fischerei der Deutschen Seestidte, 1620-1868. Petermann's Geog. Mittheil. Erganzungsheft, No. 26, 1869, pp. 1-118, pls. 1-2. ‘ The notices are in the following volumes: Annual Report Dept. Marine and Fish, Canada for 1870, appendix of Marine Branch, p. 232; Report for 1871, appendix, Fisher tes Branch, p. 27; Report for 1872, appendix, do., p. 16; Oth Report for 1873, appendix, do., p. 18; 8th Report for 1875, Supplement 4, Rept. Comr. Fisheries, p. 49; goth Report for 1876, Supplement 4, Rept. Comr. Fisheries, p. 65; zoth Report for 1877, Supplement 5, Rept. Comr. Fisheries, p. 20; 11th Report for 1878, Sup- plement 4, Rept. Comr. Fisheries, p. 49; Ist Annual Rept. Dept. Fisheries for 1854, p. 171. © PeCHUEL-LOESCHE, M. E., Wale und Walfang. Das Ausland, 44, 1871, Nos. 42-50. 60 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. figures of specimens of different species examined by the author, measurements, descriptions, etc. These relate chiefly to the species of the North Pacific. The figures of the Right whale and Gray whale are interesting for comparison with those of Scammon, though both are inaccurate to a certain degree. In 1871 P. Fischer published some brief notes on the Basque whale (Lalena biscayensis) in which he refers to 4. césarctica and to the whale fishery of the Basques on the Newfoundland banks, which he asserts they reached in 1372." Fischer’s article on Documents relating to the History of the Basque Whale, 1871,2 contains further references to the Basque whale fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and other matters concerning Right whales in the North Atlantie. Prof, A. W. Malm published in 1871 an annotated list of specimens of ceta- ceans in Swedish museums,’ in which he mentioned a specimen of a Humpback from Greenland, and one from St. Bartholomew Id., West Indies. The former he places under Megaptera longimana and for the latter he accepts the name J. americana from Gray, with a query. He gives number of vertebra, measurements, and other data. The West Indian specimen is especially interesting, as Cope got the type-specimen of his JZ. be/licosa from the same island and the same collector. Mr. Henry Reeks published a series of articles on the zodlogy of Newfound. land in the Zodlogist in 1871, among which is one on cetaceans.* An endeavor was made by Dr. Theo. Gill, at Mr. Reeks’s request, to connect the common names current in the island for various species with scientific names, but on account of the vagueness of the information furnished this was not particularly successful. Dr. Thos. Dwight published in 1872 a brief description of a Common Finback [ Balenoptera physalus (1..) | which stranded at Point Shirley, Boston Harbor, Nov. 25, 1871.2 He gives measurements, color-description, and other data. In the same year he published a detailed description of the skeleton of a Common Finback cap- tured off Gloucester, Mass., in Oct., 1871. He gives measurements and five figures of the exterior, full descriptions and measurements of the skull, vertebree and other bones, and numerous figures of different parts of the skeleton, and discusses the relationships of the specimen and its probable specific identity. The paper con- tains more detailed information and more and better figures than any other paper on Balenoptera hitherto published in America. In 1874 a brief note to the following effect appeared in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences : ' FIscHER, P., Sur la Baleine des Basques (Balena biscayensis). Comp. Rend., 72, 1871, p. 298. * FiscHER, P., Documents pour servir 4 |’Histoire de la Baleine des Basques ( Balena biscayensis). Ann. de Sct. nat., 1871, Art. 3, pp. 1-20. * Maum, A. W., Hvaldjur i Sveriges Museer, Ar 1869. K. Svensk. Vetensk, Akad. flandl., 9, No. 2, 1871, pp. 1-104, pls. 1-6. ‘ Reeks, H., Notes on the Zodlogy of Newfoundland. Zoélogist (2), 6, 1871, pp. 2550-2553. * Dwicut, THos., Jr., Description of the Whale (Balenoptera musculus) that came ashore in Boston Harbor, Nov. 25, 1871. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 15, pp. 26-27. * Dwicut, THos., jr., Description of the Whale (Balenoptera musculus Auct.) in the possession of the [Boston] Society [of Natural History]: with remarks on the classification of Fin Whales. Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 2, pt. 2, 1872, pp. 203-230, pls. 6-7. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 61 “Prof. Cope mentioned the capture of a young Lalena cisarctica, of 48 feet 2 . > © ore : a , s 75 in length, in the Raritan River, near South Amboy, on May 30th. The skeleton was buried and would be preserved in some museum. He examined the whalebone, of which there are 245 lamin on each side of the mouth. The color is black and the hair is fine, long, and has a brownish tinge ; length of longest plate with hair, 48 inches. The gum is 116 inches long and 11 inches deep. He was informed that the whale was entirely black, and the dorsal line without irregularities.” ! The Greenland Manual, edited by T. Rupert Jones, and published in 1875, contains a revised edition of Dr. Robert Brown’s excellent paper on the Cetacea of Greenland.” His remarks regarding the Finbacks and Humpback, though brief, are of considerable importance. Dr. Moritz Lindeman published in 1880 an excellent treatise on sea fisheries,’ in which he gives a brief account of the whale fisheries carried on in various parts of the world. Especially interesting in the present connection are the statements regarding the Humpback fishery in the West Indies,’ and the Gray-whale fishery on the coast of California? They may properly be presented here in translation : “Mr. Archer, who for 14 years fitted out boats for whale fishing, reports as follows regarding the whale fishery about the Barbadoes: ‘I find that here the whales have not grown scarcer, and that they are not more shy and more difficult to catch than formerly. . . . Sperm whales are not found here, but are some- times caught about the Leeward Islands. The baleen of the Humpback is from 3 to 5 feet long. It is to be remarked that this year the carcasses of the whales have begun to be used for manure. The capture of the ‘ Buckelwal’ (Balena boops. English, Humpback) is carried on in the central part of the islands on the lee side, with boats sent out from shore, where the dead fish are drawn out and where the oil is extracted. The Humpback has a length of from 50 to 60 feet, and furnishes 50 to 70 barrels of oil. In the fishing season four boats go out whaling every day, each with 7 men; two boats go toward the North and two toward the South. The whales appear in January, and leave in June; the fishing, however, begins generally in March, as they first appear in larger numbers at this time. The fishing is quite easy if only females with their young appear, more difficult if the males also come in, as the latter keep a good watch’ . . . The females nurse their young in quiet water on the coast and one can, according to Mr. Archer, observe the young nursing very well in clear, but not deep, water. “Fishing for Humpbacks takes place in the Grenada Ids. in spring and early summer, and 500-800 barrels of oil, worth £1500-2000, are obtained annually. ; ; “At Tobago the whale fishery is carried on by American vessels, with fair results. “The whale fishery [at Santa Lucia Id.] is carried on by 1 or 2 American 1 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sct. Phila., 1874, p. 89. 2 Brown, Ropsr., On the History and Geographical Relations of the Cetacea frequenting Davis Strait and Baffin’s Bay. Manual of Greenland, T. R. Jones, Editor, 1875, pp. 69-93. Reprinted, with corrections and annotations, from Proc. Zodl. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 533-559. * LInDEMAN, M., Die Seefischereien. Petermann’s Mitthetl. Ergdanszungsheft, No. 60, 1880, * Op. cit., pp. 84-86. ° Op. cit., pp. 66-67. 62 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. schooners principally on the west and south coasts of the island, from Mareh to July.” “On the Californian coast there are about a half dozen whaling stations. From these a constant watch is kept, and if a whale is in sight, row boats go out to fish. These stations are at Punta Banda and at Santo Tomas in Lower Cali- fornia, and in American territory at Ballast Point, at Monterey, at Pigeon Point, and 1 or 2 in Mendocino County. The whales caught on the Californian coast are mostly Gray whales (Graybacks), which are difficult to catch and not very rich in oil; often half of the whales killed are lost. The best fishing is from Novem- ber to February, at the time when the whales approach the land at the south. From May to October their course is northward somewhat further out at sea.” In 1882 Dr. J. A. Allen published a valuable bibhography of cetology from 1495 to 1840,’ with critical annotations, and references to the pages on which the names of species and general cetological matter occur. This important guide to cetological literature contains numerous titles of works whose subject-matter is largely or wholly American. In 1888 Dr. J. B. Holder, of the American Museum of Natural History, pub- lished a brief but important memoir on the Atlantic Right whales, containing measurements of four American specimens, descriptions of the skeletons and other data, together with several figures of the exterior, whalebone, skulls, vertebree, ete. It contains also a summary of literature relating to the Right whales, a synopsis of American and European opinion regarding the various nominal species, and a brief bibliography. Too much space is devoted to matters of little consequence, and too small an amount to the descriptions of the specimens examined. In spite of these defects, its value is unquestionable, especially as it is the only paper on Right whales from the east coast of the United States, with comparative meas- urements and details, and good illustrations, which has thus far been published.’ One of the specimens mentioned by Dr. Holder was a skeleton prepared by Dr. G. E. Manigault, curator of the Charleston College Museum, Charleston, 8. C. A little later, in 1885, Dr. Manigault gave a fuller description of this specimen in a paper entitled “The Black Whale Captured in Charleston Harbor, January, 1880.” ° Malm’s account of bones of whales collected by the Vega Expedition of 1878-80 4 contains numerous woodcuts of portions of skulls of Je¢hachianectes and of other bones of the skeleton of that whale, with detailed descriptions. In 1884 Dr. G. Brown Goode summed up briefly the more important facts regarding baleen and other whales in American waters, adding some new data.° Flower’s list of Cetacea in the British Museum, published in 1885,° contains * ALLEN, J. A., Preliminary List of Works and Papers relating to the Mammalian Orders Cete and Sirenia. Bull. U.S. Geol. and Geog. Survey of the Territories, 6, No. 3, 1882, pp. 399-562. *“ Hoiper, J. B., The Atlantic Right Whales. ull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 1, 1883, pp. 99-137, pls. 10-13. * Proc. Elliott Soc. of South Carolina, 1885, pp. 98-104. “Mam, A. W., Skelettdelar af Hval insamlade under Expeditionen med Vega 1878-1880. Bihang, Svensk. Vets. Akad. Handl., 8, No. 4, 1883. * Goopg, G. B., The Whales and Porpoises. Fisheries and Fishery Indust. of the U. S., Sect. 1, Text, 1884, pp. 7-32. ° FLower, W. H., List of the Specimens of Cetacea in the British Museum. 1885. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 63 his views regarding certain species treated of in the present connection. Under the heading of Balena australis he remarks: “Under this name are provisionally included various forms which have been specifically separated either according to locality or from trifling structural peculiarities. Possibly some are distinct, but a more thorough study, with more ample materials than are at present available, will be necessary before their characters can be satisfactorily defined.” Under this species he includes specimens from New Zealand, South Africa, Atlantic coast of North America (cast of ear-bones of type of Balena cisarctica Cope), coast of Great Britain, North Pacific, South Seas, and Sandwich Islands. Under Megaptera boops he remarks: “It is uncertain whether all the following specimens of Megaptera should be referred to one species or to several. If more than one, their distinctive characters have not been as yet clearly defined.” The specimens included are from Greenland, California, and New Zealand. Under Lalenoptera rostrata (= B. acuto-rostrata) he includes specimens from Weymouth and the Thames River, Eng- land, and from Greenland, The American Field for March 12, 1887, p. 246, contains the following note: “Several whales were sighted off Amagansett, L. I, March 2, and several crews started in pursuit. A large cow whale was killed the same afternoon. . The whale, which is about 60 feet in length, will bring its captors about $1,200 for oil and bone.” Dr. H. Bolau published between 1885 and 1895 three excellent summaries of the natural history and geographical distribution of the larger and more important cetaceans of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.'. Though they do not contain much original matter, the best observations are condensed and brought together in a very convenient form, and the charts show careful study and a thorough under- standing of the subject and familiarity with the literature. American observations and American species receive a large share of attention. The Reports and Bulletins of the United States Fish Commission contain numerous references to whales, many of which, though brief, are of considerable importance. As these references are scattered through a score of volumes, I have thought it desirable to collect them here for convenience. The /ulletins contain the following : [FINBACK WHALE AT GLOUCESTER, MASS.] “Recently a carcass of a Finback whale 55 feet long drifted ashore on Long Beach, some ten miles from here [Gloucester, Mass. |, opposite Milk Island. (July 23, 1880.)”? “Whales are close to the shore. [Gloucester, Mass., May 7, 1882.]”° 'Botau, H., Ueber die wichtigsten Wale des Atlantischen Ozeans und ihre Verbreitung in demselben. Segelhandbuche fiir den Atlantischen Ozean, Deutsche Seewarte, 14 Kap., 1885. Ibid, Die geographische Verbreitung der wichtigsten Wale des Stillen Ozeans. Abhandl. Gebicte Naturwis., 13, 1895. Also separate. ?Ciark, A. Howarp, Notes on the Fisheries of Gloucester, Mass. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 4, 1884, p. 407. °Martin, S.J. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 2, 1882, p. 17. 64 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. [WHALES AT GLOUCESTER, MASS., 1880.] “ Whales have recently been numerous in this vicinity, and shore boats report many of them swimming about. Four dead ones have been towed into this harbor ; the largest was 65 feet Jong. [ Gloucester, Mass., May 18, 1880.]”? [WHALES ON THE NEW ENGLAND Coast, 1886.] “Whales have been numerous off the New England coast. |[June, 1886.] Three steamers are engaged in taking them, being quite successful, although many that are shot and ert in deep water are not recovered. wie [WHALE FISHERY IN THE GULF OF MAINE, 1885.] “Whale fishing off the New England coast by small steamers is getting to be quite a business. ‘During the past two months [March and Apfil (2), 1885] four steamers have been engaged i in this work, viz, Funnie Sprague, Mabel Bird, Hur- ricane, and Josephine. “They cruise off the Maine and Massachusetts shores as far south as Cape Cod. A bomb-lance, fired from a gun held at the shoulder, is used for killing the whales. Up to date about 40 w hales have been captured, “As the men become expert in the manner of capture, the whales become shy and keep more in deep water. After being killed they usually sink, and it is doubtful if the business, as at present conducted, will last if the whales are driven off from near shore, it being difficult to recover them in over 40 fathoms of water. “The whales captured the past few weeks average 60 feet long and weigh about 25 tons each; they yield about 20 barrels of oil, 2 2 barrels of meat, 5 tons of dry chum, and two tons of bone, about $400 being realized from each whale, on the average.” ° [WHALES OFF THE MAINE coast. | “The fishermen [at Gloucester, Mass.| say that they have never seen whales so numerous on the eastern shore as at present. The steamer Lannie Sprague, of Booth Bay, formerly used in the porgy fishery, which has been fitted out as a whaler, shot six whales last week [March, 1885]. Two of them were safely towed to Booth Bay, but the other four, which sunk, are buoyed. [Gloucester, Mass., March 8, 1885.]”* [STRANDING OF A FINBACK WHALE AT MT. DESERT LIGHT STATION, 1885. | “Writing under date of July 4, 1885, Thomas Milan, keeper, says: There was a male Finback whale came ashore at this station, July 38. He is 56 feet long, cir- cumference about 25 feet. The flukes have a breadth of 12 feet 1 inch; back fin, 1 foot 3 inches; depth of flukes, 3 feet 2 inches; from snout to back fin, 40 feet ; length of mouth, 12 feet. The outside skin was nearly all stripped off, as he had been eaten considerably by the sharks. The color of his back was a dark lead color or nearly black; flukes, upper side, same color; under side, grayish-white.”® *CLaRK, A. Howarp. ull. U. S. Fish Com., 4, 1884, p. 404. *Witcox, W. A., New England Fisheries in June, 1886. Aull. U. S. Fish Com., 6 p. 201. “Witcox, W. A., New England Fisheries in April, 1885. Build. U. S. Fish Com., 5, 1885, p. 169. “Martin, S.J. Bull. U.S. Fish Com., 5, 1885, p. 207. *SMILEY, CHARLES W. Bull. U.S. Fish Com., 5, 1885, p. 337- 1886, ’ THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 65 [WHALES OFF PLYMOUTH, MASS., 1885.| “Mr. John F. Holmes, keeper of the Gurnet life-saving station [44 miles N. E, of Plymouth, Mass.], writing under date of July 8, 1885, says that on July 5th schools of whales and porpoises appeared near that station, and on July 7 quite a large quantity of mackerel was taken.”! [WHALES ON THE GRAND BANKS, 1885. | “Tt is worthy of note that swordfish and Finback whales were seen in unusual abundance on July 18 [between Brown’s Bank and N.E. extremity of George’s Bank]. During the first part of the day as many as 20 swordfish were seen in from 6 to 8 hours; frequently 2 or 3 were in sight at the same time. As many as 20 whales were seen at one time during the morning, and a still greater number were seen during the afternoon. At station 2528 [lat. 41° 47’ N.; long. 65° 37’ 30” W.] they were very numerous, apparently feeding on small crustacea, probably from 40 to 50 whales being in sight at one time. They were all Finbacks, so far as I could tell. Their movements were sluggish, as they ‘played’ back and forth in the tide rips, with their mouths open, the upper jaw just at the surface, scooping in ‘feed. They were joined by a school of porpoises (probably Delphinus delphis), which drove in among the whales, their movements indicating that they were feeding, but of this we could not be sure.” * [WHALE FISHERY IN THE GULF OF MAINE, 1886.] “Thus far the ‘kyacks’ have not been sufficiently abundant to warrant the factory men in devoting their attention exclusively to this species ; but the business is carried on profitably in connection with the shore-whaling for Finbacks, which has become important. Last year five small steamers were engaged in this shore- whaling, the fleet landing part of the whales at Provincetown, Mass., and the remainder at the factories in Maine. About seventy-five whales were captured by this fleet last year, and the carcasses of some of them were boiled and made into scrap, which sells when dried at $22 a ton, the only objection to it being the large percentage of oil which it contains. That made to date averages about 25 per cent. of oil.” (Extract from a letter of Mr. R. Edward Earll to Prof. 8S. F. Baird, dated Gloucester, Mass., September 17, 1886.) ° In addition, the Bulletins contain translations of several important papers on Norwegian whale fisheries, and an article by Mr. Chas. H. Townsend on the California Gray whale, Rhachianectes glaucus. ‘This article specifies the number and location of the whaling stations on the California coast, the number of whales taken, their habits, food, ete., and is accompanied by four original drawings of a fcetal specimen 17 ft. long observed at St. Simeon Bay, Cal. The Reports of the Commission contain the following : 'SmiLey, CHarRLes W. Bull. U.S. Fish Com., 5, 1885, p. 347- * Coxtins, J. W., Notes on an investigation of the Great Fishing Banks of the Western Atlantic. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 6, 1886, p. 381. * Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 6, 1886, pp. 312-313 * TownseEND, C. H., Present Condition of the California Gray-whale Fishery. Bud/.U. S. Fish Com., 6, 1886, pp. 346-350, pls. 6-7. 66 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. [ WHALES OBSERVED ABOUT NEWFOUNDLAND AND IN THE GULF OF ST, LAWRENCE, 1887-8. | “On July 16 eight Humpback whales were seen; two of them to the south- west of Cape Pine [ Newfoundland]; two between Cape Pine and Cape Race, and four others to the northeast of the latter point. Several whales were seen off Canada Head [Newfoundland] on July 29. A small Finback came into the harbor near the vessel on several occasions while we lay in Canada Bay | Newfoundland], usually making its appearance near sunset. North of Groais Island and Cape Rouge [Newfoundland], on August 3, and between that point and Cape Bauld, Hump- back and Finback whales were seen in abundance. During the afternoon of August 10, while off Mingan [Quebec], a number of whales were seen; their appearance being particularly noticeable on account of their closeness inshore. A Pike whale (Balenoptera ?) was feeding near the vessel in Mingan Harbor on August 14, An attempt was made to capture it ; a bomb-lance was fired at it, but going wide of its mark only frightened the animal so that it soon left the harbor.”' [ WHALES OFF SANTA BARBARA CO., CAL. | “Whales, chiefly the California Gray, are reported to be numerous off the coast of this county during the winter, when they frequently come close inshore. In summer they migrate northward. None have been captured, however, in recent years, but quite an important shore whale fishery could be prosecuted, as in former years, if the price of oil should advance sufficiently to make the business remunera- tive. The profits might now be materially enhanced by the utilization of the carcasses for the manufacture of fertilizer—a product that ought to find a ready sale at good prices.” * [WHALES OFF THE COAST OF SAN LUIS OBISPO CO., CAL. | “ Whales appear chiefly in fall and winter, as on other parts of the coast south of San Francisco. Four species, the Humpback, California Gray, Finback, and Sulphurbottom, are said to occur, but only Gray whales were taken in 1888. These are about 35 to 40 feet in length, and yield about 25 or 30 barrels of oil.” * “ The shore whale fishery—San Simeon Bay and vicinity and about ‘ Whalers’ Point,’ near Port Harford, have been considered the best grounds in this county for whaling. Whales are said to be scarcer than formerly along this section of the coast. It is believed by some of the old fishermen that this scarcity is to some extent due to the presence of steamers on the coast. “From 1869 to 1887 a shore whaling station was maintained at Whalers’ Point, where, it is said, as many as 30 or 40 whales were taken in the most prosper- ous seasons. But in 1887, the last year of the fishery at this place, only 5 whales were captured. The scarcity of whales, together with the low price of oil, contrib- uted to the abandonment of the station. The whaling company here consisted of 20 men, who operated 38 boats manned by 6 men each. In 1880 there were 21 men. “A whaling station was established at San Simeon Bay in 1865 by a man who had formerly engaged in this fishery at Monterey, San Diego, and Portuguese Bend. *Couiins, J. W. and D. E., Report on the Operations of the Fish Com. Schooner Grampus, 1887-8. Rept. U. S. Fish Com., 15, 1891, pp. 525-526. *Cotuins, J. W., Report on Fisheries of Pacific Coast. Rept. U. S. Fish Com., 16, 1892, P- 45. * Op. Cit, D: 50. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 67 The business has been continued, with, perhaps, temporary intermissions, until the present time. Between 20 and 30 whales have often been taken in a season, and an average of 17 for the first 16 years. This station, as well as the other shore whaling stations along the coast, was reported as closed during the early part of 1888, but was reopened in the fall, and up to March 9, 1889 (at which time the fishery was suspended), 14 whales had been taken, which yielded 440 barrels of oil, valued at $5,720. F “The season is from November to the middle of March, after which date the whales have generally left the coast on their annual migration north. The species taken here is usually the Gray whale ; the Humpback or ‘summer whale’ is rarely captured, and the same may be said of the Right whale. The best success 1s usually met with in the early part of the season, when the whales are going south, for in the late winter and spring, when returning, they keep farther off shore, and the prevailing northerly winds and rough sea often prevent their successful pursuit. Besides, as they are then in poor condition, there is not the same inducement to huntthem. 2. . “ Alexander states that ‘December, January, and February are the months in which whales frequent this locality ; sometimes, however, a few are seen as late as the middle of March. These months are called the down-run season; the up- run is of short duration, which, as a rule, lasts from 4 to 6 weeks. Whales when migrating north are poor, but on their return south are invariably fat and contain 5 . . about 50 per cent more oil than when on their northern passage.’ ” ’ [WHALES OFF THE COAST OF MONTEREY CO,, CAL. | “ Whales are reported more numerous than they were a few years ago, but no attempt has been made to take them at Monterey Bay since 1881, and the shore 9 whaling station at Carmel Bay was closed three years later.” * [WHALES OFF CAPE FLATTERY, WASHINGTON. | “Whales, chiefly the small sharp-headed finner (Palenoptera davidsont Scam- mon), are found off Cape Flattery and at the entrance of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where the Indians improve every opportunity to capture them.” ? [WHALES OFF THE QUILLIHUTE R., WASHINGTON. | “These [Quillihute] Indians also engage in whaling during the summer; nine Finback whales were captured in 1888; these were cut up and smoked for food. : : shen - The catch is wholly for home consumption and has no commercial importance.” * [ WHALES OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA, MARCH AND APRIL, 1890. | “ Whales were very common and were reported nearly every day, sometimes in large numbers. On one occasion we steamed slowly into a school that were so busily engaged in feeding that they paid little attention to us. Upon investiga: tion it was ascertained that they were devouring a small globular jellyfish, half an inch in diameter, which could be seen in immense masses from 3 to 5 fathoms ‘Corins, J. W., Report on Fisheries of Pacific Coast. Rept. U. S. Fish. Com., 16, 1892, pp. 52- Peaplies: * Op. cit., p. 58. * Op. cit., Pp. 245. ‘ Op. cit., Pp. 243. 68 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, beneath the surface. Thousands of sea birds were hovering over or around the busy scene.”? [FINBACKS AT UNALASKA. ] “There was a large school of Finback whales feeding in Broad Bay, during the day [August 21, 1890], which paid but little attention to us, simply moving out of the way or diving under the ship when we approached them. On one occasion the same school was seen playing around a whaler, but no attention was paid to them. Nothing but merchantable bone will tempt the modern whaleman. We returned to port the same evening.” * [SAN SIMEON BAY WHALING STATION, CALIFORNIA. | “ Seven whales were taken during each of the seasons 1888 and 1889. Those obtained in 1888 yielded 180 barrels of oil, while 260 barrels were taken from the eatch of 1889. This difference was due to the larger size of the whales in the latter year. Whales frequent this region during the months of December, January, and Feb- ruary, but in some years a few are seen as late as the middle of March. It is during these months that the ‘down run’ takes place. The ‘up run’ is of shorter dura- tion, lasting as a rule from four to six weeks. While moving south the whales are invariably fat, containing 50 per cent. more oil than on the return north. Twenty- one men and nine boats are employed at this station during the whaling season. Only two men are retained in the summer, to look after the boats and buildings. The crew receives a lay of one-fiftieh, the harpooner or shooter (the harpoon being fired from a gun) one-sixteenth.” ® 2. Records of the Colonial Shore Whale-fishery. The available records of this fishery, which had for its object the capture of the Right whale, Balena glacialis, ave scattered through the publications of the historical societies of the several States, the published official archives, and various State and town histories. The items contained in these records are chiefly of an industrial nature, but among them are many bits of natural history. To pick these out from the great mass of other material is a time-consuming operation, but may on the whole be considered as repaying the effort required. A part of this matter has been referred to, or mentioned, in Starbuck’s History of the American Whale Fishery,’ and again in Clark’s History of the American Whale Fishery,’ but both these works are concerned primarily with industrial matters, and only incidentally touch upon the natural history of the whales. The following items from Star- buck’s history are of interest in the present connection as indicating the seasons in which whales were captured, ete. : ‘ Tanner, Z. L., Report on Investigations of the U. S. Fish Com. Steamer A/éatross, 1889-9t. Rept. U. S. Fish Com., 17, 1893, p. 226. Ops cil pa2as. * Of. cit., p. 279. “Srarpuck, ALEX., History of the American Whale Fishery, from its earliest inception to the year 1876. Rept. U. S. Fish Com., part 4, 1878; Appendix A, pp. 1-768, pls. 1-6. * CLark, A. Howarp, History and Present Condition of the Fishery. /vshertes and Fishery Indust. of the U. S., Sect. 5, vol. 2, 1887, 3-218. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 69 “Tn April (4th), 1656, the council of New York ‘received a request of Hans Jongh, soldier and tanner, asking for a ton of train-oil, or some fat of the whale lately captured.’ ”? : “Francis Nicholson, writing from Fort James, December, 1688, says—‘ Our whalers have had pretty good luck, killing about Graves End [Long Island] three large whales. On the Easte End aboute five or six small ones.’ ”? ; “In 1708, under Lord Cornbury, an act was passed for the ‘ Encouragement of Whaling’ [at Long Island], in which it was provided, 1st, that any Indian, who was bound to go to sea whale-fishing, should not ‘at any time or times between the First Day of November and the Fifteenth Day of April following, yearly, be sued,’” etce.® “«TIn 1719, February 24, a [ Long Island] whaleboat being alone, the men struck a whale, and she, coming up under ye boat, in part staved it.’” * “Under date of March 20, 1727, the Boston News-Letter says: ‘We hear from the Towns on the Cape [Cod] that the Whale Fishery among them has failed much this winter, as it has done for several Winters past, but having found out the way of going to Sea Upon that Business, and having had much Success in it, they are now fitting out several Vessels to sail with all Expedition upon that dangerous Design this Spring, more (its tho’t) than have ever been out from among them.’”® “The same paper in its issue of February 12, 1730, contains the following extract from a letter from Chatham [ Mass. ], dated ‘February 6, 1729-80’: ‘There has been a remarkable Providence in the awful death of some of my neighbors ; on the day commonly called New Year’s Day, a whaleboat’s Crew coming home from a Place called Hog’s-Back, where they had been on a Whaling design, the Boat was overset, and all the Men lost, on a reaf of Sand that lies out against Billingsgate.’”® “In March, 1736, the inhabitants of Provincetown captured a large whale at sea, cut him up, and brought the blubber into that port. The estimated quantity of oil that this blubber would produce was 100 barrels.” * “The season of 1737-8 must have been an unfortunate one at Provincetown [Mass.], for up to January 5, 1738, the people of that town had only killed two small whales, and some of the inhabitants took into serious consideration a change of residence. In July, 1738, Captain Anthony Hough, master of a whaling vessel, took ‘in the Straits’ [of Belle Isle] a large whale, and brought him to the vessel’s side tocutin. . . . In February, 1738, the Yarmouth [Mass.] whalemen had killed but one large whale during the season ; the bone of that one was from 8 to 9 feet long. Nor was the whaling-season of 1738-9 any more successful to the inhabit- ants of the Cape [Cod]. Up to the 15th of February, 1739—the whaling-season being then over—there had been taken at Provincetown [Mass.] but six small and one large whale, and at Sandwich [Mass.| two more small ones.” * J “In August, 1723, a drift-whale is advertised in the Boston News-Letter as ashore at Marblehead [ Mass. |” * “The Boston papers of December 12, 1707, state that a whale 40 feet long entered that harbor and several whale-boats pursued and killed her near the back of Noddle’s Island.” ” : “We find in the News-Letter of September 3, 1722, an advertisement of a 1 STARBUCK, p. 11. From J. Y. Coll. MSS., 6, Pp. 354- *Tbid., pp. 31-32. "7bid., p. 15. From Mass. Coll. MSS., 6, p. 3°3- "Tbid., p. 32. °“Tbid., p. 25. From Bradford’s Laws of New York, p. 72. *Tbid., pp. 32-33- ‘Tbid., p. 30. From Hedges in W. Y. Col. Rec., 5, P- 579: *Tbid., p. 34- *Tbid., p. 31- °Tbid., p. 34- 70 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. court of admiralty to be held to adjudicate on a drift-whale found floating near Brewster’s [ Mass. |, and towed ashore in August.”! “By the inhabitants of Martha’s Vineyard, in 1702-8, there appear to have been several whales killed. The following entry oceurs under that date in the court records: ‘The marks of the [3] whales killed by John Butler and Thomas Lathrop. ... These whales were all killed about the middle of February last past ; all great whales, betwixt six and seven and eight foot bone, which are all gone fPOMUse 6 = “In the News-Letter | Boston] of August 8, 1765, is the following statement: ‘Tuesday one of the sloops which has been on the W haling Business returned here. We hear that the vessels employed in the Whale Fishery from this and the neighboring Maritime Towns, amounting to near 100 Sail, have been very success- ful this Season in the Gulph of St. Lawrence and Streights of Belle isle; having, tis said, already made upwards of 9,000 Barrels of Oil.’ Pa On p. 47, Starbuck quotes the proclamation of Gov. Hugh Palliser, dated August 1, 1766, a part of which is as follows: “ Whereas great Numbers of the Whaling Crews arriving from the Plantations on the Coast of Labradore early in the Spring considering it as a lawless Country are guilty of all Sorts of Outrages before the arrival of the. ‘King’s Ships: .< «Bor preventing these Practices in future Notice is hereby given That the King’s Officers stationed in those Parts, are authorized and strictly directed, to apprehend all such Offenders within this Government. . . . This Notification is to be put in the Harbours in Labradore, within my Government, and through the Favour of His Excellency Governour Bernard, Copies thereof will be put up in the Ports within the Province of Massachusetts, where the Whalers mostly belong, for their In- formation before the next Fishing Season.” On p. 49, the following remarks are made: “Tt was currently reported in the colonies, during the early part of 1767, that the irksome restrictions upon whaling were to be entirely removed ; petitions to that effect had been presented to the home government, and a fav orale result was hoped for, and early in 1768 the straits of Davi is and Belle Isle were again vexed by the keels of our [ American] fishermen, as many as 50 or 60 anchoring in Canso Harbor in April of that year, a few of them bound for the former locality, but the majority of them cruising in the vicinity of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and New- foundland. (From a log-book kept by Isaiah Eldredge, of the Sloop Zyrall, of Dartmouth, which sailed. April 25, 1768, for the straits “of Belle Isle. She cleared from Nantucket, as Dartmouth was not then a port of entry. On Friday, April 29, she was at anchor in Canso Harbor; with 50 or 60 other whalemen. Satur- day, May 7, left Crow Harbor and at night anchored in Man-of-War Cove, Canso Gut, ‘with about 60 sail of wailmen.’ The vessels were continually beset with ice and on the 28d of May they cleared their decks of snow, which was ‘almost over shoes deep.’ They killed their first whale on the 22d of July. The larger num- ber of vessels were spoken in pairs, which was the usual manner of cruising. The sloop returned to Dartmouth on the 5th of November).” * STARBUCK, Pp. 35. * Lbid., pp. 35-36. * [bid., pp. 44-45. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. il In his list of whaling vessels under date of 1789, Starbuck notes that 8 vessels sailed from Cape Cod for the Strait of Belle Isle. One of these arrived in the home port October 6th, two others also in that month, and one in August.’ In the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society are various other references to the whale fishery, but very little regarding the whales themselves. The following are the most important: In an address to King James II. by the Colony of New Plymouth, signed by Thos. Hinckley, October, 1687, we find this note: “There are also some small whales, or part of them, sometimes in some winters cast on our shore—some whereof making, with much labor, seven or eight barrels of oil, and some between that and twenty,—which have been some help to the poor of those poor towns planted on the Cape, being the barrenest part of the 17.2 country. A letter of Sam]. Maverick to Sampson Bond (in the Winthrop papers), dated from New York, May 30, 1669, states of New England: “Coddfish is found in abundance on this coast; above 20 whales gotten this Spring.” * The Winthrop papers also contain a letter from Wait Winthrop to Fitz-John Winthrop, dated January 27, 1700, as follows: “The winter has bin so favorable that they have killed many whales in Cape Cod bay; all the boates round the bay killed twenty nine whales in one day, as som that came this week report; as I came by when I was there last one company had killed thre [3], two of which lay on Sandwich beach, which they kild the day before, and reckned they had kild another the same day, which they expected would drive on shore in the bay.” * In 1749 was published a work entitled “A Summary Historical and Political of the British Settlements in North America,” by Wm. Douglass, in which the author inserts two “digressions” concerning whales and the whale fishery. Though covering but a few pages and repeating one another to a considerable extent, they contain valuable data regarding the whales of the Atlantic Coast, and especially the Right whale. The matters touched upon are the number of kinds of whales recognized by New England whalers, the characters of the Greenland Right whale, New England Right whale, Finback, Humpback, and “Scrag” whales; the mi- grations and habits of different species ; changes in habits due to excessive fishing and differences in temperature in different winters; fishing stations; and kind of 1 STARBUCK, p. 187. * [bid.(4), 7, p. 318. * Mass. Hist. Coll. (4), 51, P- 78 * Lbid. (6), 5, P- 55. * Douctass, Wm., A Summary, Historical and Political . . . of the British Settlements in North America, 2 vols. London, 1749-53. 8°. Published again in 1760. This work was originally published in 1747 in smaller form and much briefer. There was no cetological matter in the imperfect copy which I examined in the Library of Congress. Allen states that there appears to have been another edition in 1755. 72 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. whales captured about Bermuda.’ A number of the natural history observations appear to have been taken from Dudley, and paraphrased and much condensed, but the major part of the matter is original. Young’s Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, published in 1841,* contains an interesting note by the author relative to whales occurring about Cape Cod, Mass., which has already been quoted on p. 22, foot-note. The second edition of Felt’s Annals of Salem, Mass., published in 1849,* has several pages devoted to statements regarding the American whale fishery (includ- ing a number of natural history notes) arranged chronologically. The following are the most important : Mch. 12, 1692. John Higginson and Timothy Lindall write to Nathaniel Thomas complaining that the whales were taken away from them, as follows: “Ye first was when Woodbury and company, in our boates, in the winter of 1690, killed a large whale in Cape Cod harbour. . . . The second case is this last winter, 1691. William Edds and company, in one of our boates, struck a whale, which came ashore dead, and by ye evidence of the people of Cape Cod, was the very whale they killed.” (2, pp. 223, 4.) “1765, Aug—The whale fishery from Boston and the neighboring ports amounts to 100 sail, which have been successful this season in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Straits of Belle Isle, having taken upwards of 9,000 barrels of oil.” (2, p. 225.)* Winsor’s History of Duxbury, Mass., has a few notes on the colonial whale fishery at that place, as follows: “1690. John Wadsworth was appointed to view whales, that may be cast ashore in the town.” “1712. Marshfield, Nov. 28: On Tuesday, the 25th current, six men going off the Gurnet Beach in a whale boat at Duxbury aftera whale . . . were all drowned.” “1724. Dec. 3d. A whale captured off the beach.” “1770. A dead whale was found a quarter of a mile from the beach. . . . The whale washed ashore and made 15 barrels. Freeman’s History of Cape Cod, 1858,° contains a letter from Wm. Clapp to Squire Dudley, dated Cape Cod, July 13, 1705, which states : “JT have very often every year seen that Her Majesty has been very much wronged of her dues by these country people and other whalemen as come here 2 Y Y awhaling every year which take up drift whales which were never killed by any oP) man, ete. * Op. cit. 1, pp. 56-60 and 296-2908. * YounG, ALEX., Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1602-25. Boston, 1841. * Fert, J. B., Annals of Salem, 2d ed., 1849, 2, pp. 223-226. I have not seen the rst edition. “The following note also occurs: “1808. Off the Brimbles, a whale sixty feet long, is found dead by some men from Marble- head.” (Op. ctt., 2, p. 94.) * Winsor, J., History of Duxbury, 1849, p. 86. ° Vol. 1, p. 342. Spelling corrected. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 73 A history of New London, Connecticut, written by Frances M. Caulkins, the first edition of which appeared in 1852, has a chapter devoted to the whale fishery from that port. It treats chiefly of the period subsequent to the Revolution, and gives names of vessels, number of barrels of oil obtained, the grounds visited, and other details. In a foot-note to page 638 of the edition of 1895 is the following : “The following memorandum implies that such whaling trips [in boats] were not unusual: January 13th, 1717-18. ‘Comfort Davis hath hired my whaleboat to go awhaling to Fisher's Island, till the 20th of next month, to pay twenty shil- lings for her hire, and if he stays longer, thirty shillings. If she be lost, and they get nothing, he is to pay me £3, but if they get a fish, £3-10s”” [Hempstead.] ~ On page 639, is another important note, as follows: “We have no statistics to show that the whale fishery was ever carried on except in this small way, from any part of the Connecticut coast, before the Revolutionary War.—Foot-note: In June, 1850, a whale 35 feet long, was captured in Peconic Bay, near Greenport.” The records of the New London County Historical Society contain an article by C. A. Williams on whaling at New London, This is an important essay, begin- ning with a brief chronological history of the whale fishery, especially from 1718 onward ; then follows an account of the conditions under which the New London fishery was conducted, the methods employed, the regions visited, ete.; then a journal of Capt. James Davis of the ship Chelsea in a whaling voyage to the Pacific in 1831; incidents and accidents of the fishery; number of vessels employed, profits, ete. The article has as an appendix a letter from Wm. H. Allen to C. A. Williams, containing miscellaneous information relative to whales and whaling, kinds of whales pursued, size, yield of oil, whalebone, ete.’ O’Callaghan’s Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, 14 volumes, contain a large number of important records regarding the whale fishery which was carried on on the south coast of Long Island for a century, beginning about 1652. These consist chiefly of licenses to carry on the fishery, orders of the court in disputes concerning “drift whales,” the employment of Indians in the fishery, ete., but there are also many references to the number and size of whales captured, the seasons for whaling, and other matters of interest in the present connection. The following are among the more important : A letter from Samuel Maverick to Colonel Nicholls, dated from New York, July 5, 1669, contains the following: . . . before ye end of March, and what since wee heare not; here are dayly some seen in the very harbour, sometimes within Nutt Island. Out of the Pinnace the other ce On ye East end of Long Island there was 12 or 13 whales taken ? CauLKins, Frances M., History of New London, Connecticut, from 1612 to 1860, 1895, pp. 638-647. ? WittiaMs, C. A., Early Whaling Industry of New London. Records and Papers of the New London County Hist. Soc., pt. 1, vol. 2, 1895, pp. 3-22. 74 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. week they struck two, but lost both, the iron broke in one, the other broke the warpe. The Governour hath encouraged some to follow. this designe. Two shallops made for itt, but as yett wee doe not heare of any they have gotten. ue In a letter from Lord Cornbury to the Lords of Trade, dated July 1, 1708, is the following : “ . , The quantity of Train Oyl made in Long Island is uncertain. Some years they have much more fish than others, for example last year they made four thousand Barrils of Oyl, and this last Season they have not made above Six hundred; About the middle of October they begin to look out for fish, the Season lasts all November, December, January, February and part of March; a Yearling will make about forty Barrils of Oyl,a Stunt or Whale of two years old will make sometimes fifty, sometimes Sixty Barrils of Oyl, and the largest whale that I have heard of in these Parts, Yielded one hundred and ten barrils of Oyl, and twelve hundred Weight of bone.” ® In a warrant signed May 10, 1672, is the following item : “Whereas I am given to understand that a Whale hath not long since been cast upon a parcell of Beach claymed to bee w' in Jno Coopers Bounds or Pre- cincts, of the w severall Indians have taken & carried away the Whale-Bone; These are to authorize the said Jno Cooper to make Enquiry into and to make seizure of such Whale-Bone.” § An order signed by Governor Andros, in November, 1675, reads thus: “Vpon the Petigon and Desire of Sacob Schellinger and Company of Hast. Hampton, who are joyntly concerned in carrying ona Designe of Whale Killing at the said Place . . . I doe hereby give them Liberty to “employ the said foure Indyans for this present whale fishing season, Given under my hand in New Yorke this 18 day of November 1675. E. Andros.” 4 The petition which called forth this order several times alludes to “this whale season soe nigh at hand.”*® Thompson’s History of Long Island, New York, published originally in 1839, contains some notes on the colonial shore fishery for Right whales at Sag Harbor and Southampton, ° and also the following : “ Easthampton, Aprill 2°, 1668. Know all men by these presents, y! wee whose names are signed hereunto, being Indians of Montauket, do engage ourselves in a bond of ten pounds sterling for to goe to sea uppon ye account of killing of whales, this next ensuing season, “beginning at the 1° day of November next, end- ing by ye first of Aprill ensuing ; "and that for ye proper account of Jacobus Skallenger and his partners of Easthampton ; ; and engage to attend dilligently with all opportunitie for ye killing of whales or other fish, for ye sum of three shillings a day for every Indian; ye sayd Jacobus Skallenger and partners to furnish all necessarie craft and tackling convenient for ye designe.” *O’CaLLaAGHAN, E. B., Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, 3, p- 183. The index to these volumes is in vol. rz. POP: icitsy Sap a5 0: * Op. cit. 14, p. 665. SOp ttt. TA, p. JOT. * Op. cit., £4, pp. 708-709. * THompson, Benj. F., History of Long Island, New York, rst ed., 1839, pp. 221-224. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTIL ATLANTIC. (& “Agreement made the 4‘ of January, 1669, between ye whale companies of East and Southampton. If any companie shall finde a dead whale uppon the shore, killed by ye other, a person shall bee immediately sent to ive notice: and the person bringing the news to bee well rewarded. And if one companie shall finde any whale so killed at sea, they shall endeavor to secure them, and have one half for their pains, and any irons found in them to bee returned to ye owners.” ! In the second edition of this work, published in 1843, is the following : “As an evidence of the extent to which boat-whaling was carried, on this part of Long Island [Brookhaven], at the beginning of the eighteenth century, we present the following items from a manuscript in the handwriting of Madam Martha, widow of Col. W™ Smith of St. George’s Manor : - “«Jan. y? 16,1707 (she says) my company killed a yearling whale, made 27 barrels. Feb. y? 4, Indian Harry, with his boat, struck a stunt whale and could not kill it—called for my boat to help him. I had but a third, which was 4 barrels, Feb. 22, my two boats, and my son’s, and Floyd’s boats, killed a yearling whale, of which I had half—made 36, my share 18 barrels. Feb. 24, my company killed a school whale, which made 35 barrels. March 13, my company killed a small yearling, made 30 barrels. March 17, my company killed two yearlings in one day; one made 27, the other 14 barrels.’ ; “The following is the receipt for duties: ‘New York, this 5° June, 1707, then received of Nathan Simson, y* sume of fifteen pounds, fifteen shillings, for acct of mad* Martha Smith, it being y* 20" part of her eyle, by virtue of a war- rant from my Ld. Cornbury, dated 25 of March, last past, 1707. Per me, Elias Boudinot.’ ” Hubbard’s General History of New England contains the following: “The next place, on that called Long Island, is East Hampton, at the furthest end eastward; then South Hampton; next, Southhold, where the inhabitants of late [1635-1650 ?] have fallen upon the killing of whales, that frequent the south side of the island in the latter part of the winter, wherein they have a notable kind of dexterity; and the trade that ariseth therefrom hath been very beneficial to all that end of the island.” ? “Upon the south side of Long Island, in the winter, lie store of whales and grampuses, which the inhabitants begin [1635-1650 ?] with small boats to make a trade of catching, to their no small benefit.” * ? It is by no means certain that the expression “of late” refers to the period 1635-1650, the events of which were being chronicled. More probably it refers to the date at which the history was written. Shore whaling appears to have been begun on Long Island about 1652. Weeden’s Economic and Social History of New England, 1890, contains a chapter on colonial whale fishery, in which some of the foregoing notices of whales and whaling seasons are quoted or referred to, together with many relating to the fishery itself. ° 'THompson, Benj. F., History of Long Island, New York, rst ed., 1839, p. 191. * Vol. 1, p. 438, foot-note. *P. 668. Poy s ° WEEDEN, Wm. B., Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789, 2 vols., Boston, 1890. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. aI Se The Records of the town of East Hampton, Long Island, published in 1887 (4 vols.) contain many references to whales and all in winter. Notices of the shore whale fishing on the coast of New Jersey and in Delaware Bay are contained in the published archives of the State of New Jersey, in the collections of the New Jersey Historical Society, in Hazard’s Annals of Pennsyl- vania, in Acrelius’s History of New Sweden, and other works, but such of them as I have examined contain no information regarding the whales or the seasons at which they frequented these waters.’ The accounts of the establishment of a whale fishery in Delaware Bay given by De Vries and Van der Donck have been already quoted in the previous chapter (p. 24). Watson’s Annals of Philadelphia contains a number of items relative to whales and whaling in Delaware Bay and River and along the coast of New Jersey, dating from 1688 to 1834, but they are hardly definite Seen to be of much value. The work was originally published in 1830, but the follows ing quotations, which include all the items of any importance, are from the revised edition of 1898.” “Tn 1730, a cow whale, of 50 feet length is advertised as going ashore to the northward of Cape May, dead. The harpooners are requested to go and claim it.” “Tn 1733, month of April, 2 whales, supposed to be cow and calf, appeared in the | Delaware] river before the city.” “Tn 1736, February, ‘two whales are killed at Cape May, equal to forty barrels of oil, and several more are expected to be killed by the whalemen on the coast.’ ” “About the year 1809 . . . a whale of pretty large dimensions was caught near Chester.” “Two dead whales were driven on shore at Assateague beach, near Snowhill, Maryland, in December, 1833; one a hundred and seventeen feet in length, and the other eighty-seven feet j in length. u “Tt is a fact but little known, , that, even now [1823 ¢], there is a family on Long beach, New Jersey, who are every anen seeking for, and sometimes ‘capturing Ww hales. In this business they have been engaged, the father and two sons, ever since the time of the Revolution.” “In May, 1834, a young whale, of sixty, feet, went into New Haven [N. J.?] harbour—was chased, erounded, and used up.” The American whale fishery was the topic of an elaborate article published by James H. Lanman in 1840.’ ‘See Hazarp, S., Annals of Pennsylvania, 1609-1682, 1850, pp. 31-32. Instructions to John Printz, Governor of New Sweden, August 15, 1642. In Acrelius’s His- tory of New Sweden, Alem. Penn. Hist. Soc., 11, 1874, p. 38. Tuomas, GapRIEL, Historical Description of the Province and Country of West-New- Jersey, 1698, p. 33. WHITEHEAD, W. A., East Jersey under the Proprietary Governments, Coll. V. $. Hist. Soc., yp: 174: Scot’s Model of the Government of the Province of East-New-Jersey, 1685, of. céz., p. 282. Documents relating to the Revolutionary History of New Jersey, 1, 1gor, p. 437. * Watson, JoHN F., Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, enlarged by Willis P. Hazard, 3 vols., 1898. Vol. 2, pp. 428-429; 547. “Hunt's Merchants’ Magazine, 3, 1840, pp. 361-394. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. ie It is entirely a compilation and deals principally with the industrial aspects of the fishery. The only paragraphs (pp. 376 and 880) which refer to the natural history of the baleen whales contain nothing of importance. The remark of Lawson in his Natural History of North Carolina regarding the absence of a regular whale fishery in these waters is apparently borne out by the colonial records and histories. Those which I have examined, such as Saunder’s Colonial Records of North Carolina, Hawkes’s History of North Carolina, and others, contain no mention of the matter. The same is true of South Carolina. Such works as Drayton’s View of South Carolina, Mills’s Statistics of South Caro- lina, Ramsay’s History of South Carolina, ete., offer no information regarding whales or the whale fishery. CHAPTER III. A REVIEW OF COPE’S AND SCAMMON’S SPECIES. In the history of American cetology two names will always stand out with special prominence, — those of Professor E. D. Cope and Captain C. M. Scammon. Cope’s observations on existing Lalenide cover a period extending from 1865 to 1891. During this time he described as new four species and one genus from the east coast of the United States, one species from the West Indies, and four species and one genus from the west coast of North America. In the present chapter I propose to give a list of these various species, to indicate the nature and condition of the material on which they are based, and to state the present whereabouts of the types. The original descriptions and measurements will be given in some cases and in others a summary of differential characters. The west coast species will be given further consideration in a separate chapter. Scammon described but a single species, Balwnoptera davidsoni, although, as already seen, he furnished the information and material on which Cope’s various west coast species were based. Cope in his first essays gave scientific names to such stranded specimens of Atlantic whales as accidentally came under his observation, His intention was not to found species additional to those of which specimens are commonly captured or cast up on our shores, but to give these a place in zodlogical nomenclature. Thus he speaks of his Balena cisarctica as “ the Black whale of the whalers of our coast,” ete. That these several species received new names was because he thought they were distin- guishable from the species frequenting the coasts of Europe,and not because they were rare American forms unknown to whalers and others whose business was with the sea. The same is largely true of the Pacific species. Cope’s Megaptera versabilis was “The North Pacific hump-back.” His Lalenoptera velifera was “The Finner Whale of the Oregon coasts,” his Stbbaldius sulfureus was “The Sulphur-Bottom of the North-West Coast.” On account of this circumstance I have not thought it necessary to present extended arguments to prove that the types of Cope’s species were the same specifically as specimens from our coast which have accumulated since the former were described, except in cases in which, from an examination of the types, I have found that the species were not properly characterized at the start. In the subsequent chapters the types will be examined along with other specimens. It is obvious that if they do present special characters, these will make themselves noticeable. 78 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 79 Genus BALANA Linneus. 1. Banana cisarctica Cope. 1865. “The Black Whale of the Whalers of our Coast.” Original description: Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., 1865, No. 3, July-Aug., pp. 168-169. Read Aug. 8, 1865. Typelocality and date: Opposite Philadelphia, on the coast of New Jersey, 1862. Type-specimen : Nearly complete skeleton of a half-grown individual, presented to the Philadelphia Academy by George Davidson. The whale had previously been exhibited for some time. Cope estimated that the length of the skeleton if complete would be 37 feet. It lacks the right nasal bone, the malars, the sternum, the carpal and pelvic bones, and all the chevrons. The ends of the maxillee are broken off, and probably the premaxillze lack about two inches of their original length anteriorly. The ribs and phalanges are not accurately mounted. Cope’s description of the type is quite accurate, but contains one error, namely, the assertion that the sixteenth vertebra from the last pair of ribs is the first which has a perforated diapophysis. It is in fact the seven- teenth from the last pair of ribs, or the thirty-eighth vertebra in the series. Cope states that the total length of the skull axially is 101 inches. I am unable to make it more than 964 inches, but about 2 inches should be added for the breakage of the tip of the premaxillee, making 984 inches in all. If Cope’s measurement is correct, the skull must therefore have shrunk about 24 inches. This is quite possible, owing to the drying of the bones and the bending down of the rostrum.” Cope’s measurement of the breadth of the scapula is 29 inches. I make it 30 inches. The type-skeleton is figured on pl. 43. The following measurements of it were made by myself in May, 1900: Skull : Inches Motalulemeth (straight) yse2/-1ejte)- ole) o1s eee ciele cies o:everele nie w1cie/=iei1«/e)olel ofoln *Jerolefedeieranelslehele 96.5 * Greatest breadthy (at Orbits)).2.<,. 0046 one eres rioters seins! vieisieleiele nleiele[s lela \elelsialele eieieleleeleiel> 65.75 Length of rostrum, least, straight............-sseseee cece cece tere cece eee e ee teers 76.0 Breadth > AE MIA LeGurevied tereretatare ois ere esas ste! leer oro) aVo la) -aabeh = eiiore oiokereuherseleeataY= 17.75 Memethnotenasalls rersjeyeyeteiayeisi= cie)efn ofeseieveraleiie = -Valcie isle eleloielis eie/e (eieyelotels)e\njialsieiwinicgeherssoralarel 8.0* Breadth of the two nasals distally... 0... 0. cece cee e eee rece cect eee cere t ec ee cece abe Breadth of orbit from point to point, least..... 2.6... es ee ee eee eee eee eee eee eens 6.25 ™A note (by Cope?) in the Amer, Naturalist, 12, 1878, Pp. 759, refers to the type as captured “near Philadelphia.” 2In the table of measurements I have not used Cope’s measurement, because the skull has doubtless shrunk in other directions as well. ° One or two inches should, perhaps, be added. ‘Internal border; the external border is ro in. * Only the left nasal is preserved. This is 3} in. broad opposite distal end of inner border. Twice 3¢ = 7}. 80 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Skull : Inches engthiof mandible, strar hts. /0i.-1.+101seislleeie oi cte cielo evoked emailer eee reece rere 92.0 Rad Na a GUEVEGS oysis) says esate taper taporolavelemacietsfoncters oistetater iterate toteonter eet tetetete 101.5 Depth of: mandible at-themiddle’..c..4.c «crreieleieis oslo ieee eieeiele ce eeeeeeete 7.0 Skeleton : Greatest breadth of atlas.c/ 3 eal cis ha, ca Pore Penrose ecereSTe OR T e NR 14.0 =) ulna with Dn © Pee athe wiohern alata Me ae eats tine acer oo eter ares 1335 Hse Eek | cpio Uti SHI irae 2 era ae aera ere cremate ie ere er erence 13.0 Breadthiof radius,at distal\.end/-r. «aeeissciencctte ere ciaeiae cee eicieiee ee Meera 10.5 . eine, eS we Nofsivara sscateyeratoner shew stenletepetevelauatetohewerste eet eeeere trae torent 8.0 Length of humerus; sstraights... ciao seca accion nite een eee ioe een 14.0 The first vertebra with a perforated diapophysis is the 38th. The neural spine disappears on the 45th vertebra. The diapophyses are reduced to a mere swelling on the 41st vertebra; as distinct processes with concave anterior margins, the last are on the 37th vertebra. Genus RHACHIANECTES Cope. 1869. 2. AGAPHELUS GLAUCUS Cope. 1868. “The California Gray Whale.” Lhachianectes glaucus (Cope). 1869. Original description: Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., 1868, No. 3, June—Aug,, p. 159. Read June 23, 1868. Type-locality : Coast of California. Tuype-specimen: “A full set of baleen of one side of the maxillary” in the museum of Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. Cope’s original description of the California Gray whale was appended to a notice of the mythical “Scrag whale,” for both of which he established the genus Agaphelus. The description is so brief that it may be inserted here in full; “A second species of the genus [ Agaphelus|] was to be found in the ‘gray whale’ of the coasts of California. The baleen of this species, compared with that ‘Twice one half. “Anterior, Height of arch and spine of rst lumbar, 9} in; of rst caudal, 9? in. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 81 of the A. gibbosus, was longer and had narrower basis. The plates moderately and simply concave, while those of the latter are sigmoidal, most curved near the outer margin in cross section. The bristles of the California species were very coarse, varying from one to three series between the enamel plates. The bristles of the A. gibbosus much finer, three series together. Length of the latter 8.5 inches, width at base 4.4 inches. In the gray whale or Agaphelus glaucus Cope, 22 inches in length, width at base 6 inches. In the former nearly 6 in an inch, in the latter 24. The baleen of the A. gibbosus belonged to an immature specimen of 35 feet in length.” (28, 159-160.) ' In the same year, Cope mentioned the species again under the name of Agaphelus glaucus in a list of the Cetacea of the coasts of North America (27, 198). A little later in the year 1868 he published a full description of two specimens observed at Monterey, Cal., Jan., 1866, by Mr. William H. Dall, and a set of whale- bone in the Essex Institute. This was in an article entitled, “On Agaphelus, a genus of toothless Cetacea” (26, 226-227). The whalebone was that described earlier in the year, and must be considered as constituting the type-specimen. The Monterey specimens consisted of a nearly complete skeleton, and a specimen in the flesh, “killed by Killers (Orea),” sufficiently complete to allow of external measure- ments and notes on the external characters and coloration. Two skulls were obtained by Mr. Dall at Monterey, at a later date, one of which was deposited in the museum of the California Academy of Sciences, and the other in the National Museum (Cat. No. 13803, U.S. N. M.). In 1869, Cope erected the genus Ahachianectes for this species (83, 15). Genus BALAXNOPTERA Lacépéde. 3. StBBALDIUS TUBEROSUS Cope. 1869. Original description: Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., 1869, p. 17. Presented for publication, March 9, 1869; published, July 20, 1869. Type-locality : Mobjack Bay, Virginia, near the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, between York River and Rappahannock River, Aug. 11, 1858. Type-specimen: Skeleton of “an adult male.” Captured by Dr. P. A. Taliaferro and Prof. Edwin Taliaferro of William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia, “and prepared and set up ”—(where ?). A passing allusion to the specimen on which the species was founded was made by Cope in 1865 (22, 168). In 1866 he published a brief description of the specimen, drawn up by Prof. E. Taliaferro (23, 8), but referred it to his Megaptera osphyia, which he had described a short time before. Later in the same year he concluded that it represented the Sidbaldius laticeps of Gray (24,297). It was not until 1869 that he finally decided that the whale represented a new species, which ‘These numbers and all similar ones following refer to the bibliography at the end of the volume. The letters “sep.” indicate that the paging is from a reprint or “ separate.” 82 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. he thereupon named Sibbaldius tuberosus. The account of it first given, in 1866, is as follows (23, 8): “The whale alluded to (Proceedings, 1865, p. 168) as having been seen in Mobjack Bay, Virginia, was stated to have been captured by Dr. P. A. Taliaferro, of William and Mary College, Williamsburg, and prepared and set up. It is a short-finned Megaptera, probably of the species MW. osphyia. Prof. T. has kindly furnished me with the following details as to its structure, carefully drawn up by himself. “Length from end of muzzle over convexity of back, forty-three feet nine inches; girth about nineteen feet; length from end of muzzle to axilla (external measurement), fifteen feet; breadth of head across inferior margin of jaws, eight feet. Length of the pectoral extremity, four feet; greatest breadth fifteen inches ; they were situated close behind the angle of the mouth. There were three hun- dred and sixty lamin of baleen, extending on either side of the mouth about six feet along the jaw, the longest about eighteen to twenty inches. The head was acute. The folds of the throat many and capacious. The dorsal fin was repre- sented by a conical mass covered by horny integument, without any membranous appendage, situated well posteriorly. The body near the tail very slender. The flukes suddenly expand to a breadth of ten feet. The cervical vertebrae were all distinct. Color: jet black above, white on the belly; sides beautifully marbled by the combination of the two colors. “The most striking feature in this specimen is the shortness of the pectoral limbs, being relatively nearly half less than in the specimen of the osphyia at Niagara, one-half the length of the cranium, and only one-tenth the total. This is very different from any of the hitherto known species, and without doubt distinct.” Cope stated in 1866, as just quoted, that the skeleton had been prepared and set up, but did not say where, or by whom. Later in the same year he stated that the skeleton was in the museum of the Philadelphia Academy, but in 1869 remarked again that the deposit of the specimen in the Academy had been delayed, but was expected in a short time. He left it uncertain, therefore, whether the skeleton of the type was or was not in Philadelphia. In 1899, and again in 1900, I visited the Academy of Natural Sciences, and through the kindness of Dr. Dixon and Mr. Stone was enabled to look over all, or nearly all, the bones of whales then in the museum. I did not find any corresponding to S. tuberosus, and it would seem probable that the skeleton never reached Philadelphia. This view is strengthened by the fact that a writer in the American Field in 1889," repeating the story of the capture of the whale, as he had heard it from the lips of Dr. Taliaferro, who pursued and killed the animal, proceeds as follows: “T[Dr. Taliaferro] took the whalebone out of his mouth, and bade the servants help themselves to his blubber if they wanted to. . . . Although we got all the servants and dug huge holes and buried the carcass in sections, yet, like Ban- quo’s ghost, it would not down. . . . His jawbones now ornament the doors of my [ Dr. Taliaferro’s 7] carriage-house and I have several of his vertebrae, which come in handy as footstools.” >“ REYNARD,” American Field, March 2, 1889, pp. 96-198. THE WHALEBONE ALES v WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 83 If the bones had ever been got together and sent to Philadelphia, it would seem very probable that Dr. Taliaferro would have mentioned the fact. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to understand how Professor Cope could give ihe detailed measurements and description of the skeleton, as published by him an 1866 unless he had had access to the specimen. They could, of course, have been fre nished him by Dr. Taliaferro, but their character is such as to render this very improbable. In 1869 Professor Cope compared this whale with his S. tectirostris by external characters only, which characters he stated in 1866 were drawn up and furnished him by Dr. Taliaferro. He then remarked that as the specimen had not reached the Philadelphia museum, further comparison could not be made at that time (1869). It is certainly remarkable that Cope does not refer here to his detailed measurements and description of the skeleton, published in 1866. He could not have forgotten their publication, and one is, therefore, led to believe that there was something about them that barred them out. The only supposition which seems reasonable is that they were not really from the Mobjack Bay whale, but from some other specimen. Considering the uncertainty regarding the skeleton, it may be best for the present purposes to rely entirely on the statements as to the external characters in our endeavor to ascertain the identity of S. tuberosus. Dr. Taliaferro’s notes on the coloration, ete., published by Cope in 1866 (23, 8), furnish the following characters and measurements: Head acute. Pectoral ridges many and capacious. Dorsal fin represented by “a conical mass covered with horny integument, without any mem- branous appendage, situated well posteriorly.” Body near tail very slender. Length from end of muzzle over convexity of back.......... Bre eterer Neyssiefesacieietertetete 43 ft. 9 in. Length from end of muzzle to axilla (external measurement)..... steve ee tcseteets oe Saracens ay ey Breadth of head across inferior margin of jaws............ PRT Or oeeusitesenctes rete Get Ge IGerveu NWO fame CLO Tell reve yetter ape oystee or c1cqe /-ccseeiclsostclete rete erelcie re 9-75 9-75° gen ofestpraorbitalsyabove!oOrbitee ..- tics «210 pete le els oie 13.0 12.0% eee (least) rotetrontal region wets asc Sere ceiisr- eis sem ee 13.5 14.0 Bem OLMIS al SMe rpavecl Ney Gala co clornave oeisccls lereve ot ofstaie si cysliorers 4.3 6.25 ° em OteRmMaxMlaries at. LOL GLE genet. > essc cies oie <1 )-125 -taasave eter 513 4.33 Wer rth pASalliemerey a pabeat cle sys) < Fores steters) svoree) shel sia\nieve erat=ievarave eles 6.0 6.75 S mebe ll bra rllvonec cada i aee abies pemo beac oes Hoo cooice 90.0 90.0 PATAMUS Mana wln (iM CULVE)! v= cielo cise aelse¥s cress) lols 120.0 120.0 < iy: Be EORCOPOM OIG .<)ssomis oer See aes eee 19.0 — Depth “ a aticondyle? sadsstonsen ae feces se 8.5 — ss . at COrONOId. Pas tesienneene sancti 13.0 — ue st = atamid desc acters aetsialeraerucreias 6 cpats 9.0 9:5 Wemothenotic Mullavpeyen ay arraisialiere 7.0 length of radius, iwithvepiphySeSeeie- o\see-cedeem dees 24.0 Length of radius, without epiphyses\.... 5. .22..ssccee0- 0-6 23.0 se as ulna) withwepiphysesser eer eer cerieeeeeec eee 22.25 S92 +withoutlepiphysesys-r crite seartion tiene: 21.5 +) j bumerus| (straight) Meeeeeeeenere ee heer eneeneee 15.0 * Tip to tip, least. “Median = 12.25 in. ” Posterior. * As mounted. * Median, posterior. * Twice one half. * Opposite distal end of inner margin. ° Median, anterior. * Anterior. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 89 Cope’s description of the type-skull is accurate, except that the nasals are longer than wide. The two together are as wide distally as each is long. .The length of the maxilla from the tip to the end of the nasal process is 89 inches; breadth across the frontal summit, 153 inches; palatines, 213 inches long in the median line, measured in a straight line; the glenoid fossa of the squamosal from tip to tip in a straight line, 22 inches. The atlas is wanting, also the 7th cervical, not the 4th, as stated by Cope. The processes of the axis form a complete bony ring, enclosing an oval foramen, the long axis of which measures 5 inches. The greatest width of the bony ring itself is 4 inches; distance from edge of anterior articular facet to outside of ring, 84 inches. The superior transverse processes of the 3d, 4th, and 5th cervicals are broken; also, the inferior processes of the 5th cervical. The length of the pro- cesses in the cervical vertebrae present (in straight lines) is as follows: SIBBALDIUS TECTIROSTRIS COPE. (TYPE.) CERVICAL VERTEBR. Superior process. | Inferior process. No. of cervical. 1 || = Right. Left. Right. Left. eS = = | | In. In. In, | In. 8 (broken) (broken) 6.25 BaG 4 “ee “ 6.5 hs 5 f - | (broken) (broken) 6 6.5 6.5 | 1.5 125 (0 7 == = a ee The breadth of the right radius at the distal end is 54 in.; of the left, the same ; at the proximal end, 52 in. in both. Breadth of the right ulna at the distal end, 4 in. ; of the left, 44 in.; at the proximal end (including the olecranon), right, 5} in., left, 6 in. Not many months after Cope prepared the original description of S. tectirostris, he inserted in the American Naturalist the following brief notice of the type- specimen : “NEW FINNER WHALE. “ ( Sibbaldius tectirostrts.) “The Academy of Natural Sciences has just obtained the perfect skeleton of a whale from the coast of Maryland. It is a finner, of the genus Sibbaldius Gray, and is half-grown and forty-seven feet in length. It is quite distinct from all known species, but is nearest S. daticeps. Its characters are found in the nasal and phenygoid | sic| bones, and in the cervical vertebre, ete. I call it S& tectirostris. Two cervicals only have complete lateral canals; the nasals are short, wide, con- cave in front, except a prolonged keel in the middle line above, and in front— Edward D. Cope, Philadelphia.” * (Broken) ? > Amer. Nat., No. 5, July, 1869, pp. 277-278. 90 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 5. BaL@NOPTERA VELIFERA Cope. 1869. “The Finner Whale of the Oregon Coasts.” Original description: Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., 1869, p. 16. Presented for publication March 9, 1869; published July 20, 1869. Type-locality : Oregon Coasts. No type. Described from Scammon’s obser- vations and sketches. A northern and a southern form mentioned, but not de- scribed, or named, The original description is as follows: “The Finner Whale of the Oregon coasts. “This species differs from all that have been described in that respect, in the color of the baleen; from the L. arctica of the Japanese Seas, the coloration of the body separates it; in the latter the sides are spotted black and white, in the pres- ent shaded from the brown of the upper to the white of the lower surfaces. The large size of the dorsal fin and its anterior position are marked characters; the northern species, with larger fin, is still more different from the . arctica, the ‘only one with which it would be probably identical. “The more southern form, with very small fin, may be another species—pos- sibly a Sthbaldius. The LB. velifera cannot, unfortunately, be compared with the B. swinhoei and B. patachonica, as no similar parts are figured or described. “The baleen, says Capt. Scammon, is of a light lead color, streaked with black, and its surface is marked with transverse roughening. In the LB. physalus the whalebone is, according to Gray, slate-colored on the inner side, white streaked ; on the outer side nearly black, and with still darker streaks. In the B. rostrata it is nearly all white, with some black at the base.” (83, 16.) In the list of cetacea by Mr. Wm. H. Dall, which is appended to Scammon’s work (83, 303), it is stated that baleen of L. vel/fera is in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. I regret that I am unable to find any such specimens, or record of their receipt, though there are many specimens of whalebone of other species, received from Scammon. 6. SrBBALDIUS SULFUREUS Cope. 1869. “The Sulphurbottom of the Northwest Coast.” Original description : Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., 1869, p. 20. Presented for publication March 9, 1869; published July 20, 1869. No type. Described from data furnished by Scammon, as follows “The Sulphur-Bottom of the North West Coast. This immense whale is as yet too insufficiently known to be distinguished as fully as desirable, but the marked peculiarity of coloration separates it from the only species with w hich a comparison is necessary—the S. borealis or gigas of the North Atlantic. Capt. Scammon de- scribes it to be gray or brown above, paler than in Lalwnoptera velifera, and be- neath, a sulphur yellow. Length from 70 to 90 feet. The colors of the S. borealis are described as polished black above, milky white beneath, by Dubar.” THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 91 BALZNOPTERA DAVIDSONI Scammon,. 1872. Original description: Proceedings, California Academy of Sciences, 4, No. 20, Jan., 1873, pp. 269-270. Printed in advance, Oct. 4, 1872. Type-locality: Admiralty Inlet, Washington, Oct., 1870. Female, 27 feet long, with foetus, 5 ft. long. Lype-specimen: Skull No. 12177, U.S. National Museum. (See pl. 23, fig. 1; pl. 25, fig. 1; pl. 26, fig. 1.) The original description is as follows: “Above, dull black; body, pectoral and caudal fins white below, with a white band across the upper surface of the pectorals near their bases. Gular folds, seventy in number; the interspaces having a pinkish cast, though the more prom. inent portions are of a milky white. Head pointed ; dorsal fin small, faleate, placed two-thirds the length of the body from the end of the beak. Pectorals small, narrow, placed one-third of the animal’s length from the anterior extremity. Gent- talia opening below and slightly behind the anterior edge of the dorsal fin. Baleen pure white; laminz on each side, two hundred and seventy in number; the longest not exceeding ten inches. Total length of animal twenty-seven feet ; : pec torals four feet long, thirteen inches wide; spiracles three feet eight inches behind the end of the beak ; pectorals, ditto, eight ‘feet six inches; anterior edge of dorsal, ditto, fifteen feet six inches; posterior edge, ditto, eighteen feet. Height of dorsal, ten inches : breadth of flukes, from point to point, seven feet six inches: width of Woes of the same, twenty-five inches. From the fork of the caudal fin to the anus, eight feet four inches; ditto to opening of vagina, nine and a half feet. Anterior “end of snout to corner of mouth, four feet eight inches. “ Distribution from Mexico to Bering Strait; on the west coast of America. “The specimen from which this description was taken was obtained in Ad- miralty Inlet, Washington Territory, October, 1870. It was a female, and con- tained a fetus five feet long; thus correcting the error of the whalers, who com- monly regard this small species as the young of the ‘finback’ of the coast. The skull has been deposited in the National Museum at Washington.” (81, 269-270.) Genus MEGAPTERA 8. MrcaprERA ospHyra Cope. 1865. “ Hunchbacked Whale of our [ Atlantic] Coast.” Original description : Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., 1865, p. 180. Offered for publication Sept. 19, 1865 ; published in 1865. Type-locality : Forty miles from Petit Manan lighthouse, Maine. Type-specimen : Skeleton from individual 50 ft. long, found dead at sea and towed to shore by Capt. Taylor. Skeleton mounted and preserved in museum at Niagara Falls, New York. This species was based on a skeleton of a Humpback found dead at sea,’ 40 miles from Petit Manan lighthouse, Maine, in July, 1844. It was mounted and ‘A printed label now (1goo) on the skeleton reads: “Captured by Capt. J. Bickford, of the ship Fulton.” 92 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. exhibited in the popular museum at Niagara Falls, formerly on the Canadian side, but now located on the American side. Cope examined it at some time prior to 1865, and in that year described it as representing a new species. He recognized that it belonged to the genus J/egaptera, but considered that it differed in several important characters from JZ. longimana (Rudolphi). The original description, which is too long to quote in full in this place, applies well, except in a few particulars, to a skeleton 33 ft. 10 in. long, in the National Museum (No. 21492) from Cape Cod, Mass., which, as will be shown later, agrees closely with European specimens of JZ. longimana. One of the differences noted in the description is that in the type of JZ osphyta the superior transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae increase in length from the 3d to the 5th, while in skeleton No. 21492, they rather decrease than increase. An examination of the type shows this distinction to be of little importance, as the processes are shorter posteriorly on one side and longer on the other.’ Cope wrote at a time when Gray’s opinion that the differences in the length and shape of the processes of the cervical vertebrxe furnished reliable specific characters was generally accepted. Later researches have shown that these processes vary greatly in the same species. In the description of the type of IZ. osphyia well-developed inferior transverse processes are said to occur on the 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th cervicals; “that of the fifth, three-fifths the diameter of the centrum.” An examination of the type bears out this statement. In skeleton No. 21492 there are inferior transverse processes on the right side of the 3d, 4th, and 5th cervicals, but none on the 6th; and that on the 5th is not more than 4 the diameter of the centrum in length. That this differ- ence is unimportant, however, is shown by the fact that there are no inferior processes whatever on the left séde of the last five cervicals (8d to 7th) in this same skeleton. A most extraordinary statement in the description of the type of JZ. osphyia is as follows: “The neural arches and spines are remarkably elevated on the dorsal and lumbar regions, somewhat as in the Catodontid ; ¢. g., in the 33d vertebra, the vertical diameter of the centrum is 9.75 inches, and the height of the arch and spine, 17.87 inches, or nearly double.” Again, Cope remarks: “ A most striking peculiarity of the species is the great elevation of the arches and spinous processes of the dorsal, and especially the lumbar vertebrae, reminding one of the structure in the toothed whales. The outline of the skeleton is thus somewhat humped behind, presenting a contrast to that represented by Rudolphi in the type specimen of the longimana, where the elevation of the arches and spines does not exceed the diameter of the centrum, on the lumbar region at least.” As I remarked in 1884 (89, 642), after having seen the type, these statements appear to have been due to a misapprehension. In the type the vertical diameter ‘ The figures for the superior transverse processes in the type are as follows (see p. 96): Right. Loft. 3d cervical (broken) (broken) 4th cervical 7y In. 72 in. 5th cervical 7¢ in. 7$ in, THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 93 (posteriorly) of the centrum of the 33d vertebra is 12 inches, and the neural arch and spine 134 inches, making a total of 254 inches. The height of the arch and spine is, therefore, about equal to the depth of the centrum, and not “nearly double,” as stated in the original description. In skeleton No. 21492 the diameter of the centrum of the 34th vertebra! is 9.75 inches, and with the neural arch and spine the total height of the vertebra is 18 inches. This character of the lumbar and caudal spines is clearly fictitious, and as it was really the principal one on which the species osphyia was based, we are justified in the assumption that the type repre- sents the ordinary Humpback of our Atlantic coast, and is to be so regarded unless other characters than those enumerated by Cope can be detected. In 1884, Cope in reviewing my Catalogue of Aquatic Mammals, above mentioned (30, 1123-1124), took exception to this view, and accused me of inaccuracy in stating that the high neural spines had been put forward as the principal character of the species. He quoted from his original description, as fol- lows: “The shorter head and fins, the peculiarly high neural spines* and peculiari- ties of some of the cervical vertebrae, would seem to distinguish this [species] from the longimana.” As, however, a Megaptera with the skull “one-fifth, or less” the total length, and the flipper “one-fifth” the total length, as first reported by Cope, would be a decided anomaly, I regarded these dimensions with suspicion, and an examina- tion of the skeleton showed that they were due to the imperfection of the specimen, The characters of the cervicals mentioned by Cope, in so far as they differ from those of any specimen of Megaptera, seemed to be of little importance, as above noted. The supposed great elevation of the neural spines of the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae® seemed possible, and hence the really important character; and so, indeed, it would be, if established. In 1868 Cope (27, 194) made further reference to the type, stating that the skeleton (as it then was) measured 34 feet, but that as it lacked some of the caudal vertebree and the intervertebral cartilages had shrunk, the proper length was perhaps 42 feet. He describes several additional features of the skull and skeleton, all of which are to be found in the specimen in the National Museum, No. 21492, except that which relates to the union of the neural arches of the 3d and 4th cervical vertebra. This is, however, an individual rather than a specific character. In 1871, in describing another species (29, 107), Cope makes a few additional comments on JZ. osphyia. He remarks that in this species “the head and fin are even shorter than in JZ. longimana, and the coronoid process equally rudimentary. : The width of the orbital plates [orbital process of the frontal] distally is .5 their length in the type of M. osphyia.” As regards the orbital process of the frontal it is to be remarked that the proportions given by Cope for JZ osphyia are the same in the two skulls in the National Museum (Nos. 21492 and 16252) from ' The 33d cannot be measured. ? This refers to the spines of the dorsal and lumbar vertebrz, and not to those of the cervicals. Be Wis Dl. * And also of the caudals, as Cope mentions particularly the 33d vertebra among them, It is really the 2d caudal. 94 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Cape Cod, Mass. The coronoid process of the mandible is prominent in both these specimens, and in No. 21492 increases the total depth of the jaw from 10 inches to 12 inches, though as it is strongly inclined outward, the vertical height of the process itself exceeds 3 inches. In J longimana, furthermore, if Struthers’s speci- men is to be regarded as representing that species, the coronoid is not inconspicuous. Struthers’s measurements are—anterior margin 14 inches, posterior margin 3+ inches. As no measurements are given by Cope for J. osphyca, it is difficult to estimate the exact import of the word “rudimentary” which he employs. An examination of the type shows that the coronoids have been cut off at the top. Whether they were in this condition when Cope saw them is uncertain, but probable. The coronoid is, of course, less well developed in the Humpbacks than in the Finbacks. We have now reviewed all that has been recorded of the type of JZ. osphyia, and it will be conceded, I think, that there is no reason to suppose that it should be separated from other specimens from the Atlantic coast of the United States, as a distinct species. Whether the American species is different from the European longimana—the main question at issue—will be considered later. The type-skeleton of JZ osphyia is figured on pl. 36. As already stated, it was formerly in a small museum on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, but has now been removed to a new museum building near the Cataract Hotel on the American side. A written label on the skeleton reads: “Skeleton of a whale 50 ft. long. Caught by Capt. Bickford, of the ship Fulton, near the Petit [Manan] Lighthouse, on the coast of Maine, July, 1844. It weighed about 70 tons. The Jaw bones measured 12 feet. 18 people can sit in its mouth. It was towed into Birch Harbor, and there prepared for exhibition. It is the only specimen of its kind known.” A printed label says: “. . . weighing about 70 tons, it was captured by Captain J. Bickford, of the ship Fu/ton, on the coast of Maine, 40 miles at sea. Petit Manan Light House, July, 1844,” ete. The skeleton is mounted with all the vertebra, except the atlas, reversed. The curvature of the dorsal region is exaggerated. Each pectoral limb has three digits, and three phalanges in each digit (exclusive of metacarpals), an entirely artificial arrangement. Actual measurements of the skeleton, made by myself in 1900, are as follows: MEGAPTERA OSPHYIA COPE. (TYPE.) Skull : Inches. Motaljlengths (Straight) re ecmtesste cure Bie oay snot stern oye 'o te 8 GSU aNS Eero cele n Ve rohaney Shseet eo 135.0 Greatest breadth: (squamosall)\ 224) 242 secession eo oe eee erie inated enter 78.5 Post-squamosal breadth...... Baia) batisoea cotele lav] alone chev alls roucuene) eloelates spste erstsus here meretegs 66.0 Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end, least.............--220---0+- sees 9.5 ss t = - s* uBTEALESE nets Sevan e Sue tees ete se 14.0 Length of rostrum (straight).......... sai eit otalete ayearschue ue eeeiticio pRarRy ayo) /arRve here eccke 89.0 ss os at middle (curved) -s2iisacses ae coer nc eerie testo ee ee sn5 Length of mandible (straight)/ ce crr a -talereieys cies aie eel cic rosea eter tensens rere eae 129.0 a 3 (Curved) ja eas nese cis: cctene ron tin ate eiegrsio ey CAS seinsoeae oeieree IAACO Depth of mandible at middle........ cmoobconoNODOOHOSdHOn oon ODS Rolcheve er sieneasaeisterege 11.5 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO, 95 Skeleton : THERE Total length, as mounted, straight (35 ft., BLING) ec ete eee aliegelefoieteralaiernl acetone ae 425.0 Resreetes ED ECAC DM ON ARIS. <.re.-ia/~.c1s/s, feiss see less sO eee oat ee 26.0 Iie MIB OMGENL UIE LAXIS ait nein nietis igtisn is se Page eee Senn ee 7.0 eveapestaprcadthvon ust dorsal, .2/.-. «2c a: asaca SR RE 1g oa Be AXIS crc dohece arts scaruarsta ae RR Eee ee 13.5! me breadthyobmstidorsal te 2s%./Atc, auc ace eee 19.5 oe = “ee a ee 3 9 CLS tae gpl. 9 7, Bids tes ata, stata recto eee 14.5) oe bread thtoferstslumbarpsseee mis sc en ene 29.5 ri height > = Fe nha iadn alae circ Ree eC Dah H breadthro tans tye atic alleay seperti ge a err ee 26." “ = “e oe “oe a4 Beet ees rg sit Siac serch ce oe ee 2h ee 23.5 LENGTH OF TRANSVERSE PROCESSES OF CERVICALS, Superior. Inferior. Cervical No. 7 cA Right. Left. Right. | Left. | - =| 7 In. | In. In. In. 3. (broken) 5 3 3 4. 43 (broken) 24 24 5. 53 53 I | (none) 6. 53 52 (none) | (none) ie 53 | 53 (none) (none) In the type-skull of JZ. dellicosa the anterior margin of the orbital plate of the frontal is nearly straight, as mentioned by Cope. The supraoccipitals are concave in the middle and bulbous on the sides, but the difference in this respect between this skull and No. 21492 U.S.N.M. from Cape Cod, Mass., is not great. There is a median ridge on the occipitals. The median inferior crest of the vomer termin- ates suddenly at the posterior end in J/. bellicosa, while in No, 21492 U.S.N.M. it dies away gradually. The right nasal bone appears to have been lost. The left is preserved, and does not correspond with Cope’s figures (all of which are very de- fective). It does agree with the nasals of skull No. 21492 U.S.N.M. The extreme length of the left nasal is 94in.; breadth opposite the distal end of the inner margin, 4 in.; breadth of nasal orifice opposite extremity of outer margin of left nasal, 94 in.; depth of left nasal, 94 in. The vertebre preserved are cervicals, 17; dorsals, 14; lumbars, 10; caudals, 18; total, 44. The caudals missing are probably the 4th, 17th, 15th, 17th to 20th or 21st; in all 8 or 9, making a probable total for the skeleton of 52 or 53 ver- tebre. The atlas has no distinct spine, but a crest about 4 inch high. The total height of the 32d vertebra is 224 in., of which the neural arch and spine comprise 124 in. and the centrum 10 in. The scapula has a rudiment of a coracoid process, as in other specimens of J/egaptera. ’ Median. ? Posterior. : 4 = 5 ~pec f shev . aT} Saiceone hale. Including process for chevron ; posterior. 102 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 10. Mecaprera versapriis Cope. 1869. “The North Pacific Humpback.” Original description: Proceedings, Academy of Natural Sciences, Phila., 1869, p. 15. Presented for publication March 9, 1869; published July 20, 1869. Type-locality : North Pacific. No specimens. Named from Scammon’s measurements and description. The original description is as follows: “The North Pacific hump-back. This species possesses pectoral fins, appar- ently intermediate in length between those of the J/. longiémana and the species with shorter fins, as JZ. osphyia and MZ. kuzira. They are between one-third and one-fourth the length; in the two last mentioned, between one-fourth and one-fifth. It has 26 pectoral and gular folds. Siebold states that the JZ. kuzira possesses but ten. In this animal the warts extend to the top of the front, a character not ascribed to any Atlantie MJegaptera. It differs also from JZ longimana, and resembles JZ. lalandii and M. kuzira, in having the pectoral black on the external face ; in the Greenland species and in the model of the Aleutian Islanders, described by Chamisso, it is white. The characteristic color of the belly, in the most typical form, is said to be entirely black. In this respect it differs from all other Megaptere, which present more or less white, or grey, on the inferior surfaces at least.” Note on MrGAprERA BRASILIENSIS. Though the locality of the specimen to which Cope attached this name takes it somewhat out of our range, I have thought it desirable to make reference to it here, in order that comparisons might be instituted, if necessary, between it and Cope’s West Indian species, JZ. bellicosa, with which it might be supposed to be closely allied, if not identical. From the brief statement in the Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, 1867, in which this name appears it might at first be supposed that Cope intended to describe a new species. His commentary on the paragraph in 1871, however, leads one to infer that such was not the case, though the matter is left in a very unsatisfactory condition. As both records are very brief, I will quote them in full. The paragraph of 1867 is as follows: “ Prof. Cope presented to the Academy a young specimen of the whale, known as the Bahia Finner, procured near Bahia, Brazil, the length of which was 21 feet. He said it belonged to the genus Megaptera, Gray, with the hunchback whales of sailors. The evidence consists in the very short di- and parapophyses of the cervical vertebrae and the absence of all trace of acromion and coracoid processes. The orbital processes of the frontal are narrowed externally and the muzzle consid- erably narrowed. Judging from the name, it possesses a more fully developed dorsal fin than the other Megaptera. It should be called Megaptera braziliensis.” (25, 82.) Cope’s commentary on this, published in 1871, is as follows: “The species described by Gray (Catal. B. Mus., 1866, 62) as Physalus brasili- ensis, founded on some baleen of the ‘Bahia Finner, has been supposed by me THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 103 roc. A. N. Sci., Phila., 1867, p. 32) to be a Megaptera. Jertain it is that a Megaptera is found at Bahia, as I have seen larger and smaller portions of two skeletons of one, but whether it be the ‘ Bahia Finner’ and P. brasiliensis, Gray, is quite doubtful. In the first place, fishermen and whalers never call a ‘hump-back’ ( Megaptera) a‘ finner’; if they have done so in the case of this species, it evidently has a noticeable dorsal fin, which is wanting in the present whale. In the next place, baleen of the ‘Bahia Finner’ has a commercial value, being exported to England, while that of Megaptera has none, being coarse and twisted.” (29, 107.) From a comparison of these two paragraphs it would appear that Cope first brought forward his specimen as indicating that Gray’s Balenoptera brasiliensis, or “ Bahia Finner,” was a Megaptera, but afterwards concluded that though a Megaptera unquestionably occurred in the vicinity of Bahia, it was “ quite doubtful” whether the same was Gray’s 5. brasiliensis after all. We may properly consider that Cope’s remark that “it should be called Meyaptera brasiliensis” means merely that when he first wrote, in 1867, he thought Gray’s Balenoptera brasiliensis should be transferred to the genus Megaptera. The Meguptera brasiliensis is not, therefore, to be considered as one of Cope’s new species, and the skeleton which he presented to the Philadelphia Academy is not a type. Disposed of in this way, as I believe it should be, there is still a matter of interest in determining what the skeleton was which Cope presented to the Academy, So little is left of the specimen and it is so young, that it is hardly worth con- sideration. The skull is very immature and lacks the right maxilla. The spines and processes of the vertebrx are all separate, showing immaturity. I have found 37 vertebre in all, apparently without the atlas and axis, and numerous caudals are doubtless lacking. The skull, so far as can be judged, does not differ notably from that of J/ bellicosa. The breadth across the squamosals (greatest) is 38 in.; the orbit, point to point, 6 in. What Cope means by saying that the “orbital processes of the frontal are narrowed externally,” is not evident. The orbits are very large rela- tively, as is to be expected in so immature an individual. Length of mandible, straight, 5 ft. 14 in.; curved, 5 ft. 5 in. There are 14 pairs of ribs, all very fragile. The first is broad distally, as in M. bellicosa. Measurements of the limbs are as follows: Scapula: Breadth, 1 ft. ro in. Height, 1 “ 34 “ Humerus: Length, o “ 9} “ without epiphyses (straight). Radius: Length, 1 “ 8%“ “ “ ss Ulna: Eength) wut Ss 5 s ss The total length of the skull (as well as can be made out) is 5 ft. 2 in. Length of rostrum, 3 ft. 25 in. Breadth of rostrum at middle, estimated, 14 in. Depth of mandible at middle, 6} in. Nasals are lacking. Note on AGapHELus arpposus (Erxleben) Cope. The first mention of this whale by Cope is in the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1867, p. 147, where he says in a foot-note : 104 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. “ A fine specimen of this species [ Balwnoptera rostrata], over 30 feet long, went ashore during the autumn of 1866, on the Long Beach, N.J. It was much injured, probably by “the killers. This species has not ‘been before noticed on our coasts.” It is evident that he thought the whale to be B. acuto-rostrata at this time, but in the same Proceedings, 1868, p. 159, he is quoted as making the following state- ment on June 28d, 1868: “He [Prof. Cope] mentioned that he had opportunity of examining a por- tion of a specimen of the Scrag Whale of Dudley, Galena gibbosa of Erxleben, and ascertained that it repr esented a genus not previously known. It was a fin- back whale, but without dorsal fin or throat folds, resembling superficially the genus Balena. The baleen short and curved. The genus was called Agaphelus. “A second species of the genus was to be found in the ‘gray whale’ of the coasts of California. The baleen of this species, compared with that of the A. gibbosus, was longer and had narrower basis. The plates moderately and simply concave, while those of the latter are sigmoidal, most curved near the outer margin in cross section. The bristles of the California species were very coarse, varying from one to three series between the enamel plates. The bristles of the ae gibbosus much finer, three series together. Length of the latter, 8.5 inches, width at base, 4.4 inches. In the gray whale or Agaphelus glaucus Cope, 22 inches in length, width at base 6 inches. In the former nearly 6 in an inch, in the latter 25. The baleen of the A. gébbosus belonged to an immature specimen of 35 feet in length.” I understand this to be the specimen that Cope referred to in 1867 under the name of 4. rostrata, as appears from the same Proceedings, 1868, p. 224, where he cites that reference in synonymy. He now ealls it Agaphelus gibbosus Cope, and gives the estimated length of the specimen, which was young, as 43 feet. At the beginning of this article, on p. 221, he makes the following statement : “During the autumn of 1866 a whale was cast ashore on the Long Beach, Ocean Co., N. J., opposite Westecunk, on the other side of Little Egg Har ‘bor, near the residence of Wm. A. Crane. A recent visit to the spot furnished me with the means of determining the species to which this monster of the deep belonged, although not with the completeness desirable, as the tide had a short time previ- ously taken off the most bul ky part of the careass. Thus the cranium, cervical and dorsal vertebrae, with the first ribs, the most important portions for its identifica. tion, were lost. There were preser ved, however, the mandibular arch, ear-bone, one scapula and both fins, numerous ribs, many lumbar and caudal vertebrie, with the baleen from one side of the maxilla. These portions, with a few prominent points dependent on the observations of Wm. A. Crane, serve to indicate a species not only new to our fauna, but new to modern science. The evidence of my informant, as that of an old and experienced coaster and waterman, and one familiar with the appearance of our cetaceans, confirmed by his sons and by the specimens preserved, so far as they went I consider reliable. . . “In general features this Cetacean seems to be an intermediate form of the toothless whales : and an additional feature, which depends on the observation of my friend W. Crane, and in which I cannot conceive it possible that he should be mistaken, indicates still more conclusively that it pertains to a genus not before characterized. The whale was first driven on shore on its back, and the gular and THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 105 thoracic regions were seen to be entirely without ridges or plicee of any kind, but as smooth as any other part of the body, or as the throat of a right whale, Balena cisarctica Cope, which is not uncommon on the same coast.” At the end of description, on page 225, he remarks: “The owner of the whale tried out about one-fourth of the blubber, and pro- cured sixty-five gallons of oil, which would give about four hundred gallons for the whole; the thickness of the adipose layer would not average 4 inches, the greatest thickness was 5 inches. “This species was black above and white below, the sides lead-colored, with longitudinal shades of the darker color; fins, basal half white, terminal black.” The genus and species are again commented upon by Cope in the same Pro- ceedings, 1869, pages 14-15, and were subsequently mentioned and discussed by various authors and still appear in current lists of cetaceans. In 1884, however, in commenting in the American Naturalist, 18, p. 1123, on my list of cetaceans for the London Fisheries Exhibition, Cope remarks : “The Agaphelus gibbosus must be withdrawn from the list of authentic species. The bones which I referred to it are probably those of Balenoptera rostrata. The characters of the animal in the flesh were given me by persons whom I supposed to be trustworthy, but who may have been mistaken. The species may, however, be the Balwna gibbosa of the old authors.” - From the evidence it seems extremely probable that Cope was right in coming back to his original view that the specimen was one of 4. rostrata. The color of the whalebone and of the pectoral fin would especially seem to indicate that species ; and the misstatement regarding the length of the animal, etc., may be explained on the ground that Cope examined only a portion of the skeleton. The chief circum- stance which led him to erect the genus Agaphelus seems to have been that the fishermen who found the specimen on the beach aflirmed that the throat was with- out folds and that there was no fin on the back. The statements regarding these parts appear to have been made to Cope about two years after the animal was observed and there was abundant time for the real facts to have been forgotten. The matter was complicated by two other circumstances: First, that the fishermen have long recognized a whale called the Scrag whale, which is said to have the same characters which Cope’s specimen was supposed to have ; and, second, that Cope at this time became acquainted with the fact that there was a whale on the Pacific coast which had the smooth throat and back, namely, the Gray whale (2hachianectes). The existence of this whale on the Pacific coast made it probable that a similar species might be looked for on the Atlantic coast. In 1869, as already stated, Cope established the genus Phachianectes (83, 15) for the California Gray whale, thus leaving the supposed Atlantic “Scrag whale ” as the only representative of the genus Agaphelus. As the latter was founded on a Balenoptera, the generic name Agaphelus should be expunged from the literature. 106 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Cope states, as noted above (26, 221), that the mandibular arch, an ear-bone, one scapula, both fins, numerous ribs, many lumbar and caudal vertebra, and the baleen from one side of the maxilla were preserved. The whereabouts of this material could not be ascertained. It does not appear to be in the Philadelphia Academy. Cope (26, 221) gives measurements of some of the parts, which may be compared with Turner’s Granton (Scotland) specimen (92, 68), as follows : Balenoptera acuto-rostrata, Measurement. Guntonuscodand: ““ Agaphelus gibbosus.” Length of mandibular ramus (in curve)....... 6 ft. 4h in. : 6 ft. © in: Depth of mandible at coronoid............... Onin: 8} in. Mengthio® thelbumerus-- ee ce eee ee eae c14 in. 11} in. a Se radiusvandeulnatacavereiee ree (nearly) 18 in.’ 17 in. This correspondence of Cope’s specimen with a well-authenticated B. acuto- rostrata is very interesting. *Ulna. CHAPTER IV. THE COMMON FINBACK, BALZNOPTERA PHYSALUS (Liyy.). This species is the “Common Finback” of European waters. Hundreds of individuals have been taken at the Finmark whaling stations since 1874, and scores have been recorded as stranding at various points on the coasts of Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. The species has been, on this account, more carefully studied than any other Finback. Sars’s diagnosis of the species, published in 1878 (79, 17), is as follows: “Length of full grown individuals reaching to 70 feet. “Body slender; the greatest height scarcely exceeding 1 the length; behind the navel very much attenuated, the posterior half very narrow and maintaining almost the same depth throughout. “Color above and on the left side of the lower jaw dark gray, below white ; color of the back descending obliquely behind the pectoral fins so as to leave only a narrow median longitudinal area (below) along the posterior part of the body. — “Mouth equalling about } the length of the body; upper jaw seen from above very narrow, wedge shaped, gradually decreasing in width toward the apex. “Pectoral fins small, scarcely exceeding 4 the length of the body, narrowly lanceolate, with the posterior angle often but little distinct ; the external surface showing the color of the back, the internal surface and the whole anterior margin, white. “Dorsal fin quite high, triangular, with the scarcely curved apex directed obliquely backward ; situated behind a vertical line drawn through the anal orifice. “Caudal fin uniformly white below, with the margins dusky. “Whalebone dull bluish, varied with lighter color; some near the apex [of the upper jaw] white.” The admirable figure accompanying Sars’s article (plate 2) agrees exactly with the diagnosis. It represents the right side of the whale, showing the lower jaw and the anterior whalebone white, a character of importance, as will appear later. Sars’s diagnosis in Norwegian is somewhat fuller than that in Latin, which is translated above, and may be profitably included here: “Length of full-grown individuals reaches to 70 feet. — “Body of especially slender and attenuated form, with the greatest height never exceeding 1 the total length, back of the navel suddenly and strongly di- minishing, so that the whole of the posterior portion of the body becomes unusually small and almost everywhere of one height as far as the root of the flukes. 107 108 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. “Color above and also on the left side of the under jaw quite light gray, brownish, or passing into sepia color. The color of the back, as in the Little Piked whale, descends obliquely from the pectoral fins across the sides of the body, and on the part lying behind the vent there is only a very narrow and sharply defined white stripe along the ventral side. “The length of the mouth is about equal to + the total length, and the upper jaw seen from above is quite narrow, conical, or uniformly decreasing in breadth toward the tip. “The pectoral fins are very small, scarcely exceeding } the total length, narrow, lanceolate, with the posterior angle unusually little prominent. On its outer side showing the color of the back, but the inner side and the whole of the anterior border pure white. “Dorsal fin proportionally rather high (at least in males) and of a triangular form, with the tip not strongly curved, and directed obliquely backward. It lies rather far back, immediately behind a vertical line drawn through the anus. “Flukes, pure white on the lower surface, with dark margins. “Whalebone, dark bluish and somewhat variegated, but with the exception that some of the most anterior of it is yellowish white as in the Little Piked whale.” In preparing for my first trip to the Newfoundland fishery at Snook’s Arm, I brought together in abstract form all the principal external characters assigned to this species by the more recent European authorities, and for convenience of refer- ence they are given in brief form below: Average total length. 81 males = 62 ft. 7 in. (Cocks, from whalers.) 105 females = 64 ft. 14 in. (Cocks, from whalers.) Mean total length. 60 to 70 ft. (GULDBERG.) Maximum total length. Male, 72 ft. 1 in. (Cooxs.) Female (“bastard”), 80 ft. 6 in. (Cooxs.) Proportion of length of jaws to total length ( average.) 20.8 per cent. (F. w. 7., compiled.) (Length of mouth from tip of lower jaw = } the total length = 20 per cent. Sars.) Variation: Length of mouth = 19.5 to 22.5 per cent. (F. w. 7., compiled.) Proportion of length of pectoral (from axilla) to total length (average ). 10.5 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.) zy to 4 = 10 per cent. to 11 per cent. (GuLDBERG.) 4=11.1 percent. (Sars.) Variation: 9.9 to 11.3 per cent. (. w. T., compiled.) (Flower gives 8.7 per cent. for the Portsmouth, England, specimen, 1869.) THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTI ATLANTIC. 109 Proportion of length of pectoral from head of humerus to total length (average ). 12.4 per cent. (#. w. T., compiled.) Variation : 11.8 to 13.8 per cent. (e. w. 7., compiled.) Percentage of total length anterior to the posterior margin of the dorsal fin (average). 75 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.) (The larger part of the dorsal lies behind a vertical line drawn through the vent. Sars.) Variation: 72.9 per cent. to 77.7 per cent. (4. w. 7., compiled.) Proportion of vertical height of dorsal to total length (average). 2.3 per cent. (¥. w. T., compiled.) Variation ; 2.0 to 3.5 per cent. (#. w. 7., compiled.) (Ravin gives 1.4 per cent. in one case.) Shape of pectoral fins. Anterior edge thick, posterior edge thin. Pectorals narrowly lanceolate, with the posterior angle generally but little pronounced. (Sars.) Color above (normal ). Blackish, or gray-black. (Cocxs.) Light brown-gray, or approaching sepia-color. (Sars.) Right lower lip white, left dark. Dark color extends obliquely down from behind the pectorals, leaving only a narrow white stripe below. (Sars.) Variation: Black when some time dead. (Morir, Ravin, ete.) Gray-blue. (Cockxs.) , Sars’s Lofoten specimen had an irregular light patch between the root of the pectoral and the corner of the mouth. Color below (normal ). White throughout. “With a grayish band passing over it.” (GULDBERG.) Variation; Tinged with yellowish, especially in oldish individuals. (GuxLp- BERG). In a dead whale the posterior 12 feet of the “small,” or caudal peduncle, gray black. (Cooks.) Yellowish white. (Murr. Specimen some time dead.) Markings. Jaw and chin white, with black flecks. Variation: Left wpper and lower lips jet-black. Right lips enamel-, or milk- white. (Cocks. Dead whales.) 110 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Color of upper surface of pectorals (normal). Light slate-color, tipped with white at extreme distal edge. (Cooxs.) Same dark color as the back. (Sanrs.) Variation: “Blue, with almost a brownish tinge at the proximal end.” (Cocks, “ Hybrid Whale.” Dingy black. (Muri. Specimen some time dead.) Color of lower surface of pectorals (normal). White. Lower surface and whole anterior margin white. (Sars.) Variation: White running over the anterior margin, and the gray of the upper surface overspreading the under surface posteriorly and proximally. (Cooks.) Whitish. (Murre. Specimen some time dead.) Color of upper surface of flukes (normal). Dull black. (Cocks.) Color of lower surface of flukes (normal ). White. Pure white; with sharply defined dark margin. (Sars.) Variation: Shading through streaks of gray to a little white about the center of each lobe. (Cocks.) Average length of longest baleen, without bristles. Less than 3 feet. (GULDBERG.) 30 inches. (Murtz.) Mean number of plates of baleen on one side, 360. (Munriz.) Color of baleen plates (normal ). Black on the outer edge, then slate, gradually striping to yellow on the inner margin. (Cocks.) Blue-gray, with light stripes. (G@uLpBERG.) Foremost blades yellow, or grayish white. (GuLDBERG.) (In Raviy’s specimen the anterior third of the series all whitish, the remainder all slate-gray ; the transition abrupt.) Color of bristles of baleen (normal). Yellow, almost buff. (Cocxs.) It has been recognized for a long time that a species closely resembling B. physalus, if not identical with it, occurs on the east coast of America, from Green- THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 111 land southward. For many years it formed the object of a more or less irregular fishery in Massachusetts Bay, and considerable numbers of individuals have stranded at various points on the coast, the skeletons of some of which have been preserved in the museums of the United States. One of these skeletons was described by Dwight in 1872 (35), and we have endeavored to show that the type of Cope’s B. tectirostris also belonged to this “Common Finback” of American waters (see p. 87). In 1899, having learned that a whaling company, known as the Cabot Steam Whaling Company, was engaged in fishing for Finbacks on the east coast of New- foundland, I obtained the permission of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution to visit the island for the purpose of making observations on the various species captured, Through the kindness of Messrs. Harvey & Co., of St. John’s, New- foundland, agents of the whaling company, I was given every facility for the study of the whales taken in Notre Dame Bay and brought into their station at Snook’s Arm in that bay to be stripped of blubber and whalebone. I remained at the station three weeks, and examined with considerable care 25 whales which were brought in. The capture of the whales was prosecuted in the same manner as on the Norwegian coast, and indeed a large proportion of the stockholders in the com- pany were Norwegians, the steamer used in pursuing the whales was built in Norway, and the captain and a majority of the crew were Norwegians. Through the courtesy of Captain Bull, who was in command of the steamer Cabot, I was permitted on several occasions to witness the chase from a favorable station on the bow of the boat, where I could observe the motions of the whales in the water, the effect of the bomb-harpoons, and the modus operandi of securing the dead whales to the steamer’s side and towing them to the station. Capt. Bull did everything in his power to assist me in my work, and gave me much valuable information concerning whales in American, Norwegian, and Japanese waters, from his own observations. An important part of the works at the Snook’s Arm station was a large inclined platform, or slip, upon which the whales were drawn up, one at a time, completely out of the water, thus affording excellent opportunities for close inspection. I soon ascertained that all the whales taken at this station were of two kinds, a Finback and a Humpback. The Finback was much the more abundant at the time of my visit, in August, but I was informed by Capt. Bull that the Humpback arrived in large numbers later in the year. A Finback was already in the slip at the time of my arrival at the station, and I was not long in determining that I had to do with a species closely allied to, or identical with, Lalwnoptera physalus. As each individual was drawn up on the slip, I measured it, using a uniform schedule of measurements, and photographed it from one or more points of view, and made as copious notes as circumstances would permit on its color and other characters. As the whaling crew was eager to cut up the whales the moment they were drawn out on the slip, observations had to be made with all celerity, especially as the men, by aid of a steam winch, stripped off the skin and blubber in an incredibly short 112 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. time, and when they had removed it and the whalebone, slid the carcass into the water again at once. In spite of these circumstances, I was able to make valuable observations on the external characters of the species and on individual variation. The skeletons, however, were not available for study. As the result of my observations of this Finback, I ascertained the following general facts: (1) That the individuals captured varied considerably in size. (2) That both sexes were obtained, and that the females predominated. (3) That the females were in different stages and conditions as regards gestation. (4) That the color of the body was subject to considerable variation in differ- ent individuals. (5) That the coloration of the two sides of the body was asymmetrical, as in B. physalus. (6) That some individuals had a large amount of food in the stomach, while others had little, or none. SIZE. The total length and the sex of the several individuals examined are shown in the following table: BALAENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). SNOOK'’S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. | Capture Number. Date of Capture. | Sex. Total Length. | = - ty) No. 1..-.-5, - Aug. 4.-.05. ieee : Sie eal aeeeisee 55 ft. 2 in. 2 Dre eltetetorel | everonmens CS eeetere reer | akereker sce ronnst eton Mens oks|| eNenerenete 03 Aton (PS Me a esay comes |bevnath: eS Be Pu Save ees be lees (Ge ae (Cay bas oar [oro eee Betas Sil latens enrerete Digits erly vanes Gil Ol (CR ee yas ery copter EP" IOuxs, Nase || eaks soles Oe ania yen erent are BON | es (Oi a honeogn)| Aeeoec SEP ATO ireraca.s.ats|taerons croton Ore caine ferarorere ay OS ea 1 Osage melee f Phsderc aac] cote aioe 6 saara evalteesteror ee Boy ae TOtiers caters lsloela Te gy atoee a) istare oacre oe Sh csaterehanael| egersteeets ae a (Co) ee rai eter sete a SATAY sto jes Dee cual caer 3 i 8 is (610) rad p02 aco iets voter Sh WB Vaicysieyorell tasaehereetess Bi keene abst all oerets ave 5 Aa Ones (Gay Saas ee ce ee Soe PDs real neoien armas Oi A nigra ace al ieestarcte he N03) iene ese ieereria| enact be) Ci cae amet lb ote a ae Ot Seeds ee ee 677 atone (03) ae os es oes SMES RE dere ee eecins Oi eriesersters| Maas 6255 AIO! (Gc) Pee aah (Clore tater ena Stent 8 aL Gea siaerceall te ots seererets Ore stenstarees| eve Ooee TnOne (nS) ee yee ers eee Sere LO ween ete |Ree tere ipermaricrte lance Osa Ole (UG) er See eles SAU) IMT Ae cteracaea | RN eooreete Oe aces eee 62) ei one (7) Be ok oer pera eels ares Pep LO hee Moet ene ears Cis rates amr teers 62 enay os (it8)) ey = 20: Concise aero SHS jewel Gece aes QU sareettereliseuereer (Op Be (Go) WS eat. Su oAaceees See AUG Asehncieleoiectacian 6 fas evatet dlaceine s 50) petty ie (20) ‘ BBs ccrers oes | oevancaees - DIT ya cegerene | tobe seer eens Disks areerd arse GO wey es (21) BAN av acchorese te cueteuatt 22 cuiarre| gieteereyaeic Qs a foreue, tee |etanaueaeis 62) 9) (72) Memeoes comes lStrcos Si 2a a Neat eerleraeckeetere OMavsrapoisyaic| taraneteasne GOy ae. (2g) a i26r cr wa ncsaryss Eo BO ihe te ait opal Crore rep ye 6 Gs eres eyste | aasierensts SOMO L a (ease yrere er seeiee SMR Ste iva Paves ciate Oh arene |e nee Ob tenes ics (25) iS, PZ BEN ea eetel leratcicie se aia ca ayadsealters aver cteress Ou natin el teeta ss BANS Os THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 1138 The males and females in order of size were as follows: BALASNOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). SNOOK’S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. Males. Females. 65 ft. o in, 59 ft. o in. | =o) fta Sip 62 {t. 9 in. 62 “ce 10 “c 56 oi Ca * 67 “ ou * 62 “6 gece eine 2 “ 55 6“ a | * 66 “ 7 “ Gone ou «ec “ oc “c x “ “ * és “ 59) IO 54 6 | "65 3 61 10 59 I 5apy = MONS | SS OSWemeOige 57) or ed Lys ote Sure pone | 63 4 BO. ee ase 7102) eo eels Maximum: ....:-..- 65 ft.o in. 70 ft. 8 in. MamiM UM ec. Ge Com Ohare: Ouse 7 0 mane : ee | . ‘ PAVICLAB Cle 2)- aye 16.5 (10) 58 775 | (Gis) 02 eran Statistics of Norwegian . physalus, compiled from Cocks’s observations, as already seen (p. 108), are as follows: BALA{NOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). NORWAY. Males, Females. IVIESUINIUNEM pers cyeie eit ste = t0i'e ore Vette Tein. 80 ft. 6 in. (“ Bastard’) PAW ELA G OM ettepa e toicholie o/c0s¢ (31)) 62g 7 ~ (105) 64 “ 14“ The Norwegian B. physalus appears, therefore, to be larger than the individuals taken at Snook’s Arm. As regards the maxima, it should be observed that Cocks’s figures are derived from a much larger number of individuals than mine, and the same is true as regards the averages. Cocks obtained the figures on which the averages are taken from the whalers and not from measurements made by himself. As regards minima, it should be kept in mind that the whalers at Snook’s Arm avoided the smaller individuals since they were unprofitable for oil. There were undoubtedly many small, young whales in Notre Dame Bay at the time the larger ones above cited were obtained. They were distinguishable in the water and their spout was less dense and high than that of the adult. The females in the foregoing table marked thus (*) contained fcetuses, or were accompanied by young. Those of which I recorded the length of the fetus were as follows: BALE NOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). SNOOK’S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. FQC2TUSES. | l j : Capture No. | Date. | Length of Adult. | Length of Foetus. Sex of Foetus. | | | No. 2 | Aug. 5 63 ft. 4 in Oufte seein | t ‘ “ “ “ “ 3 “ 8 | 63 ‘ 7 12 9 0 “cc 14 | “ 15 67 “ ° “ 15 cc 2 “ i oe 16 | “ ve 63 “ 9 ao 12 “ 8 ow a . > . “ “ “a * EL | “ 18 lp tz 5 irr Gores | “6 20 Ts vs | 62° 8 II 4 | ve ae ae 22 65 oy 3 oo 6 “ 104 oe 9 27 5 114 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Three fcetuses found on the days immediately preceding my arrival at the station were as follows : Date. Length. Sex. Aug. 3 7 ft. 11 in. 2 “ce oe 9 vc ° “ a “oe 4 6 “ tr “ 3} The smallest sexually-mature female taken at Snook’s Arm in 1899, as indicated by the presence of a feetus, or of milk flowing from the mamme, was 61 ft. 10 in. long, but as there is an interval of 4 ft. 4 in, between this length and the length of the largest female without fcetus (57 ft. 6 in.), it may be supposed that the real minimum of maturity is somewhat less than as above given. That this is quite surely true is indicated by the measurements of total length obtained by Cocks from the Norwegian whalers (18, 9 sep.). Cocks cites 25 females as containing feetuses. These varied in length from 76 ft. 3 in. to 55 ft. 7 in.,' the latter, therefore, representing the minimum. The next largest specimen containing a foetus was 57 ft. 8 in. long.” The mean length of the 25 specimens was between 67 ft. and 68 ft.and the average length 65 ft; 1m. Revising the calculation of average length of females at Snook’s Arm, by throwing out the two respectively 54 ft. and 50 ft. 7 in. long, as most certainly immature, we have 68 ft. 10 in. as the average for mature females. A second station of the Cabot Steam Whaling Company was established in the fall of 1899 on the south coast of Newfoundland in an arm of Hermitage Bay, recently named McCallum Bay. The station received the name of Balena, The records of this station, which were kindly placed at my disposal, show that 15 Common Finbacks (all males but one) were taken there during the year 1900, and 11 during the year 1901, to July 3d. Adding these 26 specimens to the 25 meas- ured at Snook’s Arm in 1899, the average total length for the whole 51 specimens of both sexes is 59 ft. 15%, in.* These various calculations are brought together on page 115 for comparison. ‘74 to 54 feet, Norwegian. * 56 feet, Norwegian. * The following are measurements of females stranded on the European coast, which according to the records contained fcetuses: Date. Locality. Length. Authority, 1878 Monte Rosso, Italy 22) im: Van Beneden 1879 Groix Id., France 20.8 m. Pouchet 1859 Port Vendres “ 20 m. Van Beneden 1863 Cape Creux, Spain 19.5 m. * “2 The smallest of these, 19} metres, or 63 ft. 11’; in., is considerably larger than the Snook’s Arm minimum, Out of rro records of strandings on the coasts of Europe, which I have collected, the four cited above are the only ones in which the presence of a foetus is noted. * The average total length of the 14 males taken at Balena station in 1900 was 55 feet 77% in. The length of the single female was 59 feet. The sex of the specimens taken in 1901 was not recorded. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 1a BALAINOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. Average for all Average Average Average for} Average for Masdmurn| Maximum} Mini- | Mini- pecans of ee at for all mature mature for | for | mum for, mum for oth sexes, emales males females, males,* : b ales, ales, ales. females.® ales emale: “Ss Locality. | ales males. |females.| males, No. | Length. No.} Length. | No. ° eel Length. | No./Length.|‘No.| Length. | Length. | Length. | Length.) Length. | | se | | Newfoundland : | | | Snook’s Arm, 1899.) 25|60' 102", 15| 62’ 34” 10] 58’ 73%" | 13 |63' 10"| 7] 60’ 5" | 70’ 8' 65' 0” 50’ 7” : ane Balena, 1900. 15|55° 105” baa | lmcaet amt Wine 51 cepts ease daterarccall rato) ame eteeeeal | pees 64' — as a rie Igol. EL|5Q) 788) oss serere core ail fnareterctehe || rcretl | iNeterere 3s -. | +... . [(64’, sex unknown) |(48’,sex unk’n) | | All the foregoing New- foundland specimens. | 51/59' Iqiy"|.--|. ..... alefel| ierereeatar att [atari |letatanaeere Teecval Reeser 70' 8" | 65’ 0" | 50’ 7" | 44'- Norway (Cocks). 186/63’ 53” |105] 64’ 13"| 81] 62’ 7” | 25 65' 11"| 74 | 66’ 7” | 80’ 6” 72%. | 402" \'43%0" | Europe generally | (stranded, or captured | on the coasts). 53°|57° Sao | 14°157' Liqy"| 17°| 62’ 6y4;"| 8 |66' 82") 14 | 65’ 938," |72' 139;"983/ 115%," 4 | (22 m.) | ( It appears from this table that both the maximum and the average total length of mature individuals of both sexes from Newfoundland waters are considerably less than for European specimens. The close approximation of the averages for mature individuals of both sexes, based on Cocks’s observations at the Norwegian fisheries, with those for the various specimens stranded or captured at other points on the European coast is of much interest. Further, the table shows, as might be antici- pated, that averages which include many immature individuals are very unreliable. The reason why the average for female European specimens of all ages is so much below that for the males is simply that the collected records on which the averages are based include many more immature females than males. PROPORTIONS. In comparing proportions it is desirable, in order to avoid misinterpretation, to select measurements which different observers are likely to take from the same points and in the same manner. The following are among the best: Total length,° tip of snout to eye, ditto to posterior margin of dorsal fin, breadth of flukes from tip to tip, notch of flukes to anus, dito to navel. Such measurements as “ length of base of dorsal fin” are of little value, as the fin rises from the back in a very gradual curve, and it is impossible to fix on any point of origin. Even the meas- urement of the length of the pectoral fin, though so important, is uncertain. It may be taken from either the anterior or the posterior insertion (both points of in- definite location) or from the head of the humerus. The latter is alone satisfactory. In measuring a considerable number of whales it will be found impossible to follow any system rigorously or completely, as the different individuals cannot be turned about and handled at will, as in the case of small animals. In the follow- ing table a large variety of measurements is included, many of which are taken from but a single specimen. From this series will be selected such as are suitable for comparison with measurements of Huropean specimens : 1 Specimens 55’ 7” long and over. ® Everything below 4a 8" thrown out to agree with other general averages. 3 Monte Rosso, Italy, Oct., 1878. 4 St. Cyprien, F rance, Nov. 27, 1828. j 5 A specimen stranded in 1879 at Soulac in an advanced state of decomposition, and variously estimated as 27 m., 24 m., and 85 or 90 ft. long, is cited by Fischer (Cé. S. O. France, 1881, p. 70) as belonging to this species. Also one at Dunquerque, 1863, 30 m. long, and the Ostend specimen, more than 30 m. long. The latter is certainly B. musculus, and Van Beneden is doubtless correct in including the others also under that species. See p. 4. 116 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALZENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. x a Balena Snook’s Arm, 1899. eet ’ Measurement. aoe | ett lec a Ka oo 8 oH gh] ge gs es ge gs ial 50 | oop 5 bf ow if 3 br 5 bn 5 bn tn 5 On on f a BZ \24 |22| 22 [22/42 |22|22|22|22|22| 24 |22| 28 3 2 g g 2 2 3 3 g é 3 g g g th, tip of snout to notch Reel Peaae lL ee leaped atest Paes eet cateeys one ae Me ey aaa 55/2" |63'4"63'7" 61’ 10" |s0'7"|57'6" 59’ 1" \53'9" |70'8" |54'6" 6x2" 62) II" 62'8" 60! 11” Circumference opposite tip of pec-| in. | in, | in. in. in. | in in in. | in ane |e in in. in, torald (laidtback) ir rictectstracey sister- a iaiee ||) erste ee le eotenen [ators te ieyerel | ops sciea lice eved sol sreee) | Pererevel |e OA ha 5 2ullerepeerers war eee Tipiofsnouttoeye ... 2)... - ... | 164| 156] 163 | 120] 139] 137] 133] 169] 128|1503] Iq49 | 162] 151 vee se“ blowhole: (center). 123, 138 || 140] 139) || L072. ..|| 122) T20) w54i|) Teg) Nrs5 i) ee ae 148| 134 oh 60 6s es head Of DUMEFUS sera!" \-1214|forsteney || 2221/8 e240 “Sy caci|oan aeyoral stetexerses Sista | peters couse S\ant., “insertion: of PECKOFAl ns cicisicwi= iwieraisielelereisiskers cloves |lesexelsin || anevs red] oxetingn te fe) |tetatat 204] -- ee] eee f eee] eee elec ee [cee ee] seen] coos Tip of snout to post. insertion of Pectoral 557.2; | 88 | B- | aq | ge ae | s8 | 2) [2/8 +| es | 22 | BS] af | as co) Seles | ge las Sela loser aes og | ge) S28) oo laee| Bh ssh) 8S leas ese o2| #2 | 2 | Se | ae) #8 | be | ge | #3 | BE = | £8 | £4 | SB lene] 40 | ae | ce] Se | we Sexqan dea eveyeyaicicieie) eIsjevelorere)siclersielsjsieie ec ciel gad.| ¢ ad.| 6 a, 2 gad.|$ ad.| 6 ad.| 6 ad. $ é (GE) Rota Length iar s:-3- csesiore sieve viwleise rele ie 65' 3" |65' or 66'| 64’ 0” | 64’ 0" |63' 4"5| Gr’ 8" | 60" 6" 60' 0" |59'6"4] 57'6"5 % % % % % & % % * % (2) Tip of upper jaw to eye.........-..+- fi2gzo]]l|tocicies ZOO lIeelaterets 2010) || 20:26 eritesel= 19.3 | 20.2 | .... (Gyre eS blowhole 565...) ieee ef nee BE soieal|leterstatote TSO) || DzeOullforsiieccte| iresert=is aia = isis (Gy SS Se es SS pectoral’. 222.5 «i- CeEOT | onan 3316 ll ieielever BS Gos || Lesereotere \Neserkorors | Parecererare Sata uil eect (5 ach ce “ «| «hind margin dorsal 77.6 eS atarerten [lmisieke css 73.8 wisieielere| \e/eie\ejeel|'si,s\sieiers 76.5 [76.0] (6) Tip of lower jaw to corner of mouth...}...-.+) ..+.++ 1925) Al forerussens rea reulll oreuele ie |isvetenstate |lfarereastste ecto siciate Maem MRCS SRI AV El sreraternsiisisie sl’ [GO27il|"eesee een eet Bel een | eee Desens el asset eee (8) Length of pectoral from root ...---+.. Te Stl gee 2.O8 | eyeeetsyss~ TO!OWevertercis 11.88] 11.8 g.o' | 12.5 (9) Breadth of pectoral....-.....seeeeeefeer eee] eee e es DsG Alliage ei0:ece Bel | ecrcselsseWolenereveyelivetersiass 2.6 3.4 (10) Height of dorsal.......----0seeceeeeefoeee ee] cceeee 2.0 B10 | arererevess | heneeyeters 2.1 2.1 2.3 (11) Breadth of flukes, tip to tip...-.-.-.-- 20.04+| 23.14 | 21.9 |--+--> Sonaiicoocsc 18.2 | 18.5 | 18.5 | 20.6 (12) Height of body at pectoral.......-.2+4)-.++0+| seers Toon \leneDon TB.8 | 2c ceelisiereieis/|eericieye Iibeses sore | nctetese (13) ‘ ‘* ‘* midway between flukes PATUANG OLE sete ates ole erie crea. cie sis veusrnre\e FEO ||patetacele\= FS N iio suetels LO.3) | delete aie] ate estate| [srarnterers 1 To posterior insertion of pectoral, or axilla. 2 From upper jaw, by subtracting flukes to navel from total length. ; 3 All measurements from Sars’s figure of 1881, which is excellent. 4 Straight. 5 To border of flukes, straight. 6 To center of blowhole = 18.1 %. 8 Bones, from head of humerus. 7 From head of humerus. 118 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPE.—(Continued.) 2 cS z 3 e : > % = = . S S > s : Ss Z = a g ooh Ratealine z 8 ge is Ss y See < a n- as EG 6 z S No | 4s aS Ss | e6 | 8 ai} si] og | Be | 2 eo | «¢ S| gs | ES HG 4|| ateon |S 7e | 58 ent cece ered ee ie) ||) Se ante |feteyai one So 5” S Zt & a Sip | ca) eae ee a eel ce >s Fe a < srs av 3.8 52 a my 2g ED a ‘og | || & ToS) | Siete) MES ee ee ete aie st road | eto mcr ion Meera So | CBR) recs | sees See PSUR a eeicticren erected ueeeseeten lees sO | 92 | 22| 69 | £2 | SE] 58) 62) 86 | 8 | 2 &| Ea] AS 8 g 3 g é é g Oar. Oui | ROmIcalweoage g g (iu) Bereeaerereeeesteicts cto 57/0"! | 50’0"|49' 10"|46' 64"| 46’ 0"| 45’ 6" | 44’ 0" | 43' 8"| 42' 4" |42'0"?| gr’ 8" | 38’ 5"|36' 0”! 4 < e s z g z s s % % 4 (2) Bo aebien tls eet 18.0 | 18.5 | 19.1 | 18.3 |[18.5]| 17.9 18.6) || 18:9 || ..0|| w5ca4 15.15] 18.5 SVNaeonopaonoorppde 16;62| “£507 || TsO" |) L5s8u LAS Sa | Pe terete ol etore eih| eLAlss7iel| el 2a Wen earned eee 11.6 | 14.3 (A) iq taotsench Gceinars vanes || 28870 | 29.45) Rosse aay 32:9) ||| 245° 28.8 |) 28.9)||_ 2... ||) [25.0] |[2o:7ll||n2osr (BYE eetrersis eloromjerare [72.0]| 74.39| 74.1 |[80.0 [75.0]| 72.9 | 75.2 |[77-7]| 74.0 73.3 |[75-1] (G) Sera tees leianeietorer 22.5 | 20.5 | .... |[20.6] Sesreratl || (2OcG pl meal earaneye eel 19.9'| 19.6 (7)eescne donc =< || 49:0 aoe e533 | etre cullieceete e150: Onl N52 >omilinaere 228i || poets sae (Si) Brcsieteress topeerseaererte 11.3 | 12.5) xr.g! 8.9! 10.8 | 12,2 | 12.8 | 10.5 | 10.1 | 10.3 | [ro.7] 6.8!) ro. (@) So capacancpodban anes 3.2 2.7 ae 3.3 2.2 3.4 2.8 Dye lieeraiste P| 2.5 2.6 (LO) iessretsvers cteerervorcrele eievets 3.5 2.3 uF, QzA aN lle eeerets 2.3 2.2 2.6 1.4 2.5 2.4 2.0 (Gi) henaamoesocuodsT 20.0: | 20.8 | 20:5 | 25.8 || 20.7 | 20.9 || 20:5 | 21.1 | 20.9) || 19.8) ||... 3. 21.7 | 18.4 (12) bes cescb roe wears at Lae os nike on Ser eye 14.8 | 16.6) 15.4 1S.O)]}|" eters (G2) pormeaacanaconon Fegat 75 8267 ||| eae God cael aes Leaving out of consideration all immature specimens, or those below 56’ 3", | the following represent the average percentages for different dimensions in American and European specimens respectively : | BALASNOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. Per Cent. of Total Length. Measurement. American, European. Tip Oftsnoutst© as O No. 14 29 Wine eats | 3° 8% 2 74° 6 sie Oba ¢ | No. 19 | July 4 Of the specimens obtained at the same station in 1900, the following females contained foetuses : BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND, FATUSES, 1900. | Capture No. | Date. Length of Adult. Length of Foetus. | ieee. | - No. 54 | May 31 Taube. 7 ft. No. 99 | July 10 | 73) 0 aie From the foregoing data, it appears that the minimum length at maturity is 72 feet for females. Excluding all below that length, the average for southern Newfoundland, fourteen specimens, is 74 ft. 84 in. For the Norwegian specimens, employing the same minimum, we obtain (24 specimens) 79 ft. 3 in. as the average total length. It is to be observed in this connection that the Longniddry whale, which was 78 ft. 9 in. long from the tip of the lower jaw to the notch of the flukes, and contained a fcetus, is classed by Sir Wm. Turner (97, 203) as “adolescent,” in ac- cordance with Flowe1’s system (45, 385), based on the condition of the epiphy- ses of the bones. It is well known that in many species of mammals offspring are produced before the skeleton of the parent is completely ossified, but it may perhaps be questioned whether in whales the total length increases materially after sexual maturity. The condition of the bones cannot be ascertained usually at a whaling station, where the carcasses are towed away as soon as the blubber is stripped off. It is probable, however, that the size at which sexual maturity is attained is quite as con- stant as the size at which the skeleton is completely ossified, so that averages based on specimens known to be sexually mature may be regarded as reliable and useful. Under the ordinary conditions of observation this is not as readily ascertained for males as for females. As the males in this genus are smaller than the females, we shall have too high an average for the former by excluding all individuals below the length of the latter at sexual maturity. The amount, however, is not likely to be large and may be neglected. For males 72 feet long and above, the average of the specimens measured by myself at Balena station, Newfoundland, in 1901, is 72 ft. 4$ in. (2 specimens). Including the specimens taken the previous year at the same station, the average is 75 ft. 1 in. (19 specimens). For the Norwegian males cited by Cocks, the average is 77 ft: 7410. (27 specimens). ‘The following table sums up these various statistics : 156 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN, Average for Average Average Average Average Maximum | Maximum | Minimum | Minimum all Specimens for all or for Mature | for Mature for for for for 5 of both Sexes.| Females. all Males. Females.* Males.* Females. Males. Females. Males. Locality. No. |Length. No.|Length. No.|Length.|No.|Length.|No.|Length.| Length. Length. Length. Length. | Newfoundland | (Balena station) | | Season of IgoI (my | | | | measurements)..| 25 | 68'6" |15 | 68’ 9° | 10) 68 3 6.73) 10" | 217205 Gh Qe OD a: 61' 0" 63' 6 Season of rgor, all | | a ron | Gat ron git specimens.... Fy eT Bi isis | sree e aie Stl eercere erase re fenewe! | cecal] oustenoncts (82', sex unknown) 61'0 63) 6 Season of 1900, all) | specimens. .... 67 |71' 10"| 19 \70 Mt 48 epee eee 8h NB eee ee Ses 790" | 81'0’ 55. 0! 63' o' ge | EP = 3 | | | All the foregoing | Newfoundland | | SPECIMENS = .fe).m TSO) eft 7h a [creel fotaiareta atl erat | tee ig a\\ "ace rsvets oi spe | efetogere (82', sex unknown) 55/0” 63° 0" a = | = | —_ Norway (Cocks)..| 72 74 10"| 36 | 75’ 8" |36| 74’ o" |24| 79' 3" |27| 77 8" | 87' 7 85'0 52' 0" 5 10}, | The foregoing table shows that the average and the maximum length for both sexes is less in the Newfoundland specimens than for those captured on the Nor- wegian coast, a result similar to that obtained in the ease of B. physalus. The measurements taken at the Newfoundland station other than my own cannot be considered accurate, though they are perhaps as accurate as those taken at the Nor- wegian stations. ‘They both doubtless represent the largest possible measurements in the majority of cases, while mine are for the distance from the end of the upper jaw to the notch of the flukes. My measurements between June 19 and 28, 1901, average about thirteen inches less than those taken by the Newfoundland whalers from the same specimens. Even allowing for this circumstance, however, there is no doubt that larger whales are taken at the Newfoundland station earlier in the year than the time of my visit, and these are, or at least appear to be, smaller than those taken in former years at the Norwegian stations. PROPORTIONS. It will be observed that in Sars’s diagnosis of L. musculus, quoted on p. 149, it is stated that the pectoral fin is “generally not more than 4 the total length,” and that the dorsal fin is extremely small and les far back “at the beginning of the last fourth of the length of the body.” During my sojourn at Balena station, Newfoundland, I made systematic measurements of specimens of Sulphurbottoms. Unfortunately, there is no body of measurements of European specimens with which these can be compared. Of only five or six adults have we any measure- ments beyond the total length, and these for the most part unsuitable for com- parison. Such as they are, however, I have endeavored to use them in comparison with those in the following table: ' Specimens 72 feet and over. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 157 BALA{NOPTERA MUSCULUS(L.). BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. 1901. | | ] =) No. x. | No. 2. | No. 3.] No. 4.| No.5.] No.6.| No. 7.| No.8. | No. 9.|No. 1o.| No. 11. June 20.) June 20.) June 2r.| June 22.) June 22,| June 24.) June 25.| June 25. June 26 June 27.| June 27. SENT: fins Geist dessus aie sl “3 3 g g é 8 3 g g 3 3 Total length, snout to notch......... 72’ 0" 171’ 0” 173’ 10"|73' 6” |68' 3” |65' 0" 167’ 0” |61' 0” 172’ 0” |72' 7"|71' 6" Tip of snout to Se Mererssheertoterers 15 0 a ei 16’ 0" | 16’ 3"|14' 6"]13' 0” | 14’ ei 13° 9 15) st 5’ 34"|14' 8 Sees erataie rer | ctstetstere 2 EA MOM ||ervecian|teeieieial sterstetee | Ree SoCo gea eS pene (ioe ct “ou te ** post. base of pectoral.|24 7 |23 7 |25 2 Oma | 2H 2a | eeeeneree 2 454 |22 8 |25 6 |25 5 |24 8 pommel merge tt 18 fe dorsallsrcya|levsiate «sc 55 2 |56 9 |56 10/54 3 |49 8 |51 741/47 3 |56 I0]...... 56 Length of pectoral from post. base...) 7 1 7a COulm Si s2eaze poueyeed: lees 7 22116 92-79) ]- 7) 207 10) us os ‘* headofhumerus} 9 10/10 7 |1r 5 |11 0 |10 4 |ro 8 |10 84] g 10/11 4 |1r 7 |10 11 Greatest breadth of pectoral......... 2551-2) OF 20 Tole 185) ||-2.189 |) 2205810} 25 ro) aoe 2e Sos) (On| aa8, FReizh eof dorsal o..s)micreve viele + sielsiws oi o 8 |0 9 | © 8! o 73] © 9 | © 10] 0 7 | © of] Ir 2 | O I0/ I 2 ANGEGHY Cora USs ie = cretalesn\sjccerecieieieis «ise 18 5 |20 7 |20 8 |tg 7 |18 2 |20 of {18 10]16 6 |19 g |20 8 |20 0 eee PERIS! (OL CLILOTS) s\.)s)15 2 er. « 20 44/20 72/22 9 |21 g |22 3 |24 10723 10/18 o |21 7 |25 5 |26 1 IBS 78 iO Ciilto yon cee h Bleoe ad coecongn tended 3 10} 402038) S785 est Se lh sy Sessa seo iesLOsied ar Diameter of eyeball, antero-post.....|...... Cl Gi aeasodkocsod moana ifaacce (Ol s5im | ahatsreora |yadetenereie | epeteverere | ereeaca uate ue ss Ss WELEICAllrejeneveretaxe |peteretshegs Ofae a Shanuddocdd|sopcod Goodod|acaoog |sondo. ||araocdlaaonog|sooa ve : Brats eANTETO=POStaiiel -/ja¥e/ole| eho: sceiele ON DH] CO! Ty fas toys. ese) 's1s ofece oll kojere fofeval]|evetwrarete} lalevecatate |e tetotnvala)| fal afsterets||teraranetets ve eee VCLLICAlayererveraicratc a | erect OMT (s vapenctslaveverote | feeateratare | erecereiete]| temeieratice | ter eterot one | cetererane | ete peietees| Peeeietetere Length of longest whalebone........ DeGy Ml |ereyege.cral|(eareterers| oii one ZAC OMe | eretexetere | eisteray ae eee tetera Ket e2 50 e2e0 Lower jaw beyond upper ........... TAC) We | elropeza cole faraverctets Epp | vateyayecet | atevelctete Te Sil sieeter-te Lea Cll Sonsculnaaonc ] | | | = No. rz. | No. 13. | No. rg. |No. 15. |No. 17. |No. 18. |No. 19. |No. 20. | No. 2t. | No, 22. | No. 24. June 28.| June 28.| June 29. |June zg.| July 2. | July 3. | July 4. | July 4.| July 5.| July 6. July 8. | | IRM IeRa (sta clave (ols ejerevietee)tisie's a ahelgicis:« g 4 2 $ | $ g g g g 2 | 2 | | | | Total length, snout to notch....... 66’ 6" |65’ 12"| 77’ 2 ” |63' 6" 165’ 8" |72" 2" |74’ 6" |70' 3° 165/ 2° |6r 3" /6r' 2° | i | | ¥ ' * cr MPipyofssnout tOjeye .....20.-.-.6res 14’ 4” |14' 1” | 16’t0” |13' 8" jr4’ 1" |16' o” 1r6’ 2" 114’ 3"|13' 4”|13' o” |T2' 5 Pia CMU Coe] whole n,.jer- te reieiilll sehen sie Tea Oller T2 3°) T2 200 131 (BP | everararail|-teivtsles~ IE 3 [eee ee| eres see Te ice “Dost, basespectoral: .|23 7, |23. 2 || sm-=- 22 10 29aa 25 6Ge Heel 23 9 |22 222 | eaimi-te = CR ce (6k: oie ‘© dorsal....|.....- Bie 3 Tete 49 3 |5i 3 |55 IT | Branca tals |e ciets AQ) 2! Weverefaives|feicceiers Length of pectoral from post. base...| 7 0 | 6 10 ; oa f 70 | 6 6 | 75 , aatehere 6 4 | 6'10| 69 8 6 “ ry “ “ H’d of hum’si1o 2 9 10 eae t 10 0 |9 TONGA ears 9 9f|10 1 99 99 Greatest breadth of pectoral ....... DiOmeeO 3:2 3.6) |) 2 [22'9) | Rtcctes 256 2 Gol a2es 26 eightob dorsal aij cncceieccies 0 I 34/0 6 o10 |o 7 |o 8 | 0 8$] 0 9$]/ 09 | o 7 | © Io} o 8} INOEGHICORANIES) sicrese eye els ielsisie tictviers) 5.6 Ig 10 {18 9 220 07 9) LZ 8 TGQ, G8 Wim creners j19 I |t9 6 {18 2 ]18 5 Soi eS penis!(or clitoris)...5.0. ++ on 5 |23 7 \24to | 224) |220seii2q Sele 20 11|2t 4 |19 6 }|20 0 Breadth of flukes, tip to tip... .....|..--ee/s eee e| cee eee [eee eee TOCO TOW LOM ce sjereyohe|losororetere| ieteratane :|13 82\15 8 Breadth of caudal peduncle........|..+...[eeeeee | ceeeee [eres ecleee eee eens fesse [iS erin | ep ected evesersyere| Selaratersre BSy EntOleates tee, cfaiorevereiisie)= shes sxei> eins SOs Oe lseeeel 3713 9 | 3 8k) 42/3 7 | 3 44/35 hee Length, longest whalebone........ I 8 jrseeee SQ ell yeteretelei| imiererevate |felaraisyere QO! || TOW ace eer Ley 1 6 The foregoing measurements reduced to percentages of the total length are given in the following table, the sexes being separated and the different individuals arranged in order of size: ' Curved ; 2’ 8" straight. 3 Center. 5 Center. 7 Right. ? Along curve of peduncle, 20'1". 2 Curved; 24’ 1” straight 4 Exact. 5 Left. 8 Post. end of orifice of sheath. '° Along curve,25’. : : 158 THE WHALEBONE WHALES BALAfNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND, 1901. No,| No.| No. | No.| No. | No.| No. | No. | No. | No. | No. | No. 14 | 19 Shey I Qi |) 207); 12 21 | h22 ea 8 | S OxPrereerteteloretersietrorteretane avcletetrier ts feaicvaleestree sicher teleiees g 2 g g g g g g g g g g 77'2"|74'6"'73'10"| 73'6"172'0" 72'0"|70'3"|66'6" |65'2” 61'3" 61'2"|61'0" Motalileng this tresses) colors oisecornersserseisrersinorereriersts | 926”| 894”| 886” | 882”| 864”| 864” 843”'| 798” | 782””| 735” 734""| 732" = ay % % Ro || 9B Wi Bele ee | es eal MLiprof snout toreyeeilreeicieeciecrtetecisiets i rerererell 2 Le 8)21.7 | 21.6 |22.1 |20.9 121.5 |20.3 |21.6 |20.5 |21.2 |20.3 |22.5 ORE Set T SS lo wholeteoriacscewantae erecta che linen Clee TB) |e eer|ife rere | 1823 erate etllene ores Te Sill erie Pres aoros ete, Ren, = oc post. base of pectoral......... Bearers lew -| 34.3 |34.7 |34.1 135.4 |33.8 135-5 134.4 36.2 meteyed Sie Sees ee fee) “dorsal scteysis acre shore crate wererel FZOLOn Tie) -+|78.9 |27-0 | -.2-175-5 |--+|e0+- 177-5 Notch) ofsflukes:totan uSepyevstere Dr 2 5 7 13 7 NO 15 Sexe Ne areolar a faPemeerere letotaierevalatere chaps tate fast sista) av avavevehsweeepeieeeccyonstenares 6 3 8 é $ $ 6 | $ $ 6 72'7"|72'2"|71'6"| 71/0" 68'3"|67'0"| 65'11"| 65/8") 65'0'| 636" Motalilengthiterccmererqeiversishsisrsistselet cel efelesteterercisjocperera rt tere 871"| $66" 858"| 852" 819" 804") 7q1"” | 788" 780'| 762” @|% | @ | % | % % % % | % Tip of SHOWEITOE Ye crarcrersversiayercienetorteteteteoleversteleletwtreters (sre citacrers 21.1 |22.2/20.5 |20.4 | 21.3 }21.6| 21.4 |21.4 | 20.0] 21.5 : “ * blowhole Mahara esate etotateteveletolosietetoictekepe¥aretapeloiotofsncY seis «(£8.07 07.17) 17-6\).. «1-18.97 D7.2 18.3) l\ 2001-1 L920 Ce cee a DOSL DAaSes Of pectOrall latetateseretmeletciaveisielsveverslciltoror 35.2|35-0/34.5 |33-2|35.4 | 36.4] 35.2 135.5 |----|35.4 DES as Se the Peon, CCOLSAl sya dereaeye re ievereiete lovin tiers atevete -.+-|77-4|78.4|77-7|79-5|77-1| 77-7 | 78-0 | 76.4 |77-6 Notch of flukes to ANUS. 006.6 eee eee eee eect ete e eee eens 28.5 |27.0/28.0| 28.5 |26.6/28.1| 28.4 | 26.9 | 30.8 |27.9 i en AG Co neecrinot oboo moa aH an doen caGaaonaartd 35.2 |33.8 | 36.5 | ..../33.9/35.6] 35.8 [34.1 ]37.0|35.1 Length of pectoral fromhpostsibase sevcleterrtsette ie ectereiete aie 10.8 | 10.3 |11.0]I1.0]10.7|10.7] 10.3 | 9.9|11.4| 11.0 SS sheadtofshumerusS.,.e-reriiecr-tleriescnicras 15.9 |15.3|15.3}14.9]15.1/15.9] 14.9 |14.9]15.1]15.7 Greatest breadth of pectoral jcrjsects elo ae cfeieiciesiti=ieie aysiorctesatels 4) |) 3.84 Seva 35i| 320. Qi) 4325|| 420i 14e0) | Br9 Eleightiof dorsalis (vertical) Morsjecya uate ter ctelrsatetetereiousten vausnetsy fers (afetcns E-T| 0:98) 1.5] 1:0) 1.110.897] (076) Lol}; -183)|oxg Breadthrotitlukes i percrretlerescnsasteetseckerster tt eistetttettertevereitaia mer: ADGo EM cocn|sacalaccollodme (cocci aWlisca |lagca As already stated, there is no considerable number of measurements of Euro- pean specimens with which the Newfoundland figures can be compared, and these show such discrepancies as to be of little use. Some well-known specimens, such as the Ostend whale of 1827, cannot be considered at all on account of the uncertainty as to their real length, ete. Great pains have been taken in the follow- ing table to harmonize the measurements of the different specimens with each other and with the Newfoundland series, but the results are entirely unsatisfac- tory. Measurements in brackets are calculated from others given by the various Eschricht’s Greenland specimen is included here for convenience. observers. ' Average of the two sides. 2 Center. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, BALA“NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). 159 EUROPEAN, | 2 z 3 iS é s ca ae 5 3 3 a 3 6 ln © |e 2 & 9 s(/8 A/8.d| Bae Sy iS een ee = a) cow eos ort 008 SS eeusued MB Ble S| SS4 | Felgen lean) see gee |Site) ae a oe Z| bSSloue >So (284 | 426/528 |os® |Z e=|/ 5d S CRT Ten strc Tove nls enievin a godt ikem oda 2 2 2 g $ eee zi | i : See eae row ar 2 ton or we T7654) or | We MLO CANON p Gbimeterstsrertensielclaafene «eet wvabiangacoe cree TOROS ges [77 3'] oe i (57’6")|92 ” Sie up 948 936 927. | 816 690" ° 629" | 619' a $ & g & sg | ee |e Tip of snout ° CY CR Perets ay hacen cei Renae alee Bad aeties oeue tA aetna ler ee 18.0 | [14.7] aay blowhole-s..isehaas oe setae eit [16435] 31/ Sere aleve 1720)||e| eee [n6840]2 | Sase74 | aigsay : ; posterior baseiofpectoralicncn: z| eesti ace ce : Ago) |ic|@3OcO), lela Legge heyereisters ae “ce “ “ ““ dorsally citer. ilceeeralistasitays O28) \e-7.S:0) | eee 72.7 \[75.8] INOLCHROfetlukes tOranUS: warcle ect dass esse sen scones POON! Arps bharrge od 32.371 30.4 |[32.5] Renee i Clitoris. (Or penis) s,s ca.02% I) oie eelide sn 3059) || 3 1201 | e355 | sere rere Length of pectoral FLOMEPOStEMON DASE’: nejaeierdll = «eit )| siereist= i] ee isee WE 53% ||| LLG | earereisie| teyevereters “ y / Neadvtofhumerusseseo-ecen 13t 8.7) | hatsuarerere TOIGAl | eroeroucte Rose ulema Greatest breadth, of pectoral. .........-¢..0. Ee ALO |e aratenes 5.0 3.0 3.2 3.2 leighitorsdorsall (vertical)... caries «usa ce Stel srsce'e «| stare atane as O'S i alliters oestrone Te IB Te AC GMEO fet UIKESs cs ters cre, sversiad rave: caress dioteveis, fools eine. « 2530) |; brcict ts 24.1 BOSS Val efetevatee| terete rs From the uncertainties and contradictions of this table it is refreshing to turn to the excellent figure of an European Blue whale published in 1874 by Sars (78), whose work is notable for its accuracy. Sars states that this figure, which is from an 80-foot (Norwegian) female taken at Foyn’s Finmark station, was made by him “with the greatest care” after repeated measurements and observations, and with the aid of photographs (78, 282; 8 sep.). Measurements made on this figure, compared with those of the largest of the Newfoundland females of which I made full measurements, show an extremely close correspondence, as indicated below : BALA@NOPTERA MUSCULUS (1.). NEW FOUNDLAND AND NORWAY. Newfoundland, rgor. Sars’s figure. Measurement. om Nona: 1874. 9 a — Z Mo talinlen they varo sseuera ae orci snes sicvelsieie Spano pemiorst oto 73 10 So! o” (Norweg.) per cent. per cent, Tip OfASNOLILetONC Vere spare ce eryersncts is Jo's sls S wiet= lee r= oneiy oust 21.6 21.6 Cee blowhOleie tie ctsvels sie ele Gieveteseereieroie sins 2 18.9 18.5 eo posterior base of pectoral, or axilla.. 34.3 37.1 eek SEC OrsalWerieetsicrhsterave esses: 76.9 77.0 Length of pectoral from posterior base, or axilla.......--- 11.1 11.0 Greatest breadth of pectoral........ 600+ eee ee cere ees 3.8 38 ere tof COrSals seteyejos 2/2 «sieve ween cia ticle nleieitiniesis tisle*! vie vie 0.96 0.9 =i) = Genter. ‘Must be incorrect. 7 From posterior margin of flukes. * Danish measure, in straight hi * Straight. * “ Longueur totale.” * Skeleton. ine from lower jaw. * B. caroline. 160 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. The only real discrepancy, it will be observed, is in the distance from the tip of the snout to the posterior base of the pectoral fin. A glance at the figure will show that the latter point is difficult to determine upon. In 1878 Sars published another figure, based on a male having a length of 67 ft., Norwegian (= 69 ft., English) — (79, 8 and 4, pl. 8). This is substantially the same as the figure of 1874, but differs a little in proportions. Compared with the ten Newfoundland males, which are of about the same size, the average per- centages are as follows BALZENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND AND NORWAY. Average of Ten me Measurement, Males. eae Newfoundland. ae Motalilencth.= access sya of Soe iee eee lece pists tie en eke: 69 0” per cent. per cent. Tip Of' SOUTAEOME YC cet ehoesrn eto seere Ree ostveie enetoete eter yay crease ied 20.4 SS ss biowhole,(centen)eeemercc saaciae cee aco 17.9 18.4 ihn as posterior base ofs pectoral eerineeraecle sisiciei) ie a> 35-1 35.0 “ee “ “cc “ “ce dorsal Pe 8 Meagat Memcctefarehsi cr cael isis eto cosy V7: 75-4 Length of pectoraliifrom)posteriorbasea ta. neeesctette terete = els 10.7 DT=2 Greatest breadth ofspectorally: circ csereretersscler-ieiate eieteyee cries eens 3.8 4.9 Height of dorsaliea se sat aster aeveians cre aiole eiees rayne eters sei: 1.05 1.3 It will be seen that on principal differences dee Sars’s figure and the Newfoundland specimens are in the more forward position and greater height of the dorsal fin and the greater breadth of the pectoral. It is exactly in these particu- lars that the figure of 1878 differs from that published in 1874. On the other hand, in so far as these two figures agree with each other they are harmonious with the average of the Newfoundland specimens. BALA£NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). (STEYPIREYDR.) ICELAND, Slaeelise Es So% | , 23 258 | SEz g s s a8 Ss = 3.25 = = 5 eas fog | sae e " a oa q) io , Q < bee J a fe es ICRP pcleterekatereievereWatrenu ic tetetterefel stages -TKt a Leaotel ot 3 é} 3 é 2 Motaltlengthiyeas-erict eee erry 8437" || 864"* || 960%" ||| 866" "8807 2 nomare & % % % % % Tip OMSMOUL LONG YC yar reletel tere -reereteneretreney= 21.4 22.2 18.1 <8 Se eS blowholey Seuciscereree ceie. 19.4 18.8 15.5 : eels ae oe pectoral... . sisravel casters ahengs es 31.6 ee saves “oe “posterior margin of dorsal. ..| 76.5 2 Bkave siseie 78.5 uerhe he Notch of fluikesitOVaNUS:..)- 2) eis otrelo clelerererers reeks | 25.4 Sot S06 ¢ i i ee Se PEMISs cia daycbereee te eiisiers al, dates ae eee s BBes 36.1 Laat Length of pectoral (from axilla?) .......... Ter 13-9 12.2 13.8 13.0 3.6 5 from head of humerus...] 14.2 15.3 13.8 15.4 14.6 Hse Greatest breadth of pectoral............ a aN ara 3-1 3.5 3-2 3-4 HHeight:of dorsalizacms: cece reer OVS 3ha | lrcrr: Chek || soac susse 0.77 Bread throfsfukesnsseincys) ers eee cicer 20.4 19.6 19.6 ep THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 161 y? 7 . Sophus Hallas’s excellent table of measurements of six Sulphurbottoms taken at Iceland in 1867 (60) affords means of comparing the Newfoundland and Nor- wegian specimens with Icelandic ones. His measurements reduced to percentages are given in the preceding table. The averages for these six Iceland specimens and for the ten Newfoundland males, are as follows: BALAANOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). ICELAND AND NEWFOUNDLAND. Ten Newfoundland Measurement. Iceland Specimens. Specimens. Males. per cent. per cent. Wp pyofesNOUtytOvey.en. 5) cteicisicterarei os avaye Sis ivsig cysuere a ee era/e, <6 ayelsyeis (3) 20.6 21.1 “ “ “ “ ee lO WHOLE eres crehe pov stexace pshe areas = Bee eletevoee 6 cts (3) 17.9 17-9 iis Se PC CLO Ta er rpakatereiet statue mtorera eiareis tains evans ale (1) 31.6 (9) Boole ai eapostamarginvof dorsal cea ssc ces ects (2) 77.5 (9) 77.8 INOtChNO fflWkES tO;ANUSs <0, <0) sccs eres Points of measurement not stated. 162 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. conspicuous manner than in any other whale with which I am acquainted. The name ‘ Blue whale,’ bestowed on this species by Foyn, seems to me very suit- able, and I will therefore propose that it be adopted for the species as the Norwegian common name. The pectoral fins externally are of the color of the body, but on the inner surface and the whole lower convex border, shining white, which color at a long distance contrasts sharply with the dark tints of the rest of the body. Quite constantly there occur also below the pectorals on the fluted sides of the breast a number of small milk-white spots, whose number and distribution vary considerably in different individuals. In addition, I have found in all indi- viduals, more or less strongly marked, a lighter mottling above the roots of the pectorals and between them and the region of the eye. The flukes, as well above as below, are of the color of the body, but on the lower surface a little hghter than on the upper.” The color of the 25 or 830 Newfoundland specimens which I observed agreed well with this description, though I found, as in the case of the Common Finback, that there was a large individual variation, no two specimens being precisely alike. Neither Sars’s figure nor his description gives an adequate idea of the complhi- eated coloration of the species. It would be futile to attempt a detailed description of the markings, but some idea may be given of the general disposition of the lighter and darker tints. In the Sulphurbottoms of Newfoundland the head, chin, throat, and lips are dark bluish-gray, darker than the rest of the body and uniform. All the remainder of the body is variously spotted, mottled, and lined with light gray, dark gray, and white. The shoulders, back, and sides are mottled with large irregu- larly elliptical marks of dark gray and light gray, the latter generally predominating, and sometimes almost excluding the dark color, so that the whole animal behind the eyes appears light gray. Even in these cases, however, there are areas of more or less dark color above the pectoral fins (when laid back) and the anus, and between the latter and the flukes. The long axes of the elliptical light-gray markings take different directions. They sweep up around the base of the pectoral fin and are then directed obliquely downward and backward above the posterior ends of the furrows. They then point directly backward, or those of the upper rows upward and backward toward the top of the caudal peduncle. The belly is invariably marked with distinct white spots, which, however, vary greatly in number. In some cases they are so numerous under the root of the pectoral fin as to produce a large white area, extending as a band backward toward the navel, and some spots are to be found down to the median line and scattered forward considerably in front of the pectoral fin, a few even invading the lips. In other cases the white spots run off the pectoral flutings posteriorly on to the flanks, between the navel and the anus. In other cases again, there are no white spots anterior to the base of the pectoral fin, and they only extend down to the median line at the posterior end of the pectoral flutings and there stop. The under surface of the flukes near the root, from the anterior margin back- ward, is finely marked with alternating light and dark gray lines running antero- posteriorly, but finally curving inward toward the median line. - = ‘ 1 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 163 The central part of the surface of the dorsal fin is usually more or less white or whitish, streaked with vertical curved gray lines, but in some cases the light color is reduced to spots, or is altogether absent. The pectorals are gray above and more or less distinctly mottled like the back. The under surface, anterior margin, and tip above and below are white. The median line of the body below is usually plain dark gray between the anus and the flukes, but commonly more or less mottled with light color from the anus to the navel by the joining of the light areas of the two sides of the body. There are usually white marks and dashes around the anus, sexual orifice, and navel. The variation in amount of white and gray on the pectorals of the New- foundland Sulphurbottoms was very considerable and merits special mention. The external, or upper, surface of the pectorals 1s gray proximally,and more or less white distally. The gray may be like the darker color of the back and uniform, or may be varied with from one to six or seven blotches of lighter gray. The white of the tip varies in extent from a mere continuation of the anterior white border, to a solid white area having a longitudinal extent of from 6 inches to 2 feet. In some cases the white extends backward, forming a narrow posterior border almost to the root of the pectoral. In other cases the backward extension takes the form of a succession of oblique white lines, rather than a continuous border of that color, In very light individuals white lines may run backward from the tip for nearly 1 the length of the pectoral. The white area of the tip is always more or less varied by dark lines, which may be long or short, parallel or reticulated. The anterior margin of the pectorals is normally white throughout, but in some instances the dark gray of the external face extends across the proximal half, or there may be various gray lines. In one instance there was a dark-gray patch on the anterior margin near the middle of its length. The limb appeared to have been injured at this point. The internal, or under, surface of the pectorals is normally white throughout, but there are almost always some gray lines and marks. These sometimes take the form of spots, but are usually lines, and may be fine or coarse, and either parallel with the axis of the pectoral, or oblique and reticulated. The single lines are sometimes quite long, reaching almost from the tip to the root of the pectoral. The shorter dark lines are most abundant about the tip, and those individuals in which the tips are malformed usually have the most markings. The only important feature as regards coloration in which the Newfoundland Sulphurbottom appears to differ from the European, as shown by the preceding description, is in the color of the dorsal fin. In the Newfoundland specimens this fin was usually more or less white or whitish, except on the margins, with darker curved lines extending up vertically from its base. There is no mention of this peculiarity in the descriptions of European Sulphurbottoms I have consulted, though it must be said that in most of the accounts the dorsal fin is scarcely described at all. Sir Wm. Turner remarks of the Longniddry whale (97, 202) that the dorsal fin was “steel-gray or black, except near its posterior border, where it was a shade lighter and streaked with black lines.” The introduction of black here 164 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. and elsewhere in the deseription makes it probable that the Longniddry whale was not in a fresh condition when observed by Turner, but otherwise the sentence quoted would appear to indicate that the dorsal was colored somewhat similarly to that of the Newfoundland specimens. INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN COLOR. The following notes on the coloration of individual specimens were made by me immediately upon their being drawn out of the water. In most cases the whale had been brought in by the steamer a few hours previously, but occasionally one was brought in late at night and was not drawn out on the slip and examined until the following morning: No. 1. Female. June 20,1901. Total length, 72 feet. This whale was partly flensed when I examined it. Gray all over, and everywhere spotted except on the head, chin, throat, and breast. The spots on the sides and back are light gray, elliptical, with irregular margins; those on the belly smaller and nearly pure white. The dorsal fin has a light-gray, almost white, ground, with sinuous gray streaks running vertically, heaviest and darkest toward the tip, which is solid dark gray. Roof of mouth black; tongue slate gray. Left pectoral white under- ueath and on the anterior edge, with a few oblique streaks and rows of blackish spots. Externally the pectoral is white at the tip for about one foot, with narrow gray streaks running from the general gray color at the proximal end. Under surface of flukes, proximally, uniform gray. No. 2. Male. June 20, 1901. Length, 71 feet. Head dark slate-color from opposite the base of the pectoral fin forward. The whole back gray, with large, irregular, elliptical light spots as far backward as a line midway between the dorsal fins and flukes, beyond which the spots are less numerous. Whitish along the base of the dorsal fin. On the abdominal ridges the amount of light and dark gray is about equally divided. The spots are smaller and whiter on the belly than on the flanks and back. The elliptical spots do not begin on the throat until about half-way from the snout to the pectoral fin. The majority are opposite the pecto- rals. From the posterior end of the abdominal ridges the spots of the sides come down and meet in the median line between the navel and the orifice of the penis. From the ear to the insertion of the pectoral fin, and again from the tip of that fin for a distance backward about equal to its length, the spots coalesce to form two large areas almost entirely light gray. The anterior portion of the under surface of the flukes proximally is streaked with hght color. Anterior margin and whole underside of pectorals white; tip white externally for about two feet, and the whitish color extends backward along the lower external border nearly to the root of the fin. On the exterior of the left pectoral the white patches extend well beyond the base, and the white of the tip extends far toward the base, so that only the central area is uniform gray. An indefinite light line extends forward from the pectoral to the posterior angle of the eye and to the corner of the mouth. (See pl. 13, fig. 1.) THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF TILE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 165 No. 8. Hemale. June 21, 1901. Total length, 78 ft. 10 in. Superior sur- face of the head to the eye, and as far back as the head of the humerus, uniform gray. The white spots of the belly are few and are confined to an area running obliquely from the base of the pectorals to the navel. Those of the two sides do not meet in the median line until nearly at the navel. From the navel to the clitoris the inferior median line is dark gray and without spots. On the sides of the body the light spots are exceedingly numerous and occupy a larger area than does the darker color. Their long axes have definite directions. They sweep around the base of the pectoral fin and-are then directed obliquely downward and backward above the posterior ends of the abdominal ridges. They then point di- rectly backward, or those of the upper rows upward and backward toward the top of the caudal peduncle. The sides of the caudal peduncle have more of the light color than the dark, and the same is true on the shoulder. The pectoral fins are white externally for about 6 inches from the tip, but the light gray spots do not extend forward from the base as much as in No, 2. The base of the flukes under- neath is light gray anteriorly, with darkish fine lines running fore and aft, growing darker toward the posterior margin of the flukes, which is quite dark gray. (See pl. 18, fig. 2.) No. 4. Female. June 22, 1901. Total length, 73 ft. 6 in. The sides of the body have more light color than dark, except above the pectoral fins (when laid back). The light color extends forward to a line drawn between the eye and the inferior median line opposite the head of the humerus. The inferior median line from the anus backward is plain gray. The spots of the two sides come to- gether in the median line between the navel and clitoris; behind the anus they extend downward but do not meet in the median line. White spots on the breast very few, not reaching the median line. White dashes about the sides of the anus and pudendum. From the dorsal to the flukes, the sides of the caudal peduncle are nearly all light colored up to within about a foot of the superior edge, where the color is nearly all dark. Base of flukes below finely lmed with darkish gray streaks running fore and aft, but curving inward toward the median line. No. & Male. June 22, 1901. Total length, 68 ft. 3 in. A very light individual, light gray all over, the head alone being darker. The white blotches on the abdominal ridges are numerous and very white, and run off the posterior ends of the ridges along the flanks in the form of narrow elongated markings, quite unlike the elliptical gray blotches of some of the preceding specimens. Much white around the navel and some behind the anus. From a point about opposite the orifice of the penis, the white markings of the sides almost disappear, but they reap- pear in moderate abundance behind the line of the anus for a foot or two. This No. 5 has three large irregular white scars on the right side. The right pectoral has much of the posterior margin torn and irregular, and the tip broken. (See pl. iS io.) No. 6. Male. June 24, 1901. Total length, 65 feet. The light blotches of the sides meet in the median line between the navel and orifice of the penis. They are especially numerous at the posterior end of the ridges and are whitest there. 166 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. They cover the sides thickly as far back as the line of the anus, but grow gradu- ally less and Jess numerous posteriorly. The white spots of the abdominal ridges extend downward from the base of the pectorals about 18 inches, and run thence to the posterior end of the ridges, and join the larger but less whitish markings of the sides. All the median posterior area of the ridges is practically without spots, and there are very few anterior to the base of the pectorals. There are quite numerous white marks at the sides of and behind the orifice of the penis, and below the anus. A triangular area of whitish spots and lines extends from the eye to the ear, with the apex at the eye. The whole shoulder, to the line of the tip of the pectoral (when laid back), is ight and nearly uniform in color, breaking into large oblong spots, showing the darker ground-color between them as they approach the median line of the back. A long light area begins at the median line about opposite the tip of the pectoral and extends obliquely backward over the sides of the body, breaking into spots which extend in small numbers to the base of the flukes, Flukes streaked underneath (and indistinctly above) as in previous specimens, and there are some broad and long marks like scratches. A little white at the tip of the pectorals externally. (See pl. 14, fig. 7.) No.7. Male. June 25, 1901. Total length, 67 feet. This is a dark indi. vidual, but has much white on the abdominal ridges from the base of the pectorals obliquely downward and backward to the navel. The white here is in the form of continuous areas, with small elongated gray spots and dashes overlying them. The whole belly is mottled with lighter and darker shades of gray. The white of the two sides meets in the median line considerably in front of the navel. Both pee- torals irregular at the tip, with dark longitudinal markings; also a darkish mark along the middle of the underside from the tip half-way to the root. Dorsal fin very white, 7. @, with vertical gray and white lines alternating. (See pl. 19, fig. 1.) No. 8. Female. June 25,1901. Total length, 61 feet. A moderately dark individual. Practically no white on the abdominal ridges anterior to the line of the base of the pectorals. Proximal half of anterior margin of pectorals gray, and irregular dark scratches at the tips. (See pl. 19, fig. 2.) No. 9. Female. June 26,1901. Total length, 72 feet. A very white in- dividual, the whitest one seen. All white at the base of the pectorals, and about an equal mixture of white and gray on the abdominal ridges from that point back- ward. ‘The white of the two sets of ridges meets in the median line. Little white on the ridges anterior to the base of the pectorals. The sides of the body from some- what behind the tips of the pectorals (when laid back) nearly all light gray, with spots and areas of darker gray between. Much of the latter color from the dorsal fin backward along the superior margin of the caudal peduncle, while light blotches more or less clouded and spotted with darker gray extend all over the sides of the peduncle to the insertion of the flukes. A very light gray area on the shoulder and above the ear, extending thence obliquely backward toward the median line. Above the pectorals the back is varied with the gray ground-color and larger light gray spots in about equal amounts. The light-gray markings of the sides have a tend- ency to become whorls. From a distance, this whale seen from the dorsal aspect THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 167 looks uniform gray on the head, coarsely mottled with lighter from the shoulder to the middle of the length, thence practically all light gray to the flukes. The median line below, from the navel to the clitoris, is plain gray. Sides of pudendum below the mammary slits and around the anus nearly pure white. Underside and an- terior margin of pectoral very pure white. The fore-and-aft curved lines of alter- nately gray and white very distinct on the underside of the flukes. Dorsal fin with a nearly pure white anterior basal area, with curved vertical narrow gray lines. (See pl. 14, fig. 1; pl. 18, figs. 3 and 4.) No. 10. Male. June 27,1901. A light individual. The back nearly all light gray, with dark blotches opposite the tip of the pectoral, opposite the anus, and adjoining the base of the flukes. Though light, the color is not white on the flukes, nor on the lower surface of the body, except on the ridges, and a dash or two about the penis and anus. The amount of white on the ridges very considerable. Median line between navel and anus mostly dark gray. But little light gray on the underside of the flukes. Pectorals blotched on the outside like the flanks with light gray, and the tips with a mass of reticulated dark lines below. No. 11. Male. June 27, 1901. Total length, 71 ft.6in. A moderately light individual. Flanks mottled dark and light as in other specimens. From the dorsal fin half-way to the flukes the sides are nearly all light gray in continuous masses. The remainder of the sides toward the flukes nearly all dark gray. Flukes quite white underneath, with the usual fore-and-aft gray curved lines. A dark patch on the anterior margin of the pectoral just proximal to the middle of its length (perhaps due to injury). Sundry dark marks at the tip below. White dashes around the anus, penis orifice, and navel. Median line, from the navel to the penis orifice and around right|side of the latter, dark gray, without light blotches. More posteriorly, the light blotches of the flanks cross the median line. (See pl. 20, fig. 3.) No. 12. Female. June 28, 1901. Total length, 66 ft.6in. About medium as regards color. Light spots run forward to the corner of the mouth. They do not extend to the eye, but stop about midway between it and the ear. On the top of the head, however, they extend forward to the line of the ear. The proximal half of the pectorals externally has several large light blotches, but they are not conspicuous. Tip of pectorals with very little white externally. No. 18. Male. June 28, 1901. Total length, 65 ft. 11 in. Very few white spots on the abdominal ridges, which are almost entirely plain gray, except for an indistinct mottling. A broad inferior median band of plain dark gray from the navel to the anus, with only a few dashes of light gray. The light spots in this whale show a strong tendency to form whorls, especially on the flanks, where they nearly all assume this character. Pectorals externally all dark gray, with but one or two small light blotches about an inch in diameter at the posterior margin, where are also some vermiform lightish marks. No. 14. Female. June 29, 1901. Total length, 77 ft. 2 in. A very light whale. Ql 2 7S pe Oy Cae SACs EO) Oo PANO) Oo) THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 4 Tegarhorn, Berufjord. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. ¢@. Ditto. ¢. Ditto. 4. Ditto. ¢. East of Seydisfjord. @. Color of sides of body. Dark gray, with lighter dashes. Grayish black. Grayish black. Grayish black. Grayish black. Grayish black, without gradations. Color of inferior surfaces, between furrows and flukes. * Tegarhorn, Berufjord. Vedfjord, in Fordfjord. ¢. Ditto. 6. Ditto. Ditto, East of Seydisfjord. @. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. 4. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. Ditto. 6. Ditto. Ditto. ¢. East of Seydisfjord. ¢. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. ¢. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. ¢@. Ditto. 3. Ditto. ¢. Ditto. ¢. East of Seydisfjord. &. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. ¢. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. @. Ditto. ¢. Ditto. ¢. Ditto. ¢. East of Seydisfjord. 2. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. ¢. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. ¢. Ditto. ¢. Ditto. ¢. Ditto. ¢. East of Seydisfjord. 9. Uniform gray. Belly gray. Belly gray, with single dark gray dashes, irregularly placed. Belly grayish black, with single snow-white irregularly- placed spots. Belly gray, with a number of irregular, snow-white spots. Belly gray, with single snow-white spots disposed irregularly. of ridges from throat to belly. Dark gray; on the whole belly a number of snow-white, irregularly-placed, mostly linear specks. Dark gray. Dark gray. Dark gray, with irregularly-strewn white spots. Grayish black. Dark gray, with snow-white spots strewn singly,—also in the furrows. Color of furrows. Light gray. Light gray. (Not given.) (Not given.) (Not given.) (Not given.) Color of pectoral fins above. Dark gray, with numerous lighter specks. Uniform dark gray. Dark gray, with lighter dashes. (Not given.) Dark gray. Uniform dark gray. Color of pectoral fins below. Entirely snow-white. White. Snow-white. white. (Not given.) Snow-white. Snow-white. A small portion against the body grayish- A distinct scar-like stripe on the border. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Al Color of dorsal jin. A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. <2. Dark gray, with lighter dashes. B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. <¢. Uniform dark gray. Exe Ditto., 3: Uniform dark gray. D. Ditto. ¢. Dark gray. E. Ditto. 6. Dark gray. F. East of Seydisfjord. @. (Not given.) Color of flukes above. A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. ¢. Dark gray, with lighter dashes. B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. ¢. Uniform dark gray. CMPDitto, dS. Dark gray, with lighter dashes. D. Ditto. ¢. Dark gray. EH. Ditto. ¢. Dark gray. F. East of Seydisfjord. @. Dark gray. Color of flukes below. A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. ¢@. Dark gray, with lighter dashes. B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. ¢. Uniform dark gray. Ca Ditton 6’. (Not given.) Ds Ditto: ¢- Dark gray. E. Ditto. 64. Dark gray. F. East of Seydisfjord. @. Dark gray. Color of whalebone. A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. ¢. All shining black. B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. @. All glistening black. CRDitto: s.. All shining black. IDES Dittos i. All shining black. ie Ditto. <3. Shining black. F. East of Seydisfjord. @. (Not given.) On comparing the data in the foregoing table with the descriptions of the color of specimens of the Newfoundland Sulphurbottom, previously given, it will be seen that the coloration in both cases is the same, and that the range and charac- ter of variation in markings are likewise the same. Hallas’s specimens were probably in some cases not so fresh as those I saw in Newfoundland; hence the frequent use of the term “grayish black” (graasorte ). DORSAL FIN. Tn Sars’s account of the “Blaahval” the variations in the shape of the dorsal fin are described as follows: (78, 287; sep., 18): “ Not less characteristic of this species than the pectoral fins is the dorsal fin, which with its unusually small size and position far backward, or at the beginning of the last fourth of the total length and much back of the vertical line drawn through the anus, is at once distinguished from those of all other known whalebone 5 . . . oe Ris = 7 ; S whales. In its form it is at the same time the part which, as it appears, undergoes 172 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. not so unimportant variations. Its size also can differ in a high degree in different individuals. In some examples it was noticeably smaller in proportion than in Malm’s specimen, so that it could be taken for an insignificant process or point pro- jecting from the dorsal keel. In other individuals it was more developed, now more erect, now more strongly curved backward, though without ever approaching near the size it has in the other Finbacks.” The same range of variation of form was found in the dorsal fin of the New- foundland Sulphurbottom, as will be seen by consulting text figs. 37-42. The following variations were observed : No. 1. Female. Dorsal strongly reeurved ; tip regularly rounded ; posterior margin deeply concave. (Text fig. 39.) No. 2. Male. Dorsal erect, triangular; tip sharp; posterior margin straight. (Text fig. 42.) No. 8. Female. Dorsal intermediate in curvature between those of Nos. 1 and 2; neither so recurved as in No. 1, nor so straight as in No. 2. ST Fic. 38. FIG. 39. We \ fo a : an ee : Fic. 40. Fic. 41. FIG. 42. FIG. 43. FIG. 44. DORSAL FIN OF BALA2NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.) Fic. 37.—No. 14, 2, BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. Fic. 38.—No. 22, 2, ditto. Fic. 39.—No.1, ¢, ditto. ° Fic. 40.—No. 7, ¢, ditto, Fic. 41.—No. 11, 6, ditto. Fic. 42.—No. 2, 6, ditto. Fics. 43 AND 44.—ICELAND, (FROM HALLAs.) No. 4. Female. Dorsal almost exactly as in No. 1. No. 5. Male. Dorsal had been injured and also had a semicircular piece missing from the posterior margin, as if cut out by a bullet. No.7. Male. Dorsal moderately recurved ; tip quite sharp; posterior margin deeply concave. (Text fig. 40.) No. 11. Male. Dorsal large, erect, rather sharp at the apex ; posterior margin moderately concave. (Text fig. 41.) THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 173 No. 14. Female. Dorsal high and narrow, strongly recurved, and deeply concave posteriorly. (Text fig. 37.) No. 18. Male. Dorsal small, sharp-pointed, and strongly reclined. No. 20. Female. Dorsal faleate. No. 22. Female. Dorsal moderately recurved ; tip regularly rounded ; pos- terlor margin moderately concave, with a small semicircular piece wanting near the middle. (Text fig. 38.) No. 24. Female. Dorsal very strongly recurved, long, and low; the tip acuminate, and posterior margin very concave. No. 25. Female. Dorsal erect, triangular, and sharp-pointed ; posterior margin straight. Sars’s remark, that in size the dorsal fin of the “ Blaahval” varies considerably but does not reach that found in other Finbacks, is probably not strictly correct as regards European 6. musculus generally, and is not applicable to the Newfound- land Sulphurbottoms. In the latter, according to my own observations, the largest dorsal had an actual vertical height of 154 inches, while 14 inches was the height of the smallest dorsal found in a Newfoundland B. physalus. The latter individual was, however, but 59 ft. 1 in. long, while the Sulphurbottom was 66 ft. 6 in. long, so that the fin though actually larger in the B. musculus was proportionally larger in the B. physalus. The greatest proportional height of dorsal in the Newfoundland Sulphurbot- toms was 1.9 % of the total length, while the least proportional height in New- foundland 5. physalus was 2.0 % The extremes in the two species, therefore, tend to approach each other quite closely. On the other hand, it should be re- membered that the average proportional height of the dorsal in 21 Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms was 1.1 % while the average in 11 Newfoundland B. physalus was 2.4 %. PECTORAL FINS. Regarding the pectoral fins of European 2B. musculus, Sars remarks as fol- lows (78, 236): “The outer parts, or hands, are considerably more elongated than in the Com- mon Finbacks and the whole pectoral fin more strongly curved, so that the lower convex margin is more distinctly arched, while the upper sharp border, which in the Common Finbacks has in the middle a more or less distinct angular projection, shows a more even curve. The breadth of the pectoral fins is about one quarter the length. For the rest, these organs appear to be subject to endless variations in different individuals, both in size and form, which, however, are confined within quite narrow limits. Very often I have found that they showed at the outer angle, near the tip, one or more deep angular emarginations, which always corresponded to the interval between the fingers, though I was not able to see any distinct trace of an external lesion.” These remarks apply equally well to the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms, as will be seen by comparing the plates, and especially pls. 21 and 13, except that 174 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. the irregularity of the end of the pectorals which occurs in many individuals, ap- pears to me to be due in most cases to external injury. The normal, complete termination is shown in pl. 21, fig. 8. When the pectorals are blunt, the softer parts are affected while the bones remain normal. This appears to indicate that the injuries are caused by contact with bodies harder than the skin and ligaments, but that the force of impact is not sufficient to fracture the bones of the digits. Such injuries might perhaps be caused by rubbing against rocks at the bottom of the bays which these animals frequent, but I suspect that they are sometimes caused by the bites of sharks and porpoises. The malformation of the pectorals is often accompanied by abnormalities elsewhere on the body. Of the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms, No. 8, 2, had the tip of the pectorals blunted. In No. 4, 2, the tip of the right pectoral was injured and apparently diseased, while the left was normal. In this individual, the inferior surface of the posterior end of the caudal peduncle also showed indications of injuries. In No. 5, ¢, the right pectoral had much of the posterior margin torn and irregular, and the tip distorted, as if broken. In this individual the dorsal was also injured and had a semicircular piece lacking from the posterior margin, as if pierced by a bullet. In No. 7, 4, the tip of both pectorals was blunted and irregular. The whalebone was defective in this individual. In No. 8, °, both pectorals were blunted and ir- regular, as in the preceding specimen. ‘The tip of the left pectoral in No, 14, 2, was blunt. In No. 17, ¢, the tip of the left pectoral was remarkably blunted and serrated, with a prominent finger-like projection on the radial side. The right pectoral had a small hole in the posterior margin at a point distant from the axilla equal to one third the total length. No. 20, ?, had the tip of the right pee- toral irregular, SHAPE OF THE HEAD. The form of the head on the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms is peculiar and characteristic. The blowholes are situated in a depression slightly below the gen- eral level of the top of the back. In front of them rises abruptly a strong median ridge, the top of which is somewhat above the level of the back. This ridge slopes down rapidly in front, but continues to the apex of the jaw. On each side of the blowholes is a thick rounded eminence, the top of which is about on a level with the top of the median ridge. This eminence is prolonged anteriorly as a sloping, attenuated, and rounded ridge which lies close to the median ridge, and dies away without reaching the tip of the jaw. External to this are the elevated, thick margins of the jaw, which are especially heavy near the apex of the jaw. Viewed from the side, the snout, or rostrum, presents a series of ridges and depressions, and from in front a most striking rotundity, on account of its great breadth and thick integuments. These features are shown in pl. 15 and pl. 18, figs. 8 and 4. In No. 2, ¢, 71 feet in length, the distance from eye to eye, across the region of the blowholes, was 10 ft. 2 in.; across the rostrum half-way between the apex and the blowholes, 5 ft. 5 in. In No. 9, 2, length 72 feet, the distance across the THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 175 head from eye to eye was 11 ft. 2in. In No. 15, 4, length 68 ft. 3 in., the length of the blowholes was 18} inches. BYE. The eyeball in a male Newfoundland Sulphurbottom 71 feet long, as shown in the table on p. 157, was 5 inches in antero-posterior diameter and 44 in. in vertical diameter. The iris was 13 inches antero-posteriorly and 1} inches vertically. The color of the iris is brown. The pupil is oblong with a straight superior margin. The eye in the Newfoundland Sulphurbottom is situated behind and a little above the corner of the mouth, and with the lids forms a semi-elliptical swelling on the side of the head, below which is a quite deep depression, or furrow, directed obliquely downward in front toward the corner of the mouth. On the upper and lower lids are one or two shallow, curved furrows, and at the anterior commissure is a prominent ridge, bounded by a groove above and below, as in B. physalus. (Pl. 16, figs. 1 and 2.) CIRCUMFERENCE AND DIAMETER OF BODY AND DEPTH OF THE CAUDAL PEDUNCLE. The caudal peduncle, called “the small” by whalemen, is strongly compressed and ends abrupt at its union with the flukes, not gradually diminishing in breadth, as commonly represented in figures. In various specimens of Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms the vertical depth of the caudal peduncle was as follows: BALZENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND, CAUDAL PEDUNCLE, Depth of Caudal Peduncle. Ne: a pio ane Midway between Anus Midway between Anus} Midway between post. and Insertion of and Notch of Base of Dorsal and Flukes. Flukes. Insertion of Flukes. 4 g 73' 6" Here vee Rete 18 A way 2 one 5) ater 9 g 72' 0” eehae 6' 9 mes II 4 wi OF 3 6" 5 3 68’ 3” year "8 13 3 | 65, Ta eee | 6' oO! 17 $ 65' 8” 5S rene 15 | 3 63' 6" Scie | 6’ 0” 8 g | 6a 0, | 5’ 10 The greatest diameter of the body and largest semi-circumference of several of the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms were measured, with the following results : At insertion of flukes. 176 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. GIRTH. | Ty c Semi-Circumference of Body. | . Transverse = | Diameter of Body. No. Sex. Length. | AtTipof | At At At At Tip of | At Head of | | Pectoral. Navel. Anus. Penis. Pectoral. Humerus. ae ae | ae eee | | io eee | 18 6 i) ero” 7 2. Soy 9 6" Tier a) Op |e elo 724 Onn leer onze Teun Bor ents | | "6 5 g 632.37 i lanzicow : teat arena ie 7 a (esr? Nao ar eerste |e @eees a Osan 6’ 33" | 6 | | << | In Nos. 18, 9, 5, the girth at the tip of the pectorals, or the greatest girth, would be, by calculation, 34 ft. 4 in., 386 ft. 4 in., and 34 ft., respectively. ABDOMINAL RIDGES AND FURROWS. The abdominal or thoracic ridges and furrows in this species, as in B. physalus, extend backward from the mandible to the navel, and between the pectoral fins and eye extend upward nearly to the level of the latter. The ridges also anastomose irregularly, and toward the posterior end many pairs unite, so that the total num- ber here is much less than it is farther forward, and the breadth of each much greater. The breadth of the larger ridges between the pectoral fins in the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms is about 24 inches. (PI. 14, figs. 4-6.) In number the ridges vary as in L. physalus, and the totals do not differ ma- terially from those of that species. In different specimens of Newfoundland Sul- phurbottoms the totals were as follows, and were obtained by counting from the median line to the root of the pectoral and multiplying by two BALA®NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. NUMBER OF ABDOMINAL RIDGES. No. Sex. Total Length. Number of Ridges. 14 | g iii 2" 66 4 | 2 73 6" 68 18 Vinee 62 9 Q 72 0. 88 Il é rile 6" | 68 2 é aoe | 84 20 2 | FO! Bu 68 7 dé 67) 6" 68 17 3 | 65! 8" 62 6 5 65' 0” 58 8 | Q 61/40" 84 The quite remarkable variation in number of ridges appears not to be corre- lated with sex or size. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 1 ~I -T NAVEL AND MAMMARY SLITS. The navel in the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms is a more or less elongated scar, usually about 8 in. long, surrounded by the abdominal ridges and furrows, which are somewhat displaced and bent outward by it and usually extend some- what beyond it. (PI. 17, figs. 1 and 2; pl. 18, figs. 8 and 4; pl. 19, fig. 2.) The mamme of the female are contained in longitudinal slits situated a little above the median line and opposite the end of the clitoris. Above and below these slits, or, in other words, nearer to and farther from the median line, are one or several furrows which are parallel with the slits. The largest of these furrows is commonly longer than the mammary slit and very deep. (See pl. 20, figs. 1 and 2.) In No. 8, 61 feet long, the mammary slits were 15 inches long. The mammary slits and other parts surrounding the sexual orifice do not cause any marked convexity of the inferior outline of the body, but there is a slight de- pression posteriorly which marks the position of the anus. (See pl. 19, fig. 3.) The male Sulphurbottom has rudimentary mammz of considerable size con- cealed in slits like those of the female. (PI. 20, figs. 8 and 4.) These slits are situated about midway between the anus and penis orifice, and are unaccompanied by parallel furrows. In No. 2 (length 71 feet), the left slit was 16 inches long and the right 19 inches. The orifice of the sheath of the penis in No. 15 (length 63 ft. 6 in.) was 3 feet long. The penis itself in No. 2 (length 71 feet) was 6 feet long on the curve; circumference of the glans at the base, 2 feet. Testicle in No. 13 (length 65 ft. 11 in.), 27 inches long, 10 inches broad. FLUKES. The flukes were invariably cut off the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms before towing them in and I did not have an opportunity to see them in the adult. Ina foetus 12 feet long they had the form characteristic in the genus, convex anteriorly, slightly concave posteriorly, with moderately recurved tips, and a central notch. In No. 6, ¢, 65 feet long, the depth of the flukes from the notch to the line of the anterior base, or insertion, was 3 ft. 6 in.; in No. 11, 4, length 71 ft. 6 in., the depth of the flukes at the same place was 3 ft. 8 in.; in No. 14, &, length 7 ft. 2 in., the depth of flukes was 4 ft. 9} in. The depth of the notch in this individual was 9 inches. It was very obtuse. WHALEBONE. The whalebone in the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms (pl. 15, figs. 1 and 2; pl. 16, figs. 8 and 4) is thick and black throughout, including the bristles, as in the European specimens. In eleven specimens from the former locality, its length above the gum (without the bristles) was as follows : 178 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. LENGTH OF WHALEBONE. No. Sex. Length of Whale. oasis weet Whale- Inches. 14 2 ae 28 : 746 24 10 6 anti 27 rr 2 72 Oo 32 2 2! iu 22 9 + Teton | 23 TI 4 mit On 24 20 | 2 70! 3” 24 5 5 68’ 30 | 32 12 g 66' 6” 20 22 2 61! Be 19 24 2 6m 2" 18 AWeTagenc. cer 24.7 inches. The length 82 inches must be regarded as exceptional. In a lot of whalebone stored in the yard at the station, the longest I could find was 27 inches, above the gum, and without the bristles. As this was from a very large number of whales, probably between 40 and 50, it seems singular that I should have encountered longer whalebone in three instances in the whales I personally examined. I cannot account for this except on the theory that the whalebone shrinks when exposed to the air for a considerable time. In the Longniddry (Scotland) whale, the whalebone was reported by Turner as 333 inches long, including the part imbedded in the gum, or about 293 inches without it. The length of the longest bristles in a Newfoundland Sulphurbottom (length 77 ft. 2 in.) was 18 inches. HAIRS. The scattered hairs found on the head and mandible of fcetal whales are not always discoverable on the adults. In the majority of the Newfoundland Sulphur- bottoms they were not noticed, but on No. 9, 9 (length 72 ft.), there was a row of dirty white or yellowish hairs along the proximal half of the left ramus of the mandible, and on the head a row starting with two from behind the blowholes, curving around them on a semicircle to their anterior end and running thence to the tip of the snout; a second row of hairs was situated nearer the margin of the jaw. In No. 23, ¢ (length 67 ft. 3 in.), a row of about 6 hairs, each in a raised tubercle, occurred at the proximal end of the right ramus of the mandible. In sev- eral specimens was to be noticed a vertical double row of yellowish hairs at the symphysis of the mandible, the hairs themselves being about 3 in. apart. OSTEOLOGY. The skeleton of Balenoptera musculus has been described by Flower (45, 410-414) under the name of Physalus latirostris, and by Reinhardt (75), Van THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO, 179 Beneden and Gervais (8), and others. Unfortunately, there is almost nothing in the way of American material which can be compared with the European speci- mens. The only skeleton in any of the museums of the United States is that of the specimen stranded at Ocean City, New Jersey, in October, 1891, which is in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. This whale was examined and measured by Mr. J. C. Ives and myself, and was afterward the sub- ject of an article by Cope (32).' The length of this specimen as it lay on the beach was 66 ft. 2 in. The un- mounted skeleton at the Philadelphia Academy measures 52 ft. 2 in. as it lies, but lacks the premaxillee and one intermediate and probably three terminal caudal vertebrae, and the bones are much too close together. Cope came to the conclusion that it combined the characters of B. physalus and B. musculus, and remarked in closing his article: “It remains to be ascertained whether these characters indicate another species, and if so, whether the names duguidii or tectirostris are applicable to it.” The species called LB. tectirostris by Cope is, as we have seen in a previous chapter, the Common Finback of the At- lantic coast of North America, and identical with BL. physalus. The nominal species known as B. duguidii is also identical with L. physalus. The real question, there- fore, is whether the Ocean City whale is the Sulphurbottom of Newfoundland, or whether it represents B. physalus, or belongs to an unknown species. Cope’s summary is in three divisions, as follows: (1) “The Ocean City whale agrees with Lalenoptera musculus [= B. physa- dus (L.) | in the form of the head, number of vertebrae and ribs, proportions of pectoral fin, and position of dorsal fin.” (2) “It differs from this species |B. physalus (L.)|and agrees with B. sibbaldit [= B. musculus (L.)] in the size, color, and in structure of the cervical vertebra.” (3) “It is intermediate between the two, as described by authors, in the numbers of the phalanges of the manus.” I shall endeavor to show that the points mentioned in the first division are erroneous. The skeleton, when I saw it in 1900, was unmounted and lying on the floor of one of the exhibition halls in the Philadelphia Academy. It was nearly complete, but lacked several caudal vertebre, the nasal bones, ete. The maxillee were separated from the cranium. : The first point made by Cope is that the form of the head agrees with B. physalus vather than with B. musculus. In the course of his description he re- marks (37) that the maxille “have the acuminate outline of those of B. musculus (= B. physalus (L.)| rather than that of B. sibbaldit |= B. musculus (L.)].” As a fact, exactly the opposite is true. The average br eadth of the rostrum at the mid- dle in American specimens of B. physalus, as seen in a previous chapter (p. 133), is 19.6 % of the length of the skull. In the Ocean City skull the two maxille taken together, without the premawille. or median interspace, have a breadth at the middle of 19.2 % of the length of the skull. With a suitable allowance for the premaxillze ‘For a figure and brief description of this whale see Around the World, Jan., 1894, P. 49- 180 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. and interspace, the breadth of the rostrum is 28.8 % It is obvious, therefore, that the rostrum is not acuminate as in L. physalus. The second point of agreement between the Ocean City whale and L. physalus pointed out by Cope is in the number of vertebrae and ribs. He gives the follow- ing formula for the vertebre: C. 7, D. 15, L. 17, Ca. 28 = 62. So far as the total number is concerned, this is the average for L. physalus, but the formula does not correspond with that of any specimen of the species with which I am acquainted. The formula for the Ocean City skeleton which I found in 1900 was as follows: C. 7, D. 15, L. 14, Ca. 24 + = 60 +. It was impossible to decide definitely as to the location of the first chevron, and fifteen lumbars should perhaps be counted, rather than fourteen. So far as it goes, this formula is not more characteristic of B. physalus than of B. musculus, but as the last caudal vertebra found had a trans- verse diameter of 4} inches and an antero-posterior diameter of 23 inches, it is probable that as many as four caudals should be added, making the total twenty- eight, a number never found in B. physalus. The next point of agreement with 4. physalus mentioned by Cope is the pro- portional size of the pectoral fin. According to my measurements of the Ocean City whale, the length of the pectoral from the tip to the root, or insertion, was 99 inches, while in a specimen of L. physalus 44 feet longer than the Ocean City whale the same dimension was but 72 inches. As regards the position of the dorsal fin, I do not find any exact measurement either in Mr. Ives’s table (cited by Cope) or my own. The remark that the “ dor- sal fin marks a point about one-fourth the length from the posterior border of the flukes to the end of the muzzle,” would apply almost equally as well to B. physa- Jus as to B. musculus. Indeed, as will be seen later, the relative position of the fin is so nearly the same in both species that it can scarcely be used as a diagnostic character. From the foregoing facts it will be seen that the association of the Ocean City whale with B. physalus does not receive support. On the other hand, the small size of the dorsal fin, and the mottled gray color of the body, the large pectoral fin, and the dark under-surface of the flukes ally it to the Sulphurbottoms of Newfoundland. I append the measurements of the Ocean City whale, made by myself, with those of Mr. Ives added. These measurements were made ten years before those of the Newfoundland specimens, and without reference to any particular system. They are not, therefore, strictly comparable with the latter: BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). OCEAN CITY, N. J., OCTOBER 8, 1891. FEMALE. Total length along the middle of the body from snout to notch of AWKES soe Ae erase boa igrelenete mithevecseoropetetp tue seen oes Oke terete tac he 66) ft) 2) im ILengthvofspectorall inmiddl Calne Pee reuere tetera tote totey tee aeereteay rarer Sia) oe *“ To hinder border of the tail,’ 66 ft. 11 in. (Ives.) *“From shoulder to the tip,” 7 ft. 4 in.; “‘along the lower margin,” 8 ft. 3 in.; “along the upper margin,” 6 ft. (Ives.) THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 181 Length of pectoral along anterior border “ ae “cc “ce “ “ce co - oo to termination of white TG SL =SUT Ca CO pecavevereye aisusiaisie cain suche se ciese fe eT Mee ee Sane GE Greatestaoreadthsof pectoralvs.c sc ceire cas see ck wee nee tee Deed ae ara Bread theo tale Seeererer chess every cy, vais, tps Pave ere eee eee NA lO aes Mistance from! flukes to anus............... 20 OT Ly Wentenoranus to center of navel 2: sue. ccc «chaos sens eelee ro {0 Breadth of caudal peduncle at insertion of flukes............... ene Tip of mandible to corner of mouth (along the curves).......... 16,5 o> @omeriof mouth toauricular onfices .. 0... .c<0s cera ceciee tee cs Be endOl Ns Wistanceracrossstheybead!s onc etic cuit a cis Seiciic cuesiete comers deities 1308, Fras [Fen ginwofrawricularmOnfiCes,..... cl sini sce s'est Ge aicioes nee tee Cpe sue eee therdorsalsfint (ives) isi, eacepoc nance cece hon elo eeten Te eroms BIGIGNE Ore hve Gebers (UK753) epnoda acveac borane ceesc sonore. a” 5 It is an unfortunate fact that no complete reliable account of the osteology of B. musculus has been published, unless it be that of Malm. His Monographie ilustrée is not accessible to me. Equally to be regretted is the fact that the meas- urements given by Flower (45), Reinhardt (75), and Malm (66) are not in accord. On that account a thorough comparison of the proportions of the skeleton cannot be made. The osteological characters of 5. musculus are summarized by Van Beneden (7, 260) as follows : “This species is distinguished from other Balenopteras by the beak, which is very broad, especially at the middle of its length; by the nasal bones, truncated in front; and by the palatines, very broad. The upper jaw is exceeded by the lower, and the coronoid process is high and pointed; the vertebree number 63 or 64; the ribs are 15 or 16 pairs in number; the sternum is broad and short; the metacarpals and phalanges are comparatively long.” NUMBER OF VERTEBR®. The vertebral formuls given by various European authors for L. musculus are as follows: BALZINOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA. Author. Locality. Date. Cee Ds pa. Ca. | Total. | Type of. Humber R., England | F 7 6 = 1__ | 642 | siebaldei eeepc (| (Hull Museum) , | 1833 : : 4 | 4 “ Coast of Holland me 1 |) ee glia ier aA ll eee orpere i (Utrecht Museum) 18 7 15 | 4 | 4 | e Turner Longniddry, Scotland 1869 7 15 — 4lt —j| 63 | (mature) : = e as 3 7 15 —4lt —]| 63 | (feetus) Malm Gothenburg, Sweden 1865 7 15 15 } 26 | 63 | caroline Knox North Berwick, Scotland 193%) 69° |< L5¢.\| A Mobius Sylt Id., Germany | 1881 i al 16 15 26} 64 | | | ’ According to Lahille, the formula for both is generally given as 7 + 16-15 + 26 = 64; but Gervais says it should be 7 + 16 + 13 + 28 = 64. 2“ The two skeletons [Hull and Utrecht] agree in possessi l * Lumbars 15 or 16 (Flower, 45, 410). in this respect, fortunately complete” (Flower). ; ‘ Jardine, Nat. Library, Cetacea, has a figure of this skeleton on plate 6. to be 16. ng sixty-four vertebra, both being The lumbars appear 182 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. The only two complete formule are: C. 7, D. 15, L. 15, Ca. 26 = 63;— Gothenburg: €. 7, D316; LL. 15; Cas 26 — 64,— Kiel: H. P. Gervais, without explaining how he arrived at the fact, remarks (67, m. 23), that “the vertebral formula given hitherto by the authors who have had occasion to observe and describe skeletons belonging to the species which occupies us [ B. musculus (L.)] is the following: C. 7, D. 16, L. 15, Ca. 26 = 64.” In contradic- tion it will be observed from the preceding table that the Hull Museum specimen, described by Flower, and the Sylt Id. specimen, described by Mobius, are the only ones reported as having sixteen pairs of ribs. Sir William Turner, than whom there is no more competent authority, reports fifteen pairs for both the adult and the fcetal Longniddry specimens. Gervais, however, insists on sixteen pairs, and further states that the number of lumbars is thirteen, rather than fifteen. He bases this latter assertion on an examination of a skeleton from Cape Horn (which he assigns to this species) and two skeletons and a foetus from Laponia. Gervais appears to have had in mind an ideal formula which he calls the formule générale, with which the various specimens would be found to agree if studied with sufficient care. I am far from believing that such would be the case, as it seems to be demonstrated that in the majority of cetaceans the number of vertebrze and their division into dorsals, lumbars, and caudals is subject to a certain amount of variation, Even in the specimen from Cape Horn which Gervais assigns to 5. musculus the vertebral formula does not agree as regards number of caudals with his formule générale. Supposing Turner, Flower, Gervais, Malm, and Mobius all to have been correct, we should have a variation for the European LB. musculus, as follows: (a) RCA a DS Gy les Cane 8)—104" (2) (Cs 72 Di 16s ens. (\Canz6s—164. (3) 2Gl7, Dears. deet5sCa 26 —103% So far as adult North American specimens are concerned, we have for com- parison only the Ocean City whale, but while at the Newfoundland Station I examined and counted the vertebrae of three fcetal specimens. The formule for these and the Ocean City whale are given below. It will be remarked that the three formule from Newfoundland fcetuses are BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L,). AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA. No. Locality. | Date. GC. D. I. | Ca. | Total. u s =I —_ a e | | 1 Balena, Newfoundland | 1901 | 7 | 16 } 15 27, \\ 165)" || foetuses? 14 Si 2 | 190r WF | BS eera 2 Om em OA eae eS 19 ees as | Igor Fi 15 16 26 64 |e So Ocean City, New Jersey| 1891 | 7 15 | 147 |24(+-4?)/60 (+4?) * Positively correct ! * Perhaps fifteen lumbars should be counted. It is uncertain. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO, 1838 all different. I believe them all to be correct, but that for No. 19 is certainly so, as it was obtained by very careful dissection of the feetus, after I had observed that the formule for the two preceding specimens did not agree. It will be noted that the formula for No. 1 is the same as for the Kiel speci- men, except that the latter has one less caudal vertebra. The formula of No. 14 does not agree with any of the European specimens, but would accord with Gervais’s formule générale, if one vertebra were taken from the lumbar series and added to the dorsals. The formula of No. 19 is remarkable for the sixteen lumbars.! The formula for the Ocean City whale is based on my own observations, but, as already stated, one vertebra should perhaps be taken from the caudal series and added to the lumbars, making fifteen lumbars in all, in which case this specimen, in so far as it is complete, would agree with Malm’s B. carolinw. However this may be, as the last rib present is long, it is quite probable that one more pair, making sixteen in all, was present originally. In this case the number of lumbars might be con- sidered as reduced to thirteen, thus according with Gervais’s views. The Ocean City skeleton probably lacks one caudal between the sixteenth and seventeenth (7. e., between the fifty-second and fifty-third vertebra as now placed), and probably the number of terminal caudals lacking is three. Until the limits of variation in the number and division of the vertebree in B. musculus are better determined, little reliance can be placed on the formule for the discrimination of the species from its nearest allies. The present indications are that the amount of variation is considerable. In this connection, it is interesting to observe the lack of harmony in the vertebral formule given for the South American Sulphurbottom. Gervais, who regards the southern species as the same as B. sibbaldii [= B. musculus (L.)] gives the formula C. 7, D. 16, L. 13, Ca. 29 (or 80) = 65 (or 66). Burmeister’s B. énter- media, regarded the same as B. musculus both by Gervais (51, m. 6) and by Lahille (68, 85), has, according to the original describer, the formula C. 7, D. 15, L. 16, Ca, 27 = 65. Lahille’s Sulphurbottom, which he regards as a separate species, B. miramaris, has the formula C. 7, D. 14, L. 14, Ca. 29 = 64. In the Ocean City skeleton the first vertebra in which the transverse process is perforated, or has a foramen at the base, is the forty-sixth (right side only). The transverse processes are last distinguishable on the forty-eighth vertebra, and the neural arch is obsolete on the fifty-fifth vertebra. SKULL. For the reasons stated on p. 179, a complete comparison of measurements of the skulls of European and American specimens can not be made. The figure of the skull of the Iceland whale published by Reinhardt (75, 188) appears to be accurate, except that the maxillz have sprung apart. Measurements made on this figure compared with those from the skull of the Ocean City whale show a close agreement, as follows : Van Beneden (7, 265) gives the formula of a skeleton at Edinburgh as 7, 15, 16, 25 = 63. He states in another place that there are bones of four individuals in Edinburgh, including the North Berwick whale (7, 280), 184 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALZENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEW JERSEY AND ICELAND. SKULL. Measurement. Ocean City, New Jersey. Iceland. | : : Greatest breadthiof Skule sees siererercversivierclel ote ebeieteneradede 99.0 in. 103.5 In. Breadth of the maxille at the middle.................. 17505 ZO Length of the rostrum without premaxille............. G5 as TZ OnG utes Breadth of distal end of frontal over the orbit (greatest). | 18:01 Betis The principal cranial characters of B. musculus, the broad maxille and thick, obtuse nasals, are found in the Ocean City whale. The nasal bones were not in the skull when I examined it in 1900, but they are described by Cope as follows: “The nasal bones have a parallelogrammic superior outline, but are very convex in the fore-and-aft direction, the surface descending forward. They are flat posteri- orly ; at the middle the adjacent edges are raised, but at the distal end the external edges are raised, so that the superior surface is concave in the transverse direction” (31). It will be observed that this agrees with the excellent figure of the nasals published by Reinhardt (75,187). This figure is one-ninth natural size. The two nasals together are shown to be 7.9 in. wide at the proximal end, and 9.25 in. wide at the distal end. The nasals in a cranium at the Newfoundland station were 10 in. wide at the proximal end and 10.75 in. wide at the distal end. They are figured in pl. 7, fig. 10. In Miinter’s Rigen Id. specimen they measured 6.9 in. at the prox- imal end and 7 in. at the distal end. The breadth of one of the maxille at the middle of its length, compared with the length of the same bone, is 12.7 % in the Iceland whale (Reinhardt), 12.8 % in the Hull whale (Flower), and 18.5 % in the Ocean City whale. Other measurements of the Ocean City whale are as follows: BALA[NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). OCEAN CITY, N. J.. OCTOBER 1891, Hengthrofskull) strarghtenws venta crisis cero eter cmctr ae harort cio 14 ft. 74 in. GreatestubreadthWsquamosal ey aeinecteeisocie sitet ear rer Fin) Clee Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end ................ On Wie = encthyofirostrumystralghters terre storiets tstels erred 1> ener detraret= Oh eyiaiec. ¢ Breadthofirostrum at middleseurved yrs ieee se iolel eter iets soul) ogee 5 einen Imengthiofimandiblenstralchtan-wteryerseiastias Vette carctefenersettereterer TS ca ores ie eos s GUIEVEC ern ontaircar arch ctcacter yoshiGieele Teeter 17 es Depth “ AE iG Ce: severnatetersnsis even clerctauservel olor ctereioner fete BP eke tae Greatestibreadth! of axish ect cts erin crac sorverel=)sishaye) «ele hevensverere ersten: 3 Onn Depthioficentrumiotiaxisy merrier necro echastere sieerererreer O\-) @TOr as Greatestibreadthvof stidOrsalpemreretensyetetenccrsle ele reaien sy aloracietolerenerereteks DD io). Depth of centrum of Wie ue-e- ses Searls cpa rele enone = (Ol aroha Greatest breadth of rst lumbar: crete one «ce acs ia avevelsversy stele vesnetete ee ABE Bute Depth of centrum! Offs eeeceelee set mga tret eas iiers ee OOOO Olan Wi2dies Greatest breadthiof rsticaudall ence 1-1) ee1< 0! Brey (othe aeereaieite ue er O ee Depth of centrum of “ To Oey a hrw tare ones ete sieretsele ire ooneerRtere oo Ri a ae eee, Greatest breadth of scapula............... eRe $5 Rend eee . depth oo Sg. Wester conte sere veoier tere escape he er eeners Fk De Oe Length of radius, without epiphyses................. eereeerero rer ees Shake vuln i Tg tishaeieatbareista) sie sonia streets ithe cee » e2ier? bh lOidiiegees Breadth of radius at distal end............. ike festovere eee Snioee © MOC) LOG i So Sulla es Oe Reese sacpiutietse ane sehr iertetase Aaetueleeihis Cima Oras ‘Estimated. Add 8$ in. for premaxille. * Without premaxille. * The greatest = 34% in. “Least. The greatest is 18 in. ‘ Breadth of maxilla only. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 185 Vertebre : 7,15, 14,24 + = 60 +; several lacking. The last present measures 43" X 43” and is 2?" thick antero-posteriorly. Fifteen should perhaps be counted as lumbars. It is uncertain. RIBS.2 The Ocean City whale has 15 pairs of ribs. The majority of specimens of B. musculus thus far described have this number, as will be seen by reference to the table on p. 181. Gervais, however, insists that the number should be 16 pairs, and that when less are reported it is because the last pair is overlooked. This hardly seems probable in view of the variability known to exist in all species of cetaceans. It was not the case in the Newfoundland fcetuses which I examined, two of which had 15 pairs of ribs and one 16 pairs. In the Ocean City whale, the 2d, 3d,and 4th ribs have capitular processes. In B. musculus, according to Van Beneden and Gervais (8, 215), the 3d and 4th ribs are furnished with a neck (col). This information is probably from Malm. Of the Hull museum skeleton Flower remarks (45, 412): “The 2d and 3d ribs have both well-developed capitular processes extending towards the bodies of the vertebra, longer and more slender in the third. In the 4th this process is nearly obsolete, and absent in all the succeeding ones.” The 1st rib in the Ocean City whale, as normally in B. musculus, is single- headed. It is to be remarked, however, that the 1st rib in the Ostend, Belgium, skeleton, according to Dubar’s figure and description, is double-headed (34, 38, pl. 8). The following table includes measurements of the ribs of various European specimens and of the Ocean City, New Jersey, skeleton : BALZNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN, RIBS. Length of , Length of | Length of Fuh. Locality. Whale. Skeleton. i | Author. Ist Rib. 2d Rib. 3d Rib. | 6th Rib. in, in, in, in. : 97.6 82.7 Ostend Beleim-.\. |) «3. i leeccyers = (= 2. 48 m.)\(=2.1m.)) | Berra Dubar N. Berwick, Scotland. | ...... Bie lee siseyeiieisie ll temic fete (Rctecsarete 46 Knox olan decree seregserssaiere Oc AG gate al || s steelers 49.0 iS OQ:Ou lease Flower Baltic Sea (1862)..... Argan | eats spore! = AGLO: © Ul) acirsterce |lmeerevoreney en inercneroregs Miinter Sylt Id., Germany.... | 50/0” ACH | topaoe ae | ceetee | otro ee 598 Mobius @ceanlCity, Ne Ji.....-< GO oe let ctajetelrs GTO.) || Movelalatesesls|icceesesonerers| exer stetcts Cope SOAPULA. The only illustrations of the scapula of the European Sulphurbottom accessible are Dubar’s (34, pl. 10), which is obviously inaccurate, and the figure copied by Van Beneden and Gervais from Malm’s illustrations of “ B. caroline” (8, pls. 12-18, fig. 33). Outlines of these figures and of one of the scapule of the Ocean City, N. 1No material is available for a comparison of the sternum of the European Sulphurbottom with American specimens, ‘Text-figures 49 and 50 show the form in two European examples. ? Breadth at distal end, 93 in. 186 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. J., specimen, and of a scapula which I photographed at Balena whaling station, are shown in the accompanying text figures 45 to 48. See also pl. 7, figs. 5 and 6, Fic. 45. Fic. 46. FIG. 47. Fic. 48. SCAPULA OF BALASNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). FIG. 45.—OSTEND, BeLcium. Ap, ¢. (FROM DuBAr.) Fic. 46.—SWEDEN. (FROM VAN BENEDEN AND GERVAIS.) Fic. 47.—BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. AD. (FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.) F1G. 48,—OCEAN CIty, New Jersey. Im. 9. (FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.) These figures show the strongly projecting anterjor and posterior borders, evenly convex superior border, and large acromion, characteristic of the Sulphurbot- toms. What the range of variation in form may be in European and American specimens, and whether specific differences could be detected, cannot of course be determined at present for lack of material. It is to be expected that considerable individual variation will be found, and this is indicated in the two figures of scapule from American specimens, which while agreeing in general form, show differences in detail. The dimensions of scapule in different specimens and the proportion of the breadth to the height in the same are shown in the table on p. 187. The discrep- ancy in proportions, amounting to about 4 per cent., I am unable to account for. It affects both the American and European specimens and is not, apparently, due to difference in age or sex. The diameter of the glenoid fossa in the scapula of the Ocean City skeleton is 13 in. by 9} in.; the greatest length of the acromion is 16 in. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 187 BALAENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA. Scapula. : ae Total |Length of} ae =e Locality. Sex. Length. | Skeleton. | | Proportion | Author. Breadth. | Height. | of Height to Breadth. | ft. in; ft. Jin; in. in. % | Fett lil am ClenvereveiiotevereVors is! ver s/cieveis exe os 50 + AG Bsa 5e5 21.0 60 | Flower. IBaleven (862) eee eeia «oxo Pores Gy | Uae aickeisrem| be sere 38.25 5 | 23.57 61.4 Miinter. North Berwick, Scotland...... Bea are Toor 78 0 | 60 38 63.3 Knox. t ee xs Gin Van Beneden Gothenburg, Sweden.......... re) Glee y AQ) Wi7-4)|| Revere croton Weteiavero te a | adiGereais WEG ERMAN ye. 3. cos care. 2 50 oO 43 © | 31 | 20 64.4 | Mobius. @stends Belem: .<... 110. a0 eau Hider sepsis |'patrerar< 69.3 | 42.1 60.0 Dubar. Balena Station, Newfoundland.) .. | ......|...... 61 38.5 63.1 BaVVewele @ceanaCitya Ne Jsscacc- a+s0 ss g O62 Ol evexctatare 49.5 30.0 60.6 BeaWewl. FIG. 49. FIG. 50. BALAZNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN. STERNUM. Fic. 49.—(STOCKHOLM MUSEUM. FROM VAN BENEDEN.) FIG. 50.—OsTEND, BELGIUM. @ AD. (FROM FISCHER.) (SEE P. 185, FOOT-NOTE.) RADIUS AND ULNA. The radius in the Sulphurbottom is remarkable for its breadth, and the ulna : , for its strong curvature. In Van Beneden and Gervais’s copy of Malm’s figure of the 1 ? > g © Gothenburg specimen (8, pl. 18, fig. 84) and in Dubar’s figure (64, pl. 11) the ulna is represented as having a long olecranon process directed downward instead of upward. If this were correct it would at once distinguish the aap a ae the Newfoundland Sulphurbottom, which has an erect or proximally-c ae mee non, as in B. physalus. It would appear that the process shown in the figures above mentioned is the cartilage attached to the olecranon, which may be ossified 7 lapywaia’ , in such mature individuals as the Ostend specimen. Gervais’s figure of the South American Sulphurbottom represents the process correctly as cartilage (41, pl. 1, fig. 8). With the exception mentioned, the figures of the beg ee see + . 15 7 « 7 $ ny Sulphurbottoms agree well with those of the Ocean City, N. J., and Newfoundlanc specimens shown in pl. 7, figs. 7—9. . a The following actual measurements of the arm-bones are given by various authors: i ° Fr ls -n and Gervais’s copy of Malm’s figure. * Rheinland measure. From Van Benede1 x py 188 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. BALATNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. UPPER ARM-BONES. Radius. Ulna. : Length |Length of roy: of Whale,| Skeleton, Breadth | Breadth Bresdthe \ereadtnae ona Length. | at Prox. | at Distal | Length.) at Prox. | at Distal End. End. End, End. ft5) sins) || tise in, in. in. in, in. in. Flollandisterssreyerstes Ora 46+ 27.0 6.0 WEG 25.0 7.0 5-5 Flower Baltica(c862)renreletuet Ski leery. hctotel | Lanevstteiiee See ez SO Ful 6.2 |Miinter N. Berwick, Scotland] ...... 78 0 AOtOw ||| ereteeersteull|cretteetetene ccatedon ||) saraotenoes iereterere Knox Gothenburg, Sweden} 51 7 49 7 20s 7.5 8.7 242 7.7° | 6.8 |Malm Sylt id), (Germany?..4|| 50108 ||) 4g mol || Feerrgl|ererent-to|etenevoyer- s tajeio'y leekabtonst ated |tasuene tke MO6bius Ostend, Belgium’./552)) ecccretst: sretstie a) ||: 0) ||evereteneton| | irevenotar els A SIO! a eetetsiohcte | 9.3° |Dubar Ocean City, N. J. ...| 66 2) | s2n.-) 3215) |) yaar 10.0 B45 Oss Som | Rea eeiles Newfoundland. cn)... siete oil sterer-ver Sayre | crease stot | epeVererers Ai2:0) |) S255 o:25 | Weed PHALANGES. The number of phalanges in the European specimens of B. musculus de- scribed by various authors is as follows: BALZENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN. PHALANGES. Locality. Author. | Length. ia: Ill. IV. V. Remarks. | Gothenburg... .... Malm | Sa 4 7 7 3 Uncertain.’ @stendmecct ec sree Dubar 85.0. =e 4 7 6 4 Meelan deer. citesetels Reinhardt | ........ 4 6 6 3 egalcickslarenedneeele renee s Wieber | i!) creraeictereys 4 6 6 3 foetus, 2.27 m. Humber River.... Flower 501 0" 4 6 5 2 Coast of Holland. | a SOL Ont 4 5 5 3 Uncertain. The Ocean City whale had the following formula, according to Cope (31): 4, 6, 5,38. The phalanges in a Newfoundland fcetus (from No. 14, left side) are as follows: 5, 8, 7, 4. SUMMARY. The results of the foregoing discussion of American and European Sulphur- bottoms may be summed up as follows: 1. The average and maximum lengths of Norwegian specimens are greater than those of Newfoundland specimens, which may be an actual difference or may result from a difference in the system of measurements. As the same discrepancy is In front.” \“ Behind” = 26.2 in. *From Dubar’s figure. *“ Behind,” incl. olecranon, which is 6.9 in. * Including olecranon. “Tn front” = 25 in. "From a photograph. * Including breadth of olecranon, which is 2.2 in. * Exclusive of olecranon, which is about 7 in. “German measure. *“ De likaledes fullsténdiga fingrarna,”’ “Artificially articulated.” THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 189 found in the case of both B. physalus and Megaptera, the latter hypothesis appears more probable. 2. In external proportions, so far as may be judged from the limited data available in the case of European specimens, there is a very close correspondence between the Sulphurbottoms of the Eastern and Western North Atlantic, amount: ing to identity. 3. In coloration no important difference is exhibited. 4. The whalebone is of the same color in both American and European speci- mens and, so far as may be judged, of equal length, 5. The lack of records and material precludes a judgment as to osteological characters, though in such matters as the total number of vertebra and ribs, general shape and size of the individual bones of the skull, shape of the scapula, ete., there is no clear indication of specific differences. Cope’s suspicions that the Ocean City, New Jersey, specimen represented a species intermediate between B. physalus and B. musculus are not confirmed. Viewing the present evidence as a whole there appears to be no reason for separating the American Sulphurbottom from L. musculus (L.). THE REPRESENTATIVE OF B. MUSCULUS (1..) IN GREENLAND WATERS. As mentioned on a previous page, Robert Brown and others assert that the Greenlanders recognize two or more species of large Finbacks under the name of Tunnolik. Fabricius (41, 35) identified the Zunnolik with B. physalus (L.) and gave a diagnosis and a few data regarding its habits and utilization. These stand- ing by themselves are insufficient for the determination of the species and of no value in a case where the discrimination of closely allied forms is involved. Scoresby (84, 1, p. 481) mentions a “ Physalis found dead in Davis’ Strait,” which was 105 ft. long. Although the length is exaggerated, this specimen is prob- ably to be assigned to B. musculus, as he states that the color was “ bluish-black on the back and bluish-gray on the belly.” The data he gives are insufficient for a positive identification. In 1846 Eschricht (36, 373) published a description and measurements of a female Zunnolik stranded at Godhavn, August 12, 1843, which account he obtained from H. P. C. Méller who examined the specimen. Moller’s description contains the following data: Body more elongate than in Balena mysticetus, Megaptera longimana, or Balenoptera acuto-rostrata. Fore part of body thick and heavy; hind part slender and thin, much com- pressed, Color black throughout, or possibly lighter under the posterior part of the body ; within folds of the skin, e.g., about mammee, or genitals, dark mouse-gray. Pectorals white below. Upper jaw a foot shorter than the lower. Lower Jaw with a rounded terminal protuberance and faint median keel. Baleen very short and proportionately very broad. 190 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Dorsal fin unusually small and thin and situated behind the line of the genital orifice. The dorsal fin of this specimen was sent to Eschricht in salt, and is described by him as follows (36, 378): “The fin itself, extremely small (4 inches high) and flat and narrow, with the point curved backward, stood on a thick tuberous root, which apparently might be regarded as the base of the fin.” Eschricht also received from Moller one of the pectoral fins, of which he gives a description and figure (36, 879). He found that it was quite different in form from the pectorals of the Humpback and Little Piked whale, and that the pha- langes were 5, 5, 6, 3. Its length was 1 the total length of the whale. Moller’s measurements of the exterior were as follows: Ft. In From tip of mandible to notch of flukes (straight).................00- 68 o sal We i “Se enitalia teva0, F | 5 S ened Me cea 3 Z oa ad Ne By aah] O) esas & a 3 A 4 = Sexiandlage-ertemenciteeteceerer gad. | adol. g Qjr-.| $3r. 2 2 ir. jr. jr | 2? 9? Motalblength yectaceriyccicteiieer 28':404) 24/62) 2008") 1706" | 170" |r4 04 ling Tx" (03) 5 2? | Cr ae: || Lgianee ero Om|pr5eaa =| % & % % % & % % % % % & Tip upper jaw EONEY Cer ceteieieners Briere 20.0) $0.1, || 21.4 |) 15:8 \| LOONIE wee reais “* blowhole..... 13-3 Mr 7esTe Ih (A =) I | eavarotes, | revere oul | es Ol meee 13.5 ae ne Sapectoraleiayclei. Eseei|| sieiers 28:6 | 35-5. | (32-1))| 27:8) 1) 30.4) | eet D7 5 ct co SSS backiof dorsall!i-70 74.6 (78.6) | (72.6)| .... | (68.9)} 74.8 | ... Wiles 5u|| eiereteg | O02) Tip lower jaw to corner mouth,.| 16.5 | .... Serre ||\(2027) 17.0) {liste otal Peter se 19.5 ?|21.2 oJ ecm nave livatratgeiet: siete Syekevens|). eiclels een e500) cetereyenl| Mecisys ot 3 revakell|| | seerchont ecisters Length of pectoral (from axilla ?)} 15.3?| 9.3 | .... | 19.5 | 14.7 | 14.3 | 12.3°| (14.8)| 12.7 12/65!) Tre6is | (Aes Greatest breadth of pectoral. .... BUSS) liners een leery Bas 3:05) 2316 BA) Nit Sem cell evpeeeeeal | stereo |Meeracanl Me SOO Heightiofi dorsal: .isnie-inie vs © 3.5 ASN ian were 7.1 ane 6.0 3.3 3.7 5.3 Fal 5.5) aegis Flukes from tip to tip.......... 26105) eel ez 5e5 ern 20-44 18.29)|| 27:6, )|| 21-0 2755 5\ 20:42 722i ‘Straight, to posterior margin of flukes. ° This measurement must be erroneous. 2 Ant. border, curved. (From axilla, straight = 9.3 4.) 7 To ‘extremity of tail,” straight; along curve of 3 Straight. back = 13) 83”. 4 French measure. ® Length of ‘‘inner side.” * Length ‘‘ external to integuments.” THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 195 The most notable discrepancy between the Portland specimen and those from the European coasts is, perhaps, that the distance from the snout to the posterior margin of the dorsal fin in the former is but 66.9 % of the total length, while with one exception this distance exceeds 70% in the European specimens. It is true that this distance for the Drogheda, Ireland, specimen, computed from the measurements given by Carte and Macalister (14), is but 68.9 % of the total length, but too much reliance cannot be placed on the measurements of this specimen. That for the flukes is obviously inaccurate. All that can be learned from the foregoing table is that the proportions of the European and American specimens show an approximate agreement.” The photographs of the specimen from Quoddy Head, Maine, reproduced in plate 28, figs. 3 and 4, show in an admirable manner the stout body, prominent caudal ridges, sharp head, and strongly curved dorsal fin characteristic of B. acuto- rostrata. They show also that the center of the pectoral fin above and the center ‘It is also to be observed that their figure of the exterior, stated to be “made to the scale of r inch to the foot,” is not on that scale, and does not agree in proportions with their measurements. They were aware, however, of the discrepancies in the position of the dorsal fin as given by earlier authors, *Since the foregoing paragraphs were written, I have received from Mr. J. Henry Blake of Cambridge, Mass., some valuable notes on Cetacea observed on the New England coast, including measurements of a young whale of the present species. These measurements, together with per- centages of the total length of such as are comparable with those of the foregoing table, are as follows: Measurement. Ft. in. Per cent. ” NRHOMNHRWODOOHO ONE NINH OOH HONE ” Length from end of lower jaw to notch of flukes (upper jaw little shorter).................02. BITeaRG tal AWAL OR CEN LCILOMEY Ory ctetevens sceieta ie a 2eraie Sreitie 513) ste lereteyor sists’ stars fat oeaiete\stetelstsne hay siereiaist eset: HRC LDRG Mee ye mentee feet tare tere tote e crsicieleisiatslsie) cis ceye:sinlalelececetstoveleisiareleistatcieitiaieieieiele ceteris Byeitorshoulderjoint..... 25 .seccceese abersje leis feiSluctareVoleefoia) siaveierere) sei=is ohoqara| rele pictetekeve sinvere eters em OW HOLES eteesretere tar etsy tereraeicice ce cieinis sieiere cxolaigere niclersteeiesc ina ofasiays eine leseiarelaieretonieieyriee tals ee on ad BraTaLOES HOUNC Clu Olt berate eietelelsteleve, sfeicte otsicnnis iels cic rotecerotersbeiol re tsrats cYejmahel sista! oie eteretsrel vite teteteeraiste ele/ata Smee] soporte ete rare toysiovoyecetcieral eis tetaaie) «yiclarala a e)s.cicietevs.sfMfator sie slays ofeleteralejets etahe/sieieie olorareriieteetets = Pindyotuppergaw, tosbind: parti blOWNOlES! o. «se: creveisis oie) oye\0 sle/s/sie(eisieirin isi p.claie)e\viele eisiesula «isle BOW HOLeSttOnd Orsalllistimepyapyataleratajatsicistaletsisraisicse stelaie’s s\clcteteteleiers\«/ja/s\s)a/a1='=le) cratajzicns) ec 6426 OOr a pies 72).oh|| 74 Bh ore) giercrcevellesrtes a. From ant. border foramen mag. over vertex to tip of beak.......|..... 102.5] 103.2!| 103.2!| 105.0!|106.4|.....|..... 104. Ditto to upper border of occiput... |..... 28/0228). 0 |) 2865 9|| 220.27 | 27 Ui tere cre | eae 29. Greatest breadth of skull......... BOLO resale 5l=7/\| 50.0"! 6420) 55 54'| S00 | aca. 51. Breadth at base of beak.......... 31.3] 31.9] 32.6] 30.5 | 33.9 | 32.9] 33-6] 31.8] 32 os ““ middle of beak........ 21.9] 25.6] 22.5 | 21.8 | 23.1 | 24.3] 21.2] 20.4] 19 s “s««“* orbital borders OMAMONLALS wtrretepeseeicieisccleys ec clerels 46.9] 45-0] 44.0] 45.6] 50.7 | 51.0]..... 44.9) 44 Greatest breadth of maxilla behind IDASEIOM DEAK rare aint stelle @)sicicisie «10 AB AS AIS Oi | rerercrays AQ aA Qe 3ileistetet= || seseereee 45. Greatest breadth between outer bor- ders of both premaxille........ 4 | LEO] DESBi LO: Ou l03\.3)|0L9's0 sere coll ae Il. Greatest breadth between inner bor- ders of both premaxille........ 7.8] 10.0] 10.1 BF XO. Sill) LOcO\lsjchelerei|preveyere 9- . Height from vertex to pterygoids..|..... 250529. 2h e277 29-4" | SOs Ol wreresace)| veratera) lekevela(el|stajayete)|piereiaverall ie efeteral | etelorete Length of mandible (straight)... .. 93-8] 99-4] 96.6 | 98.9 | 100.7 |101.4].....]..... 97. m7 - a along outer SURPACE Ney tarcichels is clots ieieresctesesslars g8.4|103.7| 103.4 | 106.5 | 108.0 |109.3|105.0]..... 103. Height of mandible at condyle....| 10.2; 8.7] 10.7 Qe SueTOsS5illt ORS) neers ster Q- re = 4 Scr COLONIA 42.4) 133) L2e5|| L235) Lali |) D2iQinp Lele Ollevoteravel | ereverate 12% iS y ne ‘* symphysis..| 5.5] 5-6] 5.1 4.3 Be Gi las ae lrepexcrsl| telco Bad, It will be found by examination of the foregoing table that the dimensions of the Massachusetts skull shows a surprisingly close approximation to those of the Scotch skulls of the same size, amounting indeed to identity. The few points of disagreement are probably due to differences in the relative positions of the several bones of the skull arising from shrinkage in drying, etc. These are as follows: (1) A very slight excess in the length of the skull measured over the occipital bone, 1 2" added for breakage. ? Swedish. In straight line. 3 From Zoél. Erebus and Terror, p. 50; 2.4" added for premaxille, InP. Z. S., 1864, p. 399, Flower mentions two skulls in R. Coll. Surg., as follows: Adolescent; length, 65"; breadth, 54%; breadth of beak at middle, 23%. The 2d is young. Length, 48"; breadth, 50%; breadth of beak at middle, 20%. Also an adolescent skull at Brussels. Length, 63”; breadth, 54%; breadth of beak at middle, 21%. 4 Curved. 5 The measurements of these three specimens were taken by me at the same time by the same method in straight lines, with calipers, and are strictly comparable. 198 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. amounting in actual measurement to about 56 of an inch; (2) a slight excess in the height of the occiput, amounting to j4; of an inch; (3) a decrease in the breadth of the beak at the middle. These can scarcely be regarded as having any consider- able importance. In comparing the young individuals of which Sir Wm. Turner has given meas- urements with the adult, it is interesting to observe that the beak increases decidedly in relative length in the latter, causing all the dimensions which include the beak to show an increased proportion to the total length. The same is true also of the width of the skull across the squamosals and the orbital plates of the frontals, and the length of the mandible. On account of these changes in proportions incident upon growth, it is necessary to compare skulls of the same age,—adults with adults, and immature specimens with immature specimens,—to arrive at correct conclusions. For comparison of details of structure I have had the use of the skull from Norway in the U. 8. National Museum (No. 13877), and such figures as are found in the literature. The Massachusetts skull and the Norwegian one are figured on pls. 22, 24, and 26. The former is from a much younger individual than the latter. On comparing the figures it will be seen that in general the correspondence is very close, but that in a number of details the two skulls exhibit differences. For example, the nasals are longer and narrower in the American skull than in the Norwegian, the proximal ends of the nasal processes of the maxillz are narrower, and the anterior margin of the supra-occipital is more rounded. To determine whether these and other minor differences are of importance, it is necessary, of course, to make further comparison with other skulls. This I am only able to do through the figures hitherto published by various, cetologists. So far as I am aware, no adequate figure of the skull of the European B. acuto-rostrata has been published hitherto. The drawings of the lateral surface and of one half the superior surface, reproduced by Capellini (22, pl. 1, fig. 1; pl. 2, fig. 1) are on the whole the most satisfactory. Eschricht’s figures (37, pl. 9) are excellent, but appear to be out of proportion in the posterior part, especially as regards the tympanics and nasals, Extended descriptions have been pub- lished by Carte and Macalister (14), Capellini (72), and Van Beneden and Gervais (8). The Massachusetts skull agrees very closely with Capellini’s figures, as will be seen by comparison of plates 22, 24, and 26. The descriptions also appear to agree well, as far as I have been able to interpret them. In one particular, however, Carte and Macalister’s account is not inaccord. They state that the malar bone is broader behind than in front and that “its wider or posterior extremity was flattened and fitted in between the anterior border of the glenoid process of the squamous bone and the posterior angular process of the frontal, where a digital depression existed for the reception of the former” (14, 213). No such shape or articulation is to be found in the Massachusetts skull, in which the anterior end of the malar is the broader, and the posterior smaller end articulates, as would be expected, with the THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 199 temporal. In these two particulars it agrees with Capellini’s figures, and one is led to infer that in the skull examined by Carte and Macalister the malar was reversed and out of its natural position. LEschricht’s figures (37, pl. 9) agrees with Capellini’s and with the Massachusetts skull. In the latter the lachrymal is want- ing, but the malar has an anterior flat process which fits in between the maxillary and frontal, and may be supposed to represent the lachrymal, which has become fused with the malar. (See plate 26, fig. 2.) In the details mentioned above,—the shape of the nasals, maxilla, ete——Capel- lini’s figure agrees rather with the American skull than with the Norwegian, while Eschricht’s figure corresponds most closely with the latter. It should be remem- bered that the Massachusetts skull and that figured by Capellini are from young ° individuals, while the Norwegian skull in the National Museum and that figured by Eschricht are from adults. It is probable that some of the differences observable are due to age. On the whole, there is nothing tangible on which to base a distinction be- tween the American and European specimens, while in proportions, as shown by Sir Wm. Turner’s measurements, there is the closest agreement, amounting to identity. A separation of American and European specimens on the basis of cranial characters does not, therefore, seem warranted, SKELETON, Of the descriptions of the skeleton of the European B. acuto-rostrata given by Van Beneden and Gervais, Van Bambeke, Carte and Macalister, and other writers, two, three, or all agree in assigning to B. acuto-rostrata the following characters : Neural spine of the atlas very short or rudimentary; spine of the axis larger, and its parapophyses and diapophyses united to form a bony ring; diapophyses of the 7th cervical next in size to those of the axis, and followed by those of the 6th cer- vical; neural spines of the 3d to the 5th cervicals rudimentary; parapophysis of the 7th cervical reduced to a tubercle; diapophyses of the 3d to the 5th cervicals directed backward, those of the 6th and 7th cervicals forward ; centra of the lum- bars increase in length from the beginning to the end of the series; inferior process on last lumbar strong; lumbar neural spines at the maximum as regards size; lum- bar diapophyses equal to those of the last dorsal; caudal centra not longer than those of the lumbars; last caudal diapophysis and neural spine on the 86th verte- bra; neural spine replaced by a trough on the 39th vertebra; first vertebra with perforated diapophysis, the 35th; chevrons, nine, decreasing in length from 2d to 9th, the Ist small, 14 times the length of the second, the 2d longest, and the 3d broadest antero-posteriorly ; ribs increasing in length from 1st to 4th, the first short: est and widest; scapula with the acromion recurved. The skeleton from the coast of Massachusetts, No. 20931 (plate 27, fig. 2), pre- sents the majority of these characters, but shows the following slight variations: The diapophyses of the 3d to 5th cervicals are transverse rather than directed backward. The 4th, 5th, and 6th pairs of ribs are of the same length (26 inches in a straight line) and are the longest of the series. 200 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. The description of Van Beneden and Gervais in the Ostéographie (8, 157) is not taken into consideration in the foregoing analysis as it is based chiefly on a specimen from Greenland, which in the present work is not regarded as neces- sarily identical with B. acuto-rostrata, but as the description tallies very closely with that of European specimens, it lends strength to the conclusion that the Greenland form is not distinct. The following notes on the cervical vertebrae and other bones of the Massachu- setts skeleton (20931, U. S. N. M.) will be of interest : The spine of the axis is very thick at the base and divided or almost bifurcated in front; posteriorly, projecting out over the top of 3d cervical, to which it is anchy- losed on the left side. The real spine of the axis is a thin ridge about 2 in. long. The diapophyses of the 3d to the 6th cervicals are almost equal in development, transverse, and slender; shorter than in the axis or in the 7th cervical. That on the right side of the 3d cervical is shortest, but that on the left side is longer than in the 4th cervical. The diapophysis of the 7th cervical is much longer and thicker and inclines strongly forward and also downward below the plane of the end of the parapophysis of the 6th cervical. The parapophyses of the 8d and 4th cervicals are short and thick, es- pecially distally, and nearly transverse, but strongly inclined downward. Those of the 5th and 6th cervicals are much longer and thinner, and are strongly bent upward and forward. The parapophysis of the 7th cervical is a mere tubercle. The neural arch of the 3d cervical is open above and anchylosed to the spine of the axis on the left side, as already stated. The spines of the 4th and 5th cer- vicals are mere rudiments; of the 6th, about a } in. long; and of the 7th, about one inch long, conical and equal to the spine of the 1st dorsal. The last caudal vertebra is about as large as a pea. It seems probable that one is missing between it and the next one anteriorly, which is much larger, but such may not be the case. The 4th, 5th, and 6th ribs are of the same length (26 in., straight) and are the longest of the series. As regards the number of vertebre, the various records are not entirely in accord, but such variation as there is rather accentuates the general agreement than otherwise. The enumeration of Sir Wm. Turner (92, 63) is probably the most accurate, having been made under favorable circumstances, and with the intent of correcting previous errors. The majority of museum specimens, however, are not absolutely perfect as regards the final caudal vertebree. The majority of European specimens have been found to have 48 vertebra, including 12 lumbars. This is the number in the Massachusetts skeleton also, which may, however, possibly lack the penultimate caudal. ‘The variations recorded by different observers are as follows: THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 201 BALAENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA. Sex Locality. and} C, D. L. Ca. Total. Authority. Age. Norway..... pepetenstereiaisievel ois retested II I2 18 48 Eschricht.! (Normal) ...... Saree (ere eiesay Steverel Uy II 13 17 48 Van Beneden. (Bergen IMfUSS) 5, store ace oe ores ove eters St Share. Il. stcilete 49 Van Beneden. MO in bo commana acorer= prerahanet [hecreretetall se isre sill) emcteearctces 46 Van Beneden. Dogger Bank. ..5......00. Storer | aeed7) Il 12 18 48 Flower. North Cape Meforetcterteteloisiersseis Beyer | Peteteto al evevateten | decaiate Serene 47 Van Beneden. (Cambridge Mus.)......... ayerayel| tetaretone | cerca |ieicerey ser metsreien rays 47 Van Beneden. (Brussels Mus.)........... Breversill 7. II 12 17+ 47+ Flower. Cherbourg, France......... Brstete | ehsterees | exeretsceimel tekstas Ma sis ernie 46 (+ ?)| Lacépéde. (Crannbivilisccopuesapepoene er ed, II TONE escrayece/cnyameb | Meter ce mike Flower. Queensferry, Scotland...... eyever|| (7) 11 12 19 49 (Knox). Corrected by Turner. (Breslau Mus.)..... ree chee ell exoxci oul] Meretsretea| fy cctexW|| | erste cists 48 Barkow. sf ss se Granton, Scotland......... g 7 Ir 13 19 50 Turner, 1892. (Especially accurate.) Drogheda, Ireland......... g a II 13 Is+ 46 + Carte and Macalister. Cromer, England.......... 3 7 II 12 20 49 Flower. CoastiofsNonway..)---- 0s shale 7 Il 12 18 48 Malm. Bergen, Norway........... Sirs |! voz, II 12 18 48 Malm. fe Sep Be ateiatsxelaicyai-/2) @ jr. 7 II 13 |15(-+ 1or2)|46(+1o0r2) | Malm. Vergeroux, France......... 3 a II 13 16 47 Fischer. Bergen, (Paris Mus.)....... area |e It 12 18 48 Fischer. Mass. (20931, U. S. N. M.)./....] 7 II 12 18 48? F. W. T. The agreement as regards number of dorsal vertebrae shown in the foregoing table is quite remarkable, and is in contrast with the variation found in other species of Balenoptera, and among the Cetacea generally. It will be seen also that the lumbars show a variation of but one. The variation in number of caudals, ex- clusive of that due to defects, probably does not exceed two. Eschricht remarks as follows regarding the vertebral formula of the Norwegian Vaagehval (36, 322 “Tn all the foetuses of the Vaagehval examined by me, I found, 48 vertebra, of which 7 were cervicals, 11 dorsals, 12 lumbars, and 18 caudals; furthermore, this was exactly the number of vertebrie in the whole spine and in each of its different sections, not only in the complete Vaagehval skeleton from Bergen examined by me and the specimen examined in Christiania in 1844 (p. 804) as well as that sent from the west coast of Jylland in 1841 ( Videns. Sels. Shr. 11, p. 175), but also in the three small finback skeletons sent down from Greenland. Likewise, accord- ing to both Governor Christie’s written communication regarding those Bergen Vaagehval skeletons which did not come under my observations, and Dr. Kréyer’s statements relative to the skeletons of Vaagehvals preserved in the Bergen Museum (Naturh. Tidskr., 2, p. 634), this numerical proportion may be considered constant in the species.” CHEVRONS. The number of chevrons in European specimens is usually nine, but some- times eight. The number in the Massachusetts specimen is nine. BALAINOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. NUMBER OF CHEVRONS. Locality. Number. Authority. Drogheda, Ireland ..........+.- WW yea neta Sips vardavect Carte and Macalister. Bergens NOLWAYas sci csi eieie so | sare iets Siege wiaisies oe Malm. “ “ esa eeyoveseneversielicice || csvakeyabersiarasie Qin icrrets ‘ (CORGE Gi INIA God onOUODOduC | Rae rteker Ques eciyeciosts : Cromer, Emplandyy......66.--5. [eee tenes Qiseteereesirer= Flower. Granton, SCotland.....5..c0+s0¢| sorececrns ico tsier Turner. Harwichport, Mass., No. 20931 . i rar seereieted: OMe FS Waals 1+ Tn all the foetuses of the Vaagehva/ examined by me, I found 48 vertebra..""—EscHRICHT. 2 Should probably add one for penultimate caudal. 202 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. For a comparison of the proportions of the vertebre there are unfortunately no data of importance. The European skeletons of which measurements are avail- able are all adult, while the Massachusetts skeleton is quite young. I have, how- ever, assembled a number of measurements in the following table, both of the vertebree and of other parts of the skeleton : BALZENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKELETON. Z ‘Oo 3 = Z z a , 25 a 2 z 2 2 S25|8 —| #28 Zz 2 a 8 | ae a = + = ies 4 = SPa mS Eis es -D/ He & Stee SOR OD 5 © ets n 3.0 5 We, | Os Seb : Belg Zl 3B. gs Ha oo a = Ben 3P ae Ba se area | see Sia ice Sx Soe | Se Oe) csr S85 Eo = ng= a6 & Or BO en Eo #32) eek | sa5 CON ORS aor adl mee} Oil Ome, aSevas as ZOOS | Aina |eraie Sexpan Glace en ten werrtachacheewstetreaenerrers Oe aden tua Gian |Kerrerenars ad. J0e ape jr. Motallength of whale. eject. sere ste DSCANE | Sis hossedve | ceeasvaterss Ill erates a | RS Sees arg eS a aaa se ‘er ekcicke leton seen ene Bate |\'23 tO dell lpae ee 17 7a ee see a | rOngd? Length of skull, straight........ Deo 70"? 6572 | 625°" | Gor ||s48:3" Bie Asse, % % % & % % % Greatest breadth; axisicj.ia lo epee eerie 28i9--8|| 2682) +4) 20'S.) 2OrGe Mlle eiayere sa|| 2oro2 eae Depth centrum, P aetelese tayorare losonst oleate | onerRai| eek tered tea | |atererenee GaBe s Nevrcieeaom| ieee 6.3 Greatest) breadth, 1st; dorsal jerscsctereie) |eeter terre leer creo laerenciore 2 Oinle | Zr uspovarcte || onetenencte 22.4 Depth centrumay py) et eters se eal erertensoal| ete ores BeBe ieee Mcesews 6.3 Greatest breadth, ist lumbar cfelefeholor toed |evelerenedaks | Rarorccon tom [ietetereters AeA ail tee oe 39.2 37.0 Depthicentrumsy) wee | eeciceererietel|sracer Pieleroherl || areeclerate Hes poapatt|\aera0c : 7.5 Greatest breadth, rst caudal.......... PAZ Ni atsyecsias er ofeks terete ee Oo 2 lereichetey ill ee erenere 25.3) “ “c 7 Depthicen trims passa sis el treyeis MO’ Osea ener exenetenl| eloererer OlGn | eeekeeeto ni ioeeeets : 8.7 Greatestilengthy sternum anomie ci = ele 27.9 22.3 22.8 QAIOV || eecierccpailoielstete 14.4 es breadth) saat yr. nce acter 12.9 15.4 15.2 1256)" ||| 9 ‘S 1s | oe ao ao +o Measurement. ea oH 2A ae | <¢ | ve eo - 2 = - Lol ad os Cine A A palace, ehh Prise iieese ° ° ° a > & a An Aan An Total length from tip of snout to notch of flukesS. 22. 41... .0-0s2 cee 42!) 2" 45 Ge ||4Gu Oe Tip of snout to posterior insertion of Gorsall dine feeieelierls sees Seer ter: 29) NOUN O: e2ialiaeua Su i “anterior = SPREE CM tar osee, Steines eons eee Bal 3 Serta | eee se ay ESC reye: (center) sears deacon ee ce Caer eee eer coer TO! (67)| aie 2-0 een Se Sil BSS- © SES HlOwWh Ole ater teracek ee eee eo ate No eee Be Bally Sia ois eres eae “ «anterior insertion of pectorals...... Maniacs atc erecta E34) Avs) VOW nO surance SEES Ee SE ARAL Ed over tereisncnes hee ieee Srenheveve feelers tnee eer cie ister stare erotics L7u 5 Oot eretetoner: ae “ce “ “ce / u CATs: cvsss gal afevdayershovehe revs cpavavelel oie ous jevare eke torece ere e (ele retayelinehes heared | Mane 13 Verticaltherght of dorsalitingsc cyte ieee cielel-is eine ecole eae etait oO) medal Pounce eS Seeter Breadth’ of flukes: ahietrstescis cctsteterc “eeel itteaiele icici MSC eerere mM NG AE Meo aoe From notch of flukes to anus.......... suc is Velahape Sys sioyre vous sisleueiais Cersieraate ee TO (6/)|\ero) mres|nmanse ca oe “ oe “ee td 1/7 TOOLOL PenIssaa vessels ae elaaneveon setoeererner ee TA! Ore ll syere epson liaeperooene “ “ce “ “ “ce % / nN" ! yn CLILOTIS ore oc foveiereiekerecotstsicurereiedttet oreveralsnore elisio seaschereual| tears T2) Oaks “ce ae “ oe ‘ - ] ' 1/ ! "” ' u TANG otexedete ouch teteletatee Vor clefoteral onto: toheretokametessietcrencts 17, TO¥ | 19, ©. || TONS Length of pectoral fromphead of humerus BUS r siete eascetoee swith OOM ahieye ox Nawal ae > =), “Spesterior insertion, or axilla jsrail re ree EZ. 2p (02) ae Oia line eee Greatest breadth of pectoral fin....... a repepel slovoseretoraversWeral Asiemisiieroe eee 3! Bde |e BynOu Broadestjpectoral rid er pe s-ye yonsretetoretetetorssstotieystenetoreto ctele -ieYor Septet eee |e Gil oO G" Depth of caudal peduncle at msertion of flukes)... o.cy- 40 sons oes Ee re omer ea a “ _“ flukes at root (antero-posterior)...........2.2+2+-2+eseeee. a ee ae |hoec gh! ; Length of protuberances on upper jaw st nok eve SIMt ede oor aed overeat e eI OBE | decacnh | eeneretne Breadth “ OE OE SP PRL Rees ACL n eee fe Sree dystovasyerel| = (Ol 29 ll wanaievenses 3 Length of longest whalebone without thiesbristlesn ek an cccasv, bout 1 SOis| at adion, os io dorsal nn aeneee ree Ss oshsnsin ateyshei es eretens citersts shigfanshal vig Paras a alae tnoerelye ee iy alata lees testers “orifice of the eye..... aparetsaenevate me ncaetateyeurercne Pest ones cone Seectn ace eete CON Eee ate AO Bes Sirs maakt: diavaldla wrdee ctleere dt Gobel ere cahn apne cre toe ere ascalsrtere See ses [ora OFT ali cepts Semi-circumference of body opposite MAaviele ye 1-1. Poon Gomoadansone0 > topan coll sioicoad 14’ 11” To head of humerus. * Center. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 223 These measurements reduced to percentages of the total length, and accom- panied by similar ones for European specimens, including the type of JZ. longimana Rudolphi, are given in the following table: MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. 2 ig ie = Be oe : xe : . = A ao v o v = 3 # /bséld..|2 12 #2 2/24/42 |% |4 | & Si eile S/S. bese vl Sa Shas | B z E Ze Peres eres aes a0 |S eel Geeta Nees Fee, |) em Was einen ences ee < 4 s SiG 5 E+Z3] Sas] Swe | Pre ae & Pedy lst resol eareueseal meine yy BRE | £8 | S80 | See | $20 | 580 | £85 | Abe | 782 | sed] 228 | g28| SE Sexqandiagesy. sects +. 3 g $ é $ 3 2 jr. g Q $ Q jr Gotalilengthi...-<---- 5t' 6" 46' 7" 44'4 | 43'§ | 42’ | go’* |38’ 0") 31’ 4"| 29! 1”| 46’ 6"| 45' 5"| 42! 2"132' 54 | % % % % % % % % % % % % Tip of upper jaw toeye.)...... DEVAS || nnare-oys D353 eave | eaters 23:31 ese callers 24.7 | 24.6 | 24.9 | 21.5 Tip of upper jawtoblow- holeteyeyerteteiciste cere os 25280 || T8231 T8O8| 525 2: TQ:4. | eierevansic 7. UN lease ess GS eo eee tae 18.4 | 19.4 | 18.7 Tip of upper jaw to pec OMe eee weeat Neve vey ote etal leye; eve, af] se aveueierelte iehese' 8 BD: Ole lore scterondl yee sie STONE Issa |ieeteran 30:5 | 35-24) 3x.6),|/ 28.3 Tip of upper jaw to back, OM Orsals eles eleics|!s nn esse OF3Gn racers G7i5\2|\sevcsiec|ie eee [67.5] 67.8 | 64.7 | 70.3 | 66.4 | 68.2 | 70.6 Tip of lower jaw to cor-} MET OM MOUEN Is cayer-veraisic| \cxevels sie||'e sie /octce| wal’ 6 + 27M E23 vA lle ewes BA-Gill|| SOEE5s | arycravarsul ateretsiate| tahetsta axe terete 22.0 IN GLCHROM A MICeSALORATIS|\svereleiaje| 250%] 'm.cleserele||cle-er=rel (« erezene’e| aje'sieievel ieteieletlsi=|\ ic eteietel feletel riers 24250] 12450 22-0) eeerctere mr ae Navel ct. c sci GARAPl Weare ctor. [OFT] || Seg cterst | eyes teye teers aners | meeteneter | eretererete A253) SATS) || 424) eet Length of pectoral from) ANU aytateyavoye tesa sie5eys ZO ae SLO |eGhage |e3O=G al erases ol -vatelstere 27 OW | arecdicvete| tele ciscel| tefaterstere 28.1 | 28.9 | 28.4 Length of pectoral fro head jofshumerus.....| 33:0 |.....- BACT aecercrere 30:8; | (28:38 376.1 32i0) | 41-54) s07gali3g.de 133-0 lap eas ~ Greatest breadth of pec- OKA este etays f ~e ao 3 a. act za a SENMEAIN CLM S Cl teeta tedevetetel fcmerersieverstisis £ah.c0stoviatsvavers stele sieve 3} Ole | sccrarciene|levecouonsves | Ace tees Q jr sWopallencthoftwhale. socom : cies oglets «5 se cvinie sac A307 BONO! |. 5 Seheralltna sterols are sunevers) eee ‘4 meee SICCIEUOI) (-.siercrcaie civics ito iste csencisie AG 30/28 a5 5ealenees 33/ 10"-+| 27’ 0” Benethroriskullll (Straveht) ect ct ces cet ssate wie eae stsiet © Taae | rice lames aces Neem a gu" % f % % % &% Greatest breadthi(Squamosal),. 2 6... .0..¢ <0 s2scceet|ese ee 57.0 | 58.1 | 58.8 60.1 58.2 Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end (Supra-onbital’ bOrder) se. 01-2 ee eet ce were ee 9.07 | 9.6 | 10.4 | 10.7 8.4 8.2 Igensthyof-rostrum (straight). .....:...2.2000...- 66.77| 67.6 | 66.0} 66.4 68.6 68.1 Breadth of rostrum at middle (curved)............ 17.2.°| 22.0 | 2353 | 2210 22.6 23.0 Went Wotan aSals)jerors ileus asta ee foie es ere lal + leteredm ai Bre |e zzO; AO) Alerceetetere 7.8 7.0 rel Breadthrof 2masalsiatvdistal end... 2.22. cca. see ee Bios |e erorane | eestor Fnac oe Length Ofsmandibles(Stratght) tac aerec1- 10st © lar<-/-leae- Q51a |) 90:0) | 05 «5m errere ter. 99-1 96.6 : i ss (Gunved)) Bertier cyecrace cere rrsyeycistsiel tie crarete TOA"6) | TOON! ner 108.8 | 107.7 Depthio& mandible atimiddle.... 0.01 ..-0- ce. . se] ose ene 8.0 8.5 ese 8.8 8.8 It will be seen that there is no marked difference in the proportions of the American and European specimens (including the type of JZ Jongimana) except in a few instances. The breadth of the rostrum in the type of JZ. longimana, meas- ured on Rudolphi’s figure, and therefore flat or straight, is considerably less than in the American specimens. That this is probably an error in the figure, rather than a real difference, appears from the fact that in the skull of the Tay River whale the rostrum is as broad as in the American specimens. The Greenland Humpback, from Eschricht’s figure, would seem to have shorter and very much narrower nasal bones than the other specimens (pls. 29 and 82, figs. 1 and 2). It is possible, of course, that this may be a character of the Greenland ‘ Rheinland feet. * Breadth across distal end of outer margins. * From figure. *Straight, as mounted; is too much curved * Straight. and lacks 4 or 5 caudal vertebra. 234 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. Humpback, but it is more likely that the figure is incorrect, as the nasals are made to end against the ¢nferior margins of the premaxillz, which are inclined outward, so as to leave a much wider space between the superior margins. The distance be- tween the superior margins is about 7 %, which is a very close approximation to the breadth of the nasals in other specimens. The inclined position of the premaxille in this figure causes the narial space to appear much shorter than in skulls I have examined, Another peculiarity of the figure is the very strong emargination of the orbital processes of the frontal anteriorly, and their emargination posteriorly also. This peculiarity may likewise be a characteristic of the Greenland Hump- back, but may, on the other hand, be merely an inaccuracy in the figure. In the absence of any other figure of the upper surface of the skull of a Greenland Hump- back it is difficult to decide the points at issue. VERTEBRA, The proportions of the vertebree in the Tay River whale, and of some Amer- ican specimens, including the type of J/. osphyia, are given in the following table: MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKELETON. : | 8 2 z = as BS e G sa 8 Bh = am a) See Enel Se ro Sis! eh E ui ast. | = x wa s BN. 5 e oO. a bo eye] Ga Care aall eta One a> sE3 Gus as go tore @ Ba 652 aces! jie eens Sem | Bot mS ‘Bo al wee | ae = & Ou gs 5 & Sex andiagee gaan ek 3} Ol laierajelols, cote llerererarecouel| tereperesreeys oir jr Totalllength of whales aca ceterreis |stats [egorie” Wises. ec etl eset ah ekeval| Cee ered eee Total length of skeleton........ Orr 3) oA aint ee Tienes ones 33, To 27h 3 4uOrun Length of skull (straight)....... 144"" | 125" T3567 TE Ac5 Raton Oi aren! + Wa % % % % | % * & Greatest breadth Of axis. ... . Eschricht 2 4 7 a "From Rudolphi’s figure—Type of MZ. longimana. "Type of AZ. osphyia. * Type of A. bellicosa. “In d’Alton’s Die Skelete der Cetaceen, 1827, pl. 3, fig. e, the hand of a Humpback whale, which from the text appears to be the type of B. /ongimana, is represented with the following phalangeal formula: 2, 7, 6, 2. * According to my own notes on this skeleton, there are 6 phalanges in the 4th digit. “In a foetus 45” long. Eschricht’s figure of a foetus 35” long, from Greenland, appears to show the following ossified phalanges: 2, 8, 8, 3 (37, 79). Eschricht also gives the formula for the adult as 3, 9, 9, 3, but does not state from what specimen or specimens this was derived (37, 141). It appears to include the metacarpals. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 239 The phalanges are incomplete in the type of MZ. osphyia. They are arranged on each pectoral in three series, or digits, each digit having 3 phalanges, exclusive of the metacarpals. Each limb, therefore, has but 9 phalanges in all, showing that many are lacking. Some of the pieces mounted as metacarpals are probably phalanges, The number of phalanges in the type of J/. Lellicosa is not given by Cope, and I was unable to find any considerable number of these bones, when examining the skeleton in the Philadelphia museum. Cope remarks that “the fore limbs are neither of them quite complete.” (29.) In the immature skeleton in the National Museum from Provincetown, Mass., (No. 16252 2) the formula for the left side is 2, 6, 6, 2.1 In No. 21492, U. S. N. M., also from Cape Cod, Mass., the formula is 2, 7, 6, 1, as now mounted. From the emarginations and tubercles on the anterior border of the pectorals in the Newfoundland specimens (pls. 87-40), both adult and fcetal, and in the Fic. 80. ; Fic. 81. Fic. 82: Fic. 83. MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. STERNUM. Fic. 79.—ST. BARTHOLOMEW Ip., WEST Inpies. (FROM MALM.) Fic. 80.—(FRoM VAN BENEDEN, LOCAL- ITY NOT GIVEN.) Fic. 81.—TAy RIvEeR, SCOTLAND. ¢. (FROM STRUTHERS.) Fic. 82.—ANTILLES. (FROM FIscHER.) Fic. 83.—Tyrr oF M. roncimana. (FROM PANDER AND D’ ALTON.) Cape Cod (Mass.) specimen (pl. 41, fig. 6), it is certain that the same number of phalanges may be counted for digit 2 in these specimens as In the Greenland Humpback and the European species, and for digit 3 the variation can hardly be more than one phalanx, with a probability that there is no difference. On the right side, the formula is actually 2, 5, 5, 2, but one phalanx has obviously been lost from digits 3 and 4, as the irons supporting the bones project a considerable distance beyond the last phalanges now in position. Mr. F. A. Lucas has kindly given the formula for the fresh specimen, as recorded by him at the time it originally passed through his hands. It is the same as above, viz., 2, 6, 6, 2. 240 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, The phalanges on digits 4 and 5 cannot, of course, be estimated in the same way, as they are not indicated on the posterior margin of the fin. STERNUM. The sternum has not been preserved in the American skeletons with which I am familiar. Fischer (44) has figured the sternum of a specimen from the Antilles, which should represent Cope’s JZ. bellicosa, and Malm (66, pl. 1, fig. 4b) has also given a figure of a partially incomplete sternum from St. Bartholomew Island. These, with the sterna of two European specimens, are represented in the out- lines (text figs. 79 to 83) on p. 239. ‘They show that there is no essential differ- ence in the pattern of the sternum in the American and European Humpbacks. From a systematic point of view the sternum is of little importance, on account of the large amount of individual variation to which it is subject. RIBS. The first rib in Megaptera is broad at the distal end. In the type of J. bellicosa it is cut off square (pl. 35, fig. 2), but in the Tay River whale, according to Struthers’s description and figure, the distal end is emarginated, more strongly on the right side than on the left, forming an anterior and posterior angle. The second rib in JZ. bellicosa has an oblong prolongation at the proximal end, with parallel margins, from the head to the angle. The second rib in the series of ribs from St. Bartholomew Island figured by Malm (66, pl. 1, fig. 4c) is club-like at whale “has a prominent tubercle, the end sloping obliquely downward and inward, giving a broad triangular beak.” This is seen in the third rib of the type of JZ. Dellicosa, but not in the second. In the Humpback described by Van Beneden and Gervais “the third, especially, and the fourth differ from the others by possessing a distinct head ” (8). It will be seen that no two skeletons agree in the shape of the ribs, and these parts therefore do not aid in the discrimination of species. SUMMARY, From the foregoing presentation of the recorded data relative to the external and osteological characters of the Humpbacks of the coast of Europe, Green- land, and the North American mainland, the following condensed statement may be drawn up: 1. The average and maximum lengths for the Humpbacks taken at the Finmark whaling stations, according to Cocks’s measurements, are larger than the measure- ments of those taken at Newfoundland. On the other hand, Humpbacks from Bermuda and Greenland are cited as larger than the Finmark specimens. 2. The Humpbacks of both sides of the Atlantic have the same two colors— THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO, 241 black and white—and the amount and distribution of these colors are variable to the same extent in specimens from the eastern and western Atlantic. 3. The measurements of external proportions of the body and fins show a substantial agreement, except as regards the spread of the flukes, in which there is an unexplained variability. 4. The abdominal folds agree in number, size, and especially in arrangement. 5. The dermal tubercles on the head agree well in number, size, and general arrangement, though there is a large individual variation. 6. There is no constant difference in the shape of the dorsal fin between the American and European Humpbacks, unless it be that the tip is thicker in Green- land specimens. 7. The pectoral fin agrees in length, breadth, and especially in the protuber- ances of the margins. 8. The flukes are alike in form, with a possible difference in spread. 9. The outline of the caudal peduncle or “small” is alike in Newfoundland and Norwegian specimens. 10. The skeleton agrees closely in the number of vertebrae and the formula for the same; in the proportions of the skull and of the bones of the limbs. The Greenland Humpback, however, appears from Eschricht’s figure to have smaller nasals than the others, and more deeply emarginated frontal orbital processes, but there is a strong presumption that the figure is inaccurate. Considering the difficulties encountered in instituting exact comparisons be- tween data recorded at different times by different observers, the agreement is sufficiently close to justify the opinion that the Humpback whales of the North Atlantic are all referable to the same species. In other words, the differences between the nominal species JZ. nodosa, longimana, osphyia, bellicosa, americana, ete., are not substantiated. Although the type-skeleton of JZ. osphyia Cope, which in the foregoing pages has been currently treated as representing the common Humpback of the western North Atlantic, shows no differences which would render such treatment unwar- ranted, it seems to me desirable to consider a little further the differences by which Cope supposed it could be separated from JZ. longimana. Cope compares his species with J/. longimana as described in the works of Rudolphi, Gray, and Flower, and concludes that it is different for the following reasons : 1. AL osphyia has long inferior lateral processes in the posterior cervical vertebree. 2. The atlas is a parallelopiped in form, the transverse processes are elevated, and there is an “internal process.” 3. The cranium is broader in proportion to its length than in JZ. /ongimana, and shorter in proportion to the total length of the skeleton. 4. The pectoral fins are shorter. 5. The vertebrae and chevrons are less in number. 6. The first pair of ribs is very broad. 7. The spines of the lumbar vertebrae are much higher. bo RNG bo THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. I have already shown that the 4th and 7th characters are fictitious, as advanced by Cope, and that the 1st is merely an individual variation, The width of the cranium of the type of JZ osphyia (3d character) as com- pared with the length, differs from that in the Scotch skulls carefully measured by Struthers by only 1.1 per cent., which in actual measurement amounts to only 14 inches. This is certainly not significant, and is within the limit of variation of different American specimens of the Humpback among themselves. The number of vertebre (5th character) in the type-skeleton as mounted is 48, probably to be distributed as follows: C. 7, D. 14, L.10, Ca. 17 (+) = (48 +). The last vertebra present is 4 in. square, and according to Struthers’s measurements of M. longimana, about 4 more caudals must have been present originally, making 52 for the whole column, which is the average for J/. longimana. Of chevrons there are 7 in position in the type of JZ. osphyia, with places for perhaps 10 in all. Van Beneden and Gervais give 12 as the number for JZ. /ongimana, but it is to be remarked that Struthers’s Tay River (Scotland) specimen had but 10 chevrons, and the skeleton in the National Museum (No, 16252) from Cape Cod, Mass., but 9, so that it would appear that the number is variable, and unreliable as a specific character. In the type of JZ. osphyia the breadth of the first rib on the left side is 9 in., and on the right 74 in. In Struthers’s Tay River specimen the right rib of the first pair has a maximum breadth of 8.6 in., and the left, 5.5 in. It is obvious that the breadth is so variable even on the two sides of the same skeleton that it is useless as a specific character, but in this instance, as the skull of Struthers’s specimen is but 125 in. long, while that of JZ osphyia is 135 in. long, the maximum breadth of the first ribs in the two skeletons is practically the same relatively, with a little increase in favor of the European specimens. In 1868 Cope cited as an additional character of J. osphyia the contraction of the orbital process of the frontal at the distal extremity (27, 194). He remarks: “The orbital processes of the frontal bone are not contracted at the extremities as in M. longimana, but are more as in Balenoptere ; entire width over and within edge of orbit, 154 in.” This measurement I make 14 in, instead of 15$in. The former equals 10.4 % of the length of the skull. As shown in the table on p. 233, the same measurement from Rudolphi’s figure of the type of JZ. longimana is 9.0 %, and of Struthers’s Tay River specimen 9.6 %, while the type of JZ. bellicosa gives 10.7 %. This approximation shows that JZ. osphyia presents no great deviation in the breadth of the supraorbital edge of the frontal. It is true that in Rudolphi’s figure of the whole skeleton of the type of JZ. /ongimana the orbit itself appears smaller, but in a general figure of this kind the proportions of the smaller parts are frequently inaccurate. The least longitudinal diameter of the orbit in Struthers’s Tay River whale is, according to his measurements, the same as in the types of J. osphyia and M. bellicosa. As it is extremely unlikely that the two European skele- tons belong to different species, the probability that Rudolphi’s figure is inaccurate as regards the orbit is strengthened by this circumstance. The Humpback appears to have been known to European zodlogists only from THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 243 American sources, until the time of Rudolphi’s description of JM. longimana in 1832. This author suspected that his species might be the same as Fabricius’s bodps, and Schlegel in 1844 was of the same opinion. In 1848 Eschricht arrived at the same conclusion from an opposite point of view, and in 1849 stated emphatically: “It is now raised beyond all doubt that the whale stranded in the mouth of the Elbe River in 1824, and described by Rudolphi as Balena longimana, is nothing more and nothing less than an individual of the commonest species of baleen whale on the Greenland coast, known to the Green- landers as the Aeporkak ; also mentioned by Anderson under the latter name and introduced into systematic zodlogy by Klein and Bonnaterre under the appropriate name Balena nodosa” (37,57). As this latter name is derived from the descrip- tion of the New England Humpback, Eschricht combines not only the Greenland and European Humpbacks but those of the coast of the United States as well, in one species. Gray, however, was not content to have it so, and already, in 1846, sepa- rated the “Bermuda Humpback” under the name of Megaptera americana (56). In 1866 he still adhered to this arrangement, employing the name J. americana as before and citing Fabricius’s Balena bodps with a mark of interrogation, under J/. longimana, with the comment: “ Rudolphi, and after him Schlegel, refer B. bodps, O. Fabricius, to this species; and Professor Eschricht has no doubt that Balena bodps of O. Fabricius is intended for this species, as it is called Aeporkak by the Greenlanders. If this be the case, Fabricius’s description of the form and position of the dorsal fin and the position of the sexual organs is not correct” (63, 124), Gray seems not to have known at this time of Cope’s description of J/. osphyia, published in 1865. In the supplement to his catalogue he quotes Cope’s description, but without comment. In 1869, Van Beneden and Gervais remark as regards osphyia and bodps (= longimana): “We do not find any difference of value for separating them” (8, 236). and again in 1889 Van Beneden unites all the American Humpbacks in one species. Fischer (44, 58), who studied the Humpback bones from Martinique Id. in the Bordeaux museum, which should presumably represent J. de//icosa, was unable to decide whether they should be assigned to the same species as the Greenland Humpback, and closes his investigation with the inquiry whether all the Humpbacks should not be regarded as belonging to a single species. ; Nore.—Two excellent illustrations of the Newfoundland Humpback, from negatives obtained by Mr. Wm. Palmer, of the U. S. National Museum, in 1903, are reproduced on plate 38, figs. 1 and 2. The individual represented in fig. is unusually white and on that account especially interesting. CHAPTER VIII. THE NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE, BALZNA GLACIALIS Bonnaterre. Since the separation of the Right whale of the temperate eastern Atlantic from the Arctic Right whale by Eschricht, the validity of the former species has been universally accepted, though opinions have differed as to whether its American counterpart is identical with it. The European species, known as the Nordcaper or Sarde, was named Lalena glacialis by Bonnaterre (9, 3) and Balena bis- cayensis by Eschricht (1860). The latter name was not accompanied by a deserip- tion. Bonnaterre’s diagnosis does not include a reference to a type-specimen. Unless there is more than one species on the European coasts, we may, therefore, draw characters from whatever specimens have been described. As would natur- ally be expected, the later accounts are generally fuller and more accurate than the earlier ones, but even the fullest descriptions are to a certain extent fragmentary and unsystematic and contain contradictory statements and measurements. To thread one’s way through the maze requires a large amount of patience and con- sumes a creat deal of time, and the results obtained are not entirely satisfactory. My study of the literature of the European Right whale, and of American specimens, leads me to believe that there is a greater amount of individual varia- tion as regards proportions in the genus Lalena than in Balenoptera, and that we may not look for the same conformity in this respect in the former as in the latter. It is possible, of course, that there may be several species of Balena on the Euro- pean coasts and an equal number on the Atlantic coasts of North America, but there appears to be no real foundation for such an opinion. To a certain extent the variations in proportions observable among specimens hitherto described are, no doubt, due to differences in age and to inaccurate measurements, It will be found that in general appearance, color, form of parts, etc., the European specimens agree well together. The European specimens which have been described are few indeed. The most celebrated is that captured at San Sebastian, Spain, in 1854. It was a young individual 24 ft. 94 in. long. It enabled Eschricht to prove his assumption that the Right whale of the temperate eastern Atlantic was a different species from the Arctic Right whale. He intended to publish a detailed account of it, but died before the work was accomplished (Fischer, 44, 19). Dr. Monedero in San Sebastian published a lithographic figure of this specimen, with measurements which have been copied by Fischer (44, 19), Gasco (48, 587), etc. This figure has been highly 244 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 245 praised, and often copied, but it hardly seems possible that the remarkably short head can be correct. The skeleton was very fully deseribed by Gasco in 1879 (48). Fischer, in 1881, reprinted the description and measurements (44, 10) pub- lished in 1682 by Segnette of a specimen stranded on Ré Id., F rauce, in 1680. In 1877, a specimen was stranded at Taranto, Italy, of which deseriptions and figures were published by Capellini in 1877 (13) and by Gasco in 1878 (47). It is an unfortunate circumstance that Gasco’s measurements do not agree with Capel- lini’s; nor do they agree with the figures in the plates accompanying his memoir, nor do the figures agree with each other. In 1889 Graells (52) published measurements and figures of a specimen cap- tured at Guetaria, Spain, in 1878, and preserved in the museum of the Institute of Secondary Instruction at San Sebastian. In the same memoir are included addi- tional facts regarding this specimen by Prof. Candido Rios y Rial (52, 63-67, sep.). In 1898, Prof. Guldberg published a very valuable article entitled Zur Kennt- niss des Nordkapers (59), containing measurements of specimens taken at Iceland, together with three photographic figures of the exterior, and figures of the pelvic bones and sternum.’ The foregoing memoirs contain practically all the data on the Nordeaper avail- able for use in comparing European with American specimens. SIZE. The total length of the various recorded specimens of the European Nordeaper is as follows: BALAINA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN. TOTAL LENGTH. Total Length. Locality. Date. | Sex. Original Measure, Age. Authority. English = == ft. and in. Meters.| ft. and in,* Medan clee ties ovctev solo afs |1r89r?].... 51 8 Mtr 50’ R.* |.s.ees. cone Guldberg Rewisland) Hranceso.. os «. 1680 Q \50 7 | DFAS Aye Bee )ilbictershars emeaeierenets Fischer Soullaes Prances. ....s1. 05 1852 2149 24 Pull D5 cOuepll toys tee e eel eee eee ee eee Van Beneden cel an Gaecrsy-serorve os eave /189t & \47'7 14.5 AOURS nciyeeteee oon Guldberg MESSY sey o Sci ar s. este 1891 Oe art ae en leery rs AG EER Seer soci aera tte ire ian Se ie Iecoa tice of 25 llonsaor 45 eR) nent eee Re efi csey'ssa ht 1889 | 2 |43' 34 | 13.2 BAQUARK Sail Sop eer ae es arr 5 ee nies { ‘“ Not entirely MMos eee re cle 25a -fa7er TSO Mees Sie sei uiletrerre- 42’ R. } full-grown,” sliaicaniton Utally:: = See Holder (36, 112, 120). * The length of the skeleton as mounted is probably too great, on account of the exaggeration of the caudal intervertebral spaces. * Type of Balena ctsarctica Cope. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, issue. discrepancies, as will be found upon examination of the following table: BALAENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. 247 Furthermore, the few measurements available for comparison show large S a 2 Ss 22 a: : opealtss : ee [ge SP S|) Se eee 2 Se Go , ao. oie a ot ie s Go | S65 | SO e | as | See simeaes ee | #82 | 022 | go | 95) 2) 22 | 85 Be | ele | one ee | Sie ee eg 2H a 2° eS meael|/ tole & ee ene oe ete se|e@ | & Zz 3 S 25) SCRE EUaioe cinta yates tie: g | g 2 2 a 2 | 2 PNG C Eee rt eM teeycgetsten cts Vache el ctsy ee ll ei okerayel oe Jia | ersstce fees ad. Length of whale................. A7e YS) 2609) 7 04200" 91/361 -de\ls9 ‘4| 40 448 o"| 53/0 Salo) Seb p saanoeenoe lta econ Gicconollmausae yl code Rated |S Sorel easel |(eraneeareas % & & % % fe % & MIN PROLISMOUEIEO! CVEr ses acces 2-2 - 23.2 TQ. yas (eres eres Seal) aoe ede “ “e “ce “ce pectoral ge rscs/ ae [fo SG) el | eee at errors lenncer= ste ee he 25a Sil ctoebl eters tae WemetheohPECtOralar. eiers.<- «1s elses « Peis = {=| eA sOun cero ene LGA 154i Nes) ergy Ol emyerenets Breadth “ GA hm osc ieee ptt 4,8 8.4 O53an| eee 8.3 | Shai croton Hiukestrom tip tortip....o......- 33.7 33-6 30.0 29:2) |) 2o.2ilho7-sileaceal gant Ginthtimstrontotfore limbss...- 64) fe se) | sledele llieee || vee crererol| iS O52) (errors Reber terre Space between pectorals on abdo- TIAL tee opcheasieischeke eceseze cecal > etcves ts anil) rere syed lls cxote oteil | tstedeyens GAG)|| Ze.oe| | Steet Breadth of margin of mandible....| .......| ..+--- | ------ | coe Bee ata! From highest cranial eminence to ORDU AKA yi tsyeversistercvelewe's «ie. |) aie-oleiereu> NOLO araetve Barsaboveshorizomiof l€y.e:.is6 ee eee ce) 21) cece || come: | aeistem Te2 || va corer Beeiromiverticaliaxisiof eye:...-.|| o.2--+. |. een eco linaccters ~ 20ers Eye to anterior face of axilla...... ee MW acacart ap ocrne:|| oso. 520 eee Circumference of caudal terminus COTE STN Us pepe sects sieve oy eicus| este staves ten| | wetenss otaven i]t cecateresansi lt eistens¥= P A Bikol laeeeiae omalleatoveardal bifurcation...-| ....-6- | 222-6 || ---o 9 [psec sratare Sigil aneets Length of each fluke axially....... Bea acer ny | eecrietsren | teeter 19.2 20; 5) | nents Breadth“ “ s OS Ae a ee naeen| i pors one eccouscH | acne? 9:3 8.2 7.9 Length of blowhole, axially.......] ....--- | -2-+2+ | essere | cores Bee QU vreeteers Divergence of blowholes posteriorly| .....-- | ...-++ | seers | eres Qi Sil ook eer Nasaliprominence; width. ...00c.0-| seeese | sees | eerie || os eee P 255) | eoistets "4 ig ING Ninoone cea) eecoesolacocune || occa) >aonlc SIGH se caaee otal circumf {56.9 | 6 Otalvemcumference..........0+--+- 1 to 58.3| Seite |eentete stail|letotersts Pectoral to pudendum............ 21S. taller reraic| ners erie |e = Serer Length of CaM re orev fo etensy> Gag MW terete cere teifh entereve au ll -sqeetet=) | fea teal cctegost | saegeved | eczarets are Pudendum to extremity of tail..... ZO Sy ll sraterarstesd|| eters bi oleret sch) w onexell ll eeieteret | Proxcleened | tate eve Height at level of blowholes...... DOES |e eeerereteicth etetarat= (5 Se ae “of lower jaw at middle.... | ....... MeL Gi | Srotenerevats acer - - eee Circumference at middle of body..| ....... | ...ee+ | eeeeee | cee 52.5 aot |e teranegare a sePOSteniOr CHITG il) wee) | a= cm - | ea lel) wien . BOs 2 |! -ererere! | jrcee teres (Wiesraetns Longest whalebone........-.----| s++-+++ | seeree 7.1 6.3 6.6] 10.3] 11.9 13.5 * French measure. * Norwegian measure. ° To anterior insertion (see Gasco, pl. 9, fig. 2). * Along inner curve. 248 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. The first point that arrests one’s attention in comparing these measurements is that the distance from the tip of the snout to the eye in the San Sebastian (Spain) whale is very short. This has been insisted on in all the accounts of this whale and appears in Monedero’s drawing, copied by Fischer (44, 18, fig. 1), Van Beneden and Gervais, aud others. The appearance of the head in the figure is so peculiar as to lead one to think this young specimen was either abnormal, or that the draw- ing was inaceurate. Nothing is to be seen of this peculiarity in Guldberg’s photo- graphic figures of older individuals. The Ré Island (France), Egg Harbor (New Jersey), and Cape Lookout (North Carolina) specimens show a reasonable agree- ment as regards this measurement. In the length and breadth of the pectoral limb the European and American specimens show a very close agreement, amounting to identity of proportions. In the measurement of the flukes, on the contrary, the European specimeus neither agree with each other nor with the American specimens, nor do the lat- ter agree among themselves. In all species of whales the expansion of the flukes appears subject to a considerable amount of individual variation, but this would not account for the marked discrepancies observable in the foregoing table. As regards the Taranto (Italy) whale, it would appear that the measurement of the flukes from tip to tip is incorrect, because while this is much below that of most of the other specimens, the measurement of the length of one of the lobes of the flukes is only a trifle less than that of the American specimen having the widest spread flukes; in other words, the length of one lobe of the flukes is recorded as two thirds the distance from tip to tip, which is highly improbable. The measurement for the Charleston (South Carolina) whale is still smaller, 27.3% of the total length, while the Egg Harbor (New Jersey) whale has the maximum proportion of 35.4%. There appears to be no way in which to reconcile these differences. The length of the whalebone in the European and American specimens differs considerably. In the Taranto whale it was but 6.6% of the total length of the whale, and in Guldberg’s Iceland specimen of 1889, 7.1%. In the Charleston whale, which was 3 feet shorter than the last mentioned, the whalebone was 10.3 %. The various absolute measurements are as follows: BALAENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN, WHALEBONE, Locality. Sex. | Length of Length of Whale. Whalebone. | ff) an: ft. in: Charleston, South) Carolinaiss.- cencel-neereiecme toe te } 40 4 Awe Cape" Cody Miasseintsiscccieys scxcite or eten rer eraeiotemioner } 4205 CG Kigg Marbor, New Jiersey mieeincsciaccicntnei erate S 48 0 RG) Cape Lookout, North Carolina, 1874............. 3 531 0 he i a 1898 i45%. Ae eists.kt wero wets ae euerereioks g 46) § fouest. 6 4 Faranto: Wltalynet a sysievecme seeker mentee 2 39 «4 | 2s Teeland) 3 .c.gaies, dnuccoot ashe oa ns in one Ree 2 43 3s BR bi (Guldberg’s longest Iceland whalebone).......... 50 eit 6 53 (Berg’s longest Iceland whalebone).............- vice 0 ile MiB rrscsryacrcrs A THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 249 Tt will be observed that while in the young European specimens the pro- portional length of the whalebone falls below that of the American specimens, nevertheless, the largest Iceland whalebone equals or exceeds that of the largest American specimen. While the discrepancies above mentioned are not explainable at present, it appears that adult European and American specimens have whale- bone of equal length. Although the largest whalebone cited in the preceding table is only 7 ft. 4in. long, various writers on the Colonial Right whale fishery mention lengths for this species of 8 feet and 9 feet. This might be regarded an exaggeration, but there are slabs of whalebone from the Pacific Right whale in the National Museum which measure 8 ft. 2 in. and 8 ft. 6 in., respectively, and the whalebone of the Atlantic species may have formerly reached that length in some eases. COLOR. The Atlantic Right whale known to American whalers was called by them the Black whale, in allusion to its color. In the European Nordeaper the body in all recorded cases was black. The young San Sebastian whale, judged by the copy of Monedero’s drawing given by Graells (52, pl. 1, fig. 2) appears to have been uniform black. The Taranto whale, according to Gasco (47, 14), was also uniform black, as was Segnette’s specimen of 1680, Regarding the Iceland whales, Guld- berg remarks as follows (49, 16) : “The color of the skin is, as already known, deep black, sometimes with a tinge of blue (e/nem Stich ins Blaue). This deep black color is spread over the whole body. On this account, I was surprised that Capt. Larsen remarked that the young example caught by him was of a lighter color on the belly. This statement was, however, in part at least confirmed by the fragments of skin sent me, as many of these showed white epidermis layers (Olerhautpartien), which were sharply contrasted from the black dermis layers (//autpartien) on the same pieces. In the pieces of skin preserved in alcohol, the unpigmented epidermis layers were yellowish-white, and the boundaries very sharply defined from the deep black pig- mented parts. By inquiry among the sailors and others, who had seen the freshly caught Nordeaper, as well as by direct communication by letter with Capt. Berg, it was, however, established that only single white spots appeared here and there on the otherwise black body. The white spots were found on the extreme tip and surface of the pectorals, on the tip of the flukes as well as in the ‘bonnet’ on the snout,—all places infested by parasites. The spots are small and can hardly be found in all examples. “In the specimen figured (59, pl. 1), judging from the photograph, white spots appear to occur around the genitals, but I can not affirm this with certainty. The foregoing statements seem to confirm the idea that the European Nord- caper is normally black throughout. The white spots appear to be due to the alteration of the skin produced by parasitic cirripeds, as in the Humpback. The yellowish-white spots in the alcoholic specimens of skin might be attributed to a separation of the epidermis, and accumulation of air or aleohol below. 250 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Among the American specimens, we find that the Charleston whale was en- tirely black. The Egg Harbor, New Jersey, whale was also black. The Cape Lookout specimen, captured March 20, 1894, a female, was said to be a “white-bellied” one. The figure published in the Budletin of the North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture (14, No. 7, April, 1894, p. 4) shows the whole under surface light colored, from a point in advance of the eye to the anus, the white area extending up to the base of the pectorals and having irregular margins. If the drawing was correctly made from the specimen itself, it indicates a remarkable color variation. In a letter Mr. H. H. Brimley remarks that this specimen had “a great deal of pure white on its under side.” The foregoing facts may be summed up as follows: Three specimens of the European Nordeaper are recorded as being entirely black, and the Iceland specimens were also black, with the exception of one young one, which was reported to be lighter colored on the belly. Of three American specimens, two are recorded as entirely black, and one (adult female) as having “a great deal of pure white on its under side.” (See pl. 46, figs. 1 and 2.) , OSTEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS—-NUMBER OF VERTEBR 2. The skeleton of the European Nordcaper has been described in detail and figured by Gasco (47 and 48), Graells (62), Capellini (13), and Guldberg (59). The skeleton of American specimens has been described and illustrated by Holder (61) and Manigault (68). (See pls. 42-46.) The number of vertebre has been given by these authors for several individ- uals, as follows : BALAENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA. eee Sex nee | Auten 1'¢. | | eset —___-— ——|—_ SS oe Parantos Ltallyices.ccl-ste reek ers or eros 2 | Adoles.| Gasco | 7 S oh Net constr hate seo eestor: On age Capellini | 7 San Sebastian, Spainenec ne oa-aae| oeniln aie Gasco Wer iceland) vaemiseee teas ce ters eecetey- 7 | ote tee Guldberg | 7 . (GIUD) eter yterncetee terete tareaore re ters ees me 7 (UIE) aa tee ae eee Wee es Sea (Guildberg'sformula for the'species) (5 || - Amer. Mus. Nat. History. ° Holder states that the total is “ probably 57.” TO 12) * Possibly only 10 lumbars. * Type of B. césarctica. * Mus. Comp. Zoélogy. ° Field Col. Mus., Chicago. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 251 It will be observed from these tables that the number of dorsals in both Eu- ropean and American specimens is uniformly 14, the only exception being in the San Sebastian (Spain) skeleton. In this case, however, Gasco thinks there may have been 14 pairs of ribs. : The number of lumbars is fixed by the position of the first chevron. As the series of chevrons is commonly incomplete in museum specimens, and, furthermore, as the transition from the quite sharp inferior carina of the lumbar vertebre to the paired inferior ridges of the caudals is not always abrupt, it is extremely difficult in many cases to determine correctly the number of lumbars. The widening of the posterior end of the inferior carina may be more or less distinctly marked on the 32d vertebra, in which case there might be considered to be 10 lumbars. On the other hand, this thickening of the carina may not be pronounced until the 34th vertebra is reached, in which case, 12 lumbars might be counted. My own observations on American specimens lead me to believe that 11 lum- bars may be regarded as the normal number, varying from 10 to 12. Guldberg and Gasco, however, regard 12 lumbars as the normal number for European specimens. The Guetaria (Spain) skeleton of 1878 appears from Graells’s figure (62, pl. 3) to have but 8 lumbar vertebre and about 26 caudals. I am unable to account for this discrepancy and Prof. Rios y Rial’s description (52, 65-67) is unintelligible to me on account of the manner in which he divides the vertebral column. It would be possible to reduce the number of lumbar vertebree to 8 in the Long Island (N. Y.) skeleton in the National Museum, No. 23077, if the first caudal were regarded as that in which a thickening of the posterior end of the inferior median carina first occurs. It is obvious that the question of the real number of lumbars in the species cannot be authoritatively settled until the chevron bones are examined in séfu in a number of adult and fcetal specimens. Gervais’s views regarding the number of lumbars in the Sulphurbottom whale are of interest in this connection. (See p. 182.) SKULL. The best figures of the skull of the European Nordcaper are those of Gasco (47, pls. 2-4) and Graells (52, pls. 8-4). While these agree in most particulars, they show a considerable divergence at certain points. The most striking differ- ence is in the direction of the orbital processes of the frontal. In Gasco’s figure these processes lie entirely behind the line of the antero-superior end of the occip- ital, and are directed backward, while in Graells’s figure the greater part of the frontal processes lies in front of the line of the oceipital, and the processes are directed forward. This relation of the bones is shown especially in 52, pl. 4, fig. 2, but also in pl. 4, fig. 1, and in pl. 3, fig. 2. In the latter, which is a figure of aie entire skeleton, the skull appears to be a reduced copy of pl. 4, fig. 2. In pl. 3, fig. 1, which is a view of the entire skeleton from the side, the orbital process of the ponte is represented more as if directed backw: ard rather than forward, thus 252 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. agreeing better with Gasco’s figures. Another important difference in Graells’s figures, as compared with those of Gasco, is that the anterior ends of the pre- maxillze are represented as narrow and acuminate. Graells’s figures are reproduc- tions of drawings by Sr. Janer, while in Gasco’s figures the outlines are taken from photographs, “to avoid mexactness.” This latter may, therefore, be con- sidered the more reliable. Gasco’s figures (47, pl. 2, figs. 1 and 2; pl. 3, fig. 1) of the Taranto (Italy) whale show a very close agreement with the skull of the specimen from Long Island (New York) in the National Museum, No, 23077, pls. 42 and 43. The figures of the under surface of the skull especially (allowance being made for the slightly different point of view) show a very complete agreement. No one on comparing these several figures can, I think, fail to be convinced that they represent one and the same species. This is a matter of great importance, because, as will be pointed out presently, the measurements of the American and the European skulls vary considerably among themselves. The causes of this variation will be considered later. I personally compared the skull of the Long Island (N. Y.) specimen in the American Museum of Natural History, New York, with photographs of the Long Island skull in the National Museum, No, 23077, and was unable to discover any differences of importance. In Holder’s figure of the former (67, pl. 12) the superior outline of the rostrum does not descend rapidly enough anteriorly, due perhaps to the intermaxillz not being represented as thick at the middle as they really are. In most other respects the figure is a good representation of the skull. In one character Gasco’s figure of the Taranto (Italy) skull differs from the American skulls I have examined. The premaxille extend so far back as to pre- vent the union of the maxillze with the median anterior prolongation of the frontal at the vertex. In the American skulls in the Washington, Philadelphia, and Raleigh museums the premaxillze are shorter posteriorly and the maxillx project inward toward the median line along the sides of the nasal process of the frontal. This may, I think, be regarded rather as an individual variation than as a character of specific importance. In Graells’s figure (52, pl. 4, fig. 2) the relation of the parts, as represented, agrees with the American skulls above mentioned. The general shape of the nasals in the Taranto (Italy) and Guetaria (Spain) skulls is the same as in the Long Island (N. Y.) skull in the National Museum, No. 28077, except that there is a difference in proportions in the case of the Taranto specimen, as represented in Gasco’s figure (47, pl. 4, fig. 9). Indeed, the nasals appear to differ in proportions in all the specimens, no two being exactly alike. In the type of B. cisarctica the nasals have the same emargination of the distal free border as in other American and \ European specimens, as shown in text fig. 84. The convex exterior bor- ieee der is in part overlaid by the intermaxilla when the nasal is in position, so that the latter then appears rectilinear in outline, asin other specimens. The variation in length and breadth in the different specimens is in part due to the un- equal development of the median portion of the frontal against which the nasals rest. The proportions of the various American and European skulls are indicated by the measurements given in the following table: THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALANA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN, SKULL. 253 4 On comparing Gasco’s figures it will be seen that the rostrum in the top view is much too short. 5 Total length given only approximately by Capellini ; hence taken from Gasco, 2.2 7m. |e [a ms = " ~ ue > 2 Sf est De elle ee | coe ese ee iss | 2/8 a= 2 Hm 5.0 =.) ‘3 6 AY a ab S > > gs, |Se5| $85 |Se2| Gee | Zee | 2 | Sm | 2 | ase POiBi Peeis RBG asa ere eee |e Be aes seul sce ease gOS | sms | sts | cms] E74 | st*-| 2 feu aol isxeee gee (ea | ee | ecto || Oe || cing) | SS eeeC eel ae ls B86 | 886 | Bho | ste] 865 | ESd |] 2a | 282) 2e | aes SOL | HOU | SOL | 852] bho | GSS] A AS | 489 SEXRAN AAG ON ctcieressiere sfejcieso/efevalsinie'> $ 8 9im 9 9 9 jr. Hotalilengthiof whale.ces. <........ 47 Jase Ag pel aouavie eater oat te lo" fs Seema SKEICLOM -perwals afes os i2/2ive | eyererelsiaiei| c AOS PEO eee al eeecalee 99a eae ig ere eerste eeiscied |e 37129) “|[faretexersves| eevee ied rsretenerel leer sealers Length of skull (straight)............ 154.3" |153-9'| 150.7" |133.0"| 113.4” | 89.3” | 87.1'' | 90.0” 6 63.0" h % % & % % % % & % % Greatest breadth at orbits.........+.. 65.1 62.9 65. 63.6 69.7 | 72.2 Ose OB829) Ilr ciete 64.4 Length of rostrum (straight)..........)....... 79.2 75 nTal Ta On| seeeeee seer 68:29) | erate |ereeene Breadthvorerostnumes temic dl eccyere cts ) siete late terterniess Oe Sta peed Tia sete ctare | getee tal | Ceotctonste Werte tinto bam asalSeericie es cteysicteteic ore/s(alerm clsiste s clelareyniefera: sieve) afejelainrsis’ =) eieseiei® 5.1 7.8 7-3 7.4 8.3 Bread thko Mamasals distally. «jes cisisjolersiesiel= cle /aisteieleie) = /j='sinieisis sie/s/ers 6.6 | IL.o 7.2 8.3 7.8u SMOFDIt POI CO;POINts sie wer eiecic.cisleise eee seieisieicien sieee 5-4 4.8 5.8 5.7 6.4 Wenethiot mandible|(straight):. 5... 5.0 cccess eset se cecerecsee essere g0.t | 98.0 | 96.8 93-4 | 95.4 oe a es (onetirve) eryarcielecieiion stele oie, eeietote 5)-/sisir1m1s) oS A) seca ls Zz ae ma a = SS la ale a = G| 43 | az Fp ae A ie 3 a = z | sad eee | See Siena haar S ga Sen igiog Be raalleee ers lee 3B: foe | Ess Bee | ee | FE 3 SOL onc | rad CS) ess | 6e5 ~ | ie Sexkean Gea re yeectcreey-vaheists cleicisieyeiarere = $ $ avs Qim.| jr. | 6 ad. ae Ne Sees ae 38 | jr. Total length of whale............ Ne (ef ee aN MCU lector LENE Wa Coy ultqoStoo ele IM ee | es | AOVdS sons CE 2 LOGIC Res abanonal Poco cee! hacnonl bese STROM see 449” |44' 9" |37'0"-+-145’ 3°°| 35’ 7”8| 37 i. i" Aca SsSaeee ~ m Teapot Length of skull (straight)......... 154.3 |155-9 |113.4 | 59.3" | 63.0" | 152.0” |150.0''| 128.0” | 124.0"| 114.5" 26 5 pee ee =e Es == = % s % % % % % % % % Greatest breadth Pea tl aSeerrcrcrexctell|teterrctis | sssfokerte 2T.Oh ator 152358 18.4 | 17.8 18.8 | 19.0 | 16.6 | 18.8 ‘. MStidorsall).. << sais s Jess +. miley ans 20:3) 722) es 17.8 | 16.3 16.4 ! 16.1 | 15.8 | 18.1 Mepthioficentruml 9 ** ow. ss. jateretetet ete. | heres sro | biseatevaes 8285 lees 6.07 | 5.8 OLGH leaner 7.0 | 8.0 Greatest breadth, tst lumbar..... [icretanatoks J sees. 27 2OsGe|ee were 24.3 | 26.0 25.0 27.0 | 26.2% | 26.6 Depth of centrum *‘ side oer ecacar | ecpaeteyae\| see kekerens TIE Bomaba 5:07 1) 15.8% Gist er at os i azex Greatest breadth, 1st caudal...... | ava veces) |atayseisc Bae N Ie epavers)| celta eral eae eee 21.5 20.3 | 19.4 | 20.1 | 22.310 Depth of centrum, ‘ SEN Sevstae| elegecne = | Becctenope | weareteter BO! TAG |verattsre Ow srs 8.2 9.3 8.74 | 8.94 Greatest length of sternum........ [A SONA a or a | aa Sc 7.8 Q:3" || Acuasetiiteane [beacons “c «c | 2 2 Jeeeeee ECACC ess Oe Caferay ate fel croy] cl atatay ona ai’ =.ciee QO 2 ated transverse process, 36' | 38 39 38 38 38 ROA eticrae 38 37 INO i dete a ietecieetaciserne Transverse processes end | | ; I = 40 4I 42 AG sl parton ce 41 42 ? 41 4t? on vertebra No........ \ | Neural spine ends on ver- | ‘ : 6 | 4 4 4 Ae Ba tebral Nios eye aasctei cies \ 43 45 4 45 4 5 5 4 4 43 It is much to be regretted that so few data relative to European specimens have been recorded. In so far as they are available for comparison, the agreement with corresponding data from American specimens is very close. CHEVRON BONES. The chevron bones are figured or described in the case of one or two European skeletons only. Graells’s figure of the Guetaria skeleton (52) shows 12 chevrons, the first smaller than the second and somewhat pointed. Gasco states that the Taranto skeleton has 10 chevrons, but that some were probably lost. Of the American skeletons, those in the Field Columbian Museum and in the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, have 9 chevrons each. In both cases the first is attached to the posterior end of what is really the second caudal vertebra, so that the skeletons appear to have one more lumbar vertebra than they should. In the skeleton in the former museum the first chevron in position is small, but in the skeleton in Cambridge it is the largest of the series. In this case it is therefore probably the second chevron. The Charleston skeleton has 10 chevrons, but there were probably more originally. RIBS. The number of pairs of ribs is 14 in all European and American specimens, except the San Sebastian skeleton of 1854, and in this also, although 13 pairs are ‘Right side only. * Left side only. *Or 42d. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 257 assigned to it by Gasco, he expresses the opinion that there may originally have been 14 pairs. In the majority of specimens the first rib is single-headed, but in the Guetaria (Spain) skeleton, that of the right side shows a small secondary process adjacent to the proximal end. The bifurcation is also found in the San Sebastian skeleton of 1854. Gasco’s description of the first pair of ribs in this specimen is as follows: “No doubt the first pair of ribs of the young whale of San Sebastian, placed opposite the corresponding parts of the Taranto whale, exhibit certain singular differences, which though they do not surprise us at present, led J. E. Gray to create the genus Hunterius, a genus which no one now accepts. The superior or vertebral extremity of the first pair of ribs is bifureated. In the right one the bifureation extends 55 mm., but in the left does not surpass 15 mm. In the left, the part of the rib which thus separates, 15 mm. long, terminates acutely and may be compared to a little horn, which has the apex distant scarcely 2 em, from the internal border of the rest of the rib, and about 7 cm. from its superior extremity. Its circumference is 45 mm., and at the apex, 25 mm, On the other hand, on the right the portion of the rib which is separate is 55 mm. long. It is somewhat thicker, the termination obtuse, and it is distant its whole length only 3 or 4 mm. from the inner margin of the rest of the rib. So it may even be suspected that in the progress of time this portion might be completely fused with the rest of the rib. Its apex is distant from the superior extremity of the rib only 2 em, Its circumference at the base is 8 cm., and 9 cm. near the apex. All these relative differences in the degree of bifurcation in the same individual indicate clearly how little of importance there is in the separation of a portion of the rib.”? The distal ends of the two ribs constituting the first pair are commonly unequal in breadth. In the different specimens the measurements are as follows: BALAENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. BREADTH OF FIRST RIB, Locality. Left. Right. in. in, (Gwetariay Spats scien sisi srei 7.0 6.2 gianamnitos italliye< ccc) 1-11 BP PRA ere: 3.9 ca) a on © SantSebastian, Spain...... «..c- + see ces Long Id., N. Y. (Field Col. Mus)..... aye 8.0 8.75 Cape Lookout, N. C. (Raleigh Mus.)...... 6.5 6.75 Long Id., N. Y. (Amer. Mus.).......----- | 5-75 6.5 Amagansett, N. Y. (Natl. Mus.).-.......-- ee 4.5 Charlestony Ss Cryer oclevelsieversy sire» seins viele 4-5 6.0 3-25 3-85 Coast of New Jersey *.......-- Nereters rettys The length of the first rib in a straight line is as follows: 1 4Annal. Mus. Civic. Genova, 14, 1879, pp. 606, 607. * Type of B. cisarctica. 258 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. BALAENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. LENGTH OF FIRST RIB. Length of First Rib. Locality. Length of Skull. Left. Right. in. in. in. Teeland’ NOs Draccrstetcicieieusie sietsisieverierolajelaleol sheen tet notsie ters 153-9 50.4! moved Guetaria, Spain... sete so sire) ale creo letere atelelel karti kelsters 113.4 Bo 38.2 Taranto, [taly2y.ccers cris ciclo! evoreis ore ener etst tel ii= eer eetetet peter 89.3 Cae 26.0 San Sebastians Spain epee tete oisiateteotere tere ares evepar- ete patel Reralers 63.0 a / 15.7 Mong Id. N.Y, (Bield' Columb Miss) (irre reer tite 152.0 48.0 49.0 Cape Lookout, N. C. (Raleigh Mus.).............. os 152.0 44.5 50.5 Gongelid: Nap vou(Amer Mis) ie aacer eee trieseeererrs 128.0 3345 35.0 Amapansett, N. Yi\(Natl: Mus.) 5. 0-1 ciresas = stereo T24t0. 7 | | Weyer 38.3 CharlestonyiSs C5 eiempar nical telaletsseleiret lake Seether 114.5 29.5 2905 Coast of News ]ersey a. cccrerlclaeienctetetsie armenia at 90.5 28.75 290 In the majority of specimens the last pair of ribs is much shorter than the penultimate pair, but in the Raleigh Museum skeleton the last left rib is nearly as long as the rib which precedes it. The right rib is shorter. STERNUM. Among European specimens the sternum appears to have been figured only in the case of the Taranto skeleton and Guldberg’s Iceland skeleton No. 1. These Fic. 85. Fic. 86. Fic, 87. BALAENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. STERNUM. Fic. 85.—TARANTO, ITALY. (FRoM GAsco.) Fic, 86.—ICELAND. (FROM GULDBERG.) Fic. 87.—Lonc Ip., New York. (Amer. Mus, Nar. Hist.) (FROM A SKETCH.) two sterna (text figs. 85 and 86) show little resemblance to one another at first sight ; nevertheless, it will be perceived that if that of the Taranto skeleton were length- ened posteriorly it would approach that of the Iceland specimen, the form in both cases being rudely heart-shaped. * Whether right or left not specified. * Type of B. cisarctica. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO, 259 The Cape Lookout (N. C.) skeleton, the Cape Cod (Mass.) skeleton in the Museum of Comparative Zodlogy, and that in the Field Columbian Museum, have sterna closely resembling that of the Taranto skeleton (pl. 46, figs. 3 and 4), or rudely heart-shaped, but the skeleton in the American Museum, New York, has the sternum quite different from any of the foregoing (text fig. 87), being cruciform, like the sterna of some specimens of Balwnoptera physalus L. One might almost believe that it did not belong to the skeleton to which it is attached. Considering the diversity of form in the sternum of the Finbacks, we need not be surprised at the lack of conformity among the various specimens of the Nord- caper. The sternum in these animals is of little service in discriminating closely allied species. In the Taranto (Italy) skeleton the sternum is 18 cm. high, 21 em. wide; in Guldberg’s Iceland skeleton, No. 1, 46 em. high, 37.5 em. wide; in the Cape Look- out (N. C.) skeleton at Raleigh, 30 cm. high, 38 cm. wide. SCAPULA. The scapula of the Nordcaper has a peculiar and characteristic shape, which is quite well shown in Gasco’s figure of the Taranto whale (47, pl. 6, fig. 8). The glenoid, or posterior border, is evenly concave from the glenoid fossa half-way to 80 0 SL Fic. 88. Fic. 89. FIG. go. FIG. 92. FIG. 93. BALIINA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE, AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. SCAPULA. Fic. 88.—Lonc Ip., New York. (AMER. Mus. NAT. Hist.) (FRoM A PHOTO.) Fic, 89.—Ditto. (FIELD COLUMB Mus.) Fic 6o.— Ditto, (U.S. Nat. Mus.) Fic. gI.—CHARLESTON, S. C. (FROMA PHOTO.) FIG, 92. Tyre oF B. crsarcrica. (OBLIQUE VIEW, FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 93.—TARANTO, ITALY. (From GAsco.) 260 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. the suprascapular border, but distally becomes nearly straight. The suprascapular border is regularly convex; the coracoid, or anterior, border, is short and nearly straight, but presents near the juncture with the suprascapular border a tubercle which causes a convexity in the outline. The acromion is large, and directed out- ward or downward. The shape of the anterior and posterior borders is very char- acteristic of the species. Among American specimens this peculiar form is found well developed in the type of B. czsarctica Cope, at Philadelphia, in the Amagansett (N. Y.) skeleton in the National Museum (No. 23077), in the Charleston skeleton, in the skeleton in the Field Columbian Museum, Chicago; and less well defined in the Long Id. (N. Y.) skeleton in the American Museum of Natural History. Holder’s figure of the scapula of this skeleton is taken at an angle and does not, therefore, show the true shape. (See text figs. 88 to 93; also pl. 45, figs. 2-5.) The following are actual measurements of the greatest breadth and height of the scapula in various American and European specimens : BALAENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA, Scapula. Museum, ! Length of skull. Greatest breadth. Greatest height. in. in. in Christiania (Capt.\Berg, TN) js. ses aes 154.3 49.2 AU ‘a (CapteBerel) hers see ere 153.9 48.0 42.5 ING WRViOnkiy.yactecino tenets ce ee eee 128.0 36.0 29.0 Washington! ja. weiss sire eens 124.0 BES 29.0 C@hatlestongs crevsteretcclsistcieteiaite cutest reetoer. | 114.5 36.0 24.5 St. Sebastian (Guetaria)5. cnc sees a 113.4 32.7 25.2 Philadelphia 77x, sje aicloe crores ois von rere tees 96.5 30.0 230 Mara nto eer & cso, ot 1s eevee Aten co eerie 89.3 27.6 | 21.6 A scapula from a partial skeleton found at Beaufort, North Carolina, has, accord- ing to Mr. R. L. Garner, a breadth of 51 inches. The Raleigh Museum skeleton, which is as large as the Christiania skeleton No. 2, is, unfortunately, without the scapule. Cope recorded in 1868 that there was in the museum of Rutgers College, New Brunswick, N. J., a scapula 484 in. broad and 36 in. high. He estimated that this indicated an individual 57 feet long, but in view of the dimensions given in the foregoing table this appears improbable.* PHALANGES. Gasco gives (47, 40) the following formula for the Taranto skeleton, I, 02; I, 4; I1I,5; IV,3; V,38. Professor Rios y Rial also gives a formula for the Guetaria skeleton, but it appears to be entirely hypothetical. ‘See table on p. 255. * Type of B. cisarctica. * See Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1868, p. 194, where a few other remarks regarding the pres- ent species are made. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 261 In none of the American specimens do the phalanges appear to be in their natural positions, and in several of the skeletons a considerable number are lost. It is impracticable, therefore, to give a reliable formula, but the following are taken from mounted specimens in the American museums: BAL4ENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. AMERICAN. PHALANGES. Digits. Locality. Museum. I Il III IV Vv Provincetown, Mass..... Mus. Comp. Zoélogy..... | en , 4 : 3 3 | Le to ee | 3 3 Long Island, N. Y.......| Field Col. Mus. ......... Lett | 2a eres aes | 3 i Soeur : 4 Bee 3 Mong Island, N. Y.......| Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist..... Left | 2 | 4 : 4 4 Amagansett, N. Y....... U.S. Nat’l Mus., No. 23077 | eee | | 7 : z | 3, SUMMARY. The foregoing discussion of Kuropean and American specimens of the Nord- caper, or Black whale, leads to the following general statements and conclusions : 1. Specimens from the two sides of the Atlantic are alike in size. 2. The external proportions, so far as can be ascertained from the scant data available, show very considerable variability, but the variations are indefinite and give no ground for separating the American from the European specimens. It is probable that much of the apparent variability is due to inaccurate measurements. 3. The whalebone in the largest American specimen is of the same length as the largest Iceland whalebone. 4, The majority of both European and American specimens are uniform black throughout. 5. The number of ribs and vertebree is the same in specimens from both sides of the Atlantic. The vertebral formula is the same, except that American speci- mens appear to have normally 11 lumbars, while European specimens, according to Guldberg and Gasco, have 12 lumbars normally. The reasons why this difference cannot be regarded as having the importance it would at first appear to have are given on page 251. 6, The points in the vertebral column at which the processes of the vertebrae become obsolete are the same in both American and European specimens, but the data in relation to the latter are meagre. 7. Photographs of the skull of the Long Id., New York, skeleton in the National Museum agree very closely indeed with Gasco’s figures of the skull of the Taranto (Italy) skeleton, in which the outlines are also from photographs. On 1 There is no probability that this formula is correct. 262 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. the other hand, the measurements of the various skulls show considerable dis- crepancies. These do not, however, tend to divide the skulls into two groups, according to locality. In this connection it is necessary to hold in mind that the majority of the skulls are those of young individuals. 8. The length of the first rib is the same in European and American skele- tons of equal size. The breadth of the first rib at the distal end is variable in both series of specimens, and often differs much on the two sides of the body in the same specimen. 9. The sternum is variable in shape, with no constant difference between European and American specimens. 10. The scapula has the same characteristic form in both European and American specimens. While there are many points regarding the Nordcaper that need to be further investigated, there is at present, so far as can be ascertained from the material available, no valid reason for separating the American from the European specimens as distinct species. OPINIONS REGARDING THE IDENTITY OF THE RIGHT WHALES OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN ATLANTIC (INCLUDING WITH THE LATTER COPE’S B. CISARCTICA. ) It has seemed to me desirable to sum up again, as did Holder in 1893, the opinions of cetologists regarding the relationship of “B. biscayensis” to B. cisarctica, It is well known that several systematic writers of the eighteenth century, fol- lowing for the most part the more or less indefinite statements of Zorgdrager and Martens, distinguished two species of northern Right whales, the Greenland or Spitzbergen whale and the Nordcaper. The story of the union of these species by Cuvier and their subsequent separation by Eschricht is familiar to every cetolo- gist. Cuvier was, of course, acquainted with the fact that the Basques pursued Right whales on both sides of the North Atlantic,’ but as he regarded all whales of the genus Balena in these waters as forming one species, any critical considera- tion on his part of differences between those of the western and those of the east- tern Atlantic was precluded. A principal object of the researches of Eschricht upon the northern Right whales was the demonstration of the correctness of the suspicions which he entertained as early as 1840 that the Nordcaper was specifically distinct from the Greenland Right whale,” but he did not have under special consideration at any time the question of the identity of American specimens of the former species with those from the Euro- pean coasts. Indeed, so far as I am aware, there were no American specimens of B. biscayensis in European museums in his day.* Nevertheless, in the work Om "See Escuricnt and ReInwarpt, “Om Nordhvalen,” Videns. Selsk. Skr., 5 Rekke, naturvidens. og math. Afd., 5 Bd., 1861, p. 479, foot-note 5. *See Comptes Rendus, 1860. Separate, p. 2. *See Gasco, “ Intorno alla Balena presa in Taranto, Atti R. Ac ad. Napolt, 1877, p. ‘ Separate, 1878, pp. 12-13. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 263 Nordhvalen, published in conjunction with Prof. Reinhardt in 1861, he men- tions the “ Nordcaper” as “ probably the same species as that from the coasts of Nantucket and New England which the Anglo-Americans already call ‘Right whale.’ ” ! The question was first forced on the attention of cetologists in 1865, when Cope published the description of his B. cisarctica (22, 168). Cope did not examine the San Sebastian skeleton on which B. biscayensis was based, but remarks regard- ing his B. césarctica as follows: “This species may readily occur on the European coasts, and is, no doubt, allied to, or the same as, the species pursued by the Biscay whalers, which Eschricht says is related to the australis. This does not appear to have been described, though catalogued without reference by Gray and Flower under the name of discayensis (22, 169).” It is stated by Cope, however, that he did study the skeleton of B. australis in the Jardin des Plantes, and that his species is “strongly separated ” from that form. Van Beneden in 1867 quotes Cope’s opinion as to the probable identity of the B. cisarctica with the Biscay whale, and remarks that Cope holds this view “avec beaucoup de raison.” He also adds: “It is then from America that we should hear the facts regarding the history of this animal which during centuries visited our [European] coasts, and which has contributed largely to the prosperity of our hardy neighbors of the North [the Dutch, ete.]” (3, sep. 8). In his memoir on the Taranto whale, Gasco remarks in 1878: “ Although so brief, the summary reported by Prof. Cope on the whale captured opposite Phila- delphia in 1862 leaves no doubt as to the determination of the Taranto whale. They are counterparts (sorele); both belong to Balena biscayensis Eschricht ” (47). The same statement is repeated in the Comptes Rendus Acad. Paris, 87, 1887, p. 410. He also states that he compared a replica of a cast of the earbone of the type of B. césarctica belonging to the Civie Museum of Milan with that of the Taranto whale and found that they were identical (47, 25). In 1879, Gasco published a description of the type of “B. biscayensis.” He appears to take for granted the identity of that species with 2B. c/sarctica, and in the course of his article, quotes a conversation with Cope, whom he met in Paris. Cope is reported as saying that the Philadelphia whale (type of B. césarctica) exactly resembles that of Tarento (“ B. biscayensis”) (48, 581, footnote 2). The Ostéographie of Van Beneden and Gervais, which bears the date of 1880, does not contain as much original matter regarding the Atlantic Right whale as is the case with other species. The authors state that they examined neither the type of “ B. biscayensis” nor that of B. cisarctica, but that they “do not doubt” that the two species are identical (8, 103). Later in the same work they remark : “This whale [B. césarctica] is no other than the Balena biscayensis” (8, 236). In 1883, Holder summed up the opinions regarding the affinities of B. dis. cayensis and B. cisarctica (61, 117). He includes the opinions of most of the authors above cited and adds some independent testimony. Among these addi- * Page 469. 264 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. tions is the opinion of Flower after seeing the figure published by Holder, as follows: “As far as I can make out it is the same as “ B. biscayensis”; also that of Dr. J. A. Allen: “ Your drawing of the recent [New Jersey] specimen agrees well with the figure of B. biscayensis of southern Europe, which I believe to be identi- cal with Cope’s B. cisarctica.” In 1889, Van Beneden stated explicitly his opinion that B. cisarctica was identical with B. biscayensis. He remarks: “The Balena biscayensis of Eschricht is the Slethag (whale with smooth back) of the ancient Icelandic whalers, the Nord-Caper of the Dutch whalers, and the Sarde of the French whalers (Du Hamel). . . . It is the same animal as that to which Professor Cope of Phila- delphia has given the name of Balena cisarctica, and Professor Capellini that of Taranto whale, Balena tarentina (Balena Van Benediana). The Balena Swe- denborgit [Lilljeborg ; subfossil in Sweden] is also a synonym of this species” (7, 15). Again: “ Professor Cope has had the courtesy to send us from Phila- delphia an earbone of an adult animal, and by our invitation Prof. Reinhardt has compared it with that of the skeleton from Pampeluna [type of “B. bis. cayensis” | which is in Copenhagen. Although the former bone is from an adult animal and the second from a young animal, it is not doubtful, aceording to Prof. Reinhardt himself, that these bones only present such differences as depend upon age? (7, 17). In an article on B. biscayensis, published in 1891, Guldberg treats the descrip- tions of Cope, Gasco, etc., as referring to one and the same species, occurring on both sides of the Atlantic. This view was not, so far as I can ascertain, based on examination of specimens (58). The same opinion was again broached in 1893 (49). From the foregoing statements, it will be seen, as pointed out by Holder, that the opinions of those most competent to judge in the matter have leaned strongly toward the identification of B. déscayensis with B. cisarctica. Two important names, however, must be cited among those who take the opposite view,—Rein- hardt and Fischer. Although Reinhardt was joint author with Eschricht of the work Om Nord- hvalen, in which, as we have seen, the opinion is set down that the two species are identical, in the Ostéographie of Van Beneden and Gervais we find in connec- tion with the account of Reinhardt’s comparison of the ear bones of the type of B. biscayensis with one of B. cisarctica, the following: “Prof. Reinhardt does not believe, however, that the Balena biscayensis is a synonym of Balena cisarctica” (8, 107). If Reinhardt is correctly reported in this place, we must suppose that his opinion changed subsequent to the publication of the work Om Nordhvalen, or that the statement in the latter is to be credited to Eschricht alone. No explanation is given by Van Beneden and Gervais of the grounds of Reinhardt’s opposition to the prevailing view. The second cetologist who has dissented from the union of the Right whales of the European and United States coasts in one species is M. Paul Fischer. ‘It is difficult to harmonize this last remark with the statements in the Ostéographie (see p. 107 of that work), THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 265 In support of his opinion, he brought forward in 1871 (42) two characters as distinguishing déscayensis not only from cisarctica but from australis and an- tipodarum. ‘The first is drawn from a fragment of a rib found at Biarritz, which is “regularly oval, without appreciable angle, ridge, or crest.” The fragment has a maximum diameter of 11 cm. and minimum diameter of 84.em. This rib, according to Fischer, is “infinitely more massive, more rounded, and thicker” than in Balena mysticetus, australis, or antipodarum, and lacks the crest found in those species. As a second distinguishing character of B. biscayensis, Fischer points to the bifid first rib of the type specimen from San Sebastian, not found in césarctica or australis. He remarks further: “As to the whale of the east coast of North America, nothing proves to me its identity with the Basque whale. The Basque whalers themselves, after having almost destroyed the whales of the Bay of Biscay, spread out westward and in 1372 reached the banks of Newfoundland,’ where they saw a whale which they judged different, and called ‘Sardaco Baleac.’ It was smaller than the Biscay whale” (42, 299). As regards the size of the rib found at Biarritz, it is to be said that in the skeleton from Pt. Lookout, North Carolina, in the Raleigh museum, the largest rib has a maximum diameter of 12.7 em., and two others a diameter of 10.2 em. This was an adult male 50 ft. long. The largest ribs in the skeleton in the American Museum, New York (which is about 40 ft. long), have a diameter of 9.75 em., and the maximum diameter of the 3d rib in the 39-foot Taranto specimen, as shown by Gasco’s figures, is 10 cm. It will be seen, therefore, that Fischer’s measurements of the Biarritz rib are not remarkably large. The smoothness of that fragment is hardly a reliable character, as it is well known that the shape of the ribs is quite variable, not only in the same species, but among the various pairs in a single skeleton. In considering the importance of the bifurcation of the proximal end of the first pair of ribs in the type of B. biscayensis,—the second character brought for- ward by Fischer as distinguishing that species from césarctica,—it will be interest- ing to read Gasco’s description, quoted on p. 257. This shows that the bifureation occurs on both sides, but is of small extent and is unequal on the two sides. As stated by Gasco, the Taranto whale is without this bifurcation of the first rib, and such is the case in all the American specimens of B. cisarctica I have examined. The B. discayensis at San Sebastian (not the type) has the bifureation on one side only, and that but slightly developed. In another paper, published in 1872 (43, 19), Fischer again sums up his opin- ions regarding B. biscayensis and B. cisarctica, as follows : “The Balena biscayensis, the Nordeaper of the Norwegians and Icelanders, and the Hunterius svedenborgi ought, it seems to me, to be assembled in the same genus, if not in the same species, very close to the Hunterius temmincki of the 1 Regarding this statement, see p. 267. 2 See GRAELLS, Mem. R. Acad. Cien. Madrid, 13, pt. 3, 1889, pl. 4, fig. 6. 266 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Cape of Good Hope. These different whales have for common characters a very small head, a bifid first rib, the lower ends of the ribs very thick and almost round. “The Sarde of the Newfoundland banks, and the Balena cisarctica of the coast of North America, belong to a different group, very near to the Balena aus- tralis of the Cape of Good Hope, and the B. antipodum of New Zealand. The head is comparatively longer than in Hunterius ; the first rib is simple; the lower extremities of the ribs are compressed. “There exist then in our temperate regions of the Atlantic at least two species of Right whales.” In 1881, Fischer again raised the question of the number of species of Right whales in the North Atlantic (44, 33-55), but by this time had somewhat modified his views. He reviews the literature of the subject, ancient and modern, and devotes two pages to conclusions. These are in brief as follows: 1. That “it may be considered very probable that (a) the ‘ Nordcaper,’ (0) the ‘Sletbag, (c) Balewna tarentina of Capellini, and (7) Balena biscayensis belong to the same species, as well as the fossil species B. lamanoni, glacialis, and svedenborgi.” 2. That “the ‘Sarde’ and B. cisarctica of Cope are synonyms and (awaiting fuller information) distinct—at least as a race—from the whale of the Basques, by the longer head. The skeleton is otherwise similar.” 3. That Halibalena britannica, B. vanbenedeniana, and B. mediterranea “have not sufficient characters to be classified,” and can be as well associated with the Nordcaper as with . mysticetus. Fischer adds the following: “A species, among cetaceans, is perhaps what we call a genus; and in that case, the Nordkaper would be a single one, with two or three races, with distinct geographical distribution.” The second of the foregoing opinions is that which is of most interest in the present connection. On page 41, Fischer makes the remarkable statement, already mentioned elsewhere (see p. 13), that armed with the compass and “ balestrille” the Basques roamed westward in the Atlantic and in 1372 discovered the banks of Newfoundland, where they saw whales in abundance. This statement appears to rest on a memoir prepared by the merchants of St. Jean de Luz and Cibourre in 1710, and published in 1857.’ The whale which they first found here, accord- ing to Fischer, they considered different from the whale of the Bay of Biscay, and ealled Sardaco Baleac, or the whale which goes in herds or schools, in con- tradistinction to the former, which appears singly. Continuing their explorations, they entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence where they found still another and better whale which they called Grand Bayaco Baleac or Grand Bay whale. They after- wards recognized this as the same as the Greenland whale, B. mysticetus, found at Spitzbergen. The character of the evidence on which these statements rest is unknown to 1 66 Mémoire addressé en 1710 4 M. de Planthion, syndic général du pays de Labourd, par les négociants de Saint-Jean-de-Luz et de Cibourre.” (Journal Za Gironde, 29 Avril, 1857.) THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 267 me, but it appears singular that the matter has not attracted the attention of Ameri- can historians, considering its importance in connection with the history of the dis- covery of America. The “Sarde ” should, of course, be the Right whale of the Atlantic coast of the United States, Canada, and Newfoundland, B. cisarctica Cope. Fischer, even, seems to have little doubt of that fact. He recalls Gray’s claim that it is distinct because it has 14 pairs of ribs, while the San Sebastian whale has 15! and further- more has the first pair bifurcated, but is not impressed with the importance of these distinctions. He adds: “The notable difference which I find between the B. cisarctica and the Biscay whale is the greater relative length of the head of the former. According to the measurements given by Cope, the length of the head in B. c/sarctica is to the total length as 1 to 3.69; in Segnette’s whale the proportion is 1 to 4; in the young whale of San Sebastian the proportion is still less, and approaches 1 to 5. We shall see further on that the whale stranded at Taranto in 1877 has the head extremely sroall’ 1 to.5.” * What is meant by the “head” in this and other discussions of proportions by various European authors is not clear. The length of the skull as compared with that of the skeleton is as follows in various American and European specimens : BALA{NA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. LENGTH OF SKULL. = 2 — — No. of times length of skull is con- ean oe tained in length of skeleton. BOEnGrIty (GITATIESEOM spon Gercrere erst ese c. eles ete s vena g 373 F. W. T. Sales Gbastlany SO PalNiyese. «1 e.0,<\c1e ore «is «ve 3-63 Gasco Guetaria La eae ire at soiese 3.63 Graells (CamemUOOkOUby Ne Crerecte tre iersretye cine evo 3 3.53 | Ee aWiew dee INE Wal (ELS CV cteretoretavcre stove eveveeraa cireyeieys\ ata'a) 3-74 Cope Winer COmpslitall Votezeyclese\svereiieverelsis\ersye, #1 6 aieje1 ve 2 Avra Gasco It will be observed that the proportion is remarkably constant in both the American and the European specimens, considering the uncertainties involved in comparing measurements made by different observers. The Taranto skeleton alone offers a marked departure. Considering the whole series, it hardly seems probable that there is any real foundation for the character brought forward by Fischer. 1 Incorrect—Gasco gives 13 pairs, but considers that there may have been rq pairs. 2“*From the animal in the flesh; but from the skeleton this proportion is not more than 1 to 3.98, or in round number, 1 to 4.” (Foot-note by FISCHER.) * Type of B. cisarctica, Cope’s measurements. My own measurements give 3.84. “See Fischer’s foot-note. 268 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. Nore.—Since the foregoing account of Balena glacialis was written, I have received from Mr. J. Henry Blake of Cambridge, Mass., some measurements of the male specimen found dead off Highland, Cape Cod, Mass., April, 1895. These are as follows: ft. in. Per cent. Total length, tip of lower jaw to notch of flukes............. 42 5 100.0 Tip of lower jaw to ant. insertion of pectoral............... 17) 0 40.0 Upper jaw. to blowhole sai. sy seroetasrereeseicio cee ee eee ere One 21.6 * s). = ants insertion\of pectoralix.--uaemeereecee eee 14 0 33.0 Length of pectoral from anterior insertion.................- 6 © 14.1 Breadthiof pectoral icra /sastucrars enka tieinene seers 2) 10 6.5 Breadth of flukes (tip to notch and notch to tip again)........ 13 6 31.8 engthvof blowholesisa.,.cjocicrinaceiermeiiericiereirectaars o 8 Distance between blowholes anteriorly.............. 0.0000 Omny ongest> whalebonesjeee ecco neon seve eicistetotsts apo. Gf : A large, flat knob, or “bonnet,” near tip of upper jaw. Several large, long knobs on the median line of the caudal peduncle superiorly, near the flukes. Notch of flukes narrow and deep. Whalebone all black. This individual is figured on_plate 46, figs. 1, 2. CHAPTER IX. WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN, Present knowledge of the large whales of the west coast of North America rests almost exclusively on the observations of Capt. C. M. Scammon, made more than thirty years ago. The record of these observations, together with some pieces of whalebone, bones, ete. was sent by Capt. Scammon to the Smithsonian Insti- tution. The manuscript was placed by the secretary of the Institution in the hands of Professor E. D. Cope, who edited it and published it in the name of Capt. Scammon, and at the same time described a number of the species as new (83). Later, Capt. Scammon published his well-known work entitled Marine Mam- mals of the Northwestern Coast of North America (82), in which additional informa- tion was given regarding the various species, together,with more elaborate figures. This work was accompanied by an appendix by Mr. Wm. H. Dall, giving a list of species and valuable measurements, references to specimens, ete. In 1872 Capt. Scammon published a description of a small Balenoptera, under the name of 5. davidsoni, which had been omitted from the large work (81). Very little has been added since Capt. Scammon’s time either in the way of new observations or specimens, and the present knowledge of these West Coast whales is still very incomplete. In 18938 the skeleton of a Humpback whale from the West Coast was exhib- ited in the World’s Columbian Exposition. A few notes on it which I made at the exposition are given on a subsequent page. Photographs of a Humpback killed in Henderson Bay, Puget Sound, were obtained by the National Museum in 1896. In 1899 a fine adult skeleton of a West Coast Finback, which had been formerly the property of Prof. Cope, was mounted and exhibited in the Wistar In- stitute, Philadelphia. The greater part of the material sent to the Smithsonian Institution by Capt. Scammon in 1869 and subsequent years is still in the National Museum, and has been examined and verified by the writer. Observations of the large whales of the western shores of the North Pacific have been recorded by Pallas (72, 286-288), Temminck and Schlegel, Gray (43, 96; 54, 1; 55, 48), Mobius (70), and others. These observations, of course, throw light on the identity of the species of the American coasts and the scientific names in some instances doubtless have priority over those of Cope. While it is not possible at the present time to investigate the identity of the species in the same detail as in the case of the Atlantic species, it seems desirable to review the subject in the present connection, and to add such new information as has accumulated. 269 270 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. It is certain, as pointed out by Van Beneden (8, 234) and others, that the whales of the North Pacific bear a strong resemblance to those of the North Atlantic, so much so that the question of their identity with them may properly be raised. To this statement a notable exception must be made in the case of the Gray whale, Rhachianectes, which has no counterpart in the North Atlantic, since it is now certain that the genus Agaphelus of Cope, supposed to be based on an allied Atlantic species, is fictitious. There is no reasonable doubt that the following Atlantic and Pacific species are closely allied in the manner indicated : PACIFIC SPECIES. ATLANTIC SPECIES. “Cullamach” whale allied to Balena glacialis Bonnat. Megaptera versabilis “ “ Megaptera nodosa “ Balenoptera velifera “ “ Balenoptera physalus (1..) Sibbaldius sulfureus “ “ Balenoptera musculus (1.) Balenoptera davidsoni “ “ LBalenoptera acuto-rostrata (Lac.) Balenoptera borealis of the eastern North Atlantic has no representative, so far as known at present, in the North Pacific,—an interesting circumstance. Balena sieboldit Gray (?). The whale mentioned by Scammon under the name of the “Right whale of the Northwestern Coast,” must be dismissed with a few words, as no new material is at command by means of which to determine its identity. Scammon (82, 66) states that “the color of the Right whale is generally black, yet there are many individuals with more or less white about the throat and pectorals, and sometimes they are pied all over. Its average adult length may be calculated at 60 feet—it rarely attains to 70 feet,—and the two sexes vary but little in size. Its head is very nearly one third the length of the whole animal, and the upper intermediate portion, or the part between the spiracles and ‘bonnet,’ has not that even spherical form, or the smooth and glossy surface present with the Bowhead, but is more or less ridgy crosswise. Both lips and head have wart-like bunches moderately developed, and in some cases the upper surface of the head and fins is infested with parasitical crustaceans.” Pechuel in 1871 (73, 1184) published a figure of a Right whale killed near the Aleutian Ids. during his expedition. It resembles Scammon’s figure in a general way, but is entirely black. No measurements could be taken on account of stormy weather. The whalebone, as far as may be judged from pieces in the National Museum, is entirely black, occasionally with a bluish or greenish tinge, but without the dis- tinct whitish stripes which occur in many specimens of the whalebone of B. mysti- cetus. The bristles are coarser than in the latter species. The following are the lengths of the pieces in the National Museum which may be assigned to this species : THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 271 Length. No. 57,135. “Japan.” Bought of Wm. Philips & Son, New Bedford, Mass., 1883... 8 ft. 6 in. memng.ggc. Sea of Japan. Capt. C. M.Scammon, 1873.........cceu+ssse lene seus Sy pez are mZs088., IN. We coast. of America. Capt. ©. M. Scammon.....--.<-cs.se-seen Si) eo ea 57,134. “Northwest.” Bought of Wm. Philips & Son, New Bedford, Mass., 1883 7 “ 2 “ Regarding this species, Van Beneden remarked in 1875 (5, 37): “It seems to us demonstrated and confirmed to-day . . . that the whale of the coasts of Japan is a distinct species, and occurs in the North Pacific as the Basque whale occurs in the North Atlantic.” Megaptera versabilis Cope. Cope described this species from the data furnished by Scammon (83, 15). These data include the following characters : 1. “A short body with immense belly, and frequently diminutive ‘small’; inordinately large pectorals and flukes.” 2. “A protuberance, of variable shape and size in different individuals, placed on the back about one fourth the length from the flukes, is called the hump.” 3. “The top of the head is dotted with irregular rounded bunches, that project above the surface about a half inch, each covering about two inches of space.” 4, “Number of folds on the belly twenty-six, averaging in width from four to eight inches.” 5. “Color of body black, under side of pectorals white. Frequently the under side of the flukes is white likewise, and sometimes the greater portion of the belly.” 6. “The Humpback has also growing on its body what are termed barnacles, which appear to collect most on the fins, flukes, and head.” “The following measurements and memoranda were taken by Capt. F. S. Redfield, of the whaling and trading brig Manuella, while cruising in Behring Sea, September 17th, 1866”?: Ft In. Eyxcbrem) eve mt hvreteferisss)<) efe!slel levels eieleys¥sler vie vele/elelorel(ekejoveusieisisnersleyonercelelt= 49 7 WemothvofspectoralSccetejueiecs. clorcte e ef-ieicieleiereiors crelo.e) v= "arsvay sveleyele =) ototeietae 13 Fi Breadth “ NG a eevee rahe Bak a Me elaine \uevaeniecs. sielerstereme eae sett 3 2 Distance Hrom snout tO PECtOLAlS sey nieje)ersie/ wie: ele clei iele) elelelel = escleuehetatey= [2 oO * PeMMICOMMET Of MOU LOsSHOWCa tarts ci eisicielelesvietercuetelerenaterere ile 9 6 SME Y.ChUORSTO (Lt tereteyeqetsteyonetere:sferefate osla\ehelelaten teks feueretos systeteny SLO 2 Ss & Gspoutholes tor SnOUtss sine civic cveiere o -inialaheio's iia leie et siatelai 9 4 IB TEAC EHNO taf UkeSheerers cists e1/ sis) s)s/cieiel ais eis uelsiere) civ ieiels) fel eleiel=s nieve! «tats 15 7 TD) Leen Buse Perel aro Pel efsta iatarevohetevscalisioh crop store) sieielsy cint=lnanfescentaiaiey rotors 3 4 Distance fromyanus toflukes.. 2205.6 sce nee sas wees os cornet com II 6 ss * Teenitallslit to flukes. 000 1.c/00cu esis ssi sosleelniese 17 o Length of folds on belly...........0-eee cece ee cece eee eee e enc eee 16 fo) Whole breadth of folds on belly..........220 cece ecce ee eeeeteeeees IO ° ‘These measurements were corrected in the Marine Mammals, p. 39, and the later figures are given here. 272 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Ft. In. Distance from flukesito hwmpis..-.)ce. 0 ace ae eet ecie ierieretee 12 3 Rength*of humpyaloneithe backic> cipal eae econ 3 ° FCT OE 9s Une ecistenitassloreust 8s, Sateen lester ene eee en I ° Depthyofssmall close to flukes. sccrysertereeiels Ciera eae teree 2 6 Mhicknessof small closeito ukesia. on ee see isei reine eo eine I 6 The characters included in the foregoing paragraphs are all identical with those of MW. nodosa, except that relating to the position of the dorsal fin, which is said to be “about one fourth the length from the flukes,” while in JZ. nodosa the distance from the posterior margin of the flukes is almost exactly one third the total length. This character is undoubtedly drawn from the measurements cited above. How far these measurements are reliable can not be exactly ascertained. As given in the Marine Mammals, they are considerably changed from the figures of 1869. It will be seen later that in another specimen measured by Scammon the distance from the posterior margin of the dorsal fin to the snout was exactly two thirds the total length. The length of the pectorals, according to these measurements, is 27.4 % the total length, as against 27.0 % to 31.0 % in MZ. nodosa. The breadth of the pee- torals is 6.4 %, against 6.1% to 7.6% in MZ. nodosa; height of dorsal fin, 2.0 % against 1.9 % to 2.5 %. The approximation must be regarded as very close. Professor Cope considered the presence of tubercles on top of the head as constituting a distinguishing character, but such is, of course, not the case. Scammon’s observations in the Marine Mammals (82) include those employed by Cope in establishing the species MZ. versabilis, with others of equal importance. He gives notes on the color and some other features of three additional specimens from California. These are as follows: No. 1. Kemale. Color of body, black above, but more or less marbled with white below. Fins, black above, and dotted with white beneath. Number of folds on throat and breast, 21, the widest of which were 6 inches. No. 2. Female. Color of body black, with slight marks of white beneath. Color of pectorals, black above, white below. Color of flukes, black above and below. Gular folds, 18. Tubercles on lips, 9. No. 8. Female. Color of body black above, slightly mottled with white and gray below. Fins and flukes, black above, white beneath. Number of laminz of whalebone 540; black, streaked with white, or light lead color. Scammon remarks further : “The usual color of the Humpback is black above, a little lighter below, slightly marbled with white or gray; but sometimes the animal is of spotless white under the fins and about the abdomen. ‘The posterior edge of the hump, in many examples, is tipped with pure white” (82, 41). After referring to the various normal species of Gray, Seammon adds: “ We have frequently recognized, upon the California coast, every species here THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 273 described, and even in the same school or ‘gam.’ Moreover, we have experienced the greatest difficulty in finding any two of these strange animals externally alike, or possessing any marked generic or specific differences. If the differences pointed out as constituting different species are maintained, we conclude there must be a great number. We have observed, both in the dead and living animals, the follow- ing different external marks: Ist. Body black above, white beneath. 2d. Body black above and below, with more or less white mottling under the throat and above the abdomen ; pectoral and caudal fins white beneath, or slightly spotted with black. 3d. Body black above, white beneath, with underside of pectoral and caudal fins of a dark ash-color. 4th. Body black above, with gray mottling beneath. In all of these varieties, both the caudal and pectoral fins differ in shape and size; the latter in some individuals being exceedingly long, narrow, and pointed, while others are comparatively short and broad, as shown in the outline (page 47), which also shows the parasites, commonly called barnacles, adhering to the throat, pectorals, and caudal fin. There are still others whose pectorals are of intermediate proportions, but terminate abruptly, as seen on page 48, which also represents the scalloped flukes present in some of the individuals. Again, in other examples, the caudal fin is narrow, pointed, and lunate; in others, still, it is broad, and nearly straight on the posterior edge. All these varieties feed and associate together on the same ground, and in every particular their habits are the same, so far as we have been able to ascertain from careful observation ; all, likewise, are infested by the same parasites. As to the dorsal protuberance called the hump, it is, as has been previously stated, of no regular shape or size, but is nearly of a uniform height; the posterior edge is sometimes tipped with white. As to the tubercles on the head and lips, they were present on all we have examined, twenty or more speci- mens ; those about the head are always well-developed, while those upon the lips, in many individuals, are scarcely perceptible. In some instances, however, they equal or exceed those which crown the skull. There is no regularity in the number of gular folds, which, as far as observed, vary in number from eighteen to twenty- six. In some cases they run parallel to each other; but usually there are several that either cross or terminate near the pectorals. The animals are all described as being black above; but in the examples which have been examined, there was not one when closely scrutinized, which did not reveal some light marks of white.” (82, 43, 44, foot-note.) It will be seen that the range of color variation is about the same in the Pacific Humpback, as in the Atlantic species. The pectorals are perhaps more fre- quently black externally, but as they are also pure white at times, as shown by the photographs above-mentioned, this can hardly be looked upon as indicating a specific difference. (See pl. 41, figs. 1, 2. The number of abdominal ridges is not different from that found in J/. nodosa. One peculiarity merits attention. in the Pacific Humpback are occasionally gray. which I examined were all black and white, without gradation or intermingling so as to produce shades of gray, but Rawitz (74) has stated that one of the Humpbacks examined by him at Bear Id., Norway, was gray on the throat. Scammon gives measurements of the three specimens above mentioned, which, together with a part of the earlier ones, are as follows : Scammon states that some parts of the body The Newfoundland Humpbacks 274 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. MEGAPTERA VERSABILIS COPE. CALIFORNIA AND BERING SEA. Nome No. 2. No. 3. Bering Sea. Measurement. Cue Ditto. Ditta. 1866, 6 Seennnen. B ge Scammon. ft, | Int ft. in ftsamin: fia (RMN (yale gamed onnoomeopoctadoCdmS oot Dd 48 o 48 0 ZO 49 7 STOUt tOVEYCS arerere tere ote Geisler cere tose) ofshereitt ietsioeataten= 1G) NeTOl | Nemoto reer. 2 Sh Oz Sa tblowholestayiemacce erent errr 8240 ull Pe eeswen TO) Ors Ont oT ese cornerofamouthee.srierise steerer fo! NO |) seen. TINO} OMmO oy eee spectoralss saccrsersas) tachometer xe] LO 10 16 6 i reanee [22 950 Be dorsal firntsscrersierciseceys ak Cite teteterteionaoret 28 o Saeed || Mecedies ell ge eeeene Notch of flukes totanus ya. acta fortsctornet ee | elo ET AGP Scots De nO a So See genitalaslituee ste seepectocs Bool) i 3c 112. 10 steiereiste 177 0 Niavielitosgenttall SMthe-sietscteciscrersterer eines G ©) jl onoeea || csooos! || psoaved Tsengthiofipectorals sei. ohe a sdeteretekae et a-eeissvoiols 13) 10 ray 12) 10 037) Breadthvof pectoralsica).crec <1. cvee tier = -i-fsterneraioans ans 200 3°16 Sees eight ofidorsalifinl sere sec = lac rere ticki On COMMA acer) UGab toc ToeO Tenet, st) Seeley well sry ricemetdtesierneereeteietreey™ Ae 10% ll Gece : 3 EO Breadth of flukes from tip/to tipi .4-)-.2 «12's ofertere 18 oOo TA ON erercescs 5 | Antero-posterior breadth of lobes of flukes....... 30 o Ao 38 ore Bo IDO Hibs omloco ooo cons SoaonouS Dono. co0D page 2.20% || steisteises- ail) acetetecten allen MSayeqd oye Chapias Eidos octus obooaDOD hoop odnd OT aevarsrcie ies | metenetey neat || elena Hae Scoaenitaltslityhytnertaemcie -ieatecrtelreter 3 GY | ebeosso |! Hono: steel From: pectorals totop (of back. ))0 fy. t ere meres Ai 1G) fi acer seucn ill” veto ceheen | MmreySeane “corner of mouth to top of head............ ao eal|| Pecieteisters 5 56 Wpreyentostoprob hea d james crcpstrts mistake lores cere 4 6 fae (eg otaren: : ere Ginth¥below, pectoral. yrs steefocss tenet ale exevarcietcr= LTT I Saas steiner sects Depth of caudal peduncle at insertion of flukes.... Ty 0) eieereren= pete Bano Ieengthuofilongest baleen. cra crecsc) crete tecssereueiefere crests] Mere rNalere 2 9 BY SIA Wier ovens Breadth “ “ Se eae c ome she everest acnle Coseere 10 Oneg ~e Moray doMo}e Joab Ao Ore SEM Nooeaecodoo uae scebcccnl| soooon ly ooacos Oasis Lillmectrecoe Reduced to percentages of the total length, these measurements are as follows : MEGAPTERA VERSABILIS COPE. CALIFORNIA AND BERING SEA. INO. I. California. No. 2. No. 3. B ee a 1872. Ditto. Ditto. ease ea. Scammon. roe: Sexean Gua eneyacieriielbetereetore onsets Bearer Peres g Q 2 3 Total length ’scrioa se curse tne sols aresteiei tn oe 48' 0” 48’ 0” 52’ 0” 49 7” % % % & Snoutitoreyeset oe vas eae che eee erica aoe 20.8 oe [23.2] 20.5 0 USS Vblowholesicc, sa7..t).0% erates ei tre neiornt aves TOO.) Nh! Geter [18.6] 18.8 Su (ho (pectoralsi ny. nvr soe cty tele errr a 33-3 Bata: il” aerattaeic pt luamapycratets = postsmarein of dorsalehn es ctee ee [66.6], | aceasta reall eens Méenigthyofspectonalstty.yeret-retsenst-eiey eerie teeieaner= 27.1 27.1 2301 27.5 Breadth “ OT AUS. odo A terete rete eee oes Remote reise wer 6.2 7.0 6.4 Heightiotid onsalifini eyes et) cl cteleta shee ter eee Lia Wilheaeceatttee: : 2.0 Breadth: ofiilwkester smectic elceriec eek tokctottcker: 37-5 30.0 Mote Sia! * From lower jaw. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 2100 The averages of these several percentages, compared with those of the three Snook’s Arm, Newfoundland, Humpbacks which I measured, are as follows: MEGAPTERA VERSABILIS AND M. NODOSA. NORTH PACIFIC AND NEWFOUNDLAND. North Pacific. Newfoundland. Measurement. | ee ee 2 le : % | % LOM EEL ORCC myer Neucie eter si suonsiaisusercrenstareicrcistee eleva a etnotcion elomioter: (3) 22-5 24.7 pene Dlowholes.-trrsismysen = &S Coron Olds she «acsines gate Rao ec el ee Sie taye 63“ * For these measurements I am indebted to Prof. H. L. Osborn, St. Paul, Minn. THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 281 In the following table the measurements of the skull are reduced to percentages of its total length and compared with the average measurements of American B. physalus already given (p. 188): BALASNOPTERA PHYSALUS AND B. VELIFERA ? SKULL. East Coast California Measurement: B. physalus. skull. Total length of skull....... REE ey a CoN Te as EE NPS Ta 100 % 100 % h % (Greatest brea dither sissies cise lc aud chs, $:2/ sv0h.600, 0 oheteaars oie eietedhcls 47.1 48.0 Breadthvoforbital border of frontal... 26... 66. ce eee cece ee 10.6 | 10.3 Meme Geo tien Strliin memereietoeteteleleyefole ool cien sie ieisccls sicko sc ieievelcions ee) ohegs 67.2 69.1 Breadthvofunostrumvat mid@les0. 2 sea. see ore cee Secs cee en ae 19.6 21.4 imencthot mandiblein’ straight line)... 3... wees eee cece 93-9 94.8 Wepthwormandiblecatithe middle... 2. cs .ecsce use eeu wciee 6.7 7.0 The correspondence in proportions between the East and West Coast skulls is close, except that the California skull has a somewhat longer and broader beak than the average East Coast specimen. In these respects it is, however, below the maxi- mum of B. physalus, as will be seen by consulting the table on p. 183. It should be stated also that as the premaxille were not in place in the Cali- Fic. 94. E Fic. 95. Fic. 96. BALAHNOPTERA VELIFERA COPE? CALIFORNIA. Fic. 94.—SKULL. FIG. 95.—CERVICAL AND DorsAL VERTEBR&. FIG. 96.—LUMBAR VERTEBR#. FROM BELOW. (WISTAR INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA.) fornia skull when measured, an allowance had to be made for their extension beyond the maxille. This amount (74 in.) may have been a trifle too great. By reference to the measurements of Atlantic skeletons of B. physalus given on page 144, it will be found that the average breadth of the scapula is 26.4 % of the length of the skull, while in the California skeleton it is 26.0 %; the average depth of the scapula in the Atlantic skeletons is 15.9% and in the California specimen 282 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. 16.1% The length of the radius shows an equally close agreement—17.3 % in the Atlantie specimens, 17.5 % in the California skeleton, All the bones of the California skeleton are rugged and massive, and there can be no doubt that it represents the adult state. The bony rings formed by the lateral processes of the axis are very broad; its neural arch and spine are low, but thick and quadrate in form. The neural spines of the cervicals and the first two dorsals are low and triangular, but farther back increase rapidly in size and become broad, high, and quadrate. The first four pairs of ribs are furnished with capitular processes, of which those of the second and third pairs are longest. The penulti- mate pair of ribs is shorter than the last pair, and both are much straighter than the preceding pairs. The first rib is short and flat, and broad at the free end. The form of the sternum (see text fig. 82), though resembling in a general way that of adults of B. physalus, does not correspond exactly to the sternum of any specimen of that species thus far figured, as will be seen by consulting the figures on pages 140, 141. The anterior portion is broadly pentagonal, with an emar- ginate anterior border and a central vacuity. Attached posteriorly is a narrow segment, which near the middle of its length diminishes again in width rather abruptly. The scapula has the outline characteristic of 5. physalus, the superior margin quite straight, but bent down sharply behind, while the anterior margin makes an angle of about 45° with the plane of the edges of the glenoid fossa. The acromion is large and club-shaped (see text fig. 97; also pl: 7, fig. 3). This skeleton is more noticeable for its agreement with 5. physalus than for any distinguishing characters. The shape of the sternum, on the whole, presents the greatest difference, and in a part which varies so much as this the importance of this differ- ence cannot be strongly insisted upon. The measurements of the San Clemente Id. specimen, given below, are not as trustworthy as could be wished for, since it appears probable that the fins and other parts were more or less distorted by drying and other post-mortem changes. They are as follows: SS FIG. 97. Total length from tip of mandible to tip of flukes............-... 55 ft. oin. ‘Lip of snout to) blowholewrse se eiceieveteciiaesie cies welres esl aclelete doe (SOs lace Length (of pectoral! = from shoulder-joint 2. +. <)-.- + eee eee Sia Height of dorsallefinieprspxsrctsiste tcsictet terete seis) Sotensreioicks evorete aoe errr Ota Ls Breadth of flukes .iviaae, retro vereGioosoao yocin os Goris ercte ieerergere Oued O ns Notch of flukes to posterior base of dorsal..............0eeee00 TOue if Miprof mandiblestoteyere merece erie ere erates 1 a aa Professor Osborn states that the whale, as preserved, was black, and quotes Capt. J. H. Hoe, who captured the specimen, to the effect that “the whalebone THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 283 was white in front and across the throat, with a white fringe on the entire roof of the mouth—the rest was jet black.” This last statement would indicate that the whale was allied to B. borealis, but coming to me at second-hand, I do not know how much reliance to place upon it. Reducing the measurements above given to percentages of the distance from the notch of the flukes to the posterior margin of the dorsal fin, which seems likely to be the most reliable measurement, we have the following as compared with the Newfoundland specimen of B. physalus No. 7 which was of about equal size: 3 Newfoundland San Clemente specimen. Id. specimen. ¢ gZ fe % Distance from notch of flukes to posterior base of dorsal... 100.0 100.0 iprotsnoutatorblowholexn. cei «ae cneee one eee oe eeretees 71.8 76.6 Iengthvof pectoral from shoulder... ....2cse.005 «= ela HO: 53-4 Hleightoftdorsall fae. < «eres w= cere Si Sieysi onayeg dict aagenewa tof eee SO 10.8 BTEAC TMU O fate varofereralsiselsteis/orry sieves ie cleanin entoollsies a eieiae 92.2 93-2 The approximation shown is interesting, but it is neither sufficiently close nor sufficiently remote to justify any positive assertions in the case. It remains to mention the specimen examined by Dr. L. Stejneger on Bering Id. in 1882, which may be supposed to represent 5. velifera. It was not a fresh specimen, having lain on the beach for a long time prior to Dr. Stejneger’s visit. His description and measurements are given in the Proceedings of the National Museum (85, 74, 75). In a general way they agree with B. physalus, but the head is pro- portionately much shorter, and the dorsal fin farther forward (see p. 117). Dr. Stejneger remarks incidentally that the height of the dorsal fin was about 5 the total length, which latter was 64 times the length of the pectorals. This would make the dorsal a little higher and the pectorals much longer than in B. physalus. In these respects there is an approach to the proportions of the San Clemente Id. specimen given above and to the proportions casually mentioned by Scammon, and it is possible that B. vclifera is characterized by larger fins than B. physalus. A rigid comparison of measurements, however, is not feasible." Dr. Stejneger brought back three pieces of the whalebone of the Bering Id. specimen (14504 U.S. N. M.; original No. 1629). These are yellowish-white and grayish, and striped precisely as in B. physalus, from which they present no tangible differences. The three pieces are of the following dimensions respectively : (a) length, without bristles, 28 in., width at base 84 in.; (4) length 24 in., width ‘TL in, (probably much wider originally) ; (¢) length 17 in., width 6 in. The smallest piece is almost entirely translucent yellowish-white, with but two prominent dark stripes, while the largest piece is nearly all dark and opaque in the deeper layers, though in part superficially overlaid with translucent light-colored layers. In spite of various apparent deviations, I am of the opinion that the evidence 'For example, Dr. Stejneger states, as just mentioned, that the height of the dorsal fin was ’ 2 sas 2 ; Ee * ° about 3/5 the total length. In the table of measurements, however, the total length is given as 51.69 ft., while the height of the dorsal is 1.37 ft. or about yy. 284 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO. above given indicates that 5. velifera does not differ at all from B. physalus, or in other words is identical with that species, except perhaps in the greater length of the pectorals. Even this difference is of doubtful validity as the remainder of the skeleton appears to coincide with 5. physalus. Much more material from the West Coast must be examined before the ques- tion can be settled. Speaking of Scammon’s work, Van Beneden remarks in 1889 : “The Balenop- tera musculus [= B. physalus (l.)| bears the name therein of Balenoptera velifera” (7, 155). He had probably never seen any specimens, however, and his opinion is no doubt based on the descriptions of Cope, Dall, and Scammon. BAL&NOPTERA SULFUREUS (Cope). This species was described by Cope in 1869 from data furnished by Scammon (see p. 90). His brief account was as follows: “ Sibbaldius sulfureus Cope. “The Sulphur-Bottom of the North West Coast. “This immense whale is as yet too insufficiently known to be distinguished as fully as desirable, but the marked peculiarity of coloration separates it from the only species with which a comparison is necessary—the S. borealis or gigas of the North Atlantic. Capt. Scammon describes it to be a gray or brown above, paler than on the Lalenoptera velifera, and beneath, a sulphur yellow. Length from seventy to ninety feet. The colors of the S. borealis are described as polished black above, milky white beneath, by Dubar” (83, 20). The characters given by Cope were undoubtedly drawn from the account given by Scammon in the latter part of the same article (83,51). In this account the following points were mentioned regarding the species : It is the largest whale on the coast of California. Length approximately 70 to 90 feet. Body more slender than in the California Gray whale. Pectorals and flukes of the same proportions as in “the Finback” and the Gray whale. Color on the back and sides somewhat lighter than in “the Finback,” beneath of a yellowish cast, or sulphur color. Dorsal fin much smaller than in “the Finback,” and a little nearer the flukes. Head, throat, and whalebone in shape like those of “the Finback.” Occurs at all seasons on the coast of California. A specimen captured off St. Bartolme Bay in 1857 by the bark Lagrange, was 85 feet in length and yielded about 90 barrels of oil. In 1870, in his article on Megaptera bellicosa, Prof. Cope added a description of the whalebone of the species, four laminse of which had been sent to the Smith- sonian Institution by Capt. Scammon. He summarizes the characters of the species as follows (29, 108) : THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 285 “ Dorsal fin small, conic, situated on the posterior fourth of the back. Form slender ; length 70 to 90 feet. Color, above, gray or brown ; below, sulphur yellow.” The whalebone is described as follows : “Baleen black everywhere. Bristles intermediate in size between those of Sibbaldius tectirostris Cope (finer), and Megaptera osphyia (coarser), in 6 or 8 rows, and 7 or 8 inches in length. Length of plate, without bristles, 2 ft. 8 inches; width of base 18 inches. amine with weak transverse rugosities” (29, 108). In the Marine Mammals, Scammon did not add any information of importance, but changed the estimate of length from 70-90 ft. to 60-100 ft. He also in- cludes the following data, furnished by Capt. Roys of the bark Jceland, of a Sulphur- bottom, presumably this species, taken by him at some locality not stated : NG rut Meeroesraperesesstsecleysteietoteyeticter cicesvopotat favatsystorci stay emietot te cieheteteters 95 ft. (et re eee ayenaterct teysi's eves: stave state’ kateh sieve. aeays.evepe onspar te he telerei oes 39 ~ IFEMO EDO LJ aW DOME Havetste >. <= c/suscreleisters/ sieve areas clot aieretersiersecle Zils Won testawinal ed OMem ateyersis ecarsteroiepeteuerc che Sisto enabe (oleate eetotele Aan Wiel drotiwhalebonemejsicmiccr ya ice sa steel etree eee eee 800 lbs. Wave lB ote Ol era. rere Neacvetrs eieisiek teas steer eevee sie ferciie tere eeicte tro bbls. From these several records, it is evident that B. su/fureus is a species allied to the B. musculus of the Atlantic. If there is any real basis for separation, it would appear to be in the color of the body, and possibly in the greater length of the whalebone. The latter is given as 4 feet in Capt. Roys’s 95 ft. Pacific speci- men, while the longest Newfoundland whalebone I could find was but 32 inches long, and the average only 24.7 in. It is possible of course that in the case of the Pacific specimen the bristles were included. As these are 1 ft. to 18 in. long they would make up a total length of 4 ft. or more. The total length of 95 feet is in excess of the largest reliable measurement for B. musculus, namely, 88 ft. 6 in., but taken alone this fact can not be given much weight. Scammon published two figures of . sul/fureus, one a crude outline, in the article edited by Cope (83, fig. 11), and the other in the Marine Mammals (82, pl. 13). The latter is a finely shaded figure, beautifully proportioned. If it is accu- rate, B. sulfureus, we must believe, is quite different from B. musculus in color and proportions. The pectoral fin js represented as very broad and blunt, with an irregular anterior margin. The dorsal is very much reclined. The color is repre- sented as very dark or black on the back, and white or very light on the entire lower half of the body, with a quite sharp demarkation from the dark color of the back. The anterior margin of the pectoral isdark. The pectoral folds are narrow at the posterior end and broad at the anterior end, and reach up very close to the margin of the lower lip in an absolutely regular succession. The caudal peduncle is very narrow at the insertion of the flukes. In these particulars the figure is quite unlike B. musculus. The coloration, as represented, is more like that of B. physalus. The arrangement of the folds and the shape of the caudal peduncle are unlike any Finback whale with which I am acquainted. Unfortunately, the figure, like all the others in the book, appears to 286 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. have been “improved” by the lithographers. Scammon’s rough outline figure does not help to understand the more elaborate one. While in general it resembles B. musculus, the folds, ete. are laid on in a very indifferent manner, so that exact comparisons are out of the question, It is to be remarked that Scammon states that the color of the under surfaces of the body is “of a yellowish cast, or sulphur color.” The Newfoundland Sulphur- bottoms which I examined were not of this color, though certain individuals, both of this species and of the common Finback, were more or less tinged with yellowish. This tinge was, however, purely an external manifestation, due either to an oily exudation from the skin, or to slime in the water or the oily matter in the food. The oily coating could be readily rubbed off, when the skin was seen to be gray. If the Pacific coast Sulphurbottoms are really furnished with a yellow pigment under the epidermis, this constitutes a difference from their Atlantic ally. I can not help feeling that the name Sulphurbottom had something to do with the assertion that the under surfaces of the body were sulphur color. If Scammon really had an opportunity to see a specimen of B. sulfureus close at hand, it is very remarkable that he did not comment on the extraordinary mottled coloration, if the species is at all like 4. musculus in that regard. We must believe, either that he never saw a specimen, or that the species is very differently colored from 2B. musculus, and therefore quite distinct. Considering that the whalebone is precisely like that of B. musculus in color and form, and that Scammon does not anywhere state definitely that he examined fresh specimens of the animal, the probabilities are in favor of a similarity rather than a diversity of color. The whalebone which Prof. Cope mentions as having been received by the Smithsonian Institution from Capt. Scammon is not now to be found. There are, however, in the National Museum two pieces (Nos. 18984-5 U. 8. N. M.) labelled as having been obtained by Capt. Scammon at Monterey, Cal., in 1878, and 8 pieces (No. 72692 U.S. N. M., Eth.) obtained from the Makah Indians, Neah Bay, Wash- ington. These are all very thick and heavy, and entirely black, both blade and bristles. Of Capt. Scammon’s specimens one, No. 13984, is 284 in. long; the other, No. 13985, 274 in. long. The longest of the Neah Bay pieces, No. 72692, is 30 in. long. The inner edges are broken and the width at the base in the original state cannot be given. There is no appreciable difference between this whalebone and that of the Sulphurbottoms taken at Newfoundland. Since nothing is known of the osteology of this species and the present material is so scant, the questions concerning its identity can not now be satisfactorily determined. Regarding this species Van Beneden wrote in 1889 (7, 259): “The American and English whalers often speak of a Balenoptera under the name of Sulphurbottom. . . . We have many reasons to believe that this Sulphurbottom is also a synonym of B. Sibbaldii [= B. musculus L. |. That which confirms us in this identification is the examination which we have had occasion to make at Vienna, of some baleen designated by this name by Capt. Charles Scammon and which Prof. Steindachner had himself brought from San Francisco.” THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIO, 287 Pechuel (73, p. 1188, fig. A. 6) has a figure to which he gives the name Sid- baldius sulfureus, but it does not appear to have been based on the examination of specimens. He remarks: “T saw it singly or in pairs in the Pacific Ocean near the coast from Chili to California, but it is found also in the North Atlantic Ocean. The whalers are accustomed to hunt it under favorable conditions, but only a few proportionately are killed. We often gave chase to it but without any result, as the animals were too quick and too active.” RHACHTIANECTES GLAUCUS Co} ye, The California Gray whale, Grayback, or Devilfish, though known to whalers for a considerable time, was first introduced to science by Cope in 1868, under the name of Agaphelus glaucus, on the basis of a set of whalebone in the museum of the Essex Institute, Salem, Mass. (See p. 80.) Later in the same year he described the exterior of the animal and the skull and other parts of the skeleton from notes furnished by Mr. W. H. Dall. The genus Rhachianectes was established in 1869, with the following exceedingly brief diagnosis : Rhachianectes Cope. “This genus is now first characterized. Its only known species I originally united with Agaphelus Cope, but the form of the scapula is so different that it must be distinguished. While that of Agaphelus is identical with that of Balenoptera, it is in the present genus like that of Balena” (83, 15). Cope’s second article, published in 1868 (26, 226), contains Mr. W. H. Dall’s notes on two specimens observed at Monterey, California. The following external characters are given: No. 2.—“The lower jaw is 4 inches longer than the upper ; the blow-holes are entirely concealed by 4 dermal plice. . . . On the vertebral line, for 14 feet from the caudal flukes, is a series of 18 ridges, like the teeth of a saw, which are altogether dermal in their character. On each side of sulcus penis a mammary suleus a few inches shorter. Color above and below, black, with a gray bloom like a plum.” Cope remarks : “Two rough outlines accompany Capt. Dall’s notes. Both represent the pec- toral fin as rather elongate, not pointed, but rather broad at the extremity. A third sketch represents the inferior view, and in it we see two lines for grooves, one on each side of the median gular line. Phis feature, if existing, is interesting, as indicating a tendency to the plicw of the finback whales. 288 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. The whalebone of specimen No. 1 is described as “ light yellow.” In Scammon’s article, published in 1869, is a more extensive description of the external characters, as follows: “The California Gray is unlike other species of Balena in its color, being of a mottled gray ; some individuals, however, of both male and female, are nearly black. The jaw is curved downward from near the spoutholes to the ‘nib end,’ or snout, and is not so wide as that of the other species in proportion to the size of body. The length of the female is from 40 to 44 feet,’ the fully grown varying but little in size; its greatest circumference 28 to 30 feet, its ‘flukes’ 80 inches in depth and 10 feet broad. It has no dorsal fin. Its pectorals are 64 feet in length, and 24 feet in width, tapering from near the middle toward the end, which is quite pointed” It has a succession of ridges, crosswise along the back, from opposite the vent to the flukes. “The coating of fat, or blubber, is 6 to 10 inches in thickness, and of a reddish cast. The average yield of oil of the female is 40 barrels. The whalebone, or ‘baleen,’ of which the longest is 14 to 16 inches, is of a light brown color, the grain very coarse; the hair or fringe on the bone, likewise, is much coarser and not so even as that of the Right whale or Humpback. “The male may average 35 feet in length, but varies more in size than the female, and the average quantity of oil it produces may be reckoned at 25 barrels.” (83, 40-41.) This description was accompanied by two crude figures of the exterior, repre- senting the animal as black, with nearly regular blotches of gray all over the body, without a dorsal fin or furrows on the throat, and with the dorsal line near the flukes broken by a series of rounded sinuosities. The species was figured again by Scammon in his Marine Mammals, in 1874. Here it appears as gray, with a large amount of white irregularly scattered over the superior surfaces, as if snow had fallen on it. One short furrow is showr on the lower jaw and the dorsal outline is somewhat irregular. The description which accompanies this figure contains the following charac- ters, not given in the earlier one : “ Under the throat are two longitudinal folds, which are about 15 inches apart and 6 feet in length. The eye, the ball of which is at least 4 inches in diameter, is situated about 5 inches above and 6 inches behind the angle of the mouth. The ear, which appears externally like a mere slit in the skin, 24 inches in length, is about 18 inches behind the eye, and a little above it.” (82, 20.) Dall’s and Scammon’s descriptions agree well together, except that according 1 6 Forty-four feet, however, would be regarded as large, although some individuals have been taken that were much larger, and yielding sixty or seventy barrels of oil.” (Note by Scammon.) * “The size of flukes and fins usually varies but little in proportion to the whole.” (Note by Scammon.) THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 289 to the former the baleen is “light yellow,” while Scammon gives the color as “light brown.” Van Beneden states that the baleen in the Vienna museum is pale in color like that of B. acuto-rostrata. Dall’s sketch, according to Cope, showed the pectoral rounded at the tip, while Scammon states that it is pointed. Pechuel (73, 1186) described the color of this whale as variegated gray,—remarking that “many are entirely blotched; individuals entirely dark-colored are rarely seen.” Pechuel’s figure is very different from Scammon’s, having a much rounder and thicker head, and no irregularities on the median line of the back, and no furrows on the throat. It is rather a crude figure, though interesting in many particulars. Townsend’s figure of a fcetal specimen 17 ft. long, published in 1886 (90) shows a distinct crest on the back, extending from the flukes nearly half-way to the head. The free margin is irregular in outline. Townsend remarks regarding it: “The young Rhachianectes just before birth has a narrow, irregular longitudi- nal ridge along the posterior part of the back, which I did not observe in the adult. It extends from about opposite the vent to the flukes and is interrupted in many places. This ridge probably corresponds to the series of transverse ridges along the back of the adult as described by Scammon.” It is somewhat remarkable that the ridge was not seen in the adult. It is interesting to note that the Japanese, who appear to know this whale under the name of Kokujira, recognize two forms, one of which has the crenate ridge on the back, while the other has not.’ Scammon’s statement that the ridges are trans- verse is extremely interesting, and this character deserves further investigation, as it is quite unlike anything found in other whales. The two characteristic throat furrows are shown in Townsend’s figure. SIZE. Dall calculated the length of the two specimens examined by him at Monterey at 51 ft. and 48 ft. respectively; the latter a male. Scammon gave the length of the females as from 40 to 44 ft., but remarked that the latter would be considered large ; for the males he places the average at 35 ft., but states that they vary more in size than the females. In 1873, he gave measurements of a male 42 ft. long and stated that four other individuals were measured, ranging from 35 to 40 ft. A young male measured by Pechuel was 32 ft. long. Townsend in 1886 (90) published, as already mentioned, a figure of a foetal specimen 17 ft. long, from a female “nearly 40 feet long.” It would seem that one or the other of these measurements must be incorrect. The dimensions of different specimens are given by Scammon, Dall, and Pechuel, as follows: 1 See Mostus, Ueber den Fang und die Verwerthung der Walfische in Japan. Betlage su den Mitth. Sekt. Kiisten- und Hochsee-Fischerei, No. 7, July, 1894. 290 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. RHACHIANECTES GLAUCUS COPE. CALIFORNIA. os el ey Sea Measurement. ou Ee o. 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PLATE 49. Fic; ¥: FIG. 2. RA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LACEPEDI Fig. r.—Lirrte PIKED WHALE, BALASNOP 3 4LASNOPTERA BOREALIS (LESSON Fic. 2.—PoLtitacK WHALE, BALNOP1 ] Fic. 3.—CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALI SEAN os = ant ae IL ON To] fdda LYNNOG “OS aLlvid WIXXX “OA ‘AD037MON} OL SNOILNSINLNOD NVINOSHLINS uae rab ay bili es 1 At re vit i ast 1 i \ i f i | y i ; I ‘é ' ” i ' . ¥ h i Nee ri rh } jt \ ’ up { i } = 4 } i ‘ i f ee TM