LIBRARY

or THK

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

OIKT OK

Q

Class

V

SMITHSONIAN

CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE

VOL. XXXIII

EVERY MAN IS A VALUABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY WHO, BY HIS OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCHES, AND EXPERIMENTS, PROCURES

KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN.— SMITHSON.

CITY OF WASHINGTON

PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

1904

rf.

s- s

ADVERTISEMENT

THIS volume forms the thirty-third of a series, composed of original memoirs
on different branches of knowledge, published at the expense and under the direc-
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 JAMES
SMITHSON, 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 " increase 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 " SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 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 th-e 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,

O '

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 traths 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 sucli
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 :

IV ADVERTISEMENT.

DETAILS OF THE FIRST PART OF THE PLAN.

I. To INCREASE KNOWLEDGE. — It is proposed to stimulate research by offering
rewards for original memoirs on all subjects of investigation.

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 famish 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.

II. To INCREASE KNOWLEDGE. — It is 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.

O

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. V

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-
can 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.

I. To DIFFUSE KNOWLEDGE. — It is proposed to publish a series of reports, giving an
account of tlie 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 follovriny are some of the subjects which may be embraced in tlie reports :

I. PHYSICAL CLASS.

1. Physics, including astronomy, natural philosophy, chemistry, and meteor-
ology.

2. Natural history, including botany, zoology, geology, etc.

3. Agriculture.

4. Application of science to arts.

II. MORAL AND POLITICAL CLASS.

5. Ethnology,including particular history,comparative philology, antiquities, etc.

6. Statistics and political economy.

7. Mental and moral philosophy.

8. A survey of the political events of the world ; penal reform, etc.

VI ADVERTISEMENT.

III. 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.

II. To DIFFUSE KNOWLEDGE. — It is proposed to publish occasionally separate treatises

on subjects of general interest.

\. 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.

8. A small appropriation should annually be made for models of antiquities,
such as those of the remains of ancient temples, etc.

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 STA TES,
EX OFFICIO PRESIDING OFFICER OF THE INSTITUTION.

MELVILLE W. FULLER,

CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE UNITED STA TES,

CHANCELLOR OF THE INSTITUTION.

SAMUEL P. LANGLEY,

SECRETARY OF THE INSTITUTION.

RICHARD RATHBUN,

ASSISTANT SECRETARY.

VIII

MEMBERS EX OFFICIO OF THE INSTITUTION

THEODORE ROOSEVELT President of the United States.

(Vacancy) . V ice-President of tlie United States.

MELVILLE W. FULLER Chief Justice of the United States.

JOHN HAY Secretary of State.

LESLIE M. SHAW Secretary of tlie Treasury.

WILLIAM H. TAFT Secretary of War.

WILLIAM H. MOODY Attorney-General.

HENRY C. PAYNE Postmaster-General.

PAUL MORTON Secretary of the Navy.

ETHAN ALLEN HITCHCOCK Secretary of the Interior.

JAMES WILSON Secretary of Agriculture.

VICTOR H. METCALK Secretary of Commerce and Labor.

REGENTS

MELVILLE W. FULLER .... Chief Justice of the United States, Chancellor.

WILLIAM P. FRYE President of the Senate pro tempore.

SHELBY M. CULLOM Member of the Senate of the United States.

ORVILLE H. PLATT Member of the Senate of the United States.

FRANCIS M. COOKKELL .... Member of the Senate of the United States.

ROBERT R. HITT Member of the House of Representatives.

ROBERT ADAMS, JR Member of the House of Representatives.

HUGH A. DINSMORE Member of the House of Representatives.

JAMES B. ANGELL Citizen of Michigan.

ANDREW D. WHITE Citizen of New York.

RICHARD OLNEY Citizen of Massachusetts.

JOHN B. HENDERSON .... Citizen of Washington City.

ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL . . Citizen of Washington City.

GEORGE GRAY Citizen of Delaware.

CONTENTS

Advertisement jii

List of Officers, Members, and Regents of the Smithsonian Institution . . viii

The Whalebone Whales of the Western North Atlantic, Compared with those Occurring in
European Waters; with some Observations on the Species of the North Pacific.
By FREDERICK. W. TRUE. Published 1904. 410, vii, 332 pp., 50 plates. (Smith-
sonian Publication No. 1414.)

XI

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE

VOL. XXXIII.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES

OF THE

WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC

COMPARED WITH THOSE OCCURRING IN EUROPEAN WATERS

WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE SPECIES

OF THE NORTH PACIFIC

BY

FREDERICK W. 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
C. 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, Rliachianectes glaucus, has no counterpart in the Atlantic.

One well-known European species, the Pollack whale, Balcenoptera 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

IV 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.

S. P. LANGLEY,

SECRETARY.

Smithsonian Institution,

Washington, D. C., June, 1904.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

List of Text Figures. vii

Introduction 1

CHAPTER I.

The Earliest References to Whalebone Whales in American Waters 6

CHAPTER II.

A Chronological Account of Important Contributions to the Natural History of North

American Whalebone Whales 34

CHAPTER III.

A Review of Cope's and Scammon's Species 78

CHAPTER IV.

The Common Finback, Balcenoptera physalus (Linn.) 107

CHAPTER V.

The Sulphurbottom, Balcenoptera musculus (Linn.) 149

CHAPTER VI.

The Little Piked Whale, Balcenoptera aouto-rostrata Lacepede 192

CHAPTER VII.

The Humpback, Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre) 211

CHAPTER VIII.
The North Atlantic Right Whale, Balcena glacialis Bonnaterre 244

CHAPTER IX.

Whalebone Whales of the Eastern North Pacific Ocean 269

CHAPTER X.
Conclusions 297

APPENDIX ] . List of Works Cited 303

APPENDIX 2. American Specimens of Whalebone Whales in European Museums 308

EXPLANATION OP PLATES 311

INDEX. 319

LIST OF TEXT FIGURES.

PAGE

FIGURES 1 to 7. Dorsal Fin of Balcenoptera physalus 126

FIGURES 8 to 32. Sternum of Balcenoptera physalus i 140

FIGURES 33 to 36. Scapula of Balcenoptera physalus 142

FIGURES 37 to 44. Dorsal Fin of Balcenoptera musculus 172

FIGURES 45 to 48. Scapula of Balcenoptera musculus 186

FIGURES 49 to 50. Sternum of Balcenoptera musculus 187

FIGURES 51 to 52. Sketches of Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata, by JOSEPH P. THOMPSON 193

FIGURES 53 to 56. Scapula of Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata 203

FIGURES 57 to 66. Sternum of Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata 205

FIGURE 67. Pectoral Fin of Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata from Greenland 209

FIGURES 68 to 72. Dorsal and Pectoral Fins of Megaptera noclosa 227

FIGURES 73 to 78. Scapula of Megaptera nodosa 237

FIGURES 79 to 83. Sternum of Megaptera nodosa 239

FIGURE 84. Nasal Bone of Type-skull of Balcena cisarctica 252

FIGURES 85 to 87. Sternum of Balcena glacialis 258

FIGURES 88 to 93. Scapula of Balcena glacialis 259

FIGURES 94 to 96. Skeleton of Balcenoptera velifera (?), in the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia 281

FIGURE 97. Scapula of the same 282

For Explanation of Plates 1 to 50, see page 311.

vii

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WEST-
ERN NORTH ATLANTIC, COMPARED
WITH THOSE OCCURRING IN EURO-
PEAN WATERS; WITH SOME OBSER-
VATIONS ON THE SPECIES OF THE
NORTH PACIFIC.

BY FREDERICK W. TRUE,

HEAD CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM.

INTKODUCTION.

Several years ago I began a study of the species of whalebone whales which
frequent the western North Atlantic, with a view of ascertaining the facts regarding
their distribution and migrations. I was confronted at once by the uncertainty
in the nomenclature of the species frequenting European waters, with which the
American forms were known to be closely allied, and my first undertaking was to
ascertain the identity of the species described by Linnaeus in the tenth edition of
the Systema Naturae. The results of this search for correct scientific names were
published in 1898.1

Having fixed the names of the European species as far as possible, I next
endeavored to locate the material on which the American species described by
Cope and other cetologists had been based, and began a comparison of these types
and of such other material as existed in the National Museum and other similar
establishments in the United States with the European forms. For a considerable
time I was so situated as to be unable to work on specimens, and during this
period I collected from every available source records of the occurrence of whale-
bone whales on the Atlantic coast of North America, beginning with the very

1 On the nomenclature of the whalebone whales of the tenth edition of Linnaeus's Systema
Naturae. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 21, 1898, pp. 617-635, No. 1163.

1

2 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

earliest literature relating to the continent. It seemed probable that the investiga-
tion of the species themselves and of the records of their distribution could be
carried on together and the results in both directions made ready for publication
in one work. In this I have been disappointed. The work on the species has
occupied a much longer time than was anticipated, and has made it necessary to
defer the intimate study of the records of geographical distribution. It has seemed
to me desirable, however, to publish with the discussion of the species a summary
of the distribution records, so that in case the work originally projected cannot be
completed by myself, the time of any subsequent investigator in this field may
be economized.

It happened very opportunely while the study of the American species was in
progress that a fishery for Finbacks and Humpbacks, similar to that carried on in
Norway for many years, was established in Newfoundland. With the permission
of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution I visited this fishery twice, and
enjoyed the extraordinary facilities there afforded for the examination of fresh
specimens of three species of baleen whales. No similar opportunity has, I believe,
been open to American naturalists in the past.

Not only could the matter of species be investigated under favorable con-
ditions, but a good opportunity was afforded for the study of individual variation
among these huge animals, whereby the probabilities as to the validity of sundry
nominal species could be satisfactorily estimated. The plates published herewith
contain many photographic figures of different individuals of the same species,
showing the extent of variation in color, form, etc. So far as I am aware, no
similar figures from photographs have been published heretofore.

As nearly every cetologist takes occasion to say, the investigation of animals
so large as whales is surrounded with peculiar difficulties. The physical labor
involved in examining and turning about the massive bones and other parts is
very fatiguing, and the mere weight of the specimens often thwarts the investigator.

In museums whale skeletons are commonly suspended from the roof so as to
be practically inaccessible without the use of ladders and other unwieldy appli-
ances, or the bones are stored in dark and dusty corners where they can be studied
only with much begriming of note-books, hands, and clothes.

The size of the whalebone whales, the large expense involved in preparing
specimens for scientific purposes, and the large amount of space such specimens
occupy, render it improbable that extensive series of specimens will ever be as-
sembled as is the practice nowadays with small mammals. Even if skeletons and
casts were so assembled, they could not be compared one with another without the
greatest difficulty. It follows that the methods of comparison which are employed
advantageously in the case of small species can hardly be used here. Reliance
must be placed instead on notes and photographs. So far as the exterior is con-
cerned, there is a certain compensating advantage no doubt in the direct study of
fresh specimens rather than of skins artificially prepared, though this applies only
where conditions are at least approximately as good as they are at the Newfound-
land stations. Many of the errors with which cetology is encumbered are due

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 3

to the observation of stranded specimens in various stages of decomposition, in
which the natural appearance and relationships of parts were partially or entirely
obscured.

Perhaps the greatest difficulty with which systematic cetology has to deal is
the problem of individual variation. The extent to which individuals of the same
species vary is enormous, and one unacquainted with this fact would be disposed
to multiply species liberally, only to find after more extensive comparisons that the
characters were slipping away. On account of the extraordinary individual varia-
tion in this group of mammals, and the peculiar character of the material, it would
seem the part of wisdom to treat the matter of species conservatively. To a
certain extent the absence of definite barriers in the ocean permits the whales to
range more widely than is usual with land mammals, and on this account geographi-
cal races or sub-species are less likely to be formed. Still, from the observations of
Scatnmon and others, it seems probable that species may in some cases be repre-
sented in the ocean by distinct herds, which are distinguishable by various peculi-
arities of size, form, proportion, and color. It is not certain, however, that these
peculiarities may not be due to difference in sex and age.

In the study of these animals, the question obtrudes itself whether groups of
individuals belonging to certain species when separated from the remainder of the
species by the width of a continent, can and do continue to reproduce their kind
for an indefinite period without change. To decide the question negatively on a
priori grounds, as is the tendency to-day, is, I think, unscientific.

The present investigation, in so far as it reaches such questions, appears to
support the view that detached groups of individuals of a species can perpetuate
the characters of the species to which they belong for an indefinite period.

To find a difference and erect upon it a species, is far easier than to prove that
this difference is merely an individual variation or age distinction. Furthermore,
species once established, though based on very unsubstantial characters, often
acquire a standing which no amount of criticism can affect. Such " species," it
would seem, should have another name and be placed in a separate category. On
the other hand, reluctance to accept species because they add to the length of the
list, or to reduce them to synonymy without an examination of the material on
which they are based, is to be decried. Between these two erroneous courses I
have endeavored to steer in the present work.

I appreciate that the conclusions arrived at here are little more than a confirm-
ation of opinions held by Van Beneden and some other masters of cetology, but
with few exceptions these opinions regarding American whales were not based on
the examination of American material. If I am not deceived, they proceeded rather
from the a priori conclusion that it was not probable that other species existed
than those frequenting European waters.

With the exception of the type of Balcena cisarctica, the types of the Ameri-
can species of Cope and Scammon are figured here from photographs for the first
time. Cope intended to monograph his species, but never brought the work to
completion.

4 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOBTH ATLANTIC.

The National Museum has incurred no small expense in obtaining the photo-
graphs of the types and other specimens, and I am also indebted to the following
museum officials for courtesies, for which I desire to express my very sincere thanks :
To Dr. S. Gr. Dixon, President of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences,
and Mr. Witmer Stone, for assistance in locating the types of Cope's species and
other interesting specimens, and permission to study and photograph them ; to the
proprietor of the Niagara Falls Museum, for permission to photograph and study
the type of Megaptera osphyia; to the director of the Field Columbian Museum
and Dr. D. Gr. Elliot, for photographs and measurements of the skeleton of Balcena
in that museum ; to Mr. H. H. Brimley, Curator of the State Museum, Raleigh,
N. C., for assistance in measuring the skeleton of Balcena in that institution and for
photographs ; to the director of the American Museum of Natural History and Mr.
Sherwood, for measurements and photographs of the Balcena skeleton in that
museum; to Dr. Horace Jayne and Dr. Grreenman, for assistance in measuring the
fine skeleton of Balcenoptem in the Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania,
and permission to take photographs of it; to the director of the Museum of Com-
parative Zoology and Mr. Outram Bangs, for photographs of Balcena, and for other
aid ; to Prof. Greo. H. Ashley, for assistance in measuring the skeleton of Balcena
in the Charleston College Museum, South Carolina ; to Mr. F. A. Ward of Ward's
Natural Science Establishment, Rochester, N. Y.

I wish to express appreciation also especially for the opportunities afforded
me by the Cabot Steam Whaling Company of St. John's, Newfoundland, through
the late Honorable A. W. Harvey, President of the Company, Mr. John Harvey, Sec-
retary, Dr. A. Nielsen, Manager, and Captain Bull. Through the friendly co-opera-
tion of these gentlemen I was enabled to pursue my investigations under conditions
which were quite exceptional. I also owe to Dr. L. Rissmiiller a debt of gratitude
for his enthusiastic forwarding of my desires in the matter of obtaining information
and specimens. Mr. D. C. Beard permitted me to examine some interesting photo-
graphs and sketches of the Balcena figured in Holder's article on that genus ; and
Mrs. W. E. Grain allowed me to reproduce her valuable copyrighted photographs
of a West Coast Humpback.

In regard to the system of measurements used in this work and the use of
English rather than metric measures, a word is perhaps called for. In measuring
whales at the Newfoundland stations, I adopted for the total length the distance
from the tip of the upper jaw to the notch of the flukes, measured along the back.
I adopted this for two reasons : first, because it gave rigid points from which to
measure, and, second, because it is nearly impossible under ordinary circumstances
to have a whale placed so as to be in exactly a straight line from head to flukes,
and measuring between uprights is less expeditious than along the curves. Stranded
whales are almost invariably measured in this way, and hence the measurements
recorded in the literature can be more advantageously compared by employing the
curvilinear total length rather than the rectilinear. The difference between the
two is, in fact, much less than would be anticipated. In the tables included in
this work, I have been obliged in some cases to cite lengths without knowing what

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 0

method was used. The difference is, I believe, immaterial where an average is
drawn from a considerable number of specimens. It must be admitted that there
is some uncertainty as to how to interpret the measurements of various observers,
and I am fully conscious that the tables are not mathematically correct. Still, I
am convinced that their inaccuracy is not such as to materially vitiate the result.
The literature of cetology is in every language of western Europe, and the dimen-
sions of specimens are similarly recorded in every variety of measure, such as
Rheinland feet, old French feet, Spanish feet, Danish feet, Russian feet, and so
forth. To avoid the great loss of time in converting all these measures to one
system, I have reduced the dimensions in each instance to percentages of the total
length. This has many advantages besides avoiding laborious calculations, which
will be readily recognized. Where it has been necessary to cite actual measure-
ments, I have reduced them all to English feet and inches, in the belief that for
large dimensions this is preferable to employing the metric system. In the United
States, at least, metric tapes for measurements up to 30 meters are not readily
obtainable. All quoted matter is translated into English.

No attention has been paid to the Greenland Right whale, or Bowhead, jBalcena
mysticetus, in this connection, as no new material of value was available. The
omission of this species is not especially important on account of the elaborate
researches of Eschricht and Reinhardt, with which every cetologist is familiar.

CHAPTER I.

THE EARLIEST REFERENCES TO WHALEBONE WHALES IN AMERICAN WATERS.

The first reference to cetaceans in American waters is in the Saga of Thorfinn
Karlsefne, giving an account of his voyage to Vinland. DeCosta's translation
contains the following :

" Afterward a whale was cast ashore in that place [Stream Bay] ; and they
assembled and cut it up, not knowing what kind of whale it was. They boiled it
with water; and ate it, and were taken sick. Then Thorhall said 'Now you see
that Thor is more prompt to give aid than your Christ. This was cast ashore as a
reward for the hymn which I composed to my patron Thor, who rarely forsakes me.'
When they knew this, they cast all the remains of the whale into the sea and com-
mended their affairs to God. From that time there was an abundance of food ; and
there were beasts on the land, eggs in the island, and fish in the sea." '

DeCosta gives this the date of 1008 A.D., and identifies Stream Bay with
Buzzard's Bay, Mass. Beamish 2 has a note to the effect that " this whale was
probably a species of the Balcena pJiysalis of Linnaeus, which was not edible, and
being rarely seen in the Greenland and Iceland seas, was unknown to the Northmen."
This is hardly probable as Balcena physalus of Linnaeus is the common Finback of
European waters and is edible. It may have been abottlenosed whale of the genus
Hyperoodon, the fat of which is purgative. The fact that the Northmen could throw
the remains into the sea shows that it was not one of the large whales.

GREENLAND, DAVIS STRAIT, AND BAFFIN BAY.

The narrative of Iver Boty (or Burt), mattre fllibtel of the Bishop of Greenland,
as quoted from the papers of Barents in Henry Hudson's possession, contains the
following notice of whales :

" Item, from Skageu Ford east lyeth a hauen called Beare Ford : it is not
dwelt in. In the mouth thereof lyeth a riffe [reef], so that great ships can not
harbour in it.

" Item, there is great abundance of whales ; and there is a great fishing for the
killing of them there, but not without the bishop's consent, which keepeth the same

1 DECOSTA, B. F., The Pre-Columbian Discovery of America by the Northmen, 2d ed., 1890,
pp. 125-126.

3 BEAMISH, N. L., Discovery of America by the Northmen, 1841, p. 91, foot-note.

6

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 7

for the benefit of the cathedrall church. In the hauen is a great swalth * ; and
when the tide doth runne out, all the whales doe runne into the sayd swalth."2

Boty's account is of course pre-Columbian, and as it is supposed to relate to
the most flourishing period of the Norse colonies in Greenland, we may properly
consider that the events mentioned in it occurred in the 12th century. What-
ever the fact as regards the date of this observation, we may well doubt that the
whales referred to were whalebone whales. It is much more probable that they
were white whales, Delphinapterus.

Passing on to the times of Columbus and the great discoverers and explorers,
the earliest bit of information about the larger whales of Greenland which I find is
in Beste's narrative of Martin Frobisher's third voyage to Davis Strait in 1578.
An odd accident happened to one of the vessels in his fleet, which is thus
described :

[1578. FROBISHER'S THIRD VOYAGE.]

"On Monday, the laste of June [1578], wee mette with manye greate whales,
as they hadde beene porposes.

" This same day the Salamander being under both hir corses and bonets,
hapned to strike a greate whale with hir full stemme, wyth such a blow, that the
ship stoode stil and stirred neither forward e nor backward. The whale thereat
made a great and ugly noise, and caste up his body and tayle, and so went under
water, and within two dayes after there was founde a greate whale dead, swimming
above water, which we supposed was that the Salamander stroke." 3

The place where this happened must have been just east of Frobisher Bay, the
entrance to which (Queen Elizabeth's Foreland 4) they sighted July 2d.

It is somewhat singular that there is no vessel named Salamander in the roster
of the fleet. As there is a Salomon or Sollomon, however, it is probable that the
name is misspelt in the paragraph quoted above.

From the expression "greate whales, as they hadde beene porposes" in the first
sentence, it might be inferred that the Salomon ran against an Orcinus or Hyperoo-
don, rather than a baleen whale, but it seems hardly probable that either of these
could stop a vessel of above 130 tons under full sail. Furthermore, I presume it

1 An eddy, or whirlpool.

' A Treatise of Iver Boty a Gronlander, etc. In Asher's Henry Hudson the Navigator
(Hakluyt Society, 1860, p. 231). From Purchas His Pilgrimes, v, 3, pp. 518-520. Writings of
William Barentz in Hudson's possession.

The complete heading of the narrative is as follows: " A Treatise of Iver Boty a Gronlander,
translated out of the Norsh language into High Dutch, in the yeere 1560. And after out of High
Dutch into Low Dutch, by William Barentson of Amsterdam, who was chiefe Pilot aforesaid [of the
expedition of 1595 to the Northeast]. The same copie in High Dutch is in the hands of lodocvs
Hondivs, which I haue scene. And this was translated out of Low Dutch by Master William
Stere, Marchant, in the yeere 1608, for the vse of me Henrie Hudson. William Barentsons Booke
is in the hands of Master Peter Plantivs, who lent the same vnto me."

'The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher. Ed. by R. Collinson. Hakluyt Soc., 1867, p.
234. Reprinted from the ist ed. of Hakluyt's Voyages.

* Or Cape Resolution, Resolution Island.

8 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

is not necessary to suppose that the " greate whale " which was struck was of the
same sort as those referred to as resembling porpoises. These early narratives
usually contain no more than a passing word regarding the animals observed
and anything like satisfactory identifications are impossible.

From the accounts of the voyages of John Davis to the strait which bears his
name we are able to get a little better idea of the whales which were encountered.

In the narrative of his first voyage to Greenland in 1585, is the following note :

"Between the 16'.11 and the 18^ [of July, 1585] great numbers of whales were
also seen." '

This was just before Davis made a landfall at Cape Discord on the east coast
of Greenland, which he sighted on July 20, 1585. Soon afterwards he passed into
Davis Strait and crossed to the vicinity of Cumberland Sound, where, according to
the narrative written by John Janes, the following incidents occurred :

[1585. DAVIS'S FIRST VOYAGE.]

"The 17 [of August, 1585] we went on shoare [in Cumberland Sound] . . .
Our Captaine and master searched still for probabilities of the [Northwest] passage,
and first found, that this place was all Islands, with great sounds passing betweene
them. . . . Thirdly, we saw to the west of those Isles, three or foure Whales
in a skul, which they judged to come from a westerly sea, because to the Eastward
we saw not any whale. Also as we were rowing into a very great sound lying
southwest [Irvine Inlet ? — ED.], upon a suddayne there came a violent counter
checke of a tide from the southwest against the flood which we came with, not
knowing from whence it was maintayned."2

Davis was at this time, as the narrative shows, exploring Cumberland Sound
with the hope of finding the much-sought Northwest Passage. We may suppose
that the whales seen there were either Humpbacks or Finbacks ; though from lack
of a description it is impossible to determine which of the two they were. The
Greenland whale is not in these parts in August.

In the narratives of Davis's third voyage to Greenland in 1587 we find other
allusions to whales, as follows:

"The 24 [of June, 1587] being in 67 degrees and 40 minutes, we had great
store of Whales, and a kinde of sea birdes which the Mariners called Cortinous
[probably a misprint. — ED.]." 3

This was in Davis Strait opposite the Cumberland peninsula. The kind of
whale, as before, is uncertain. It may have been the Beluga.
Another allusion, about a month later, is as follows :

"As we rode at anker [July 23, 1587, among the islands "in the bottome"

'Voyages toward the Northwest. Ed. by Trios. Rundall. Hakluyt Society, 1849, p. 36.
"The Voyages and Works of John Davis the Navigator. Ed. by A. H. Markham. Hakluyt
Soc., 1880, pp. 12-13.
• Op. tit., p. 43-

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 9

of Cumberland Sound] a great whale passed by us, and swam west in among
the isles."1

Twenty years later Henry Hudson was in Greenland waters, seeking like his
predecessors that ignis fatuus, the Northwest Passage to Cathay. In the narratives
of his voyages there are occasional references to whales. The earliest of these, in
the narrative of the first voyage in 1607, is as follows:

[1607. HUDSON'S FIRST VOYAGE.]

"Also wee saw [June IS1.11] a whale close by the shoare. Wee called the
head-land which we saw Youngs Cape; and neere it standeth a very high mount,
like a round castle, which wee called the Mount of Gods Mercie." 2

This place appears to have been in Hudson Strait. A few days later we find
another reference :

"This day [June 18, 1607] we saw three whales neere our ship, and having
steered away north-east almost one watch, five leagues, the sea was growne every
way." 3

This appears to have been on the east coast of Greenland. Finally, in that
narrative of Hudson's last voyage, by Prickett, which contains the tragic story of
his fate, we find another mention of whales, as follows :

[1610. HUDSON'S FOURTH AND LAST VOYAGE.]

" Our course [soon after the 4* of June, 1610] for the most part was betweene
the west and north-west, till we raysed the Desolations, which is a great iland in
the west part of Groueland. On this coast we saw store of whales, and at one
time three of them came close by us, so as wee could hardly shunne them : then two
passing very neere, and the third going under our ship, wee received no harme by
them, praysed be God." 4

This locality was in the vicinity of Cape Farewell, the "Desolations" being
on either side of that cape. In the perusal of this account one is reminded very
forcibly of Scammon's description of the habits of the Common Finback of the North
Pacific, Balwnoptera vetifera Cope. " It frequently gambols about vessels at sea,"
he writes, " in mid-ocean as well as close in with the coast, darting under them or
shooting swiftly through the water on either side, at one moment upon the surface,
belching forth its quick ringing spout, and the next instant submerged deep
beneath the waves."5

Close after Hudson follows Baffin, who was pilot of the ship Discovery for the
company for the discovery of the Northwest Passage, and approached the Green-

1 Voyages toward the Northwest. Ed. by Thos. Rundall. Hakluyt Soc., 1849, p. 47. Davis's
Traverse Book. From Hakluyt, 3, pp. 153, 154.

"Henry Hudson, the Navigator. Ed. by Geo. Asher. Hakluyt Soc., 1860, p. 3.

1 Op. at., p. 4.

4 Op. at., p. 99.

"Prof. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1869, p. 52.

10 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

land coast in May, 1612. The record for the 12th day of that month contains the
following note :

[1612. BAFFIN'S FIRST RECORDED VOYAGE.]

"This day [May 12, 1612] the water changed of a blackish colour; also, we
saw many whales and grampus's." ]

This was near (and east of) Cape Farewell, which they sighted May 13th, and
again May 14th. In 1616, in the same month, Baffin was once more in Greenland
waters, and the narrative of that voyage contains an interesting account of the find-
ing of a dead whale in Davis Strait somewhat north of Disco Island. Baffin
records the incident thus :

[1616. BAFFIN'S SECOND VOYAGE TO GREENLAND. (FIFTH RECORDED VOYAGE.)]

"The two and twentieth day [of May, 1616], at a north sunne, wee set saile
and plyed still northward, the winde being right against vs as we stood off and
on. Vpon the sixe and twentieth day, in the al'ternoone, we found a dead whale,
about sixe and twentie leagues from shoare, hauing all her finnes [whalebone].
Then making our ship fast, wee vsed the best means wee could to get them, and
with much toile got a hundred and sixtie that euening. The next morning the sea
went uery high, and the wiude arising, the whale broke from vs, and we were
forced to leaue her and set saile, and hauing not stood past three or foure leagues
north-westward, came to the ice, then wee tacked and stood to the shoare-ward, a
sore stornie ensued.1'"

This dead whale is mentioned again in a letter which Baffin wrote to Sir John
Wolstenholme, one of the principal promoters of the enterprise, in connection with
quite extended remarks on the whales of Baffin Bay, so that we are enabled to
identify it as a Greenland Right whale. The paragraphs which are pertinent to
our subject are as follows :

[1616. BAFFIN'S LETTER TO SIR JOHN WOLSTENHOLME.]

"Now that the worst is knowne (concerning the passage) it is necessarie and
requisite your worship should vnderstand what probabilitie and hope of profit
might here be made hereafter, if the voyage might bee attempted by fitting men.
And first, for the killing of whales; certaine it is, that in this Bay [Baffin Bay]
are great numbers of them, which the Biscayners call the Grand Bay whales, of
the same kind as are killed at Greenland, and as it seemeth to me, easie to be
strooke, because they are not vsed to be chased or beaten. For we being but one
day in Whale Sound (so called for the number of whales we saw there sleeping,
and lying aloft on the water, not fearing our ship, or ought else) ; that if we had
beene fitted with men and things necessaiie, it had beene no hard matter to haue
strooke more then would have made three ships a sauing voyage ; and that it is of
that sort of whale, theare is no feare ; I being twise at Greeneland, tooke sufficient
notice to know them againe ; besides a dead whale we found at sea, hauing all her

'The Voyages of William Baffin. Ed. by C. R. Markham. Hakluyt Soc., 1881, p. 7. From
Churchill's Collection of Voyages and Travels, 6, 1732, pp. 241-251. Written by John Gatonbe.
2 Op. cit., pp. 139-140. From Purchas. Written by Baffin.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 1 1

finnes (or rather all the rough of her mouth), of which with much labour we got
one hundred and sixtie the same evening we found her; and if that foule wether
and a stonne the next day had not followed, we had no doubt but to haue had all,
or the most part of them : hut the winde and sea rising, shee broke from vs, and
we were forced to leave her. Neither are they onely to be looked for in Whale
Sound, but also in Smith's Sound, Wolstenholme's Sound, and others, etca." . . .
(Pp. 146-147.)

" As concerning what the shore will yeeld, as beach-finnes, morse-teeth, and
such like, I can say little, because we came not on shore in any of the places where
hope was of findinge them.

" But here som may object why we sought that coast no better? To this I
answere, that while we were thereabout, the wether was so exceeding foule, we
could not. . . . When we had coasted the land so farre to the southward, that
hope of passage was none, then the yeere was too farre spent [to seek a harbor],
and many of our men very weake, and withall we hauing some beliefe that ships
the next yeere would be sent for the killing of whales, which might doe better
than we." (Pp. 147-148.)

"And seeing I have briefly set doune what hope there is of making a profit-
able voyage, it is not vnfit your worship should know what let or hindrance might
be to the same. The chiefest and greatest cause is, that som yeere it may happen by
reason of the ice lying betweene 72 and a halfe and 76 degrees, no minutes, that the
ships cannot com into those places till toward the middest of July, so that want of
time to stay in the countrey may be some let : yet they may well tarry till the last
of August, in which space much businesse may be done, and good store of oile
made. Neuerthelesse, if store of whales come in (as no feare to the contrarie) what
cannot be made in oyle, may be brought home in blubber, and the finnes will arise
to good profit. Another hinderance will be, because the bottorne of the sounds
will not be so soone cleere as would bee wished ; by meanes whereof, now and then
a whale may be lost. (The same case sometimes chanceth in Greeneland [i. e.
Spitzbergen].) Yet, I am perswaded those sounds before named [Whale, Smith, and
Wolstenholme] will all be cleere before the twentieth of July : for we, this yeere,
were in Whale Sound the fourth day, amongst many whales, and might have
strooke them without let of ice." l

This letter, which is undated, relates to the second voyage, 1616.

The use of the name " Grand Bay whale " in this letter for the Greenland
Right whale attracted the attention of Eschricht and Reinhardt, and they enter
into an elaborate discussion as to its significance in relation to the primitive distri-
bution of the species in their exhaustive memoir.8

Thomas Edge was in Spitzbergen at the same time as Baffin, and in the narra-
tive of his " ten several voyages" thither he takes pains to insert a description of
the various species of whales found in those waters. The description begins thus :

[1610-1622. VOYAGES OF THOMAS EDGE TO SPITZBERGEN.]

"There are eight sorts of whales: The first is called the Grand-Bay, from a
place in New-found-land, where they were first killed ; he is black, with a smooth

'Voyages towards the Northwest.' Ed. by Thos. Rundall. Hakluyt Soc., 1849, pp. 146-
149. From Furchas.

' Om Nordhvalen. Vidensk. Selsk. Skr.t 5 Rtekkc, naturvid. og math. Afd., Bd. 5, p. 459.

12 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Skin, and white underneath the Chaps: This Whale yields about 100 Hogsheads
of Oyl.

" The second is called Sarda, of the same colour, but somewhat less, and yields
about 70 or 80 Hogsheads; he hath white things growing on his Back like to
Barnacles." '

Edge thus corroborates Baffin, and there can be no doubt that the name " Grand
Bay whale " was in currency for Balcena mysticetus at the beginning of the seven-
teenth century and perhaps earlier.

Grand Bay, as the maps of that period show, was a name applied to that part of
the Gulf of St. Lawrence immediately within the Strait of Belle Isle. It is to be
found on Allefonsce's sketch, Champlain's maps (1612, 1613, and 1632), Jacobsz's
map (1621), and others.2

Now, although the latest writer on the Greenland whale places the southern
limit of its range at about 58° n. lat., on the coast of Labrador,3 one would not be
surprised to learn that in the winter months it followed the ice down to the Strait
of Belle Isle, and became the object of a fishery there. But, as Eschricht remarked,
the Newfoundland whale fishery of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was
carried on exclusively in the summer months and on the theory that the Greenland
whale was one of the species pursued, it is necessary to suppose that it remained
after the ice had disappeared in these parts, which is entirely contrary to what is
known of its habits.

As a solution of the problem, Eschricht suggested that the Basques did not
know of the visits of the Greenland whale to the Newfoundland coast until they
had begun to establish settlements and winter there. In the instructions given
Edge by the Muscovy Company the species is called the " Bearded whale " ; while
in his account of his voyages to Spitzbergen, 1612 to 1622, it is called " Grand Bay "
whale. The natural inference is that soon after 1611 certain Basques had dis.
covered that the Greenland whale occurred in Newfoundland waters, and had
afterwards shipped with Edge for the Spitzbergen fishery and reported to him the
name " Grand Bay " whale. The matter quoted is chiefly interesting in the present
connection as the first attempt to identify the whales in American waters with
those of Europe, and as an early (though not the earliest) mention of whales at
Newfoundland.

A little later in this same voyage which we have been discussing, Baffin

1 Harris's Voyages, i, p. 574. Purchas, His Pilgrimes, 3, 1625, pp. 462-473.

Champlain has the following regarding the name of " Grand Baye " :

" II y a un lieu dans le golphe Sainct Laurent, qu'on nomine la grande baye, proche du passage
du Nort de 1'Isle de terre neufue, a cinquante deux degr^s, ou les Basques vont faire la pesche
des balaines."

(LAVERDIERE, CEuvres de Champlain, 2d ed., 1870, 6, p. 1088. This is in the second part
of Les Voyages de la Nouvelle France Occidentale, dicte Canada. Paris, 1632.)

'See Justin Winsor's Cartier to Frontenac, 1894, pp. 42, 102, 107, 125, and 140, where
these maps are reproduced.

"SOUTHWELL, THOS., The Migration of the Right Whale (Baltzna mysticetus). Nat. Sci., 12,
1898, pi. 12.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 13

proceeded to very high latitudes and on July 3d, 1616, was in Wolstenholme Sound,
to which he gave its present name. He writes thus of the whales :

[July 3, 1616] : " This Sound wee called Wolstenholme Sound; it hath many
inlets or smaller sounds in it, and is a fit place for the killing of whales."1

The next day he explored and named Whale Sound, of which he writes :

"In this Sound [July 4, 1616] we saw great numbers of whales, therefore
we called it Whale Sound, and doubtlesse, if we had beene provided for killing
of them, we might have strooke very many. It lyeth in the latitude 77° 30'." 2

HUDSON BAY.

The narratives of Hudson's (1610), Baffin's (1612-1616), Button's (1612), and
Munck's (1619) voyages contain nothing regarding whales in Hudson Bay and Strait.
A passing reference is to be found in the account of Fox's voyage of 1631, as follows :

[1631. CAPTAIN LUKE FOX IN HUDSON BAY.]

" Fox obeyed his instructions, though he evidently entertained an opinion
that this [*'. e., Roe's Welcome northward] was the fittest part to search for the
passage ; ' being moved by the high flowing of the tyde and the whales, for all the
tydes that floweth that bay [Hudson Bay], commeth (neere) from thence.' " 3

Captain Coats's Remarks on the Geography of Hudson's Bay, from voyages
between 1727 and 1751, contains the following:

" Near Whale Cove and Brook Cobham, it is agreed on all hands, their are
such sholes of whales and scales, as is no where else to be met with in the known
world." 4

NEWFOUNDLAND AND THE GULF OF ST. LAWRENCE.

It is sometimes asserted that the Basques, who undoubtedly hunted the Right
whale, Bal&na Mscayensis, on the coasts of Europe in the Middle Ages, finally
crossed to Newfoundland in pursuit of their quarry at a period antedating Colum-
bus's discovery. Thus, P. Fischer in 1872, in his account of the Basque whale
fishery, writes : " When the Basques had destroyed the whales which arrived in

1 The Voyages of William Baffin, 1612-1622. Ed. by C. R. Markham. Hakluyt Soc., 1881,
p. 144. From Purchas. Written by Baffin.

a Op. cit., p. 145. Ross also found whales in this vicinity in 1818, but Southwell regards both
these instances as exceptional, and thinks it improbable that the Greenland whale (B. mysticetui)
commonly passes beyond 75° n. lat. (Nat. Sci., 12, 1898, p. 408.)

' Voyages towards the Northwest. Ed. by Thomas Rundall. Hakluyt Soc., 1849, p. 177. Abst.
from N. W. Foxe.

' Hakluyt Soc., 1852, p. 29.

14 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

winter in their parts, they sailed westward, and in 1372 reached the banks of
Newfoundland, where they observed whales in abundance." '

No authorities are cited by Fischer, and similar statements by other authors
prove elusive. Justin Winsor summed up the evidence on this point in 1894 in the
following language :

"We need not confidently trust the professions of Michel and other advocates
of the Basques, and believe that a century before Cabot their hardy fishermen dis-
covered the banks of Newfoundland, and had even penetrated into the bays and
inlets of the adjacent coasts. There seems, however, little doubt that very early in
the sixteenth century fishing equipments for these regions were made by the Nor-
mans, as Breard chronicles them in his Documents relatifs a la Normand."'"

Of post-Columbian explorers of Newfoundland and the St. Lawrence, the first
to make mention of large whales is Cartier. Indeed, the allusions to cetaceans in
his narrative of his second voyage to Canada appear to constitute the first authentic
notice of whalebone whales on the east coast of North America. Cartier left
St. Malo on his second voyage, May 19, 1535, and in July entered the Gulf of St.
Lawrence. Soon afterwards he passed westward and proceeded to explore the
St. Lawrence River. In his narrative of the journey we find the following :

[1535. CARTIER'S SECOND VOYAGE.]

" The said river [the St. Lawrence] beginneth beyond the Island of the Assump-
tion, over against the high mountains of Hognedo, and of the seven islands : the
distance over from one side to the other is about 35 or 40 leagues : in the midst it
is above 200 fathom deep. The surest way to sail upon it is upon the south side;
and toward the north, that is to say, from the said seven islands, from side to side
there is seven leagues distance, where are also two great rivers that come down
from the hills of Saguenay, and make divers very dangerous shelves in the sea.

"At the entrance of those two rivers, we saw many a great store of whales
and sea-horses." 3

Exactly where these two rivers are is uncertain, but early maps show the
'Land of the Seven Islands" to be on the north shore of the St. Lawrence, near
its mouth. The whales mentioned were most probably whalebone whales, as
mention is made soon afterwards of porpoises and the Beluga, thus:

"All the said country on both sides the [St. Lawrence] river, as far as Hochelay
and beyond, is as fair and plain as ever was seen. . . . There are also many
whales, porpoises, sea-horses, and adhothuis [Beluga], which is a kind of fish that
we had never seen nor heard of before.

'FISCHER, P., Documents pour servir a 1'Histoire de la Baleine des Basques (Balcena bis-
cayensis). Annal. Sci. Nat., Zool., 15, 1872, art. 3, p. 15.

Van Beneden repeats the statement in his Hist. Nat. des Cetaces des Mers d'Europe, 1889, p. 25.

'WINSOR, JUSTIN, Cartier to Frontenac, 1894, pp. 9-10.

' Narration of the Navigation to the Islands of Canada, etc. Pinkerton's Voyages, 12, p. 657.
Cartier's Voyage, 1535. From Hakluyt, 3, p. 212.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 15

" They are as great as porpoises, as white as any snow, their body and head
fashioned as a greyhound, they are wont always to abide between the fresh and
salt water, which beginneth between the river of Saguenay and Canada."1

At the date of Cartier's explorations (and even somewhat before his time)
whalers are believed to have pursued the Biscay whale, Baluena biscayensis, in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. The records of this industry are for the most part buried
in obscurity, or have been destroyed, and such as are now known contain no
descriptions of whales. Eugen Gelcich, in an article on Duro's Disquisiciones Nau-
ticas, writes :

"The regular appearance of the whale in the Bay of Biscay at the beginning
of autumn and its disappearance with the first breath of spring must have been
noticed very early by the Gascognes. Whether it occurred to any one, however,
as early as the 10th century to follow the whale opportunely with its departure,
in order to discover its summer station, is not demonstrable, although a tradition
relative thereto existed in Spain, and perhaps still exists. Vargas Ponce [a cele-
brated Spanish historian] in spite of the most diligent search found only records
since the year 1530. These were in the municipal and parochial records of Brio.
The names of the caravels as well as of their commanders are given. The celebrated
Spanish admiral, Juan de Urdaire, began his maritime career in such voyages,
which reached to the American coasts." '

Later in the century we have the statement made by Anthony Parkhurst in a
letter to Hakluyt, in 1578, to the effect that at that time from 20 to 30 Basque
whaling vessels repaired to Newfoundland " to kill whale for Traine." 3

For the year 1587, we have the following reference in the narrative of Davis's
third voyage :

"The 17th [of August, 1587] we met a shippe at Sea, and, as farre as wee
could judge, it was a Biskaine : wee thought she went a fishing for Whales, for in 52
degrees or thereabout, we saw very many." '

His Traverse Book at this date contains the following:

"The true course, «fec. This day, upon the Banke [Grand Bank of Newfound-
land] we met a Biscaine bound either for the Grand bay or for the passage. He
chased us." 5

1 Narration of the Navigation to the Islands of Canada, etc. Pinkerton's Voyages, 12, p. 658.

"Aug. 18, 1535, the sailors saw more whales near Anticosti Id. than they could remember
ever to have seen before." (Eschricht, from Marc Lescarbot's Histoire de la nouvelle France,
4th ed., 1624, p. 285.)

* GELCICH, E., Der Fischfang der Gascogner und die Entdeckung von Neufundland. Nach den
" Disquisiciones Nauticas " von Caesaro Fernandez Duro bearbeitet. Zeit. Gesell. Erdkunde, Berlin,
18, 1883, p. 258.

3 HAKLUYT, The Principal Navigations of the English Nation, 3, 1600, p. 132.

4 The Voyages and Works of John Davis. Ed. by A. H. Markham. Hakluyt Soc., 1880, p. 48.
' Op. tit., p. 57. Davis started Aug. 15th at noon in lat. 52° 12' and 16 leagues from shore, and

in the next 44 hours went 80 leagues about E. by S.

16 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

Edward Haies, in his account of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's voyage to Newfound-
land in 1583, includes among the "commodities" of the island "abundance of
whales," " for which also," he writes, " is a very great trade in ye bayes of Placentia
and Grand bay, where is made Trane oyles of the whale." '

Toward the close of the century, in 1594, the ship Grace of Bristoll made a
trip to the Gulf of St. Lawrence for whales and reported finding some 700 or 800
pieces of whalebone in two large Basque whaling vessels which had been wrecked in
St. George's Bay, Newfoundland. The account, in Hakluyt's Voyages, is as follows :

[1594. VOYAGE OF THE " GRACE OF BRISTOLL" TO THE BAY OF ST. LAWRENCE.]

"In this bay of Saint George [Newfoundland, May, 1594] we found the
wrackes of 2 great Biskaine ships, which had bene cast away three yeres before :
where we had some seven or eight hundred whale finnes, and some yrou bolts and
chains of their mayne shrouds & fore shroudes : al their traine [oil] was beaten out
with the weather but the caske remained still. Some part of the commodities were
spoiled by tumbling downe of the cliffs of the hils, which covered part of the caske,
and greater part of those whale finnes, which we understood to be there by foure
Spaniards which escaped & were brought to S. John de Luz. . . .

"Then being enformed, that the Whales which are deadly wounded in the
grand Baye [near the Strait of Belle Isle], and yet escape the fisher for a time, are
woont usually to shoot themselves on shore on the Isle of Assumption, or Natisco-
tec, which lieth in the very mouth of the great liver that runneth up to Canada,
we shaped our course over to that long Isle of Natiscotec.

" And after wee had searched two dayes and a night for the whales which were
wounded which we hoped to have found there, and missed of our purpose we
returned backe to the Southwarde." '

In 1594 or 1595, Robert Dudley made a voyage to the West Indies, returning
along the coast of the United States and Canada. On April 11, 1595, the following
was recorded :

" After wee weare past the meridian of the Berrnudes our courses brought us
not far from the cost of Labradore or Nova Francia, which wee knew by the great
aboundance of whalles."3

Lescarbot, who took part in the establishment of the French colonies in Acadia
and Port Royal in 1605, published in 1609 a history of the region, in the course of
which he describes the whale fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, though he does
not describe the whale itself. This, however, was doubtless the Right whale. He

remarks :

[1609. LESCARBOT'S NARRATIVE.]

" I leaue the maner of taking of her [Leviathan], described by Oppian and 8.
Basil for to come to our French-men, and chiefely the Basques, who doe goe euery

1 HAK.LUYT, R., The Principal Navigations of the English Nation, 1589, p. 689.

* Op. fit., 3, 1600, p. 194. The voyage of the Grace of Bristol of M. Rice ^ones, a Barke of
thirty-five Tunnes, vp into the Bay of Saint Laurence to the Northwest of Newefoundland, as
farre as the Isle of Assumption or Natiscotec, for the barbes or fynnes of Whales and traine oyle,
made by Silvester Wyet, Shipmaster of Bristoll.

1 The Voyage of Sir Robert Dudley to the West Indies, 1594-1595. Hakluyt Soc., 1899, p. 53.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 17

yeare to the great riuer of Canada for the Whale. Commonly the fishing thereof
is made in the riuer called Lesquemin toward Tadoussac. And for to doe it
they goe by skowtes to make watch vpon the tops of rockes, to see if they may
haue the sight of some one : and when they haue discovered any, foorthwith
they goe with fower shaloupes after it, and hauing cunningly horded her, they
strike her with a harping iron to the depth of her lard, and to the quicke of the
flesh. Then this creature feeling herself e rudely pricked, with a dreadfull boister-
ousnesse casteth herselfe into the depth of the sea. The men in the meane while
are in their shirts, which vere out the cord whereunto the harping iron is tied,
which the whale carrieth away. But at the shaloupe side that hath giuen the blow
there is a man redy with a hatchet in hand to cut the said cord, least perchance
some accident should happen that it were mingled, or that the Whales force should
be too violent: which notwithstanding hauing found the bottome, and being able to
goe no further, she mounteth vp againe leasurely aboue the water : and then againe
she is set upon with glaue-staves, or pertuisanes, very sharp, so hotly that the salt-
water pierceing within her flesh she looseth her force, and remaineth there. Then
one tieth her to a cable at whose end is an anker which is cast into the sea, then at
the end of six or eight daies they goe to fetch her, when time and opportunity per-
mits it they cut her in peeces, and in great kettles doe seeth the fat which melteth
it selfe into oile, wherewith they may fill 400 Hogs-heads, sometimes more, and
sometimes lesse, according to the greatnesse of the beast, and of the tongue com-
monly they draw flue, yea six hogs-heads full of traine." [Then follows quotation
from Acosta's account of Indians taking whales in Florida.]1

When Champlain was returning from Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence River to
France, 1610, his vessel ran into a whale and he takes the occasion to describe the
whale fishery in detail, as follows :

[1610. CHAMPLAIN'S DESCRIPTION OF THE WHALE FISHERY IN NEW FRANCE, CHAPTER xn.]

" It has seemed to me not to be inappropriate to give here a short description
of the whale fishery, as many persons have never seen it and believe that they are
taken by shooting with guns, while there are liars so unblushing that they affirm
this to those who know nothing of it. From these false accounts many persons have
obstinately disputed this with me.

" Those then who are most skilful at this fishery are the Basques, who in order
to prosecute it, place their vessels in a safe harbor, near where they judge there are
numbers of whales, and equip many boats filled with good men and lines, which are
small ropes made of the best hemp obtainable, having a length of at least 150
fathoms ; and have a great many lances of the length of a half-pike, which have the
iron six inches broad, — of others a foot and a half or two feet long, very sharp.
They have in each boat a harpooner, who is a man of the most agile and skilful
among them, and draws the most pay after the masters, inasmuch as it is the most
hazardous position. The boat above mentioned being outside the harbor, they look
in all directions in order that they may if possible see and discover a whale feeding
off one shore or the other ; and not seeing any, they return to land and ascend the
highest promontory they find, for the purpose of seeing as far as possible, and there
they station a man as a sentinel, who seeing a whale, which they discover as much
by its size as by the water which it spouts out of its blowholes, which is more than

1 LESCARBOT, Nova Francia, Or the Description of that part of New France which is one
continent with Virginia, &c. Trans, by P. E. London, 1609, pp. 268-269.

18 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

a barrel at a time, and to the height of two lances ; and from this water which it
spouts up, they judge how much oil it will probably yield. There are some from
which as much as 120 (six vingts) barrels may be obtained, from others less.

" On seeing this huge fish, they embark promptly in their boats and by force of
oars or wind, go as close as they may. Seeing the whale between two waves, at
the same instant the harpooner is at the front of the boat with a harpoon, which is
an iron 2 feet long and one half broad at the wings, hafted on a staff the length
of a half-pike, at the middle of which there is a groove where the line is attached ;
and as soon as the harpooner sees his chance, he throws his harpoon at the whale,
the same entering well forward. As soon as it (the whale) feels itself wounded, it
goes to the bottom. And if by chance on returning a number of times, it assaults
the boat or the men with its tail, it shatters them like a glass.

"This is all the risk they run of being killed in harpooning it. But as soon as
they have cast the harpoon, they let their line run out, till the whale is at the
bottom ; and sometimes as it does not go down directly, it tows the boat more than
eight or nine leagues, and goes as fast as a horse, and the men are very often com-
pelled to cut their line, fearing that the whale may drag them under the water.
But when it goes directly to the bottom it remains there a little time & then
returns quietly to the surface ; and as fast as it rises, they take in their line little
by little, and then when it is on top they place two or three boats around it with
their lances, with which they give it many thrusts ; and feeling itself struck the
whale descends directly below the surface, losing blood & becoming enfeebled in
such a manner that it has no more strength nor vitality, and coming again to the
surface, they succeed in killing it. When it is dead, it does not go down to the
bottom again ; and then they fasten to it good ropes and tow it ashore, in the place
where they have their try works (degraf), which is the place where they boil the
blubber of the whale in order to extract the oil.

"Such is the manner in which they fish and not by shooting with guns, as
many think, as I have said above." 1

This is repeated from Les Voyages du Sieur de Champlain, Paris, 1613, p. 226
(Laverdiere, CEuvres de Champlain, 2d ed., 3, 1870, p. 374), where it occurs in
connection with the voyage from Tadoussac to France in 1610; but in the latter
place it is introduced thus :

"On the 13* of the said month we departed from Tadoussac, and arrived at
the Isle Percee the next day, where we found a number of vessels engaged in the
fishery for dry and fresh fish.

"On the IS'!1 of the said month we departed from Isle Percee and passed along
the 42? parallel of latitude without having any knowledge of the great bank where
the fishery for fresh fish is carried on, for the said place is too narrow on this
parallel.

"Being half across, we ran into a whale which was asleep and the vessel pass-
ing above it made a very large opening in it near the tail, which caused it immedi-
ately to wake (without our vessel being damaged) and shed a great amount of
blood.

"It seems to me not inappropriate to give here a brief description of the whale
fishery," etc.

1 LAVERDIERE, GEuvres de Champlain, 2d ed., 5, 1870, pp. 835-837. This is Chapter XII in
Les Voyages de la Nouvelle France Occidentale, dicte Canada, fails par le Sr. de Champlain. Paris,
1632.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 19

At the close Champlain remarks as follows :

"To take up again the thread of my discourse, after the wounding of the
whale, as aforesaid, we took numbers of porpoises which our boatswain's mate
harpooned, from which we received pleasure and satisfaction."1

From the fact that the whales mentioned by Champlain remained on the sur-
face when killed it is evident that they were Right whales, and not Finbacks, or
Humpbacks, as indeed we know from other sources.

The branch of the Franciscan monks of the Roman Catholic church known
as the Recollets had mission establishments on the St. Lawrence from 1615 to
1629. Sagard-Theodat, a monk of this order, published in 1632 an account of his
observations in the country, in the course of which he makes some very interesting
observations on the whales of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which are among the
earliest sufficiently detailed to indicate the kind of whale referred to. He writes:

[1615-1629. SAGARD-THEODAT'S NARRATIVE.]

" I amused myself at times, when I felt so disposed, by watching the whales
spout and the little whales play, and have seen an infinity of them, particularly at
Gaspe, where they disturbed our repose by their puffing, and the divers cruisings
of both Qibcers and whales. The Gribar is a kind of whale, so called on account of
a protuberance that it seems to have, having the back much raised, where it carries
a fin.

" It is not smaller than the whales, but is not so thick or corpulent, and has
the snout longer and more pointed, and a blowhole on the forehead, through which
it spouts water with great force. Some on this account call it the puffer.

"All the whales carry and produce their young fully alive, nursing them, and
covering and shielding them with their fins. The Gilars and other whales sleep
holding their heads extended a little out of the water, so that this blowhole is
exposed and at the surface. The whales are to be seen and discovered from afar
by their tail, which they show frequently on diving into the sea, and also by the
water which they throw out of their blowholes, which is more than a hogshead at
a time, and to the height of two lances, and by this water which the whale throws
up, one can judge how much oil it will furnish.

"There are such as one may obtain more than 400 hogsheads (barriques) from,
and others less, and, from the tongue one may ordinarily obtain five or six hogs-
heads (and Pliny states that whales are found which are 600 feet long and 360
broad). There are some from which one may obtain more.

" On my return I saw very few whales at Gaspe, in comparison with the preced-
ing year, and could not perceive the cause, nor the reason for it, if not that it might
be in part the great abundance of blood which flowed from the wound of a large
whale, that for pleasure one of our commissioners had given him with a shot of an
arquebus, double loaded. This is, however, not the way to capture them, for it
requires quite other inventions, and artifices of which the Basques know very well
how to make use, but since other authors have written of them, I will refrain from
describing them.

1 LAVERDIERE, CEuvres de Champlain, 2d ed., 3, 1870, pp. 376-377.

20 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

" The first whale that we saw at sea was asleep, and as we passed quite close
the ship was turned a little, for fear that upon awaking it might do us some harm.
I saw one among the others extraordinarily large, and such that the captain and
those who went about there said assuredly they had never seen a larger one.
That which enabled one the better to appreciate his bulk and size was that in
throwing himself about and bearing up against the sea, he made visible a part
of his huge body. I was very much astonished by a Gibar which with its fin
or its tail (for I could not well discern or recognize which it was) struck so terribly
hard on the water, that one could hear it for a long distance, and I was told that
it was to surprise and mass together the fish, in order afterwards to swallow
them." '

He remarks also :

" All this bay [of Gaspe] was so full of whales that at last they inconvenienced
us very much, and disturbed our repose by their continual bustle, and the noise of
their spoutings." a

We have already seen that Baffin in his letter to Wolsteuholme relative to his
voyage of 1616 mentions the "Grand Bay" whale (or whale of the Strait of Belle
Isle) which Eschricht believed to be BalcBna mysticetm. (See p. 10.)

Champlain's account of Canada, already cited, which was published in 1632,
contains this note :

"Codfish and whales are fished for along all the coasts of New France, in
almost all seasons." 3

NEW ENGLAND COAST.

None of the explorers of the 16th century make any reference, so far as
I am aware, to the occurrence of whalebone whales in New England waters. In
Brereton's account of Gosnold's voyage to Massachusetts in 1602, however, we find
whales included in the list of "commodities" seen in the country, and the following
remark :

"On the north side of this island [Martha's Vineyard ? March, 1602] we found
many huge bones and ribs of whales." 4

Waymouth, who made a voyage to the coast of New England in 1605, remarks
of the Indians :

"One especial thing is their manner of killing the whale, which they call
powdawe ; and will describe his form ; how he bloweth up the water ; and that he
is twelve fathoms long ; and that they go in company of their king with a multi-

1 SAGARD-THEODAT, G., Le Grand Voyage au Pays des Hurons, 1632, pp. 24-27.
'J Op. at., p. 40.

' LAVERDIERE, CEuvres de Champlain, 2d ed., 5, 1870, p. 663.

4 BRERETON, JOHN, A Brief and True Relation of the Discovery of the North Part of Virginia,
Made this Present Year 1602. London, 1602. Mass. Hist. Coll. (3), 8, p. 87.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 21

tude of their boats, and strike him with a bone made in fashion of a harping iron
fastened to a rope, which they make great and strong of the bark of trees, which
they veer out after him : then all their boats come about him, and as he riseth
above water, with their arrows they shoot him to death : when they have killed
him and dragged him to shore, they call all their chief lords together, and sing
a song of joy : and those chief lords, whom they call sagamores, divide the spoil,
and give to every man a share, which pieces so distributed, they hang up about
their houses for provision : and when they boil them, they blow off the fat, and
put to their pease, maize, and other pulse which they eat." '

His landfall seems to have been at Nantucket [Cuerno ?] and he remarks :

" Here [May 14, 1605] we found great store of excellent codfish, and saw
many whales, as we had done two or three days before." [Somewhere near the
Island of Cuerno in lat. 41° 20'.] 8

He also includes whales among the profitable things to be found in New
England.3

These notes furnish no information as to the kind of whales obtained, but in
John Smith's account of his voyage to New England in 1614 we find a definite
allusion to the Finbacks. He writes:

[1614. JOHN SMITH'S VOYAGE TO NEW ENGLAND.]

"In the month of April, 1614, at the charge of Captain Marmaduke Roydon,
Captain George Langam, Mr. John Biiley and Mr. William Skelton, with two ships
from London, I chanced to arrive at Monahigan [Monhegan] an isle of America, in
434 [43° 40'] of northerly latitude: our plot was there to take whales, for which
we had one Samuel Cramton and divers others expert in that faculty, and also to
make trials of a mine of gold and copper ; if those failed, fish and furs were then
our refuge to make ourselves savers howsoever : we found this whale-fishing a
costly conclusion, we saw many and spent much time in chasing them, but could
not kill any, they being a kind of imbartes, and not the whale that yields fins and
oil, as we expected ; for our gold it was rather the master's device to get a voyage
that projected it, than any knowledge he had at all of any such matter ; fish and
furs were now our guard, and by our late arrival and long lingering about the
whale, the prime of both those seasons were past ere we perceived it, we thinking
that their seasons served at all times, but we found it otherwise, for by the midst
of June the fishing failed, yet in July and August some were taken, but not suf-
ficient to defray so great a charge as our stay required : of dry fish we made about
forty thousand, of cor-fish about seven thousand." 4

1 Waymouth's Voyage in the Discovery of the Land of Virginia, written by James Rosier.
London, 1605. Mass. Hist. Coll. (3), 8, p. 156.

•Ofi.dt.p. 131.

>0p.cit.,p. 157.

'SMITH, J., General History of New England. Pinkerton's Voyages, 13, 1812, p. 207.

Starbuck puts the matter in a somewhat different light, remarking that Smith " found whales
so plentiful along the coast that he turned from the primary object of his voyage to pursue them."
There appears to be nothing in the original narrative just quoted to justify this view. — STARBUCK,
History of the American Whale Fishery. Rept. U. S. Fish Com., pt. 4, 1878, p. 5, foot-note.

22 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

In Bradford's and Winslow's Journal of events in Plymouth Colony from
1602 to 1625 we find the following under date of November 11, 1620 :

[1620. CAPE COD. BRADFORD'S AND WINSLOW'S "JOURNAL."]

[Nov. 11, 1620.] "And every day we saw whales playing hard by us; of
which in that place, if we had instruments and means to take them, we might have
made a very rich return ; which, to our great grief, we wanted. Our master and
his mate, and others experienced in fishing, professed we might have made three or
four thousand pounds' worth of oil. They preferred it before Greenland whale-
fishing, and purpose the next winter to fish for whale here." '

In the same Journal, among the arguments brought forward for the establish-
ment of a settlement at Pamet River, on Cape Cod, is the following :

[1620. CAPE COD, MASS. BRADFORD'S AND WINSLOW'S "JOURNAL."]

"Thirdly, Cape Cod was like to be a place of good fishing; for we saw daily
great whales, of the best kind for oil and bone, come close aboard our sLip, and, in
fair weather, swim and play about us. There was once one, when the sun shone
warm, came and lay above water, as if she had been dead, for a good while to-
gether, within half a musket shot of the ship; at which two were prepared to
shoot, to see whether she would stir or no. He that gave fire first, his musket flew
in pieces, both stock and barrel ; yet, thanks be to God, neither he nor any man
else was hurt with it, though many were there about. But when the whale saw
her time, she gave a snuff, and away." *

An account of a voyage to New England in 1629 contains the following
reference to whales :

"This day [June 24] we had all a cleare and comfortable sight of America,
and of the Cape Sable that was over against us 7 or 8 leagues northward. Here
we saw yellow gilliflowers on the sea.

"Thursday [25l.h June] wind still N. E. a full and fresh gale. In the afternoon
we had a cleare sight of many islands and hills by the sea shoare. Now we saw
abundance of raackrill, a great store of great whales puffing up water as they goe,

1 YOUNG, ALEX., Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers of the Colony of Plymouth from 1602 to
1625, Boston, 1841, p. 119. Bradford's and Winslow's Journal. Young comments on this para-
graph as follows:

" Whales are frequently seen in Barnstable Bay and on the outside of the Cape, and are killed
by boats from Provincetown. Occasionally, though more rarely of late, they come into the harbour ;
at the beginning of the present century, two or three whales, producing about a hundred barrels of
oil, were annually caught ; the last that was killed in the harbour was in Dec., 1840, a humpback,
that made fifty barrels of oil. The appearance of a whale in the harbour is the signal for a general
stir among the hundred graceful five-hand boats that line the circling shore of this beautiful bay.
The American whale fishery commenced at Cape Cod, where it was carried on entirely in boats,
which put off whenever a signal was given by persons on the look out from an elevated station,
that a whale was seen to blow. In 1690 'one Ichabod Paddock ' went from the Cape to Nantucket
to teach the inhabitants of that isle the art and mystery of catching whales. — See Mass. Hist. Coll.
(i), in, 157."

1 Op. fit., p. 146.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 23

some of them came neere our shipp; this creature did astonish us that saw them
not before; their back appeared like a little island." — (P. 42.) :

On another page 3 are again mentioned " huge whales going by companies and
puffing up water-streames."

Richard Mather, in his voyage to New England in 1635, mentions seeing near
that coast " mighty whales spewing up water in the air like the smoke of a chimney." 3

In 1639, according to Starbuck, the Massachusetts colonies began to pass acts
relating to the fisheries. The earliest paper relating to whales which he quotes is
a proposition of the general court of Plymouth Colony respecting " drift fish," dated
October 1, 1661.4 Neither this nor the later documents give any clue to the kind
of whales pursued, beyond passing references to whalebone and statements of the
amount of oil obtained, but it is probable, judging from evidence of later date, that
it was the Atlantic Right whale, £alwna glacialis.

NEW YORK BAY.

The only early historian of New York whose writings, so far as I have been
able to ascertain, contain references to whales, is Adriaen Van der Donck. He
came to New York about 1645, and about 1653 published the first edition of his
Description of the New Netherlands. In this history he turns aside to mention the
appearance of two whales in the Hudson River in 1647, and of four others which
occurred there the same year, as follows :

[1656. VAN DER DONCK'S "DESCRIPTION or THE NEW NETHERLANDS."]

"I cannot refrain, although somewhat out of place, to relate a very singular
occurrence, which happened in the month of March, 1647, at the time of a great
freshet caused by the fresh water flowing down from above, by which the water
of the [Hudson] river became nearly fresh to the bay, when at ordinary seasons the
salt water flows up from twenty to twenty-four miles from the sea. At this season,
two whales, of common size, swam up the river forty miles, from which place one
of them returned and stranded about twelve miles from the sea, near which place
four others also stranded the same year. The other run farther up the river and
grounded near the great Chahoos falls, about forty-three miles from the sea. This
fish was tolerably fat, for although the citizens of Rensselaerwyck broiled out a
great quantity of train oil, still the whole river (the current being still rapid) was
oily for three weeks and covered with grease. As the fish lay rotting, the air was
infected with its stench to such a degree that the smell was offensive and percepti-
ble for two miles to leeward. For what purpose those whales ascended the river
so far, it being at the time full forty miles from all salt or brackish water, it is dif-
ficult to say, unless their great desire for fish, which were plenty at this season, led
them onward." B

1 A True Relation of the Last Voyage to New England, begun the 251(1 of April, 1629, written
from New England, July 24, 1629. Hutchinson's Coll. Orig. Papers on Hist. Mass. Bay, 1769.
3 Op. tit., p. 46.

' See his Journal. Quoted by Starbuck, op. fit., p. 5, foot-note.
' STARBUCK, op. at., p. 7.

6 VAN DER DONCK, A., A Description of the New Netherlands, 2d ed., 1656. 2 N. Y. Hist.
Coll., i, pp. 142-143. The first edition, according to the editor, was published about 1653.

24 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

These whales were quite probably Finbacks, although there is nothing in the
narrative whereby to identify them beyond the statement that they were " of com-
mon size," and that the one which stranded near " the great Chahoos falls " was
"tolerably fat." Van der Donck intimates that there was no fishery here at this
time. He writes:

"There are [in the waters of the New Netherlands] also porpoises, herring-
hogs, pot-heads or sharks, turtles, &c., and whales, of which there are none caught,
but if preparations were made for the purpose, then it might be easily effected ; but
our colonists have not advanced far enough to pursue whaling. A lost bird, however,
is frequently cast and stranded, which is cut up." 1

This is more likely to refer to New York Bay (or North Bay, as it was called)
than to the Delaware, or South Bay, for, as we shall see presently, there had been a
fishery in the latter region some fourteen or fifteen years previously, which Van der
Donck mentions elsewhere. Furthermore, the context applies to New York rather
than to Delaware, and Van der Donck's residence was on the Hudson River. By
the expression " a lost bird," he seems to mean a stranded whale.

LONG ISLAND.

In 1644, according to Starbuck, the town of Southampton, Long Island, ap-
pointed persons to attend to "drift" whales, and in 1651 the town of Easthampton
arranged for persons to "loke out for whale." These towns and Southwold drew
up a petition in 1672, in which it was stated that they had endeavored to establish a
whale fishery for " about twenty years," but could not bring it to perfection until
" within 2 or 3 years."

DELAWARE BAT.

Nothing regarding the occurrence of whales in Delaware Bay appears to have
been put into print until De Vries published his account of the attempt of a
Dutch company to establish a fishery there in 1631. This undertaking does not
seem to have been successful. The kind of whale sought for is not described, but
from the fact that De Vries remarks that they " come in winter and remain till
March," it was presumably the Right whale. De Vries was employed as a patroon
to plant a colony in the New Netherlands. The following references to this enter-
prise are of much interest :

[1631. DE VRIES'S NARRATIVE.]

"We at the same time equipped a ship with a yacht for the purpose of prose-
cuting the voyage, as well to canyon the whale fishery in that region, as to plant
a colony for the cultivation of all sorts of grain, for which the country is very well
adapted, and of tobacco. This ship with the yacht sailed from the Texel the 12th
of December [1630], with a number of people and a large stock of cattle, to settle
our colony upon the South River [Delaware River], which lies in the thirty-eighth
and a half degree, and to conduct the whale fishery there, as Godyn represented

'VAN DER DONCK, A., A Description of the New Netherlands, 2d ed., 1656. 2 N. Y. Hist.
Coll., i., p. 176.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 25

that there were many whales which kept before the bay [Delaware Bay], and the
oil, at sixty guilders a hogshead, he thought would realize a good profit, and con-
sequently that fine country be cultivated.

" The 20th of same month, we understood that our yacht was taken the day
but one before as it was running out the Texel, by the Dunkirkers, through the
carelessness of the large ship. . . . (Pp. 15-16.)

"Anno 1631. . . . The ship conveyed the rest [of a lot of emigrants] to
the South River [Delaware River] in New Netherland, and brought a sample of oil
from a dead whale found on the shore. . . . (P. 16.)

"Anno 1632. The 12th of February we again entered into an agreement to
equip a ship and yacht for the whale fishery, in which much profit had not been
realized ; because we had had such a losing voyage, and no returns from the whale
fishery, and saw no prospect of any. But Samuel Godyn encouraged us to make
another attempt. He said the Greenland Company had two bad voyages with
Willen Van Muyen, and afterwards became a thrifty company. It was therefore
again resolved to undertake a voyage for the whale fishery, and that I myself
should go as patroon, and as commander of the ship and yacht, and should
endeavor to be there in December, in order to conduct the whale fishing during the
winter, as the whales come in the winter and remain till March. (P. 16.)

"The 12th of September [St. Martin's Id., West Indies], I let the ship have
room, but the capture of a whale brought me to anchor. In New Netherland and
in Patria [in Holland], this would have been a valuable prize. (P. 20.)

"The 5th [of Dec.], the wind southwest, we weighed anchor, and sailed into
the South bay [Delaware Bay], and lay, with our yacht, in four fathoms water,
and saw immediately a whale near the ship. Thought this would be royal work —
the whales so numerous — and the land so fine for cultivation. (P. 22.)

"Anno 1633. The 1st of January . . . saw a whale at the mouth of the
South river [Delaware River] :

" The 2d [Jan.], in the morning, fine and pleasant, saw two large whales near
the yacht. (P. 24.)

"The llth [Jan.]. Arrived about a half-a-mile above Minqua's kill, where
we anchored, and saw a whale there that evening six or seven times. We were
surprised to see a whale seven or eight miles up into fresh water. (P. 27.)

"The 13th [Jan.]. Came to the ship at Swanendael, where our friends were
rejoiced to see us. We found that they had shot two whales, but they furnished
little oil. (P. 27.)

"The 29th [March], we arrived again in the South Bay [Delaware Bay], at
Swanendael, at our ships, where we were very welcome. Found that our people
had caught seven whales, but there were only thirty-two cartels of oil obtained, so
that the whale-fishery is very expensive, when such meagre fish are caught. We
could have done more if we had had good harpooners, for they struck seventeen
fish, and only secured seven, which is astonishing. They had always struck the
whales in the tail. I afterwards understood from some Basques, who were old
whale-fishers, that they always struck the harpoon in the fore-part of the back.
. . . Having put our oil in the ship, taken down our kettle, and hauled in
wood and water, we got ready to sail. (P. 38.)

"The 16th [April]. Arrived at noon before Fort Amsterdam [New York],
and found a Company's ship there. She had brought a new governor, Wouter
Van T wilier of Newkirk. ... I went ashore to the fort, out of which he
came to welcome me, and inquired of me also, how the whale-fishery succeeded. I
answered him that I had a sample; but that they were foolish who undertook the

26 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

whale-fishery here at such great expense, when they could have readily ascertained
with one, two, or three sloops in New Netherland, whether it was good fishing or
not." (P. 39.)1

This fishery appears to have become somewhat more prosperous later, or at
least to have been supplanted by another which was so, if we may credit Van der
Donck, who writes in 1656, of events occurring between 1644 and 1653 as follows:

[1656. A. VAN DER DONCK'S "DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW NETHERLANDS."]

" Here [Delaware Bay] also is a good whale fishery. Whales are numerous in
the winter on the coast, and in the bay, where they frequently ground on the shoals
and bars ; but they are not as fat as the Greenland whales. If, however, the fishery
was well managed, it would be profitable." 2

And again :

" Train oil can be made at the South bays [Delaware Bay], where whales are
plenty." 3

These statements may, I presume, be interpreted to mean either that a fishery
was in operation, or that it could be established. The expression, " here is a good
whale fishery," may perhaps mean only that here is a good fishing ground. As the
whales are said to come in winter, they were presumably Eight whales.

According to the late Prof. E. D. Cope, a letter of Wm. Penn, dated 1683,
states that eleven whales were taken about the capes at the entrance to Delaware
Bay that year.4 I have not found the original of this statement, but in Penn's
General Description of Pennsylvania, published in 1683, among the resources of
the country is included " the whale for oil, of which we have good store ; and two
companies of whalers, whose boats are built, will soon begin their work, which hath
the appearance of a considerable improvement."6

VIRGINIA TO FLORIDA.

I find no early references to the occurrence of whales on the Atlantic coast
from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida. Mr. H. H. Brimley stated in 1894 that the
Right whale fishery practised around Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina, had " been
in existence many years," 6 but does not give any details regarding its history.
Lawson, in 1709, stated that no whales were killed on the coast of North Carolina
at that time. (See the remark of Duharnel, quoted on p. 44.)

1 DE VRIES, D. P., Voyages from Holland to America, A.D. 1632 to 1644. Trans, by H. C.
Murphy. 2 N. Y. Hist. Coll., 3, pt. i.
'.2 N. Y. Hist. Coll., i, p. 139.

1 Op. at., p. 235, in the Dialogue between a Patriot and a New Netherlander.
4 Proc. Acad. Nat. Sd. Phila., 1865, p. 168.
' Penn's Select Works, 4th ed., 3, 1825, p. 226.
' Bull, of the N. C. Dept. of Agric., 14, No. 7, 1894, p. 5.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETII ATLANTIC. 27

Laudonniere, who was on the coast of Florida in 1564, in mentioning one of
the rivers remarks :

[June 22, 1564]. " Before departing I named this river the River of the
Dolphins, because on my arrival I saw there a large number of dolphins playing
about in the mouth of it." l

A remarkable story of the whale fishery of the Indians of Florida was told by
Joseph de Acosta in his History of the Indies, the first edition of which appeared
in 1590. This story was repeated again and again by later writers, and in spite of
its marvellous character it was long before it disappeared from the histories.

In the quaint translation of Grirnston it is as follows :

" But the combate which the Indians have with Whales is yet more admirable,
wherein appeares the power and greatnesse of the Creator to give so base a Nation,
as be the Indians, the industry and courage to incounter the most fierce and
deformed beast in the worlde, and not only to fight with him, but also to vanquish
him, and to triumph over him. Considering this, I have often remembred that
place of the Psalme, speaking of the Whale, Draco iste, quern formasti ad illuden-
dum eum. What greater mockerie can there be then to see an Indian leade a whale
as bigge as a mountaine vanquished with a corde. The maner the Indians of
Florida vse (as some expert men have tolde me) to take these whales (whereof
there is great store) is, they put themselves into a canoe, which is like a barke of a
tree, and in swimming approach neere the whales side ; then with great dexteritie
they leape to his necke, and there they ride as on horsebacke, expecting his time,
then hee thrustes a sharpe and strong stake, which hee carries with him, into the
whales nosthrill, for so they call the hole or vent by which they breathe ; presently
he beates it in with an other stake as forcibly as hee can ; in the meane space the
whale dooth furiously beate the sea, and raiseth mountaines of water, running into
the deepe with great violence, and presently riseth againe, not knowing what
to doe for paine ; the Indian still sittes firme, and to give him full payment for this
trouble, he beates another stake into the other vent or nosthrill so as he stoppeth
him quite, and takes away his breathing ; then hee betakes him to his canoe, which
he holdes tied with a corde to the whales side, and goes to land, having first tied
his corde to the whale, the which hee lettes runne with the whale, who leapes from
place to place whilest he finds water enough ; being troubled with paine, in the end
hee comes neere the land, and remains on ground by the hugenesse of his body,
vnable any more to moove ; then a great number of Indians come vnto the conquered
beast to gather his spoiles, they kill him, and cut his flesh in peeces, this do they drie
and beate into powder, vsing it for meate, it dooth last them long : wherein is
fulfilled that which is spoken in another Psalme of the whale, Dedisti eum escam
populis sEthiopum.'1'1 '

BERMUDA.

In 1665 we have for the first time a short account of a whale fishery at
the Bermudas (published anonymously in the first volume of the Philosophical

1 LAUDONNIERE, R., Hist, de Florida. Bibl. Elzevir, 1853, p. 68.

1 ACOSTA, J., The Natural and Moral History of the Indies. Reprinted from the English
translated edition of Edward Grimston, 1604, pp. 148-150 (revised by Clements R. Markham).
Hakluyt Soc., London, 1880.

28 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Transactions) which is explicit as to the size and shape of the whales, the mouths
in which they are found, aud other matters.1 The whales were Humpbacks. Two
old females and three cubs were taken at first and afterwards 16 other individ-
uals. One old female was 88 ft. long, the flukes 23 ft. broad, the flipper 26 ft.
long, the baleen 3 ft. long. The other female was about 60 ft. long, and of the
cubs one was 33 ft. long, and the remaining two 25 or 26 ft. The writer states that
the whales occurred only from the beginning of March to the end of May (or of
April), after which they left the coast and were supposed to go to the Gulf
of Mexico.

In the second part of this article reference is made to the stranding of a sperm
whale on the New England coast, — " of that sort which they call Tmmpo" and
further that " these whales were to be met with, between the Coast of New-
England and New-Netherland, where they might be caught eight or nine months
in the year."

This subject was taken up again in 1667 by Richard Norwood, an " intelli-
gent gentleman living upon the place," but he seems to have had his information
entirely at second-hand.

" For the killing of Whales, it hath been formerly attempted in vain, but
within these 2 or 3 years, in the Spring-time and fair weather, they take some-
times one, or two, or three in a day. They are less, I hear, than those in Green-
land, but more quick and lively.

" . . . I have heard from credible persons that there is a kind of such
as have the Sperma at Eleutheria, and others of the Bahama Islands (where also
they find often quantities of Amber-greese) and that those have great teeth (which
ours have not) and are very sinewy." '"

The next year, 1668, Norwood's friend, Richard Stafford, Sheriff of the
Bermudas, who appears to have been a practical whaler, wrote a letter to the
Royal Society in which the whale fishery is again referred to. His statements,
though erroneous in some particulars, are very interesting, and are, so far as I
know, the first recorded observations of any person who was familiar with whales
in American waters from having actually himself taken part in their capture.
He writes :

" We have hereabout [the Bermudas] very many sorts of Fishes. There is
amongst them great store of Whales, which in March, April and May use our

'ANON., Of the New American Whale-fishing about the Bermudas. Philos. Trans., i, No. i,
March 6, 1665, pp. 11-13.

ANON., A Further Relation of the Whale-fishing about the Bermudas, and on the Coast of
New-England and New-Netherland. Philos. Trans., i, No. 8, Jan. 8, i66f, pp. 132, 133.

This fishery was to be begun March 22, 1664, but it appears not to have been until April. (See
LEFROY, Memorials of the Bermudas, 2, pp. 211 and 214.)

1 NORWOOD, RICHARD. An Extract of a Letter, written from the Bermudas, giving an account
of ... the Whale-fishing there practised anew, and of such Whales as have the Sperma Ceti in
them. Philos. Trans., i, No. 30, 1667, pp. 565-567. Norwood made the first surveys of the
islands and divided them into shares.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 29

Coast. I have myself killed many of them. Their Females have abundance of
Milk, which their young ones suck out of the Teats, that grow by their Navell.
They have no Teeth, but feed on Mosse, growing on the Rocks at the bottom
during these three Moneths, and at no other season of the Year. When that is
consumed and gone, the Whales go away also. These we kill for their Oyl. But
here have been Sperma- Ceti -Whales driven upon the shore, which Sperma (as
they call it) lies all over the Body of those Whales. These have divers Teeth,
which may be about as big as a Man's wrist; and I hope by the next opportunity
to send you one of them. I have been at the -Bahama-lslauds, and there have
been found of this same sort of Whales dead on the shore, with /Sperma all over
their Bodies. Myself with about 20 more have agreed to try, whether we can
master and kill them, for I could never hear of any of that sort, that were kill'd
by any man ; such is their fierceness and swiftness. One such Whale would be
worth many hundred pounds. They are very strong, and inlay'd with sinews all
over their Body, which may be drawn out thirty fathom long." l

There are various statements regarding this fishery in the colonial records of
the Bermudas, a large body of which was published in convenient form by Sir J.
H. Lefroy in 1879.2 These include the papers of Norwood and Stafford already
quoted, but are chiefly orders of the proprietors of the islands to the successive
governors concerning the regulation of the fishery, reports of the governors to the
proprietors, and various proclamations and court decisions relating to the conduct
of the industry. In these papers references are occasionally made to the seasons
in which the whales appear at the islands, and some other allusions to their habits,
but very little is said regarding the whales themselves.

While many complaints were made by the proprietors in London that whale
oil was not sent them as it should have been, whalebone is seldom referred to.
It is usually mentioned as something which might be expected to form a valuable
product of the industry, but never as a product actually in hand. From this it
would appear that to the close of the 17th century at least, the Right whale
was not taken at the islands, for it is not probable that the valuable whalebone of
that species would have been ignored.

We hear nothing of the Bermuda Hump back fishery again for a very long
time. Mr. J. Matthew Jones, of Nova Scotia, stated in 1884, that it was "prose-
cuted by the islanders with more or less success from the earliest times until the
present." 3 He seems to be of the opinion, however, that the Right whale was the
species sought for, but there is very good reason to believe that the statements of
Norwood and Stafford, in 1 667 and 1668, relate to the same whale as that mentioned
in the anonymous accounts of 1665, and the latter was undoubtedly the Hump-
back. Later, the Right whale may have been captured, as it was on the coast
of New England, and it is possible that at a comparatively early date attention

1 STAFFORD, RICHARD, An Extract of a Letter, written to the Publisher from the Bermudas by
Mr. Richard Stafford ; concerning the Tydes there, as also whales, Sperma Ceti, (etc.). Bermuda,
July 16, 1668. Philos. Trans., 3, No. 40, 1668, pp. 792-794.

1 LEFROY, J. H., Memorials of the Discovery and Early Settlement of the Bermudas or Somers
Islands, 1511-1687. 2 vols., London, 1877-79.

' Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 25, 1884, p. 148.

30 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

was transferred largely, if not wholly, from the Humpback to the Right whale,
but of this there is no evidence.

In 1902 Professor A. E. Verrill published a brief statement regarding whales
at Bermuda, citing the early records and adding a few data of recent date. The
baleen whales which he includes as having been seen or captured about the
islands are a Humpback, a Finback, and a Right whale.1

WEST INDIES.

Two comparatively early explorers of the West Indies, Rochefort (1658) and
Du Tetre (1667), have some little to say regarding the cetaceans of those waters.
Rochefort in his History of the Antilles, after mentioning the marine monsters
found in those parts, and describing two species of Marsouins or porpoises, has
an article on "whales and other monsters of the sea," from which the following:

" Those who travel about these islands sometimes see whales in their journey-
ings, which throw up water from their blowhole to the height of a pike, and
which only show ordinarily a little of their back, which resembles a rock above
water.

" Ships are also sometimes accompanied for quite a long time by monsters
which are of the length and breadth of a boat (chalauppe), and which seem to
find pleasure in thus showing themselves. The sailors call them MorJiom or
Souffleurs, (puffers), because that from time to time these prodigious fish put a
part of their head out of water, to take breath, and then they blow and scatter
the water from in front of their pointed snouts. Some say that it is a species of
large porpoise." *

These whales would appear to be Finbacks, though it is possible, of course,
that the reference is to some species of ziphioid whale, perhaps Ziphius cav-
irostris, or that various kinds of whales are confounded.

Du Tetre in his General History of the Antilles (1667-71) speaks first of the
" great number of whales, of puffers ( ' Souffleurs) and of porpoises " about Mar-
tinique and then devotes a section of his work to whales. In this section he
throws some light on the Souffleur, but hardly enough to make it certain what it
really is. The matter is as follows :

"Whales are seen about these islands [Antilles] from the month of March to
the end of May more frequently than in all the rest of the year. They are in heat
and copulate at this time, and one sees them roaming about principally in the
morning, all along the coast, two, three or four, all in a school, blowing and as if
syringing from their nostrils two little rivers of water, which they blow into the air
to the height of two pikes, and in this effort they make a kind of bellowing (meu-
glemenf) which may be heard for a good quarter of a league. When two males
meet near one of the females they join battle and give themselves over to a danger-
ous combat, striking the sea so hard with their fins and tail that it seems as if they
were two ships engaged with cannon."3

'VERRILL, A. E., The Bermuda Islands. Trans. Conn. Acad., n, 1902, pp. 682-688.

1 ROCHEFORT, C. DE, Hist. Nat. et Morale des Isles Antilles, ist ed., 1658, p. 179.

' Du TETRE, J. B., Hist. Gen. des Antilles, Tom. 2, Traite" 4, " Des Poissons," 1667, p. 196.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. * 31

Then follows a paragraph as to the size being exaggerated by Rene" Francois,
and then the story of the Florida Indians from Acosta, after which comes an
account of an accident caused by a whale getting under a boat near Martinique.
A little farther on the following important passages occur:

" One sees more whales around Martinique than at Guadaloupe, because the
sea there is more channeled and deeper, from which it arises that they can frequent
these shores with less danger than those of Guadaloupe, which are less steep, and
where there are more keys and shallows, where they might more easily strand and
perish.

" Of Souffleurs. — The Souffleur is a large fish, which one might with much
reason consider a species of whale, supposing that one might employ the word
whale in a generic sense ; for it has so much resemblance to that animal that it
differs from it only in size ; it blows and syringes the water into the air through
its nostrils, like the whale, although a much smaller quantity, so that many take
them for small whale cubs, though it may be an entirely different kind of fish.
They go in schools like the porpoises, and it is only necessary to whistle to make
them turn suddenly and approach the ships, but it is not all play to capture them,
for they are endowed with a force so extraordinary, that a captain of a ship assured
me that one day having harpooned one, it made such a violent strain on the line
attached to the harpoon that it broke the large yard of his mast where this line
was fastened. They are in great numbers on all these coasts ; it seems as if they
had a liking for men, for they follow the canoes and boats, as though it gave them
pleasure to hear the noise that is made." l

PACIFIC COAST.

The earliest reference to whales on the west coast of North America which I
have found is in Oviedo's chapter "on the whales which are in the seas of the
islands and mainland of the Indies," in Ramusio's Voyages. This relates to an
incident which occurred in the year 1529, a very early date, earlier indeed than
that of the incident mentioned by Cartier as occurring in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,
to which reference has already been made (p. 14).

Oviedo's account is as follows :

"I will relate what I myself with many others saw in the mouth of the Gulf
of Orotigna, which is 200 leagues distant from the town of Panama toward the
West. ... In 1529, going out of the Gulf into the open sea, to go to the town
of Panama, we saw at the mouth of the Gulf a fish or marine animal extremely
large, and which from time to time raised itself straight out of the water. And
that which was to be seen above the water, which was only the head and two arms,
was considerably higher than our caravel with all its masts. And being elevated
in that way it let itself fall and struck the water violently, and then after a little
time returned to repeat the act, but not, however, throwing up any water from the
mouth, although in falling down with the blow and the fall it made much water
rise up into the air. And a cub of this animal, or one like it but much smaller, did
the same, deviating always somewhat from the larger one. And from what the
sailors and others who were in the caravel said they judged it to be a whale, and
the smaller a whale's cub. The arms which they showed were very large, and
1 Du TETRE, J. B., Hist. G£n. des Antilles, 2, 1667, pp. 196-197.

32 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

some have said that the whale has no arms. But the one which I saw, was of the
manner I have said, for I went with the others in the caravel, where came also
Father Lorenzo Martino, canon of the church of Castiglict delV Oro; and the pilot
was John Cabezas ; and with us came also a gentleman named Sancio di Tudela,
with many others, who are alive and can testify the same thing, because I would
never wish to speak of such things without witnesses. By estimate, and as it
seemed to me, each arm of this animal might be 25 feet long and as thick as a
barrel and the head more than 14 or 15 feet long, and very much thicker and the
rest of the body more than as much again.

"It raised itself up and that which it showed in height was more than five
times the height of a middle-sized man, which makes 25 feet. And the fear was
not a little that all had when with its leaps it came alongside our vessel, because
our caravel was small. And from what we could surmise it seemed that this
animal felt pleasure, and made holiday of the weather which was approaching ; for
soon there arose in the sea a strong west wind, which was much to our advantage,
for sailing along in a few days we reached the town of Panama." '

From the size and shape of this whale and especially from the length of its
pectoral fins and its manner of putting its head out of water, there is strong prob-
ability that it was a Humpback whale.

In 1539 Francis Ulloa cruised along the Pacific coast of Central America,
penetrated the Gulf of California, and passing out of it again proceeded to Cerros
Island. In his passage around Cape St. Lucas he encountered a large school of
whales, which he refers to as follows :

"Before we came to this point of the haven of Santa Cruz [in the Gulf of Cali-
fornia] by six or seven leagues, we saw on the shore between certain valleys divers
great smokes. And having passed the point of this port our Captain thought
it good to launch forth into the maine ocean, yet although we ran a swift course,
about 500 whales came athwart of us in 2 or 3 skulles [schools] within one houre's
space, which were so huge, as it was wonderful, and some of them came so neere
unto the ship, that they swam under the same from one side to another, whereupon
we were in great feare, lest they should doe us some hurt, but they could not
because the ship had a prosperous and good winde, and made much way, whereby
it could receive no harme, although they touched and strooke the same."*

In the account of Viscaino's voyages along the outer coast of Lower California
in 1603, given by Torquemada,3 it is mentioned that the Baia de Hattenas, or Bay
of Whales, was so named by the explorer on account of the numbers of whales
seen there. This was in July, 1602.

There are, according to H. H. Bancroft, but four voyages to be comprised
under the title of early voyages for the discovery of California. These are Ferrelo's
voyage, 1543; Drake's voyage, 1579; Gali's voyage, 1584; and Viscaino and Agui-
lar's voyage, 1603. An examination of the accounts of the first three fails to reveal
any mention of whales, but in Viscaino's voyage of 1603 these animals were en-

1 RAMUSIO, Navigation! et Viaggi, 3, p. 156.

1 Op. tit., pp. 353-354. Translation from Hakluyt, 3, pp. 423-424.

'TORQUEMADA, Monarchia Indiana, T, 1723, p. 702.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 33

countered. The ships which were to make this voyage assembled in the harbor of
Monterey, from which they started for Cape Mendocino, Januaiy 3, 1603. The
resources of the Monterey region are described and among other things are men-
tioned " seals, very large, and many whales." :

Alaska was discovered by Vitus Bering in 1740, and in the account of the
memorable and ill-starred expedition which Steller has given us we find several
references to whales, the first, so far as I know, for that part of America. After
the landfall at Mt. St. Elias in July, 1740, Bering steered northward and en-
countered the peninsula of Aliaska and the Aleutian Islands. It was while thread-
ing their way through this archipelago that the voyagers noticed the larger
cetaceans.

Steller first remarks on them as follows :

"From the 20th to the 23d [of August, 1740] we tacked along the Parallel of
53°. [ now saw whales very numerous, not singly any more, but in pairs, and
travelling in pairs with and behind one another and following one another, which
provoked in me the thought that this must be the time fixed for their rut."8

This observation appears to have been made when the vessel was between the
Aleutian and the Shumagin Islands. A little later Steller remarks again :

"The wind was favorable for us so that toward 2 o'clock in the afternoon
[Sept. 6, 1740] we lost sight of the mainland and islands. But the numerous
whales which accompanied us, one of which thrust more than half its length up-
right out of the sea, made us understand that a storm was brewing." 3

"The 13th of September [1740] was a bright day. . . . Moreover, many
whales were seen playing and we expected nothing good." 4

1 TORQUEMADA, Monarchia Indiana, i, 1723, p. 717.

' STELLER, G. W., Reise von Kamtschatka nach Amerika, 1793, p. 42.

' Op. cit., p. 76.

1 Op. tit., p. 78.

CHAPTER II.

A CHRONOLOGICAL ACCOUNT OF IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
NATURAL HISTORY OF NORTH AMERICAN WHALEBONE WHALES.

Knowledge of whales, as of other animals, owes its principal advancement to
the observations of three classes of persons, — the explorer and traveller, who
notices them casually among the varied wonders of nature ; the naturalist, amateur,
or professional ; and the person engaged in, or interested in, industrial pursuits.

To the casual observations of the earliest discoverers and explorers of America
we have already given attention, and in the whale fishery we have no direct interest
at present. We shall present, therefore, in this chapter a brief account of American
and European writings, whether by naturalists or practical whalemen, which have
contributed to a considerable extent to the advancement of knowledge of the whale-
bone whales found in North American waters. Writings on the Greenland whale,
Balcena mysticetus, will be excepted, because the present work does not cover that
species. This exception is an important one, involving a number of early treatises
of much value, such as those of Zorgdrager, Scoresby, etc., which contain excellent
accounts of the whale fisheries about Greenland and of the habits of the Greenland
whale.

So far as writings of American zoologists are concerned, the number relating
to baleen whales is surprisingly small, a fact due no doubt to the great difficulty
of assembling and maintaining cetological collections, and the scarcity of opportu-
nities for examining living or fresh specimens under favorable conditions. The
cetological collections of Europe are for the most part the accumulations of cen-
turies. In America, even to-day, such collections are exceedingly meagre, and it is
scarcely to be wondered at, therefore, that so few American naturalists have had
anything to say about this order of mammals.

While, as above noted, the present work does not deal with the whale fishery,
it should be repeated that some of the most substantial contributions to the natural
history of whales have been derived directly or indirectly from persons engaged in,
or interested in, that industry, and, indeed, without these treatises cetology would
be exceedingly deficient in certain directions.

1 . Natural Histories and Miscellaneous Contributions.
Seventeenth Century.

The writings of naturalists covering the period between the middle of the
sixteenth and the middle of the eighteenth centuries, beginning with the treatises of
Rondelet (1554) and Olaus Magnus (1555) and ending with the tenth edition of

34

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 35

Linnaeus's Systema Naturae, may be conveniently divided into three classes. In the
first class belong the general natural histories, commonly covering the whole field
of geography, zoology, botany, anthropology, and often other branches of science
as well. These works are descriptive rather than systematic, and frequently contain
reflections on and discussions of philological, theological, and political subjects.

The second class comprises works relating more strictly to animals, plants, and
minerals, but in which little or no attempt is made to classify the various natural
objects described. Finally, we have the formal natural histories, the precursors of
the systematic works of the present time. As zoologies of this third class do not
make their appearance before the beginning of the eighteenth century, we shall look
in vain for any systematic treatment of the subject under consideration in advance
of that time.

In the two centuries, 1553-1758, the whale fishery received the largest share
of attention. Discussions of the identity of the unicorn, involving descriptions
of the Narwhal, occupy the next place, while little less extensive were the in-
quiries regarding the origin of ambergris and the nature of the whale which
swallowed Jonah. The industrial treatises cover nearly the whole period, but
those on the unicorn seem to have had their origin about the middle of the seven-
teenth century, and those on ambergris and on Jonah's whale in the later decades
of that century.

None of the early naturalists, such as Rondelet (1554), Gesner (1551), or
Belon (1551), made any reference to the observations of the American explorers
or to American cetaceans in any wise. American cetology opens in 1590 with
Acosta's fable of the Florida Indians, who, as he learned from "some expert men,"
captured whales by driving plugs into their blowholes.1 This fable was repeated
by De Bry in 1602, who published a plate showing the Indians engaged in this
marvellous whale fishery.8 Lescarbot quotes from Acosta in 1609 3 and Nierem-
berg also tells the story in 1635, but seems inclined to discredit it.4 Du Tetre
also repeats it in 1667.

Rochefort's Natural History of the Antilles, published in 1658, contains the
next reference to baleen whales in North American waters. A translation of his
remarks has already been given on p. 30. Though his description is far from
satisfactory, it seems to have reference to some species of Finback whale. This is
the more probable as Du Tetre in his History of the Antilles, published in 1667,
has a fuller description under the same heading, as we have already seen in the
preceding chapter, pp. 30, 31.

Eighteenth Century.

In 1703, La Hontan, in his New Voyages to North America, enumerates
(1) " Balenots, or little whales"; (2) "a fish almost as big as a whale, called

1 ACOSTA, J., Hist. nat. y moral de las Indias, Seville, 1590, pp. 158-162.
1 DE BRY, T., Idaea vera et genuina, Praecipuarum Historiarum omnium, ut et variorum Rituum,
Ceremoniarum (etc.) gentis Indicae, Frankfort, 1602, pi. i.
1 Nova Francia. English ed., 1609, p. 269.
' NIEREMBERG, J. E., Historia naturae, Antwerp, 1635, p. 261.

36 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Souffleiir " ; and (3) "white porpoises," among the fishes of the St. Lawrence River.
His descriptions of these, which are extremely unsatisfactory, are as follows:

" The Balenot is a soil of a whale, only 't is less and more fleshy, and does not
yield Oil in proportion to the Northern Whales. This Fish goes fifty or sixty
Leagues up the River.

" The Souffleurs are much of the same size, only they are shorter and blacker,
When they mean to take breath after diving, they squirt out the water through
a hole behind their Head, after the same manner with the Whales. Commonly,
they dog the Ships in the River of St. Laurence.

" The White Porpoises are as big as Oxen. They always go along with the
Current; and go up with the tide till they come at fresh water, upon which they
retire with the ebb water. They are a ghastly sort of Animals, and are frequently
taken before Quebec." l

The "white porpoise" is, of course, the Beluga, or White whale, Delphinap-
terus, but the others are not certainly recognizable.

Charlevoix published a few notes on the whales found in the St. Lawrence in
his History and General Description of New France, the most important of which
is the following: " I have remarked in my Journal that having been at anchor in 1705
at the end of the month of August near Tadoussac, about 15 leagues above Matave,
I have seen 4 of them [*'. e., whales] at the same time playing around our vessel, and
approaching in such manner that one might have touched them with the oars ;
but it is principally on the coasts of Acadie that the fishing offers an inexhaustible
fund for commerce."

In 1709 Lawson, in his natural history of the Carolines, makes mention for
the first time of whales in those waters, but his account is vague and far from satis-
factory. His list includes " whales, several sorts " ; " crampois [grampus] " ; " bottle-
noses," and porpoises. He remarks : " Whales are very numerous on the coast of North
Carolina, from which they make Oil, Bone, etc. to the great Advantage of those
inhabiting the Sand Banks, along the Ocean, where these whales come ashore,
none being struck or kill'd with a Harpoon in this Place, as they are to the North-
.ward, or elsewhere."3

Lawson's descriptions of the various kinds of whales are uncritical and con-
fused. He says :

"Of these Monsters, there are four sorts; the first, which is most choice and
rich, is the /Sperma Cceti whale, from which the Sperma Cceti is taken. These are rich
Prizes ; but I never heard but of one found on this Coast, which was near CurritucJc-
Inlet [North Carolina],

"The other sorts are of a prodigious Bigness. Of these the Bone and Oil is
made; the Oil being the Blubber, or oily Flesh, or Fat of that Fish boil'd.
These differ not only in Colour, some being pied, others not, but very much in

1 LA HONTAN, New Voyages to North America, London, 1703, p. 244.

* CHARLEVOIX, P. F. X. DE, Histoire et Description generale de la Nouvelle France, 2, 1744

P 3%

3 LAWSON, JOHN, 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. 37

shape, one being call'cl a Bottle-Nosed Whale, the other a Shovel-Nose [shark ?],
which is as different 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 ?]." 1

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 1731-33, we read only that "whales of different species are sometimes
cast on shore, as are Grampus's, in storms and hurricanes." 3

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.3

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,"4 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" ; (3) "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 "Scrag" whale, which is, and always 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.5 Scammon remarks: "Our

1 Op. cit., pp. 153-154. Lawson was Surveyor-General of North Carolina.

" This is from the edition of 1743, vol. 2, p. xxxii, which, however, appears not to differ from
the original edition.

3 BRICKELL, J., The Natural History of North Carolina, 1737, pp. 215-226.

' Philos. Trans , 33, No. 387, Mch. and Apr., 1725, pp. 256-269.

5 ALLEN, J. A., Catalogue of the Mammals of Massachusetts. Bull, Mus. Comp. Zool., i, 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.2

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 3 :

( i. In Dorso laevi apinnes.

I ( I. Edentulae •< 2. In Dorso gibbo apinnes.

Physeteres ] I Balaenae -j ( 3. In Dorso pinnatae.

II. Dentatae f i. Dorso laevi apinnes.

2. Dorso laevi pinnatae.

3. Dorso gibbo apinnes.

4. Dorso gibbo pinnatse.

The various species enumerated are as follows :

BAL/ENJE EDENTUL.S.

In Dorso laevi apinnes.

1. Balana vera Zorgdrageri. [ = Bowhead.]

2. Balizna albicans; Weisfish Marlensii 6° Zorgdr. [ — White whale.]

3. Bal<zna glacialisj ita communiter: Eisfisch.

a. Australis; Zud-Eisfisch; dorso valde depresso, Zorgdrageri.

b. Occidentalis; West-Eisfisch; dorso minus depresso, Ejusdcm.

c. Borealis; Nordkaper, Ejusdem. [= Atlantic Right whale.]
In Dorso gibbo apinnes.

1. Gibbo unico prope caudam. Anglis : 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. Balcena macra. Anglis: Scrag- Whale. . . . Phil.

Trans., ibid. [ = Scrag whale of Dudley].
In Dorso pinnatae.

1. Ore Balance vulgaris, laminis corneis donato.

a. Balsena edentula, corpoire strictiore, dorso pinnato Raji. Finfish Zorgdr.

Physeter Gesn. Anglis. Finbak-Whale. . . . Phil. Trans, al. I.
[Includes the Finback of Dudley.]

b. Jubartes; Balaena novae Angliae. [The Bermuda Humpback of the anony-

mous writer in Philos. Trans., i, 1665, pp. 11-13.]

2. Ore rostrato. [Not American.]

1 SCAMMON, C. M., Marine Mammals, 1874, p. 67.

1 MACY, O., History of Nantucket, 1835, p. 28.

3 KLEIN, J. T., Historiae Piscium naturalis, pt. 2, 1741, pp. 9-16.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 39

DENTATE.
Dorso Isevi apinnes.

1. Cete Clusii Exot. [Not American.]

2. Cachelot s. Potfish Zorgdrageri. [ = Sperm whale.]
Dorso laevi pinnatae.

1. Balana major. [Not American.]

2. Mular Nierembergii. [Do.]

3. Linckii. [Do.]
Dorso gibbo apinnes.

Dudleji Baltzna. [ — Sperma Ceti whale of Dudley.]
Dorso gibbo pinnatae.

JBalcena, 2'igridis 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" appeal's 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.1

In 1746 John Anderson, burgomeister of Hamburg, a scholarly writer and
painstaking naturalist, published an excellent resume of what was then known of
whales in northern waters, in his Nachrichten von Island, Gronland 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 Cetaceum.

(1) Whales with blowholes.

(2) Whales with nostrils.'
Or,

(1) Whales with smooth backs. \=Bal<znincE^\

(a) The true whale, or Greenland Right whale. \==.Bal(Bna mysticetus]
(b} The Nordcaper. \--B- glacialis or biscayensis.~\

(2) Whales with the back grown out. [—Balanopterina]

'EGEDE, H., A Description of Greenland. Translated from the Danish. London, 1745, pp.
65-82, pis. 5 and 6. I have 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 WESTEKN NORTH ATLANTIC.

(1) With a dorsal fin. [= Balxnoptera^\

(a) The Finfish. \_-BalanofUra pkysaliu^\

(6) The Jupiter, or Jupiter-fish. [Includes (with a query) the Humpback of the
Bermudas, and the Balcena vera of Rondelet, and Balcenoptera physalus.]

(2) With one or more knobs \_Puckeln\.

(a) " The Swordfish of our Greenland voyagers." \ = Orcinus^\

(3) The American "Pflockfisch." [=The Humpback of Dudley.]

(f) 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 1723, which is clearly Balcenop-
tera pJiysalus. He suspects that this is the same as the whale occurring in the
Bermudas, described by the anonymous writer of 1665 in the Philosophical Trans-
actions, and there said to resemble the " Jubartes"1 ; 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, B. mysticetus, which he had from the whalers, and possibly the
description of B. pJiysalus (?), under the name of Jupiter-fish.

Brisson's Regne 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 Balcena. The species to which American localities are
assigned are the " common Greenland whale " (= JSalcena 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 PJiilosopJiical Transactions.

The next work to be considered — the tenth edition of Linnseus's Systema
Naturae (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 Balcena 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 Balcena pJiysalus "lives in the European and American Ocean,"2 but nothing

1 Philos. Trans., i, 1665, No. i, 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, etc., 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
BalwncB. The Linnsean 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 Scrag 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.1

The only American references in Boddaert's edition (1772), are as follows:
" Vinvisch " (a) with two blowholes, and a knob on the back. Lives in New Eng-
land. " Knobbelvisch " (b) whale, with two blowholes and six knobs on the back.
These are, of course, Dudley's Humpback and Scrag whales.2

In 1773 Miiller published an annotated edition of the Systema, based on the
twelfth edition and the work of Houttuyn. He has the four Linnsean species of
whalebone whales, all in the genus JSalcena, and adds three others (withoxit Latin
names) which he found in later authors. Two of these are Dudley's Humpback
and Scrag whales, under the names of " Pflockfish " and " Knotenfish," which Miiller
doubtless knew only indirectly through Anderson, or some other writer.3

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,
—Jjalcena 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 b., but not named as varieties. It is an interesting question
whether the name gibbosa can be applied to the Humpback. Another nominal
species included with the baleen whales is the Balwna rostrata of Miiller's Prodro-
mus. This is, however, probably the Hyperoodon? The Nordcaper is included
as " b," under Balasna mysticetus, but without a Latin varietal name ; and Egede,
Anderson, and Cranz are quoted in the synonymy.5

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 Tin-ton and
is said to inhabit the "coasts of New England." It is made by uniting Dudley's

'HOUTTUYN, F., Natuurlyke Historie volgens Linnaeus, i, pt. 3, 1762, pp. 441-500.
"BODDAERT, P., Kortbegrip van het zamenstel der Natuur, van den Heer C. Linnaeus, i, pt. i,
1772, P- 93-

1 MULLER, P. L. S., Des Ritters Carl von Linne vollstandiges Natursystem, i, 1773,

P- 493-

' See Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 21, 1898, p. 633.

6 GMELIN, J. F., Systema Naturae, i3th ed., Leipzig, i, 1788, pp. 223-226.

42 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

Humpback and Scrag whales under one name as in Gmelin's work. Turton omits
all bibliographical references.1

While these various editions and translations of Linnaeus'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. Miiller's Pro-
dromus of the Zoology of Denmark (including Greenland), published in 1776.2 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 Balcena, and the following have Greenlandic names : B.
mysticetus, Arbec or Arbavirksoak [Bowhead] ; B. physalus, Keporkak,3 or
Keporkarsoak [Finback] ; B. albicans, Killelluak [White whale].

The next important systematist, Erxleben, prefaces the list of cetacea in his ex-
cellent Systema Regni Animalis (1777) 4 with the remark that the species are but
imperfectly known. The baleen whales are all retained in the genus JBalcena,
and the species are the Linnsean ones with the addition of B. gibbosa. Of B.
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 Nordcaper, and does not separate it for-
mally from mysticetus. B. 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 B. boops is in " the northern ocean."
Anderson and Cranz (Jupiterfisch) are cited among the authorities. B. gibbosa is
Dudley's Scrag whale, which he takes at second hand from Klein, Anderson, and
other compilers. No habitat is given.5

Three years later, in 1780, Otto Fabricius, who was for several years a
missionary in Greenland, published his well-known Fauna Groenlandica, a very
concise and judicious work, and one whose influence on zoological 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.

1 For Czenpinski's Totius Regni Animalis Genera in Classes et Ordines LinnEeana methodo
digesta, 1778, see Allen's Bibliography, p. 468, No. 346.

a MULLER, O. F., Zoologiae Danicae Prodromus, 1776, pp. viii, 6-8.

'On p. viii of the introduction Miiller transfers this name to B. boops [Humpback] on the
authority of Fabricius.

'Pp. 601-611.

5 Dr. J. A. Allen in his Bibliography of Cetacea, p. 467, No. 341, remarks that B. gibbosa of
Erxleben is not the Scrag whale of Dudley, " as usually stated, which is one of the ' species obscuraa '
not formally recognized." This is an error. The only one of the " species obscurae " from Dudley
cited by Erxleben, on p. 617 is the " Dudleji Balcena Klein." This is Dudley's sperm whale. On
the other hand, all the bibliographical citations under B. gibbosa and the diagnosis refer back to
Dudley's Scrag whale.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 43

Tlie whalebone whales are brought together under the genus J3alcena as
follows : Baliena mysticetm [Bowhead], B. pkysalus [Common Finback], B. boops
[Humpback], B. rostrata [Little Piked whale], and B. 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 [B. boops], 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.2 The author, Hector St. John de Crevecosur, seems
to have had more or less knowledge of the whaling industry from practical experi-
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 lb.), twenty in the breadth of their tails,
and produces 180 barrels of oil.'"'

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 Crevecoeur 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.

'FABRICIUS, O., Zoologiske Bidrag. 2det Bidrag. Om Stub-Hvalen, Balcena Boops. K.
Danske Videns. Selsk. Skrivter, 6, 1818, pp. 63-83, i pi. (unnumbered), fig. i.

1 Letters from an American Farmer describing the British Colonies in North America, London,
1782, pp. 167-169. Allen (Bibliog., p. 472), stares that " In the French edition of 1767 \lege 1787],
the letter about the whale-fishery is dated ' Nantucket, 17 Octobre, 1772.' "

'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 Traite General des
Peches. He also alludes to the occurrence of Bowheads in the temperate waters
of Canada.

" I know that some small whales [Nordcapers] are taken in Iceland, and that
some large ones [Bowheads] are found sometimes accidentally in the more temper-
ate Provinces, especially in Canada, where the large whales [Bowheads] 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."1

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 cany 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." 8

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 Abbe Bonnaterre, whose
Tableau Encyclopedique was published as a supplement to the Encyclopaedia

1 DUHAMEL, Traite" Ge'ne'ral des Peches, 4, p. 10.
* Op. tit., 4, p. 28.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 45

Methodique in 1789.1 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 Balwna. The species
are as follows :

1. B. mysticetm. " Greenland Whale." (P. 1.)

"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 Pages.

2. B.glacialis. "The Nordcaper." (P. 3.)

" Inhabits the northern seas, about Norway and Iceland."

3. B.pliysalus. "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, Linna3us, 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.)
" Inhabits 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 (B.
macro). 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 macro,.

1 BONNATERRE, Tableau Encyclopedique et Methodique des Trois Regnes de la Nature —
Cetologie. Paris, 1789. 4°.

46 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

6. B. loops. "The Jubarte." (P. 6.)

"Found 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 na'ive remark: "Judging from the
description of Otto Fabricius, it seems to me that there is a slight 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 Linnaeus called Balcena loops. By thus combining Linnseus's B. boops
(a Finback) and Fabricius's B. loops (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.1 It is somewhat singular that so critical a naturalist as
Bonnaterre failed to discover that his B. nodosa (from Dudley) and his B. loops
(from Fabricius) were very closely related, if not identical.

T. B. musculus. " The Rorqual." (P. 7.)
" In 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,
Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacepede.

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. Lacepede, 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 Linnaeus's names, and cited the Systema Naturje,
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.

"... 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."5

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 1871,3 cover all groups of cetaceans and include
many species founded on American material and observations. Gray was accus-
tomed to establish genera and species on 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 i. Balsenidse.

Balsena mysticetus. [Greenland Whale.]
Eubalsena ? cisarctica. " Inhab. Atlantic."

[From Cope. The Biscay whale he makes a separate species, Hunterius biscayensis.]
Family 2. Agaphelidse. Scrag Whales.

Agaphelus gibbosus. " Inhab. North Atlantic."

[From Cope and Dudley.]

Rhachianectes glaucus. " Inhab. California, San Francisco."
[From Cope.]

1 History of the Expedition of Captains Lewis and Clark, 2, 1814, pp. 104, iio-m. Coues's
edition has the following note (2, p. 750): " Clark I 99 erases ' 105 ' and gives no dimensions."

2 Op. 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. Megapteridse. 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 a ramus of an under jaw

in the museum of Rutgers College.]
Family 4. Physalidae.

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.]
Balaenoptera 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, Megaptera americana. For this the only original material he had was a
tracing of unknown origin. It is singular that he does not give M. 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 Delphinidce than that which includes
the Balienidce.

In Feb., 1874, Dr. Gray published a brief note on the Megaptera letticosa of
Cope,2 in which he expressed the opinion that the species was a very distinct one,
but that the name was a synonym of Megaptera americana Gray.

Frederic Cuvier's Natural History of Cetaceans, published in 1836,3 contains

1 GRAY, J. E., The Geographical Distribution of the Cetacea. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4),
6, 1870, 387-394.

1 GRAY, J. E., On the Bermuda Humpbacked Whale of Dudley (Balcena nodosa, Bonnaterre;
Megaptera americana, Gray; and Megaptera bellicosa. Cope). Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), 13,
1874, p. 186.

3 CUVIER, F., De 1' Histoire Naturelle des Grace's, 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
Rwqvalus is established, and the species recognized are JR. boops, R. musculus,
and R. antarcticus.

Under Rorqiialus, 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 2£ 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 high and pointed behind. Its pectoral fins are sometimes 18
feet long and very white. But these ideas, derived from Dudley, seem to have
been poorly appreciated up to this time." 1

This is an odd remark, as Cuvier himself seems not to have appreciated the
singularity (if 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 orio-in 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; it 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 Holboll in Greenland. This material consisted
chiefly of specimens of the Greenland Humpback, both skeletons of adult individu-
als, foetuses, 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

1 CUVIER, F., De 1'Histoire Naturelle des Cetac^s, 1836, p. 309.
1 Op. fit., p. 355.

50 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Danish Scientific Society's Afhandlinger and SJcrifter, 1845-1849.1 Being in the
Danish language, they are a sealed book to many zoologists, 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 tlie earlier and present phases of cetology.

In this essay Eschricht treats chiefly of the history of different departments of
cetology, beginning with the Delphinidae. The genus Hyperoodon 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 BaloBna mysticetus, and the southern,
B. australis." At this date Eschricht seems not to have discovered that the Nord-
caper was distinct from B. 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 Holboll 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, etc. 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 Holboll; 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 i. Bemaerkninger over Cetologiens tidligere og naervasrende Skjebne. Dansk. Videns. Sehk.
nalur. og math. Afhandl., n, 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, pis. 1-4.

4. Om Nsebhvalen. Do., pp. 321-378, pis. 5-8.

5. Finhvalernes Osteologie og Artsadskillelse. Do., 12, 1846, pp. 225-396, pis. 9-16.

6. Udbytte paa en Reise gjennem det nordvestlige Europa i Sommeren 1846, som Tillaeg til
de foregaaende Afhandlinger. Dansk. Videns. Selsk. Skrifter, $te Raekke, natur. og math. Afd., i,
1849, pp. 85-138.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC. 51

and leaves it with the remark that neither Right whales nor the Commoii 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, etc. 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 foetuses of two
species of Northern Finbacks, with application to physiology and zoology.

The two species of Finbacks are the Little Piked whale, Balwnoptera 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 foetuses in the determination of species," in which the
characters of Fabricius's B. boops and Rudolphi's B. longimana are carefully con-
sidered, and the conclusion reached that "the B. longimana of Rudolphi and
Brandt really is specifically identical with Fabricius's B. boops."

ESSAY 3. — On the fcetal forms of tlie alimentary and reproductive apparatus in
the baleen whales.

ESSAY 4. — On Beaked whales \Hyperoodon\.

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 Bal(enoptera 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 (£. 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 vertebrae, 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 Godhavn, Greenland, in 1843. He discusses M oiler's data and describes
and figures one of the pectoral fins of this specimen which was sent to him, and
connects the species with Holboll'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 Holboll's Greenland researches, and the early accounts concerning the
Bermudas in the Philosophical Transactions.

ESSAY 6. — Results of a journey through northwestern Europe 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 Megaptera 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.1 The German edition, he 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 Holboll on Greenland baleen whales, and one
by Motzfeldt relating in part to the same subject.

1 ESCHRICHT, D. F., Zoologisch-anatomisch-physiologische Untersuchungen iiber die nordischen
Wallthiere, ite 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 l interests us chiefly on account of the discussion of the relation
of B. mysticetus to the Nord caper, 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,8 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,3 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,"4 published in 1864, is also almost
entirely devoted to the Greenland whales, and treats particularly of the migrations
of Balcena mysticetus in Davis Strait.

In a work called "Newfoundland in 1842," Sir Richard Bounycastle 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 " B. 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 " B. julartes, or pike-headed finner," with a dorsal fin 2£ feet
high, and which feeds upon capelin, etc. ; that whales of various sizes and kinds
are common in the St. Lawrence, about Gaspe, 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.6

1 ESCHRICHT og REINHARDT, Om Nordhvalen. Dansk. Vid. Sds. Skrif., 5, 1861, 433-589.
Translation in Ray Society Publications, under the title of " Recent Memoirs on the Cetacea."
Edited by Sir Wm. H. Flower.

1 ESCHRICHT, D. F., Sur une nouvelle Methode de 1'Etude des Cetaces. Comptes Rendus Acad.
Sci. Paris, 47, 1858, pp. 51-60.

' ESCHRICHT, D. F., Om de nordiske Hvaldyrs geographiske Udbredelse i naervserende og i
tidligere Tid. Forhandl. Skand. Naturforsk. $te Mode, 1849, pp. 103-118, pi. i.

4 ESCHRICHT, D. F., Recherches sur la Distribution des Cetaces dans les Mers Bore'ales. Ann.
Sci. Nat., Zool., i, 1864, pp. 201-224.

' BONNYCASTLE, A., Newfoundland in 1842, i, pp. 239-255.

54 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

Jouan's memoir on the Right whales and Sperm whales, 1859,1 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 'California!! Ranger.'" Of the Humpback, which he places among "les
baleinopteres," 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 zoologist, and in importance rank with those of
Eschricht 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 1889,2
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 Osteographie and other earlier publications. In 1864, Van Beneden
published the results of a comparison of the skeletons of the Humpback whales of

1 JOUAN, H., Me"moire sur les Baleines et les Cachalots. M^m. Soc. Imp. Set. Nat. Cherbourg,
6, 1859, pp. 1-40.

1 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Histoire Naturelle des Ce'tace's des Mers d'Europe. Bruxelles,
1889. 8°-

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 55

the Cape of Good Hope and of Greenland.1 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 Cetaces. In 1868, Van Beneden
published an essay on the geographical distribution of the Right whales,2 accom-
panied by a chart on which are represented the distribution areas of the various
species of Balcena. The chart shows the range of 23. biscayensis as extending to
the east coast of the United States. (See p. 56.)

Dr. Gray published 3 criticisms of Van Beneden'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, etc., 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 Balcena biscayensis is the same as
that which Professor E. D. Cope has made known under the name of Balcena 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 in saying ' Certainly not,' are, in my opinion, far from having the
importance which he would accord them. These reasons are : That the Balcena
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 Balcena cisarctica
of Professor Cope as being a synonym of Balcena biscayensis,'1'1 4

The monumental work of Van Beneden and Gervais on the Osteography of
the Cetacea,5 (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 zoologists are briefly discussed.
The ear-bone of a specimen of Balcena 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 M. 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

1 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Le Rorqual du cap de Bonne-Espe"rance et le Ke"porkak des Groen-
landais. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 18, 1864, p. 389.

' VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Les Baleines et leur Distribution Geographique. Bull. Acad. R. Belg.
(2), 25, 1868, pp. 9-21.

* On the Geographical Distribution of \\\zBal(enid(B, or Right Whales. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.
(4), i, 1868, p. 242; also (4), 6, 1870, pp. 193-204.

4 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., La Premiere Cote des Grace's. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 26, 1868,
pp. 7-16, pis. 1-2.

8 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., and GERVAIS, P., Ostdographie des Ce'tace's, 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 Balcena in North American waters. The portion of this
work relating to the genus Balcena having been finished by 1870, Dr. J. E. Gray
took occasion to criticise it severely,1 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 Balcena 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 Balcena cisarctica, Agaphelus gibbosus, and RTiach,ianectes glaucus.

In the same year Van Beneden replied to the criticisms of Gray on the
Balcenidce of the Osteographie des Cetaces2 and in that connection made the
following remarks regarding American material :

" This whale [Nordcaper] 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.
Agassi/ 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 \_B. mysticetus], fixed winter and summer stations.
The whale captured on the coast of America and to which Prof. Cope has
given the name of Balcena 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 would lead one to suppose
that the bones belonged to distinct 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 Nordcaper.

1 GRAY, J. E., Observations on the Whales described in the Osteographie des Cetace"s of MM.
Van Beneden and Gervais. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (4), 6, 1870, pp. 193-204.

'VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Observations sur 1'Osteographie des Ce'tace's. Bull. Acad. R. Belg.
(2), 30, 1870, pp. 380-388.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OB' THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 57

(b) " 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 1875,1 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
Balouna cisarctica is the same which in winter visits the shores of Europe." 3

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 3 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, J3alcena 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,5 Van Beneden takes occasion
to set forth a number of theses regarding the geographical distribution of certain
species of E 'alcana an d Megaptera, and their parasites. The statements regal-ding the
Atlantic Right whale and Humpback are of interest in the present connection.

Prof. Cope's contributions to American cetology began in 1865, when he
established the species JSaloena cisarctica on the basis of a specimen obtained from

1 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Un Mot sur la Baleine du Japon. Bull. Acad. JR. Belg. (2), 41, 1875,
p. 28.

" VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., La Distribution Geographique des Bale'nopteres. Bull. Acad. R.
Belg. (2), 45, 1878, pp. 167-178.

3 Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 49, 1880, pp. 313-315.

4 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Sur 1'Apparition d'une Petite Gamme de Vraie Baleines sur les Cotes
des Etats Unis d'Ame'rique. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (3), 9, or 54, 1885, p. 212.

6 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Une Coronule de la Baie de Saint-Laurent. Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (3),
20, 1890, pp. 49-54, i pl-

58 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

the coast of New Jersey. Cope possessed a wider knowledge of the Cetacea thau
any other American zoologist 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 et 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.1 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 [ = £. musculus (L.)].

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.2

In 1869 the name of Capt. C. M. Scammon first became known to zoologists,
through a remarkable contribution on the Cetaceans of the Western Coast of
North America, published under the editorship of Prof. E. D. Cope.3 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 zoology, 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 Scammon 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 zoological 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. Scammon in the Overland Magazine in
1871, with some slight modifications.4

In 1872 Scammon published a diagnosis of a small species of Balcenoptera

'REINHARDT, J., Nogle BemEerkningen om Islaendernes "Steypiredr." Videns. Meddeh.
natiirhist. Foren. Kjoben., Aar. 1867, 1868, pp. 178-201.

'ALLEN, J. A., Catalogue of the Mammals of Massachusetts: With a Critical Revision of
Species. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., i, No. 8, 1869, pp. 202-207.

3 SCAMMON, C. M., On the Cetaceans of the Western Coast of North America. Proc. Acad.
Nat. Sci. Phila., 1869, pp. 13-63.

4 ANON., 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. 59

which he called B. davidsoni, from a specimen obtained in Admiralty Inlet,
Puget Sound.1 He afterwards figured this species in his Marine Mammals.

The larger work already mentioned — Scammon's Marine Mammals — ap-
peared in 1874.2 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 Pacific species
of Cope, Scammon, and other writers are arranged systematically, and elucidated
by notes, measurements, etc.

Dr. Moritz Lindeman published in 1869 a very comprehensive work on Arctic
fisheries.3 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.4

Pechuel in 1871 took up the subject of the whale fishery in a series of illus-
trated articles published in the German periodical, Das Ausland.5 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 Balaenoptera. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., 4, I'Syj, pp.
269-270. Published in advance, Oct. 4, 1872.

* 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°.

' LINDEMAN, M., Die Arktische Fischerei der Deutschen Seestadte, 1620-1868. Petermanns
Geog. Mittheil. Erganzungsheft, No. 26, 1869, pp. 1-118, pis. 1-2.

4 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, Fisheries Branch, p. 27;
Report for 1872, appendix, do., p. 16; 6th Report for 1873, appendix, do., p. 18; 8th Report for iS?j,
Supplement 4, Rept. Comr. Fisheries, p. 49; Qth Report for 1876, Supplement 4, Rept. Comr. Fisheries,
p. 65; loth Report for 1877, Supplement 5, Rept. Comr. Fisheries, p. 20; nth Report for 1878, Sup-
plement 4, Rept. Comr. Fisheries, p. 49; 1st Annual Rept. Dept. Fisheries for 1884, 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 (Balvena
biscayensis) in which he refers to B. cisarctica and to the whale fishery of the
Basques on the Newfoundland banks, which he asserts they reached in 1372.1

Fischer's article on Documents relating to the History of the Basque Whale,
187 1,2 contains further references to the Basque whale fishery in the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and other matters concerning Right whales in the North Atlantic.

Prof. A. W. Malm published in 1871 an annotated list of specimens of ceta-
ceans in Swedish museums,8 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 l&ngimana and for the latter he accepts the name M.
americana from Gray, with a query. He gives number of vertebrae, measurements,
and other data. The West Indian specimen is especially interesting, as Cope got
the type-specimen of his M. bellicosa from the same island and the same collector.

Mr. Henry Reeks published a series of articles on the zoology of Newfound-
land in the Zoologist in 1871, among which is one on cetaceans.4 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
[Baloenoptera pliysalus (L.)] which stranded at Point Shirley, Boston Harbor, Nov.
25, 1871.5 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, vertebrae and other
bones, and numerous figures of different parts of the skeleton, and discusses the
relationships of the specimen and its probable specific identity.6 The paper con-
tains more detailed information and more and better figures than any other paper
on Balcenoptera hitherto published in America.

In- 1874 a brief note to the following effect appeared in the Proceedings of
the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences:

1 FISCHER, P., Sur la Baleine des Basques {Balana biscayensis). Comp. Rend., 72, 1871, p. 298.

* FISCHER, P., Documents pour servir a 1'Histoire de la Baleine des Basques (Balcena biscayensis).
Ann. de Sci. nat., 187,1, Art. 3, pp. 1-20.

' MALM, A. W., Hvaldjur i Sveriges Museer, Ar 1869. K. Svensk. Vetensk. Akad. Handl., 9,
No. 2, 1871, pp. 1-104, pis- 1-6.

4 REEKS, H., Notes on the Zoology of Newfoundland. Zoologist (2), 6, 1871, pp. 2550-2553.

' DWIGHT, THOS., JR., Description of the Whale {Balcenoptera musculus) that came ashore in
Boston Harbor, Nov. 25, 1871. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 15, pp. 26-27.

' DWIGHT, THOS., JR., Description of the Vfha.\e(Balanoptera 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, pis. 6-7.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 61

" Prof. Cope mentioned the capture of a young Baloena cisarctica, of 48 feet
in length, in the Raritan River, near South Aruboy, on May 30th. The skeleton
was buried and would be preserved in some museum. He examined the whalebone,
of which there are 245 laminae 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." 1

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.8 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,3
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.5 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 ' (Balcena
loops. 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. Sci. Phila., 1874, p. 89.

* BROWN, ROBT., 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. Zoo'l. Soc. London, 1868, pp. 533-556.

1 LINDEMAN, M., Die Seefischereien. Petermann's Mittheil. Erganzungsheft, No. 60, 1880.

4 Op. at., pp. 84-86.

' Op. fit., pp. 66-67.

62 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

schooners principally on the west and south coasts of the island, from March
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 bibliography of cetology from
1495 to 1840,1 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 1883 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, vertebrae, etc.
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.2
One of the specimens mentioned by Dr. Holder was a skeleton prepared by Dr. G.
E. Manigault, curator of the Charleston College Museum, Charleston, S. 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." 3

Malm's account of bones of whales collected by the Vega Expedition of
1878-80 4 contains numerous woodcuts of portions of skulls of Rhachianectes 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.5

Flower's list of Cetacea in the British Museum, published in 1885,6 contains

1 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.

2 HOLDER, J. B., The Atlantic Right Whales. Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., i, 1883, pp. 99-137,
pis. 10-13. ' Proc. Elliott Soc. of South Carolina, 1885, pp. 98-104.

' MALM, A. W., Skelettdelar af Hval insamlade under Expeditionen med Vega 1878-1880.
Eihang, Svensk. Vets. Akad. Handl., 8, No. 4, 1883.

' GOODE, G. B., The Whales and Porpoises. Fisheries and Fishery Indust. of the U. S., Sect, i,
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 Balcena 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 Balcena 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 Balcenoptera 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.1 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 Bulletins contain

O

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.)" 8

"Whales are close to the shore. [Gloucester, Mass., May 7, 1882.] "3

1 BOLAU, 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. Gebiete
Naiurwis., 13, 1895. Also separate.

* CLARK, A. HOWARD, 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 iu 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 long. [Gloucester, Mass., May 13, 1880.] 'M

[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 sink in deep water are not recovered." '

[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 April (?), 1885] four
steamers have been engaged in this work, viz., Fannie 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 whales 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 barrels of meat, 5 tons
of dry chum, and two tons of bone, about $400 being realized from each whale,
on the average." 3

[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 Fannie /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.]"4

[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 3. 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 ; f rom 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." 5

'CLARK, A. HOWARD. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 4, 1884, p. 404.

' WILCOX, W. A., New England Fisheries in June, 1886. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 6, 1886,
p. 201.

' WILCOX, W. A., New England Fisheries in April, 1885. Bull. 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.

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 [4£ 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." l

[WHALES ON THE GRAND BANKS, 1885.]

" It is worthy of note that swordfish and Finback whales were seen in unusual
abundance on July 13 [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 del/phis),
which drove in among the whales, their movements indicating that they were
feeding, but of this we could not be sure." 2

[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 Province town, 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 percent.
of oil." (Extract from a letter of Mr. E,. Edward Earll to Prof. S. F. Baird, dated
Gloucester, Mass., September 17, 1886.) 3

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, etc., 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, CHARLES W. Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 5, 1885, p. 347.

1 COLLINS, 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.

4 TOWNSEND, C. H., Present Condition of the California Gray-whale Fishery. Bull. U. S. Fish
Com., 6, 1886, pp. 346-350, pis. 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
(Balcenoptera?) 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."2

[WHALES OFF THE COAST OF SAN LUIS OBISPO co., CAL.]

" Whales appear chiefly in fall and winter, as on other parts of the coast soujth
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."5

" The sJwre 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 3 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.

1 COLLINS, 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.

"COLLINS, J. W., Report on Fisheries of Pacific Coast. Rept. U. S. Fish Com., 16, 1892,

P- 45-

' Op. fit., p. 50.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOJJTH 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. . . .

" 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 is
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
hunt them. . . .

" 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
about 50 per cent more oil than when on their northern passage.' " 1

[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
whaling station at Carmel Bay was closed three years later." a

[WHALES OFF CAPE FLATTERY, WASHINGTON.]

"Whales, chiefly the small sharp-headed finner (Balcenoptera davidsoni 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." 3

[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.
The catch is wholly for home consumption and has no commercial importance." 4

[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

1 COLLINS, J. W., Report on Fisheries of Pacific Coast. Rept. U. S. Fish. Com., 16, 1892, pp. 52-
53, pi. 3. ' Op. fit., p. 58. ' Op. cit., p. 245 ' Op. tit., p. 243.

-sj

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
catch 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. Itisdurino'
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 bein^
fired from a gun) one-sixteenth." 3

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, Balcena gladalis, are 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,4 and again in Clark's History of the American Whale Fishery,5 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, etc. :

1 TANNER, Z. L., Report on Investigations of the U. S. Fish Com. Steamer Albatross, 1889-91.
Rept. U. S. Fish Com., 17, 1893, p. 226.

3 Op. fit., p. 245. • Op. fit., p. 279.

4 STARBUCK, 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, pis. 1-6.

' CLARK, A. HOWARD, History and Present Condition of the Fishery. Fisheries and Fishery
Indust. of the U. S., Sect. 5, vol. 2, 1887, 3-218.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 69

" In 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.' " 1

"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.' " 2

"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,'" etc.3

" 'In 1719, February 24, a [Long Island] whaleboat being alone, the men struck
a whale, and she, coining up under ye boat, in part staved it.'"4

"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.' " 5

"The same paper in its issue of February 12, 1730, contains the following
extract from a letter from Chatham [Mass.], dated 'February 6, 1729-30': '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.'"6

"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."7

"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
to cut in. ... 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."8

"In August, 1723, a drift-whale is advertised in the Boston News-Letter as
ashore at Marblehead [Mass.] " 9

"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." 10

" We find in the News-Letter of September 3, 1722, an advertisement of a

1 STARBUCK, p. n. From N. Y. Coll. MSS., 6, p. 354. 'Ibid., pp. 31-32.

*Ibid., p. 15. From Mass. Coll. MSS., 6, p. 303. ''Ibid., p. 32.

"Ibid., p. 25. From Bradford's Laws of New York, p. 72. "Ibid., pp. 32-33.

''Ibid., p. 30. From Hedges in N. Y. Col. Rec., 5, p. 579. 'Ibid., p. 34.

"Ibid., p. 31. "Ibid., 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 1702-3, there appear to have
been several whales killed. The following entry occurs 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
from us.' " 8

"In the News-Letter [Boston] of August 8, 1765, is the following statement:
'Tuesday one of the sloops which has been on the Whaling 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.' " 3

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. . . . For
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 :

"It 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 favorable result was
hoped for, and early in 1768 the straits of Davis 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 Tyrall, 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 23d 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)."

1 STARBUCK, p. 35. ' Ibid., pp. 35-36. ' Ibid., pp. 44-45.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 71

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.1

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 pool1 of those poor towns planted on the Cape, being the barrenest part of the
country." 3

A letter of Saml. 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." 3

The Winthrop papers also contain a letter from Wait Winthrop to Fitz-John
Winthrop, dated January 27, 1 700, 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." 4

In 1749 was published a work entitled "A Summary Historical and Political
of the British Settlements in North America," by Wm. Douglass,5 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. ' IbiJ.(^), 7, p. 318.

3 Mass. Hist. Coll. (4), 51, p. 78 * Ibid. (6), 5, p. 55.

* DOUGLASS, 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 NOETH ATLANTIC.

whales captured about Bermuda.1 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, a 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 1849,3 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 Wood bury 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 ban-els of oil."
(2, p. 225.)*

Winsor's History of Duxbury, Mass., has a few notes on the colonial whale
fishery at that place,5 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 after a 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, 1858,6 contains a letter from Wm. Clapp to
Squire Dudley, dated Cape Cod, July 13, 1705, which states:

" I 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
awhaling every year which take up drift whales which were never killed by any
man," etc.

1 Op. cit., i, pp. 56-60 and 296-298.

"YOUNG, ALEX., Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, 1602-25. Boston, 1841.
1 FELT, J. B., Annals of Salem, 2d ed., 1849, 2, pp. 223-226. I have not seen the ist 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. cit., 2, p. 94.)

' WINSOR, J., History of Duxbury, 1849, p. 86. ' Vol. i, 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.1 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 Green port."

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, etc. ; 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, etc. The article has as an appendix a letter from Win. II. Allen
to C. A. Williams, containing miscellaneous information relative to whales and
whaling, kinds of whales pursued, size, yield of oil, whalebone, etc.8

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, etc., 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:

". . . On ye East end of Long Island there was 12 or 13 whales taken
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

1 CAULKINS, FRANCES M., History of New London, Connecticut, from 1612 to 1860, 1895, pp.
638-647.

2 WILLIAMS, C. A., Early Whaling Industry of New London. Records and Papers of the New
London County Hist. Soc., pt. i, vol. 2, 1895, pp. 3-22.

74 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

week they struck two, but lost both, the iron broke in one, the other broke the
vvarpe. 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."

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*!1 in Jno Coopers Bounds or Pre-
cincts, of the w0?1 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."5

An order signed by Governor Andros, in November, 1675, reads thus:

" Vpon the Peticon and Desire of Jacob Schellinger and Company of East-
Hampton, who are joyntly concerned in carrying on a Designe of Whale Killing
at the said Place ... I doe hereby give them Liberty to employ the said foure
Indyans for this present whale ffishing season. Given under my hand in New
YorTce this IS1? 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." 5

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, 6 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 I8.' 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."

1 O'CALLAGHAN, 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. n. ' Op. tit., 5, p. 59.

3 Op. cit., 14, p. 665. ' Of. tit., 14, p. 707. ' Op. tit., 14, pp. 708-709.

'THOMPSON, BENJ. F., History of Long Island, New York, ist ed., 1839, pp. 221-224.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 75

" Agreement made the 4l.h 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 give 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 1843,2 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. W1? 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 5th June, 1707,
then received of Nathan Simson, ye surne of fifteen pounds, fifteen shillings, for
ace' of made Martha Smith, it being ye 20th part of her evle, by virtue of a war-
rant from my Ld. Corn bury, dated 25th 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." 3

" 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." 4

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. 5

'THOMPSON, BENJ. F., History of Long Island, New York, ist ed., 1839, p. 191.
2 Vol. i, p. 438, foot-note. ' P. 668. 4 P. 673.

6 WEEDEN, WM. B., Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789, 2 vols., Boston,
1890.

76 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

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.1

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 1683 to 1834, but they are hardly definite enough to be of much value. The
work was originally published in 1830, but the following quotations, which include
all the items of any importance, are from the revised edition of 1898.3

"In 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."

" In 1733, month of April, 2 whales, supposed to be cow and calf, appeared in
the [Delaware] river before the city."

"In 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 in length."

" It is a fact but little known, that, even now [1823 ?], there is a family on Long
beach, New Jersey, who are every winter seeking for, and sometimes capturing
whales. 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, grounded, and used up."

The American whale fishery was the topic of an elaborate article published
by James H. Lanman in 1840.3

1 See HAZARD, 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, Mem. Penn. Hist. Soc., n, 1874, p. 38.

THOMAS, GABRIEL, Historical Description of the Province and Country of West-New-Jersey,
1698, p. 33.

WHITEHEAD, W. A., East Jersey under the Proprietary Governments, Coll. IV. J. Hist. Soc.,
i, p. 174.

Scot's Model of the Government of the Province of East-New-Jersey, 1685, op. at., p. 282.

Documents relating to the Revolutionary History of New Jersey, i, 1901, 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. 77

It is entirely a compilation and deals principally with the industrial aspects of
the fishery. The only paragraphs (pp. 376 and 380) 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, etc., 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 Balcenidw 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, Baloenoptera 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 zoological nomenclature. Thus he speaks
of his Balcena cisarctica as " the Black whale of the whalers of our coast," etc. 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 Balcenoptera velifera was " The Finner
Whale of the Oregon coasts," his Sibbaldius snlfureus 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 ATLANTIC. 79

Genus BAL^ENA Linnaeus.

1. BAL^NA 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.

Type-locality and date: Opposite Philadelphia, on the coast of New Jersey,
1862.1 '

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 boue, the malars, the sternum, the carpal and pelvic bones, and all
the chevrons. The ends of the maxillae are broken off, and probably the premaxilla?
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 96^ inches, but about 2 inches should be added for the breakage of the
tip of the premaxillae, making 98^ inches in all. If Cope's measurement is correct,
the skull must therefore have shrunk about 2-J- inches. This is quite possible,
owing to the drying of the bones and the bending down of the rostrum.2 Cope's
measurement of the breadth of the scapula is 29 inches. I make it 30 inches.
The type-skeleton is figured on pi. 43. The following measurements of it were
made by myself in May, 1900:

Skull : Inches

Total length (straight) 96.5 "

Greatest breadth (at orbits) 65.75

Length of rostrum, least, straight 76.0

Breadth at middle, curved i7.75±

Length of nasals 8.0 *

Breadth of the two nasals distally 7.5 '

Breadth of orbit from point to point, least 6.25

1 A note (by Cope?) in the Amer. Naturalist, 12, 1878, p. 750, refers to the type as captured
"near Philadelphia."

* In 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 io-J in.

6 Only the left nasal is preserved. This is 3$ in. broad opposite distal end of inner border.
Twice 3|= 7 1.

80 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Skull : Inches

Length of mandible, straight 92.0

" " " curved 101.5

Depth of mandible at the middle 7.0

Skeleton :

Greatest breadth of atlas 18.25

" " ist lumbar 26.25

Height of ist lumbar, measured posteriorly 16.00

Depth of centrum of ist lumbar 7.0

Greatest breadth of i st caudal 22.0 '

Height of ist caudal, measured posteriorly, and including process for chevron 19.5

Depth of centrum of ist caudal 8.75 "

Breadth of scapula 30.0

Depth of scapula 23.0

Length of radius, with epiphyses 15.0

" " without " 14.0

"ulna with " 13.5

" " " without " 13.0

Breadth of radius at distal end 10.5

" ulna " " " 8.0

Length of humerus, straight 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. AGAPHELTJS GLAUCUS Cope. 1868.

"The California Gray Whale."
HhacJiianectes 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.

Type-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 \Agaphelm~\ was to be found in the 'gray
whale' of the coasts of California. The baleen of this species, compared with that

1 Twice one half.

"Anterior. Height of arch and spine of ist lumbar, 9! in.; of ist caudal, gj 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 glancus Cope, 22 inches
in length, width at base 6 inches. In the former nearly 6 in an inch, in the latter 2^.
The baleen of the A. gibbosus belonged to an immature specimen of 35 feet in
length." (28, 159-160.) J

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, 193).

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 (Oreo)" 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 Rhachianectes for this species (83, 15).

Genus BAL^ENOPTERA Lacepede.
3. SIBBALDIUS 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
ospJiyia, which he had described a short time before. Later in the same year he
concluded that it represented the Sibbaldius laticeps of Gray (24, 297). It was not
until 1869 that he finally decided that the whale represented a new species, which

1 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 WORTH 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 M. 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 laminae 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, 1 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 Ainerican Field in 1889,1 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 :

" I [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 ?] carriage-house and I have several of his vertebrae, which
come in handy as footstools."

• " REYNARD," American Field, March 2, 1889, pp. 196-198.

THE WHALEBONE 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 the
detailed measurements and description of the skeleton, as published by him in 1866,
unless he had had access to the specimen. They could, of course, have been fur-
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 8. tuberosm. Dr. Taliaferro's notes on the
coloration, etc., 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 43 ft. 9 in.

Length from end of muzzle to axilla (external measurement) 15

Breadth of head across inferior margin of jaws 8

Length of pectoral 4

Greatest breadth of do i

Breadth of flukes 10

Color "jet black above, white on the belly; sides beautifully marbled by the
combination of the two colors."

"There were 360 laminae of baleen, the longest about 18 to 20 inches."

In Dr. Taliaferro's story, as narrated by " Reynard" in the American Field va.
1889, the color is thus referred to :

" For a half second that mighty fish, with back arched and immense fins quiver-
ing straight out from its side, was hung in mid-air not fifteen feet from me. I
caught sight of him on the gleaming white of his side, just under his flipper, and
fired. . . .

" As I said before, his immense flippers were quivering straight out from him,
and there was a line of demarkation down his side where the gleaming white of his
belly joined his marbled, grayish black back.

" When I thought he ought to be aground, the first thing I saw was his white
belly turned up."

84 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Upon reducing the foregoing measurements to percentages of the total length,
we find that the distance from the end of the snout to the axilla is 34.3 %. In
Newfoundland specimens of the " Common Finback," which is closely allied to or
identical with Balcenoptera physalus, as will be seen later, the average for this
distance is 33.2 % of the total length. The length of the pectoral (presumably
from the axilla) is 9.1$. In nine Newfoundland specimens of the Common Fin-
back the average is 8.3 %. The breadth of the pectoral is 2.7$ as against 2.9$ in
Newfoundland specimens.

The color of 8. tuberosus is given in the original description as "jet black
above, white on the belly ; sides beautifully marbled by the combination of the
two colors." In the story in the American Field, however, the color is thus
described (see p. 83): "There was a line of demarkation down his side where the
gleaming white of his belly joined his marbled, grayish black back." The latter
description was, of course, from the fresh specimen while the former was probably
from the dead whale. It is a well-known fact that the gray color in cetaceans
changes very rapidly after death to black. Taking either description, there is no
reason for considering 8. tuberosus to be other than the Common Finback of North
American waters.

Considering the external characters and proportions as a whole, it seems prob-
able that the Mobjack Bay specimen was a Common Finback, which is the American
representative of, or identical with, Balcenoptera physalus (L.).

There is only one other well-known North Atlantic Finback with which the
Mobjack Bay specimen can be associated. This is B. borealis. In this species,
however, the dorsal fin is situated well forward, the pectoral fins are unusually
small, and the amount of white on the belly is much restricted. None of these
characters was present in the Mobjack Bay specimen, as far as can be ascertained
from the published accounts.

The question of the identity of 8. tuberosus cannot be positively decided until
some of the more important bones of the Mobjack Bay specimen are found and
examined. In the present article I shall consider it as belonging to the American
form of B. physalus (L.).

In order to present the matter fully and fairly, I would add the following: If
all that Cope stated regarding the skeleton which he described in 1866 is taken
as really applying to the Mobjack specimen, and all that was added to the original
description of the exterior in the later papers is interpreted favorably, quite a
strong case can be made out for identifying 8. tuberosus with B. borealis, or at least
associating it with that species. Thus, while the color of the baleen is not given in
the original description, in the article of 1866 it is said to be black, which would
indicate an ally of B. borealis, and exclude B. physalus (L.). In the same
article, the type of 8. tuberosus is stated to be "entirely adult at a length of
43 feet (axial)," which would exclude both B. musculus (L.) and B. physalus
(L.), but admit B. borealis. Again, in the description of the skeleton, it is stated
that "the 2*?, 3?, and 4*.h cervicals are with large completely united superior
and inferior lateral processes." This would confirm the statement that the speci-

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 85

men was adult. It can also be argued that the black color of the body was
the living color and not due to change after death, which strengthens the case in
favor of B. bwealis.

In spite of these apparent agreements with B. borealis, my own opinion, as
already stated, is that S. tuberosus is to be associated with B. pJiysalus. It was
assigned by Van Berieden in 1889 (7, 205) to B. borealis, but his evidence was
presumably derived entirely from Cope's description.

4. SlBBALDIUS TECTIROSTRIS 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 : Near Sinepuxent Bay, Maryland. Came ashore in the winter
of 1868-69; had been dead some time.

Type-specimen : Nearly complete skeleton of afyoung female between forty-
seven and forty-eight feet long, preserved in the museum of the Philadelphia
Academy of Natural Sciences.

The history of this species is, fortunately, quite clear. The individual which
formed the type was a young female which came ashore near Sinepuxent Bay,
Maryland, in the winter of 1868-69. It had been dead some time when found.
The carcass was stripped by Joshua Carey. The skeleton is in the museum of the
Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, where I saw and measured it in 1899.
It is nearly complete. The characters given by Cope for the specimen (83, 16-20)
are as follows :

Dorsal fin of ordinary form, compressed, with a long base, and situated two-
thirds the length from the muzzle ; dorsal line behind it smooth.

Color above uniform black ; exterior face of pectorals and " stripes along the
gular plicae " also black. Belly white, separated abruptly from the black, forming
a " water line." Posterior (inner?) face of pectorals in the distal half, and under
surface of flukes white.

Baleen short, of a dark lead color, the inner and shorter margin white for
varying widths ; bristles fine.

/Skeleton. — "The individual is in the young stage, since not only are all the
epiphyses of the vertebrae separated, but those of the humerus also."

"The axis presents below no surface adapted to a tuberculum atlantis. The
median portion of the anterior face of the centrum presents a low conic projection,
the processus odontoideus. The di- and parapophyses are united distally, embracing
a large ring, whose outside longitudinal diameter is -| the transverse diameter of
the centrum of the same. The neural arch presents no spine, but a pair of lateral
prominences like rudimental zygapophyses. The parapophyses of the remaining
cervicals are long, except on the seventh, where they are almost wanting. The dia-
pophyses are long in all, longest and decurved on the seventh, where it stands
above the parapophysis of the sixth. They are nearly united with the para-
pophysis on the third cervical, and are no doubt fully so in mature age. The
fourth cervical is lost, but it is scarcely probable that it presented a complete ring
for the transmissal of the vertebral artery, etc. There are no rings attached to the
vertebrae from the fifth inclusive. The centra are all transversely oval."

86

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

"There is no neural spine on the second, third and fourth cervicals, and it is
rudimental and small on each of the remainder. Those of the dorsals and lumbars
are not particularly elevated.

" The humerus is very short and thick, and the hand remarkably small.

" The scapula, as in other Sibbaldii, has a considerable antero-posterior extent,
and well developed acromion and coracoid. The disk is divided into three areas
on the inside by two slight ridges."

" The muzzle is elongate, and with a narrow acumination. Each nasal is as
wide as long medially ; anteriorly concave above, the line of junction of the two in
one plane, forming a median ridge, which is prolonged into a prominent median
point. The otic bullse are slightly compressed and carinate below, and their sur-
face is not markedly rugose. The malars are in shape something like first ribs ;
that is, with an enlarged head, with prominences imitating capitulum and tubercle,
a short narrowed shaft, and expanded distal extremity. The distal third is occu-
pied by an ovate ? articular surface, thinning out the margin on one side. The
shaft is thin and concave, both longitudinally and transversely, on one side.

" The inner margin of the palatine bones is regularly continuous with the
short pterygoids, which are very short, and do not approach near the otic bullae ;
Rudolph! represents the latter as prolonged to beyond the extremity of the bulla.
The posterior plate of the vomer in S. tectirostris extends much further posteriorly
than Rudolphi represents for 8. laticeps, and though there is no doubt some varia-
tion in this respect in the same species, the difference here is considerable. In
8. laticeps it extends to a little behind the anterior margin of the bulla ; in S.
tectirostris to behind the posterior margin, concealing much of the basioccipital.

"The mandibular ramus is strongly curved, and very convex externally, less
so internally. The vascular foramina are very large externally, and very much
reduced in size on the inner face. The coracoid process is strongly elevated, curved
outward, and acuminate. There is a distinct angular process below the condyle."
(83, 17-19.)

I have verified the majority of Cope's measurements, and give them below in
the order in which they occur in the original, together with such differences as I
noted. For purposes of comparison I shall repeat some of them later in a different
order, with other measurements of my own taken in accordance with a particular
system.

SIBBALDWS TECTIROSTRIS COPE. (TYPE.)

Measurement.

Cope's

measurements,
1869.

My
measurements,
1899.

Total length of skeleton (restored)

AC ft 7 in

i

1 20 in 2

121 in

Height of centrum and arch of axis

12.2?

I 2 2 C

' centrum [do.]

7.1

7 O

Transverse extent of axis

2C, O

2<; o

" " centrum of do

I I 5

I 2 O

" neural canal [of do ] ...

? 7?

i; 7s

' ' third cervical

2"?.O

0-/0
22 O

1 Not re-measured by myself.

1 Given in another place as 126 in.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

SIBBALDIUS TECTIROSTRIS COPE. (TYPE.) (Continued.)

87

Measurement.

Transverse extent of centrum do. [3d cervical] i i.o

Length parapophysis sixth cervical 5.0

Vertical diameter centrum (sth ?) dorsal 7.0

Length centrum do 6.0

Vertical diameter centrum second caudal, with perforate dia-

pophyses 10.5

Length of centrum do 10.5

Height, spine and arch, middle lumbosacral 145

from floor canal to top anterior zygapophysis 6.0

Scapula, antero-posterior width 33.0

vertical width 21.0

Length of acromion 7.5

: ' coracoid 4.5

Diameter of glenoid cavity 8.0

Length of cranium (axial) 1 26 in.'

Greatest width of occipitals 43 o

Width at supraorbital plate 5 2.0

of each maxillary at middle 9.75

of supraorbitals above orbit 13.0

(least) of frontal region 13.5

of nasals 4.3

intermaxillaries at middle 5.3

Length, nasal 6.0

maxillary above 90.0

ramus mandibuli (in curve) 1 20.0

to coronoid 19.0

Depth at condyle 8.5

, at coronoid 13.0

at middle 9.0

Length, otic bulla 5.2

Length of longest plates of whalebone with gum 15.0

Width do. at base. . 10.0

Cope's

measurements,
1869.

My

measurements,
1899.

II. O

33-°

20.0

8.0

n

8.5

121. 0

52-5

9-75 '
12. 0 *

14.0

6.25'

4-33

6-75
90.0

120.0

9-5

It is, I think, proper to assume that the type of /S. tectirostris is nothing more
or less than a specimen of the "common Finback" of the Atlantic coast of the
United States. Cope, at the time of original publication, was probably not in posses-
sion of the fact that the Finback which strands most frequently on our coast is of the
fashion of B.physalus (L.). He considered his specimen most closely allied to Sib-
baldius laticeps of Gray (= B. borealis Lesson), but, as might be expected, he found
numerous differences. At a later date, in consequence of his own more extended
studies, and the progress of cetology, he perceived that tectirostris was properly to
be associated with, or might even be identical with, B. physalus. Cope also con-
sidered his 8. tuberosus allied to 8. laticeps of Gray and for a time identified it with
the latter species. But at the same time he pointed out two external characters
by which he supposed it differed from tectirostris, — the form of the dorsal fin

'Not re-measured by myself. * Cope gives 120 in. on another page.

1 If the nasal process of the maxilla is taken into account ; otherwise, 9 in.
4 This is the greatest breadth ; the least is 8.75 in.

6 This is the width at the distal end. Cope's measurement was probably taken at the proximal
end, for which it is correct. ' The coracoid is broken.

88 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

and the character of the dorsal line. He appears to have intended also to point
out osteological differences between tectirostris and tuberosus, but the language
employed is so ambiguous that this is uncertain. There is, furthermore, a doubt
whether he ever really examined the skeleton of tuberosus, as will be explained later.

The position which I take regarding tectirostris is (1) that Cope at the time he
first described it did not evince any knowledge of the fact that one kind of Finback
is common on the east coast of the United States, and that (2) there is, therefore, no
probability that he intended to establish a second species similar to, but somewhat
different from, the common species ; consequently, that (3) the type-specimen of
tectirostris does not merit any more attention than other specimens of the common
Finback, unless on comparison of them all together the type of tectirostris seems to
stand apart from the others. As to whether the latter condition is found will be
fully considered later. What we really wish to ascertain is whether the com-
mon Finback of the Atlantic coast of the United States is the same as, or differ-
ent from, B. pJiysalus (L.) of Europe. The type-skeleton of B. tectirostris is
figured on pis. 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.

The following measurements of the type-skeleton made by myself in 1900
include those made uniformly for all the specimens examined, and others which
appear to be of importance in this particular case :

SIBBALDIUS TECTIROSTRIS COPE. (TYPE.)
Skull: Inches.

Total length (straight) 121.0

Greatest breadth (squamosal) 54.0

Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end 8.75 '

Length of rostrum (straight) 80.75

Breadth of rostrum at middle (curved) 26.5 *

Length of nasals in median line 7.5

Breadth of the two nasals at the distal end 5.5 "

Length of mandible, straight 1 1 i.o

curved 1 20.0

Depth of mandible at middle 9.5

Skeleton :

Greatest breadth of axis 25.0

" height " " 13.25'

Depth of centrum of axis 7.0 *

Greatest breadth of ist dorsal 22-75

height " " " 13.25

Depth of centrum of ist dorsal 7.25 "

Greatest breadth of ist lumbar 32.0

height " " " 21.5'

Depth of centrum of ist lumbar 7.75 7

Greatest breadth of ist caudal 24.0 *

height " " " 21.0+'

Depth of centrum of ist caudal 9.25 '

Greatest breadth of scapula 32-75

depth " " 19.5

Length of acromion, inside (straight) 7.0

Length of radius, with epiphyses 24.0

Length of radius, without epiphyses 23.0

" ulna, with epiphyses 22.25

without epiphyses 21.5

" " humerus (straight) 15.0

1 Tip to tip, least. * Median = 12 25 in. ' Posterior.

1 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, 13f inches; palatines, 21| 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,
8-J- 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 VERTEBRAE.

Superior process.

Inferior process.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

In.

In.

In.

In.

3

(broken)

(broken)

6.25

5-5

4

6-5

5-5

5

a

«

(broken)

(broken)

6

6-5

6-5

i-S

1-25'

7

~

~

The breadth of the right radius at the distal end is 5£ in.; of the left, the same ;
at the proximal end, 5|^ in. in both. Breadth of the right ulna at the distal end, 4 in. ;
of the left, 4^ 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 tectirostris.)

"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. laticeps. Its characters are found in the nasal and
phenygoid [sic] bones, and in the cervical vertebrae, etc. 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." *

1 (Broken) ?

1 Amer. Nat., No. 5, July, 1869, pp. 277-278.

90 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

5. BAL^ENOPTERA VELIFERA Cope. 1869.

" The Firmer 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 Scaramon'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 B. 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 JB. 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 Sibbaldius. The B. velifera cannot, unfortunately, be compared with the
B. swinhoei andJB.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 B. 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. Win. H. Dall, which is appended to Scammon's
work (83, 303), it is stated that baleen of B. velifera 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. SlBBALDITTS SULFUREU8 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 which 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 JBaloenoptera 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

7. BALjENOFTEKA DAVTDSONI ScammOD. 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.

Type-specimen: Skull No. 12177, U. S. National Museum. (See pi. 23, tig. 1 ;
pi. 25, fig. 1; pi. 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, falcate, 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. Geni-
talia opening below and slightly behind the anterior edge of the dorsal fin. Baleen
pure white; laminae on each side, two hundred and seventy in number; the longest
not exceeding ten inches. Total length of animal twenty-seven feet; pectorals 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 lobes 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 foetus 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. MEGAPTERA OSPHYIA 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,1
40 miles from Petit Manan lighthouse, Maine, in July, 1844. It was mounted and

'A printed label now (1900) 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 Megaptera, but considered that it differed in several
important characters from M. 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 M. longimana. One of the differences
noted in the description is that in the type of M. ospliyia 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.1 Cope wrote at a time when
Gray's opinion that the differences in the length and shape of the processes of
the cervical vertebrae 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 M. 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 \ 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 side of the last five cervicals (3d to 7th) in this
same skeleton.

A most extraordinary statement in the description of the type of M. osphyia is
as follows: "The neural arches and spines are remarkably elevated on the dorsal
and lumbar regions, somewhat as in the Catodontidaa ; e. 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 vertebras, 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

1 The figures for the superior transverse processes in the type are as follows (see p. 96):

Right. Left.

3d cervical (broken) (broken)

4th cervical 7^ in. 7^ in.

5th cervical yf in. 7^ in.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. yo

(posteriorly) of the centrum of the 33d vertebra is 12 inches, and the neural arch
and spine 13£ inches, making a total of 25£ 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 ospTiyia 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 spines2 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
vertebrae3 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
vertebrae 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
vertebrae. 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 M. osphyia. He remarks that in this species " the head and fin are
even shorter than in M. 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 M. osphyia are
the same in the two skulls in the National Museum (Nos. 21492 and 16252) from

1 The 33d cannot be measured.

1 This refers to the spines of the dorsal and lumbar vertebrae, and not to those of the cervicals.
F. W. T.

' 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 M. 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 1^ inches, posterior margin Scinches.
As no measurements are given by Cope for M. osphyia, 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 M. 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 M. osphyia is figured on pi. 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
Fidton, 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 Fulton, on the coast of Maine, 40 miles at sea.
Petit Manan Light House, July, 1844," etc.

The skeleton is mounted with all the vertebrae, 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:

MEQAPTERA OSPHYIA COPE. (TYPE.)
Skull : Inches.

Total length (straight) i35-°

Greatest breadth (squamosal) 78.5

Post-squamosal breadth 66.0

Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end, least 9.5

" greatest 14.0

Length of rostrum (straight) 89.0

at middle (curved) 31.5

Length of mandible (straight) 129.0

" " (curved) 144.0

Depth of mandible at middle 11.5

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 95

Skeleton : lnche^

Total length, as mounted, straight (35 ft., 5 in.) 425.0

Greatest breadth of axis 26.0

Depth of centrum of axis 7 0

Greatest breadth of i st dorsal 24.0

Depth of centrum of ist dorsal 8. ?

Greatest breadth of ist lumbar ^g 0

Depth of centrum of ist lumbar 10 ?

Greatest breadth of ist caudal (32d vertebra) 29.0

Depth of centrum, ist caudal I2.5

Breadth of right scapula 42.0

Breadth of left scapula 42.25

Depth of scapula 2g ^

Length of right radius along center, with proximal epiphyses 34.5

Length of left radius along center, with proximal epiphyses 34.5

"right " " " without epiphyses 32.5

" " laf*- " " '( << "

32-75

" ulna with epiphyses 34 o

" right ulna, without epiphyses 285

" " left " " " 28.'5

Length of humerus (straight) 2 i .o

without epiphyses ,3.0

Length of glenoid fossa of scapula i ^ 0

Breadth " " " " " g[5

Length of longest rib 60.0

In connection with his original description of the type-skeleton, Cope recorded
a number of measurements, some of which are taken from the same points as those
above, and others from different points. Thus, the length of the fore-limb is given
as 9.05 feet, which is, of course, erroneous, and due to the incorrect mounting of the
skeleton. The breadth of the cranium between the orbital processes of the frontals
is given as 6.41 feet, and the breadth between the coronoids of the mandible, 5.75
feet. The height of the scapula is recorded as 29.6 inches, and its breadth, as 44.4
inches, which, it will be seen, are close approximations to my own measurements as
given above.

In the type-skeleton of M. osphyia all the epiphyses are unattached. Those
of the vertebrae are held together in pairs by the dried intervertebral cartilage. A
few are wanting. The vertebrae present are as follows: C. 7, D. 14, L. 10, Ca. 17
= 48. Fourteen ribs are present on the right side and thirteen on the left side.
Cope mentioned fourteen pairs of ribs, so that it is possible that one rib has been
lost since he examined the skeleton.

Skull. — The nasal bones are wanting. The anterior border of the orbital
process of the frontal is nearly straight. The breadth of the skull between the
distal extremities of the orbital processes is six feet five and one-half inches.
The occiput is swollen laterally, with a quite deep central depression and a small
median ridge. The coronoid processes of the mandible are low and blunt, but the
tips have, as already stated, apparently been cut off.

VertebrcB. — The antero-posterior length of the centra of the vertebra present,
without the epiphyses, is as follows :

96 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

MEOAPTERA OSPHYIA COPE. (TYPE.) LENGTH OF CENTRA. OF VERTEBRAE.

Vert. No.

Inches.

Vert. No.

Inches.

Vert. No.

Inches.

Vert. No.

Inches.

I

4

13

4

25

6

37

6!

2

2

14

4i

26

6J

38

6J

3

Ti

'5

4

27

6

39

Si

4

i

16

4»

28

6

40

si

5

ij

17

5

29

6*

41

5

6

i*

18

5

30

6|

42

3^

7

ij

19

5

31

7

43

3

8

2

20

5

32

71

44

3

9

2i

2 [

5

33

?i

45

2t

10

2I

22

Si

34

7i

46

2i

i E

3i

23

5i

35

7l

47

2 4

12

3f

24

Si

36

7

4«

»i

The antero-posterior length of a pair of epiphyses, with the dried cartilage
between, is 1^ inches.

The transverse process of the atlas is 6 in. deep, 4£ in. long. In the other
cervical vertebrae from the third to the seventh inclusive, the length of the pro-
cesses is as follows :

MEOAPTERA OSPHYIA COPE. (TYPE.) LENGTH OF PROCESSES OF CERVICAL VERTEBRA.

Processes.

Cervical No.

Superior.

Inferior.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

In.

In.

In.

In.

3

(broken)

(broken)

si

6

4
5

y

7*
7i

4t

5

4i
4i

6

H

8

3

3i

7

8

H

(none)

(none)

The lateral processes of the axis are long, but do not meet at the distal ends.
The inferior processes are as long as those of the third cervical. The vertical
diameter of the fifth cervical is 81 in.

The height of the neural arch and spine of the first dorsal vertebra is 81 in. ;
of the seventh dorsal, 13 in. The depth of the centrum in the latter vertebra is 8| in.

The height of the neural arch and spine of the first ten lumbars, measured from
the top of the centra posteriorly, is as follows :

MEOAPTERA OSPHYIA COPE. (TYPE.) HEIGHT OF NEURAL ARCH AND SPINE OF LUMBAR VERTEBRA.

Lumbar No.

Inches.

Lumbar No.

Inches.

I

i6i

6

17

2

1 6*

7

17

3

17

8

I?

4

18

9

16

5

i7i

10

16

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 97

The same measurement for the first lumbar, taken anteriorly, is 17^ in. ; for the
tenth lumbar, 16 in. The depth of the centrum of the first lumbar (Vert. No. 22)
is 9£ in. ; of the tenth lumbar, 11£ in.

The total height of the second caudal vertebra (Vert. No. 33), measured an-
teriorly, is 26 in. ; posteriorly, 25^- in. ; height of neural arch and spine, anterior,
13^- in.; posterior, 13£ in.; top of zygapophysis above top of centrum, 5£ in.
Height of neural arch and spine of first caudal, 15 in. Diameter of last caudal in
position, 4 in. in either direction. The caudal series is incomplete. The skeleton
shows places for 10 chevrons. Seven are in position.

As already stated, the skeleton, as at present mounted, has 14 right ribs and 13
left ribs. The first right rib has a length of 36 in., measured in a straight line from
the center of the distal end ; greatest breadth at the distal end, 9 in. Length of
first left rib, 37 in. ; breadth at distal end, 7i in.

The total length of the right pectoral limb as mounted is 106| in. ; of the left,
107^ in. The breadth of the radius at the proximal end is 8£ in. ; at the distal
end, 13 in.; breadth of the ulna at the proximal end, 7 in. (greatest), at the distal
end, 8 in.

9. MEGAPTERA BELLICOSA Cope. 1871.

Original description: Proceedings, American Philosophical Society, 12, 1873,
pp. 103-107. Bead October 21, 1870; published October (?), 1871.

Type-locality : Off the coast of Santo Domingo, Haiti, West Indies, or St. Bar-
tholomew Island, West Indies.

2ype-specimen : Skeleton of an individual 32 ft. long, forwarded to Philadel-
phia. Preserved in the museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia.

The skull and other portions of the type-skeleton of M. bellicosa are figured on
plates 29, 30, 31, 34, and 35.

This species was first described by Cope in 1871. It was based on a skeleton
of an individual 32 feet long, obtained by Dr. A. Goes, colonial physician at St.
Bartholomew Island, in the West Indies, either off Santo Domingo, Haiti, or at
St. Bartholomew Island. Cope is not explicit on this point, but as Dr. Goes sent
some parts of a Humpback skeleton to the Boyal Museum, Stockholm, from St.
Bartholomew Island in 1868, it is likely that the type of M. bellicosa was also from
that locality (see 66, 38). The skeleton was "forwarded to Philadelphia," but
Cope does not state whether it went to the Academy of Natural Sciences, or not.
At all events there is in the museum of the Academy a skeleton whose dimen-
sions agree so closely with those given by Cope that there cannot be any reason-
able doubt that it is the type of the species.

Cope's description of this species is rather fuller than in previous cases. He
states that the skeleton lacks " the sternum, pelvic bones, and perhaps four caudal
vertebrae. Of the latter, one is a large anterior vertebra, two are median, and one
between the latter and the distal. The whole number thus restored will be Cerv. 7,
D. 14, L. 10, Caud. 20 ; total, 51."

As regards the number of dorsal and lumbar vertebrae this skeleton shows no

98 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

difference from No. 21492, from Cape Cod, in the National Museum, while No.
16252, also from Cape Cod, has D. 14, L. 11, a difference of one lumbar. Some
European specimens of M. longimana have 10 lumbars and others 11, while the
number of dorsals remains constantly at 14.

Cope compares his M. bellicosa in many particulars with M. longimana, and
also occasionally mentions M. ospliyia. The differences which he finds between M.
bellicosa and M. longimana are as follows :

(1) The whole form of the nasals is different in bellicosa and "at once dis-
tinguish it " from longimana.

(2) The ramus of the mandible is more slender in bellicosa.

(3) The elevated coronoid of bellicosa at once distinguishes it from longimana.

(4) The head bears a greater proportion to the length of the body in bellicosa
than in longimana.

(5) The orbital plates of the frontal are less concave anteriorly in bellicosa.

(6) The first rib is broader (if Rudolphi's figures of longimana are correct).

(7) The pectoral fin is black externally in bellicosa, but " entirely white in
Arctic Megaptera."

We will take up these differences in the order in which they appear above,
considering them, however, as far as possible, in connection with specimens from
the American side of the North Atlantic. As to whether these latter are identical
with M. longimana has to be considered later.

The nasals of M. bellicosa, as described and figured by Cope, though they may
differ from those of European specimens of longimana, are very similar to those of
skeleton No. 21492 from Cape Cod, Mass. The chief difference is that in the latter
specimen they are only very imperfectly serrated proximally for articulation with
the frontal. The nasals of bellicosa seem long as compared with those of No.
21492, which is probably a skeleton of about equal size. They are 9 inches long in
the former, 7-f- inches in the latter.

The importance of the slenderness of the ramus of the mandible in bellicosa I
cannot estimate, as I have not seen that part of the skull. Cope's figures of the
coronoid process indicate that that process is not larger than, or in any wise
especially different from, the same part in the Cape Cod specimens.

The next point of difference mentioned by Cope is that in bellicosa the head is
longer in proportion to the body than in longimana. He gives the length of the
cranium in the former as 9 feet and the total estimated length of the skeleton, 31
feet 4 inches. This makes the skull 28.7 % of the total length. As the skull with
the premaxillaries is undoubtedly some 6 inches longer, however, its proportion
to the body would appear to be still greater. Skeleton No. 21492 from Cape Cod,
Mass., is 33 ft. 10 in. long, and as it lacks probably the two final caudal vertebrae,
about 7^ inches should be added, making a total of 34 ft. 5^- in. As the skull is
but 9 ft. 5 in., its proportion to the body is but 27.3 %. It is to be observed, how-
ever, that in the type of bellicosa the scapula, axis, and humerus indicate an indi-
vidual at least as large as No. 21492, and hence it is open to question whether

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 99

Cope's estimate of the total length may not have been considerably too small. At
all events it is only an estimate, and hence this particular relation is not a good one
to employ as an aid in determining the identity of the species.

In the skull of bellicosa, the anterior margin of the orbital plate of the frontal
is nearly straight, as stated by Cope, and, hence, offers a contrast to other Mega/p-
tera skulls I have examined, in all of which the margin is quite concave.

In regard to the first rib of bellicosa Cope remarks : " If Rudolphi's figures [of
M. longimana] are correct, the first rib is broader in the present animal, but the
figure may be inaccurate." The width at the distal end in bellicosa is given as 7
inches. Struthers gives 7-^- inches for the right rib in his skeleton of longimana,
and only 5 inches for the left rib. In skeleton No. 21492, both ribs of the first
pair measure 5 inches at the distal end. It thus appears that there may be equality
or marked inequality in the same individual, and hence the width of the rib, unless
a considerable number of individuals can be compared, is not a character to be
relied upon.

Finally, Cope states that the pectoral fin of betticosa was black externally, but
" entirely white in Arctic Megaptera." This is not, of course, from his own observa-
tion. The "Arctic Megaptera" Cope had in mind is doubtless M. longimana, but
Cocks has shown (17) that in the Humpbacks killed at the Norwegian whaling-
stations the color of the outside of the pectoral varies greatly. It may be entirely
black, or only the proximal fourth black, or "black for only a very short distance
at the proximal end," etc. Of three fresh specimens examined at Snook's Arm,
Newfoundland, Aug., 1899, two (a male and a female) had the upper surface of
the pectoral entirely white, except for a small area proximally, and a narrow poste-
rior margin, where it was black. In the third specimen (a female), the proximal
half was all black, and the distal half black and white mottled, the black predomi-
nant. There is, therefore, no constancy in the coloring of the pectoral, as, indeed,
is the case also with the body, and the details of a single individual cannot be
considered as having much importance.

It appears from the foregoing review that of the characters assigned by Cope
to M. bellicosa, the shape of the anterior margin of the orbital process of the frontal
is the only one which merits consideration. That this is not likely to be of impor-
tance seems probable from the fact that a further comparison of the type with
specimens of the common Humpback of the Atlantic coast of North America, as
detailed in a subsequent chapter, fails to disclose correlated distinguishing charac-
ters, while the agreement extends to many parts not mentioned by Cope. I feel
justified, therefore, in treating M. bellicosa as representing the common Humpback
and not a distinct species.

The following are actual measurements of the type-skeleton of M. bellicosa,
according to Cope's system, made by me in 1900, to which are added Cope's
original measurements :

100

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

MEGAPTERA BELLICOSA COPE. (TYPE.)

Measurement.

Cope's
Measure-
ments.

My

Measure-
ments.
1900.

in. in.

Total length of skull 108. in.

Length of maxilla 65 . 64. 25 '

transverse, of orbital plate of frontal 29. 29."

longitudinal 26. 26."

Distal width over orbit " " " " 11.5 11.5'

Length of nasals 9. 9.5"

Width 1.5 1.25"

" cranium behind orbits (greatest) 64. 67.5

" muzzle J- the distance to frontal plates 27.5 26.25'

"maxilla}" " 10.5 10."

Length of mandible on curve 1 18.

First rib, on curve 37. 37.

" " distal width 7. 7."

Humerus, length 21. 20.5'°

Radius, 30. 29.5"

Scapula, height 25.5 26.5"

width 39.5 . 38."

glenoid length 11.5 n.

" width 9. 9.

The following are actual measurements of the type-skeleton, made by me in
accordance with the system I have applied to all the various species :

MEGAPTERA BELLICOSA COPE. (TYPE.)

SKULL— REGULAR MEASUREMENTS.

Inches.

Length (straight) "4-5

Greatest breadth (squamosal) ., 67.5

Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end — least — point to point. 8.25

Length of rostrum (straight) 75.

Breadth of rostrum at middle (curved) 26. 25'"

Length of nasals 9."

Breadth of nasals at distal end 8."

SKELETON — REGULAR MEASUREMENTS.

Inches,

Length of skull (straight) 1 1 1 .

Greatest breadth of axis 21.5

Depth of centrum " " \ P°f-

I ant. 6.

Greatest breadth of i st dorsal 19.5

Depth of centrum " " 7.5

Greatest breadth of ist lumbar 29.5

Depth of centrum " " 8.

Greatest breadth of ist caudal 26."

Depth of centrum " anterior i o.

Greatest length of scapula 38.'"

depth " " 26.5'2

Length of radius, along middle, with proximal epiphysis

without epiphyses . 29J"

ulna with proximal epiphysis 25."

"_ without epiphyses .' 24."

The left maxilla. It is broken. About 3 in. should be added. * Along post-margin.

Greatest, proximally. ' Greatest; the least is 8| in. 6 Left nasal ; length of inner margin.

Left nasal at proximal end. ' As mounted. " Right. The left is gj- in.

The other rib, ist pair, j^ in. 10 Straight, when standing on its head, without distal epiphysis.

'Right. "Left " As mounted. " Twice one.

5 Median. The long diameter of the surface articulating with atlas is (right) 9 in.; (left) 8f in.

8 Twice one half ; the left diapophysis is defective.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

101

SKELETON — EXTRA MEASUREMENTS.

Inches,

Greatest breadth of atlas .......................................... 20.5

height " " .......................................... 13.

" axis .......................................... 13.5'

breadth of ist dorsal ...................................... 19.5

height " " " ...................................... 14.5'

breadth of ist lumbar .................................... 29.5

height " " " .................................... 22.'

breadth of ist caudal ..................................... 26.'

height " " " ..................................... 23.5'

LENGTH OF TRANSVERSE PROCESSES OF CERVICALS.

Superior.

Inferior.

Cervical No.

Right.

Left.

Right.

Left.

In.

In.

In.

In.

3-

(broken)

5

3

3

4-

4l

(broken)

4

•*

5-

5*

5i

I

(none)

6.

Si

Sf

(none)

(none)

'

«

Si

(none)

(none)

In the type-skull of M. bellicosa 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 M. betticosa, 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 9^- in.; breadth opposite the distal end of the inner margin,
4 in.; breadth of nasal orifice opposite extremity of outer margin of left nasal, 9-J in.;
depth of left nasal, 9£ in.

The vertebrae preserved are cervicals, 17; dorsals, 14; lumbars, 10; caudals,
13; 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-
tebrae. The atlas has no distinct spine, but a crest about \ inch high. The total
height of the 32d vertebra is 22^ in., of which the neural arch and spine comprise
12^ in. and the centrum 10 in. The scapula has a rudiment of a coracoid process,
as in other specimens of Megaptera.

1 Median.

3 Twice one half.

* Posterior.

* Including process for chevron ; posterior.

102 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

10. MEGAPTERA VERSABILIS 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 M. longimana and the species
with shorter fins, as M. osphyia and M. Tcuzira. 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 M. Ttuzira possesses but
ten. In this animal the warts extend to the top of the front, a character not
ascribed to any Atlantic Megaptera. It differs also from M. longimana, and
resembles M. lalandii and M. htzira, 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 Megapterce,
which present more or less white, or grey, on the inferior surfaces at least."

Note on MEGAPTERA 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, M. betticosa, 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 brazittensis."
(25, 32.)

Cope's commentary on this, published in 1871, is as follows:

"The species described by Gray (Catal. B. Mus., 1866, 62) as PJiysalus brasili-
msis, founded on some baleen of the ' Bahia Finner,' has been supposed by me

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 103

(Proc. A. N. Sci., Phila., 1867, p. 32) to be a Meaaptera. Certain 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 Balaenoptera 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 B. brasiliensis after all. We may properly consider that
Cope's remark that " it should be called Megaptera brasiliensis'1'' means merely that
when he first wrote, in 1867, he thought Gray's Balcenoptera brasiliensis shoxild be
transferred to the genus Megaptera. The Megaptera 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 vertebrae are all separate, showing immaturity. I have found
37 vertebrae 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 M.
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. 1£ 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, i ft. 10 in.
Height, i " 3i "

Humerus: Length, o " 9^- " without epiphyses (straight).
Radius: Length, i " 8J "
Ulna: Length, i " 5J " "

The total length of the skull (as well as can be made out) is 5 ft. 2 in.
Length of rostrum, 3 ft. 2^ in. Breadth of rostrum at middle, estimated, 14 in.
Depth of mandible at middle, 6-^- in. Nasals are lacking.

Note on AGAPHELUS GIBBOSUS (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 \Balcenoptera 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 23d, 1868 :

" He [Prof. Cope] mentioned that he had opportunity of examining a por-
tion of a specimen of the Scrag Whale of Dudley, Balwna, gibhosa of Erxleben,
and ascertained that it represented a genus not previously known. It was a fin-back
whale, but without dorsal fin or throat folds, resembling superficially the genus
Balcena. 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 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 2^. The baleen
of the A. gibbosus 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 B. rostrata, as appears from the same Proceedings, 1868, p. 224, where he
cites that reference in synonymy. He now calls it Agaplielus 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 Harbor, 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 bulky part of the carcass. Thus the cranium, cervical and
dorsal vertebrae, with the first ribs, the most important portions for its identifica-
tion, were lost. There were preserved, however, the mandibular arch, ear-bone, one
scapula and both fins, numerous ribs, many lumbar and caudal vertebrae, 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 plicae of any kind, but
as smooth as any other part of the body, or as the throat of a right whale, Balcena
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 Agaphehi.8 gibbosus must be withdrawn from the list of authentic
species. The bones which I referred to it are probably those of Balcenoptera
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 Balcena 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 B. 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 affirmed 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 (Rhacliianectes). 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 Khachianectes (83, 15)
for the California Gray whale, thus leaving the supposed Atlantic " Scrag whale "
as the only representative of the genus Agaplielus. As the latter was founded
on a Balcenoptera, 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 raandibular arch, an ear-bone,
one scapula, both fins, numerous ribs, many lumbar and caudal vertebrae, 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 :

Measurement.

Balcenoplera aculo-roslrata.
Granton, Scotland.

" Agaphe lus gibbosus. "

Length of mandibular ratnus (in curve)

6 ft. 4^ in.

6 ft o in

Depth of mandible at coronoid

Q in.

8J in.

Length of the humerus

n\ in.

n \ in.

" " " radius and ulna

(nearly) 18 in.1

17 in

This correspondence of Cope's specimen with a well-authenticated £. acuto-
rostrata is very interesting.

1 Ulna.

CHAPTER IV.

THE COMMON FINBACK, BAL&NOPTERA PHYSALUS (LINN.).

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 ^ 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 -J- 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 ^ 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. 1^- in. (CocKS, from whalers.)

Mean total length.

60 to 70 ft. (GULDBERG.)

Maximum total length.
Male, 72 ft. 1 in. (CocKS.)
Female (" bastard "), 80 ft. 6 in. (COCKS.)

Proportion of length of jaws to total length (average.)

20.8 per cent. (F. w. T., 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. T., compiled.)

Proportion of length of pectoral (from axilla) to total length (average).

10.5 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.)

^ to % = 10 per cent, to 11 per cent. (GULDBERG.)

•J- = 11.1 per cent. (SAKS.)

Variation: 9.9 to 11.3 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.)

(Flower gives 8.7 per cent, for the Portsmouth, England, specimen, 1869.)

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF T1IK WKSTKKN NORTH ATLANTIC. 109

Proportion of length of pectoral from head of humerus to total length (average).

12.4 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.)

Variation: 11.8 to 13.3 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.)

Percentage of total length anterior to the posterior margin of the dorsal Jin (average).

75 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.)

(The larger part of the dorsal lies behind a vertical line drawn through the
vent. SAKS.)

Variation: 72.9 per cent, to 77.7 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.)

Proportion of vertical height of dorsal to total length (average).

2.3 per cent. (F. w. T., compiled.)

Variation : 2.0 to 3.5 per cent. (F. w. T., 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. (SAKS.)

Color above (normal).

Blackish, or gray-black. (COCKS.)

Light brown-gray, or approaching sepia-color. (SAES.)

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. (MFRIE, RAVIN, etc.)

Gray-blue. (CocKS.)

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. (GULD-
BERG).

In a dead whale the posterior 12 feet of the "small," or caudal peduncle, gray
black. (COCKS.)

Yellowish white. (MuRiE. Specimen some time dead.)

Markings.

Jaw and chin white, with black flecks.

Variation : Left upper 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. (COOKS.)
Same dark color as the back. (SARS.)

Variation : " Blue, with almost a brownish tinge at the proximal end."
(CocKS," Hybrid Whale.")

Dingy black. (MURIE. 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. (CocKS.)
Whitish. (MuRiE. 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 denned 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. (MmuE.)

Mean number of plates of baleen on one side.
360. (MuRiE.)

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. (GOLDBERG.)

Foremost blades yellow, or grayish white. (GULDBERG.)

(In RAVIN'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. (CooKS.)

It has been recognized for a long time that a species closely resembling J5.
physalus, if not identical with it, occurs on the east coast of America, from Green-

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. Ill

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
D wight 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, Balcenoptera 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. phy solus.

(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 :

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND.

Capture Number.

Date of Capture.

Sex.

Total Length.

(i) N
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)

(9)
(10)

II

,2)
(13)
(14)
(15)

(16)

17)

18)

'9)
(20)
(21)
(22)

(23)
(24)
(*5)

0. I
2

Aug. 4
c

3
? ...

55 f

6?

t. 2 i

4

7
10

7
6
i

9
8
6

2
O
10

9
o
o
1 1
8
i
7
9

10

o

0

n.
(

7..

8 ....

?

, . 6-?

4. .

8

$

... . 61

7

I O

$

en

8

10

?

. =;?

o. .

II

$

. . ^Q

10

II . . .

$

C -7

ii

II .

o

7O

12

12

$

. ZA.

I 3. .

12

<$

61

14. .

IS .

$

. 67

I S .

IS .

s

62

16

I C .

?

. . 61

17. .

16

$

. . 6;

18

17 .

$

... 62

IQ .

18 . .

. . . . ? . .

62

2O

18

9

62

22.

18

<j

s6

23. .

21

9

66

24

22

9

62

2S. •

22

$

i . ^Q

26

22

$

. "?Q

' 27..

22

$

.. 6s

' 28

22 .

9

S4,

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

113

The males and females in order of size were as follows :

BALMNOPTEKA PHYSALUS (L.). SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND.

Males.

Females.

65 ft. o in.

59 ft

o in.

*7o ft. 8 in 62 ft. 9 in.

62 " 10 "

56 "

i

* 67 o

*62 8

61 " 2 "

55 "

2 "

*66 7

62 o

59 " 10 "

54"

6 "

*65 3

*6i .0

59 " i "

53 "

9 "

*63 9

57 6

*63 7

54 o

*63 4

5° 7

*62 II

Maximum.

65 ft.

o in.

70 ft. 8 in.

Minimum.. . .

53 "

9 "

5° " 7 "

Average ....

. . .(10) «8 "

7A "

(iS) 62 " 3J "

Statistics of Norwegian B. physalus, compiled from Cocks's observations, as
already seen (p. 108), are as follows :

BAL^NOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). NORWAY.

Males.

Females.

Maximum

72 ft. i in.
62 " 7 "

Soft.
(105) 64 "

6

in. (" Bastard

")

Average

..(81)

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 foetuses, or were
accompanied by young. Those of which I recorded the length of the foetus were
as follows :

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. FCETUSES.

Capture No.

Date.

Length of Adult.

Length of Foetus.

Sex of Foetus.

No. 2

Aug. 5

63 ft. 4 in.

6 ft. 5 in.

i,

3

8

63

7

12

9

9

'4

'5

67

o

15

2

$

16

H

63

9

12

8

—

'9

18

62

ii

6

9

i.

20

<i

62

8

II

4

—

27

22

65

3

6

ioi

?

114 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Three foetuses found on the days immediately preceding my arrival at the
station were as follows :

Date. Length. Sex.

Aug. 3 7 ft. ii in. ?

" " 9 " o " $

"4 6" ii " $

The smallest sexually-mature female taken at Snook's Arm in 1899, as
indicated by the presence of a fcetus, or of milk flowing from the mammae, 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 foetus (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 foetuses. These varied in length from 76 ft. 3 in. to 55 ft. 7 in.,1 the latter,
therefore, representing the minimum.

The next largest specimen containing a fcetus was 57 ft. 8 in. long.8 The mean
length of the 25 specimens was between 67 ft. and 68 ft. and the average length 65
ft. 11 in.3

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 63 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. 1T^- in.4

These various calculations are brought together on page 115 for comparison.

1 74 to 54 feet, Norwegian.
9 56 feet, Norwegian.

1 The following are measurements of females stranded on the European coast, which according
to the records contained foetuses:

Date. Locality. Length. Authority.

1878 Monte Rosso, Italy 22 m. Van Beneden

1879 Groix Id., France 20.8 m. Pouchet
1859 Port Vendres " 20 m. Van Beneden
1863 Cape Creux, Spain 19.5 m.

The smallest of these, 19^ metres, or 63 ft. n^V in-, is considerably larger than the Snook's Arm
minimum.

Out of no records of strandingson the coasts of Europe, which I have collected, the four cited
above are the only ones in which the presence of a fcetus is noted.

*The average total length of the 14 males taken at Balena station in 1900 was 55 feet 7T\ in.
The length of the single female was 59 feet. The sex of the specimens taken in 1901 was not
recorded.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALMNOPTERA PBYSALUS O,.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN.

115

Locality.

Averageforall
specimens of
both sexes.

Average
for all
females.

Average
for all
males.

Average for
mature
females. l

Average for
mature
males.1

Maximum
for

females.6

Maximum
for
males.

Mini-
mum for
females

Mini-
mum for
males.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

•No.

Length.

Length.

Length.

Length

Length.

Newfoundland :
Snook's Arm, 1899.
Balena, 1900.
" 1901.

25
15
II

60' icf "
55' iof"
59' 7|"

15

62' 3l"

IO

14

58'7iV
55 7A"

13

63' 10"

7

60' 5"

70' 8"

65' o"

64' -
unknown)

50' 7"
(48',se3

53' 9"
44'-
c unk'n)

[64', sex

All the foregoing New-
foundland specimens.

51

59' i&"

70' 8"

65' o"

50' 7"

44'-

Norway (Cocks).

1 86

63' 5i"

105

64' ii"

81

62' f

25

65' II"

74

66' 7"

80' 6"

72' r

41' 2"

43' o"

Europe generally
(stranded , or captured
on the coasts).

53"

57' 5TV

14'

57'iiTV

if

62' 6-rV

8

66' 8f

14

65' 9 A"

72' i&"'

(22 m.)

83' 1 1 A"4

(25.6 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,6
tip of snout to eye, ditto to posterior margin of dorsal fin, breadth of flukes from
tip to tip, notch of flukes to anus, ditto 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 European specimens :

1 Specimens 55' 7" long and over. * Everything below 41' 8" thrown out to agree with other general averages.

3 Monte Rosso, Italy, Oct., 1878. * St. Cyprien, France, Nov. 27, 1828.

6 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 (CA S. 0. 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. 6 See p. 4.

116

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BAL&NOPTERA PHTSALUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND.

Measurement.

Snook's Arm, 18*10.

Balena,
1901.

M

f

.00

fO

4t

-f"

0 M

- 6

t". M

- d

00 «

J*

J^

0 M

9

$

fO 2

o 5f

9

°'"-

9

a*

9

9

9

9

9

t

t

Total length, tip of snout to notch
of flukes

55' 2"

63'4"

63' 7"

61' 10"

50' 7°

57'6"

59' l"

53'9"

70' 8"

54'6"

6l'2*

62' n"

62'8"

60' n"

Circumference opposite tip of pec-

in.

in.

in.

in.

in.

in.
139

in.

in.

in.

in.
304'
128
123

in.
3521

135

in.

in.

in.

Tip of snout to eye

164

I38

156
140
222

163

'39

240

1 2O

107

137
122
2O5

133
1 2O

169
154

149

162
148

151

134

" " " " blowhole (center).
" " " " head of humerus. . .
" " '* t( ant. insertion of

123

204

Tip of snout to post, insertion oi

230
509

548
2O4

219
456

499
197*

285
598

642
242

219

468
504

244
526

570
204

244

26O

542

576
2 2O

244

552
209

Tip of snout to ant base of dorsal
fin

484

559

552

588
208
233

502

593
192
219

458
1 80
2OO

492

535
192

Tip of snout to post, base of dorsal

198

222

221
243

213

269

242

230

221

" " ** ** center of orifice

240

26l

331

233'
290*

306

312'

382

319

362

354

" " " " post.? insertion

526
540

88

444
450

79!

Notch of flukes to head of humerus
Length of pectoral, from tip to

86

«

9'i
20

83
56

20

59
20

72

57
20

106

72
24

80

56
2O

88

60
23

92

65
24

96

66
23

89
53

21

Length of pectoral, from tip to

32?

23

20

34

ii

174

Head of humerus to post, insertion

Head of humerus to ant. insertion

Height of dorsal (vertical)

2O

45
49
29

37

20

16
33

19

38

14

21

iH

24

16

16

Length ot dorsal (longitudinal). . .

Antero-post. breadth of flukes, from
ant. insertion to post, margin. , .

Depth of caudal peduncle at inser-

34
4'

Center of eye to center of auditory

36

19

2

81

32

39

30

40

35

37i

36

36

36

Distance apart of blowholes an-

Distance apart of blowholes pos-

4

4

2O
123

Anterior margin of anus to tip o

'4

71

II

10}

Length of white portion of row o
whalebone, right

49

20

82
20
16

66

Length of longest plates of whale
bone (without bristles)

22

24

.*

2-1

16

Lower jaw extends beyond upper

Tip of lower jaw to ant. end o

16

154

I56

140

156

144

182

132

182

186

168

Depth of caudal peduncle midway
betw. notch of flukes and anus. .

64

1 Twice one half.

Following curve of caudal peduncle.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

117

The following table consists (1) of measurements selected from the foregoing
American series and reduced to percentages of the total length, and (2) similar
measurements from European records, also reduced to percentages :

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND AND MASSACHUSETTS.

Snook's Arm, 1899.

Ball-Mil

Station,

Mass.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

1001.

Dwight,

ii

3

2

'9

20

4

13

9

8

i

12

10

7

No. 16

1872.

Sex

J

9

$

j

s

f

$

f

f

5

0

2

Age. . .

ad.

ad

ad

ad

ad.

ad

ad

ec/2"

Total length

70' 8"

63'?"

62' i i"

62' 8"

61' 10"

6l'2"

CQ' T"

•U'6"

C-j'n"

50' 7"

48' o"

g

H

g

£

%

4

;

<g

g

£

<f

f

%

t

Tip of snout to eye ....

20. o

20.4

21.6

19.7

21-5

21. 9

20.5

IQ-3

2O. I

....

19.6

2O-7

19.8

20.7

20.1

" " " to blowhole

(center). ..

18.2

18.4

18.2

19.7

18.7

l8.4

17-2

18.6

iS.S

18.6

17.6

18.3

Tip of snout to pectoral.

....

32.31

34-5'

33-21

32.4'

33.5'

33.9'

33-41

33-8

" " " to back of

dorsal
Tip of lower jaw to navel

75-7

77-0

C2 I *

76.6

52.9s

79.8

77.6

77-3

77-5

77-1

77'?
cr cs

75-5

75-5

[76.2]

fc6 4|

Length of pectoral from

head of humerus

I2.S

"•5

12.9

12.2

12.8

12.3

11.9

12. 0

12.9

12.2

II. 2

13.1

12.2

ii. 8

Breadth of pectoral. . . .

2.8

2.6

3.0

3-2

3.1

2.7

3-1

2.8

3-0

4.8?

3-1

3.1

3.0

2-9

2.8

Height of dorsal

2.5

2 "\

2.6

a .2

2 . I

2 7

2 ^

2 o

2 A

2.6

2 2

2 4.

Breadth of flukes, tip to

t'P

21.5

20.2

24.6

22.3

21. 0

24.8

22.6

2O. 2

22.3

23.0

BAL&NOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPE.

-

bi)

c
M

II
If

gs

II

Wick, Scotland.
(Struthers, 1872.)

Peterhead, Scotland.
(Struthers, 1871.)

Jalide Bay, Germany.
(Brautigam, 1874.)

Finmark, Norway.
Figure.
(Sars, 1881.)

g
u-f

Stornoway, Scotland.
(Struthers, 1872.)

Gravescnd, Eng.
(Muric, 1865.)

Portsmouth, Eng.
(Flower, 1869.)

Borselaer, Netherlands.
(Van Beneden, 1871.)

Sex and age

S ad

$ ad

$ ad

2

$ ad.

S ad

(i) Total length

6c, ,

65' or66

64.' o"

64.' o"

63'4"8

61' 8"

60' 6"

60' o"

SO/6"4

rVfi'i
57

(2) Tip of upper jaw to eye

t

[23-0]

%

2O.O

..*...

*
2O.O

IE fi

%

20. 2*

..*...

*
19.3

20.2

%

(4) " " ** " *' pectoral
(5) ' " hind margin dorsal

32.2
77.6

33-6'

73-'s"

33-31
76,5

r?6oi

(6) Tip of lower jaw to corner of mouth. . .

19.5

(7) ll " " " " navel

[60.7]

(8) Length of pectoral from root

ii. 57

13.31

12. 01

IO.O1

ii. 88

ii 8'

Q O1

12 5 1

(Q) Breadth of pectoral

2.5

3-4

2.6

•a A

(10) Height of dorsal

2.O

3.0

2.1

2 I

2 3

(n) Breadth of flukes tip to tip

2O O 4-

2"\ 1 4-

21 Q

18 2

18 s

18 s

(12) Height of body at pectoral

18.8

(13) '* " " midway between flukes
and dorsal

7.O

7.8

10.3

1 To posterior insertion of pectoral, or axilla.

9 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 %. ' From head of humerus.

8 Bones, from head of humerus.

118

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALMNOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPE.— (Continued.)

West of Vardo, Norway.
(Cocks, 1886.)

Laman, Orkney Ids.
(Heddle, 1856.)

•d f >

c o-

J2 ™

tfl w

«fl

E =
II

Crouch R., England.
(Crouch, 1891.)

Firth of Forth, Scotland.
(Sibbald, 1692.)

Copinshay, Orkney Ids.
(Heddle, 1856.)

Charmouth, England.
(Sweeting, 1840.)

Christiania, Norway.
(Sars, 1868.)

to

•

o
Z

IS

c°°

I

Is

2"

Somme R., France.
(Ravin, 1836.)

Kattwyk aan Zee,
Netherl.
(Schlegel, 1841.)

1

8

z-?

B
H
II

Danzig, Germany.
(Zaddach, 1875.)

t

?

a

2

t

$

9

? jr.

$ jr.

$ jr.

3 jr.

?

?

(l)..'

57 °"'

50' o"

49' IO"

46' 6J"

46' o"

45' 6"

44' o"

43' 8"

42' 4°

42'o"J

41' 8°

38' 5"

36' o"1

(2) .

%
18.0

%
18.5

^

IQ. I

18.3

[18.5]

%
17.9

%

t

18.6

t

18.9

%

I5-44

%
15. i6

18.5

(•l)

16 6s

11 8

14.5

M"7

I e 2

II T1

ii 6

(4.) .

28.7

29.4®

25. 11

[29.4]

32.9

24.5*

28.8

28-9

[25.0!

T2Q 7l

29. I

(5)..

[72.0!

74.3'

74.1

[80.0]

[75-0]

72.9

75.2

[77.7]

74.O

73.3

f75.ll

(6)

22 ^

2O ^

|20.6l

2O "}

21.7

fiC Q14

(7)

53-3

5O.O

52.3

Isa 81

c i 6

(8)

II. -a

I2.510

II. Q10

8.9"

10.8

12.2

12.8

IO.5

IO. I

10.3

I •> 4
10.7!

6 8"

IO O

(q)..

3.2

2.7

2.3

3-3

2.2

3.4

2.8

2.9

2.7

2.5

2.6

(10)

1 5

2.3

2.7

2-4

2-3

2.2

2.6

1.4

2.S

2 4

2 O

(11)

2O. O

2O.5

2O.5

25.8

20.7

2O.9

20.5

21. 1

20.9

19.8

21.7

18.4

(12)

14.8

I6.612

1C 4

[18 o]

[Ml

77?

7.5

8.6

7 613

[ii il13

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 :

BALJSKOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN.

Measurement.

Per Cent, of Total Length.

American.

European.

Tip of snout to eye

(10)

(8)
5

(8)

(9)
(10)
(10)
(7)

20. 6
18.4
33-2
77-I'4

12.2
2.9
2.4
22.4

(7)

(2)

(3)
(4)
(5)
(4)
(5)
(8)

20.1
!8.I

33-4
76.0

I2-5
2.9

2-3

20.1 "

" blowholes (center)

posterior root of pectoral, or axilla

to posterior margin of dorsal

Length of pectoral from head of humerus

Height of dorsal (vertical)

Breadth of flukes tip to tip

"Straight. 2 French measure. 3 To center of blowhole = 18.1$.

4 The head measurements appear to have been taken from the plate, in which the head is too small.

s I suspect that measurements are from the plate (Neu. Nederl. Verhandl., I cl., 3, 1831, pi. l). The eye is
obviously too far forward. ' To axilla = 33.5 %. ' From figure. 8 From tip of lower jaw.

9 To middle of fin. lo From head of humerus. " Probably from the plate. The pectoral is too small.

18 Back of pectorals. '3 At ^ the distance from back of dorsal to notch of flukes.

"The anterior insertion of the dorsal fin in a foetus from Newfoundland (No. 14, 1901) is exactly opposite the
posterior end of the centrum of the first caudal vertebra.

15 More or less uncertain, as the measurements in two or three cases are not given with exactness.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

119

The foregoing percentages indicate a remarkable conformity between the
American and European specimens in proportions, and such as to be alone almost
sufficient to settle once and for all the question of specific identity of this form of
whale in the east and west Atlantic. The measurement of the flukes, however,
shows a variation of 2 per cent. The importance of this is doubtful, as the measure-
ments given by several European observers are not exact. Furthermore, the
American measurements were not made by myself in more than two or three in-
stances, but by an officer on the whaling steamer, as the flukes were generally cut
off before the whales were towed into the station.

COLOR.

The descriptions of the color of £. physalus given by European authors vary
so much among themselves that one might suppose that there was a most extraor-
dinary individual variation in this species, as well as a subspeciflc variation. It
is true that there is a considerable individual variation in color in all species of
whales, and no doubt £. physalus exhibits this peculiarity, but the differences
which have been cited by authors are largely illusive. The species in question is
sometimes said to be black above, at other times gray, or even brown, as shown in
the following table :

BALJSNOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPEAN. COLOR.

Author.

Date.

Color.

Remarks.

Balfour

Deep grayish-slate above ; white below

Van Beneden. .

1857 ?

All back gray-bluish ; all belly white

Found dead Given

Crouch . .

1 80 1

Upper parts blackish-slate • under parts white

at second hand.
Seen two days after

Cocks

1884

Gray-blue, or grayish slate-color on the back ; whole

killed.

underside white

Guldberg

1884

Above blackish or else gray-black • underneath

Now and then one

white, with a grayish band passing over it

meets with yellow-

Cocks

1886

Black above ; white below

ish tinges."
Dead Bastard "

Delaee. .

1885

Black above ; white below

Dead

Sars

Rather light gray-brownish, passing over into sepia-

color

Struthers

1884

Black on the back ; white on the belly

Nairn Scotland.

It is my opinion that B. physahis is never black when alive. The fact is well
known, and is commented upon by some of the authors above cited, that whales
rapidly turn dark after death, and that descriptions of the color of stranded speci-
mens are, therefore, unreliable. In the Finback whales the epidermis consists of
several layers, of which the superficial one is the thickest. When one of these
animals is killed and hauled out of the water, the superficial layer at once begins to
grow darker, especially if the sun is shining. If a portion of this layer is peeled
off, the lighter color of life is found again on the layer below, but in the course of

120 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

fifteen minutes this again becomes conspicuously darker than the surrounding parts
which are still protected by the superficial layer, as may be seen in a striking
manner by peeling off an additional piece of the upper layer, or removing a part of
the second layer so as to expose the third.

This deepening of the color goes on gradually in B. pkysalus, and other gray
species, until the whole of the pigmented areas are black, and the rejected fragments
of blubber from the dorsal region with the skin attached, which are found around
a whaling station, are always of this color.

It is obvious that any specimen of B. physalus which has been stranded and
has lain in the sun for several days before coming to the attention of a naturalist
will be described by him as black above. Specimens which have floated dead on
the waves, with the back down, for some days, but are observed as soon as brought
to land, are more likely to have retained a semblance of their natural color. Such
a specimen was described in his usual accurate manner by Sars in 1866 (77, 15-16,
sep.). With due allowance for the deepening of the tints, this is one of the best
descriptions of the coloration of European B. physalus. The following is a transla-
tion from the Norwegian original :

" The color above in the median line is dark slate, or almost black, but passes on
the sides of the body into a very light Isabelline gray, which grades almost imper-
ceptibly into the white of the belly. On the back part of the body (tail) the dark
color reaches so deep down on the sides that there remains in the middle (below)
a very small white stripe. Directly under the dorsal fin this stripe is smaller and
is limited here on both sides by a small, pointed, dark projection, which reaches
forward to the anus, where it almost touches the corresponding one of the other
side. The white color occupies the whole ventral surface on the most anterior
part of the body, and stretches up to the pectorals, back of whose root, however,
the dark color of the back sends down a small oval prolongation. Between the
root of the pectoral and the corner of the mouth on each side a whitish (not pure
white) mark shows itself, which sends out a number of small stripes, of which the
most conspicuous are one passing forward in the direction of the eye, and another
backward in the direction of the dorsal fin.

"The pectorals are white on the inner surface, but with the tip and along the
upper border somewhat dark streaked ; on the outer surface they are dark, but
here also the white color is seen along the lower border, forming here a small pure
white border, which widens out forwards [proximally] not so very insignificantly,
until it is suddenly interrupted by a dark tongue-shaped mark passing over the root
of the pectoral. The dorsal fin retains the dark color of the back throughout. The
flukes are rather dark color on the upper surface, but on the under surface white,
surrounded along the edges by a narrow dark border. Of the pectoral furrows,
the upper are blue-black within, but the lower, pale flesh-color. The above-
described coloration is entirely alike on both sides of the body.

" The most anterior part of the head, or the facial part, however, is veiy notice-
ably unequally colored on the two sides. On the left side, the upper jaw, as well
as the whole of the upper part of the lower jaw, is dark, but on the right side, not
alone the under jaw but the most anterior part of the upper jaw along the border
is pure white; but at the root of the lower jaw is an indistinctly defined grayish
shade. The dissimilarity in color reaches also to the whalebone. On the left side

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 121

it is all dark (blue-black), but on the right side, as Schlegel has stated, the foremost
is of a light yellow-white color.

" The bristle-like fibres, into which the whalebone resolves itself on the inner
side, are uniform yellow-white on both sides [of the mouth]."

All these peculiarities of color were observed in specimens taken at Snook's
Arm, Newfoundland, in 1899, namely (pis. 8 to 11), the narrow inferior white
caudal margin, the antero-inferiorly-directed, narrow, dark mark reaching forward
to the anus, the areas of dark color below the root of the pectoral, the white mark
anterior to the root of the pectoral, with its streaks directed forward and back-
ward, the dark-streaked white anterior border of the pectoral, the white right
lower and upper jaws, and whitish anterior right whalebone. In no two individu-
als, however, were the amount and disposition of the dark color precisely the same,
while the want of uniformity of color on the two sides of the body was always
conspicuous. As in land animals, there were very pale individuals and very dark
individuals, and others which represented neither extreme. In some the inferior
caudal margin was entirely dark forward to the anus, and very large dark areas
invaded the white of the belly, while the inferior surface and anterior white
margin of the pectorals were streaked with dark color, and all light markings were
restricted and obscured. In other specimens the white inferior caudal margin was
broad and the post-anal dark marks indistinct ; the dark color hardly passed below
the level of the pectorals, leaving practically the whole belly white, and the white
markings about the base of the pectorals were large and distinct.

In the midst of these variations, however, the presence of a dark left lower
lip (pi. 11, figs. 3 and 4), white right lower lip, and white anterior right whale-
bone remained constant, and the right side of the body never carried so much
dark color as the left. This peculiar asymmetry of color, or " pleuronectism,"
was first pointed out by Bars in 1878. Guldberg has more recently asserted that
it is not exclusively confined to one side, or, in other words, that an individual
might be light on the left side and dark on the right side. My own observations
on American specimens do not bear out this statement. The right side in these
was always lighter than the left side, and I am disposed to think that this is a
constant character of the species. (See pi. 9, fig. 3; pi. 10, figs. 1 and 3; pi. 12,
figs. 1 and 2.)

VARIATION IN COLOR OF BODY.

The individual variation in the amount and disposition of the white and gray
colors of the body has already been referred to. It may be of interest to enumerate
the differences in some of the Newfoundland Finbacks, from notes made on fresh
specimens.

In ten specimens the variations were as follows :

No. 2, Female. Length, 64 ft. 8 in. General color dark. Below the left
pectoral 35 furrows in the direction of the median line are dark colored. The
remaining median furrows are white, with a flesh-colored tinting. Left mandible
and upper jaw dark gray. The former whitish internally. Beginning at the

122 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

symphysis, the boundary of the dark gray of the left mandible runs obliquely to
the left and goes into the fourth left furrow, leaving the first three left ridges white.
Below the center of length of left mandible, we first find blackish, or dark gray,
ridges, and furrows of the same color, then ridges mottled gray and white, gradually
changing toward the median line to all white ; then the dark gray of the furrows
breaks up into detached blotches; finally both ridges and furrows are white.
Opposite the anus the inferior border of the gray of the sides is 16^ in. above the
inferior median line of the body. A little behind the anus the gray comes forward
and downward in a line. (See pi. 9, fig. 4.)

On the left breast the gray of the sides extends down in broad arms or prolonga-
tions. Opposite the middle of the left pectoral, when laid back, the gray extends
down so far as to leave only four white ridges above the median line.

The right mandible is all white externally, except that the superior margin is
streaked transversely with gray, which is continuous with the dark color of the
interior. This dark color runs out at the corner of the mouth and passes back
below the eye toward the inferior insertion of the pectoral. From the ear to the
head of the humerus is an area of gray lighter than the surrounding color. Under
the right pectoral the upper twenty furrows are dark entirely or partly ; they are
all dark at their anterior ends.

No. 3. female. Length, 63ft. 7 in. General color dark. Left mandible dark
gray externally, right mandible white. Under the left pectoral the gray comes down
over 27 abdominal ridges. The median ridge is streaked with gray about midway
between the navel and the line of the extremity of the pectoral, as are also four or
five ridges above it on the left side. All furrows at this point from the median line
upward are entirely gray, or gray and white blotched. On the flanks the gray
comes down to within 27 in. of the navel, to within 18 in. of the vagina, and to
within 13 in. of the anus. On the caudal peduncle the gray comes downward and
forward in a line toward the anus, and there is also a feather-like inferior median
gray band extending backward from the anus. This is followed by gray streaks,
so that there is no unmarked white on the inferior median line of the peduncle.
The sides and anterior end of the sexual orifice and the inside of the mammary slit
are also gray.

No. 4- Female. Length, 6 1 ft. 10 in. General color light. Eighteen furrows
below the root of the pectoral are gray. Opposite the extremity of the pectoral,
when laid back, the furrows are all dark, except the three nearest the median line.
The white of the exterior of the right mandible occupies also the superior margin
in the anterior half, and is continued backward as a narrow light-gray line, which
broadens out to a foot in width in front of the eye, and passes over and under it.

Underneath the eye and at the corner of the mouth the color is very light.
The inferior border of the gray of the sides is 18 in. above the anus and is without
linear prolongations. The inferior surface of the caudal peduncle is, therefore, all
white nearly to the flukes, where it is slightly streaked with gray. The anterior
boundary of the dark color of the outside of the left mandible runs into the fourth left
furrow. (See pi. 9, fig. 2.)

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 123

No. 7. Female. Length, 50 ft. 7 in. General color dark. Tip of upper jaw
white inferiorly, with a dark median line. Right mandible entirely white. Left
mandible dark gray, the anterior boundary of which runs into the fourth left furrow.
Gray conies down on the ridges under the left pectoral to within twelve ridges of
the median line. Opposite the navel its inferior border is 32^- in. above the same ;
opposite the anus it is 16 in. above the same. Inferior margin of caudal peduncle
all white, with only a trace of the post-anal gray mark. (See pi. 8, fig. 1 ; pi. 9,
fig. 1; pi. 11, fig. 4.)

No. 8. female. Length, 57 ft. 6 in. General color very dark. Below the
left pectoral the gray runs across the breast to the third ridge above the median
line. On the right side tbe gray runs across only a few ridges below the root of
the right pectoral, and below the extremity of the pectoral, when laid back, only four-
teen ridges. The right breast, throat, and belly, therefore, are nearly all white. Left
mandible very dark gray, as is the back. On the sides the gray comes down
within 14 in. of the anus. A distinct inferior post-anal gray mark on the caudal
peduncle, and the gray comes down so low that at the insertion of the flukes white
is almost shut out out from its inferior edge.

No. 9. Male. Length, 59ft. 1 in. General color dark. The gray color
under the pectoral on the left side comes down to within one ridge above the
median line. Behind this the white of the belly runs up antero-superiorly to the
axilla. Then the gray comes down again to within eight ridges of the median line.
Opposite the anus the gray of the sides comes down to a line 15 in. above the
median line. Post-anal gray mark distinct. (See pi. 8, fig. 3 ; pi. 10, figs. 2 and 5.)

No. 10. Male. Length, 53 ft. 9 in. A very light individual, especially on the
right side. On that side there is no gray on the ridges in front of the pectoral.

The post-pectoral gray area comes down only to within seventeen ridges above
the median line. The post-anal gray mark is distinct.

No. 11. female. Length, 70 ft. 8 in. General color dark. The gray of
the left side comes down across the median line at a point about midway between
the line of the navel and the tip of the pectoral, when laid back, and runs up on the
right side on seven ridges, there meeting the dark furrows, and thus causing
the appearance of a continuous dark band across the belly. Twenty-three furrows
downward from the root of the right pectoral are gray. All the central part of
the throat and breast from the mandible backward for 31 feet is white, both ridges
and furrows. White of the inferior margin of the caudal peduncle very much
restricted and clouded with gray streaks. Above the anus the gray of the sides
comes down to within 17 inches. Post-anal gray mark very distinct.

No. 12. Male. Lengtli, 54 ft. 6 in. General color very light. No gray on
the right side of the belly. On the left side it comes down only to within sixteen
ridges from the median line. The anterior boundary of the gray of the left mandible
joins the seventh left furrow. The inferior boundary of the gray of the sides is 16 in.
above the anus. The post-anal gray mark is very distinct and has a white line
dividing it into two inferiorly. (See pi. 11, fig. 1.)

No. 13. Male. Length, 61 ft. 2 in. General color very dark. The gray of

124 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

the left side crosses the median line and runs up on nine ridges on the right side. A
feather-like gray line fills up all of the inferior margin of the caudal peduncle from
the anus to the flukes, leaving no pure white. The post-anal gray mark runs
forward and downward on each side close to the median feather-like line, and
almost reaches to the anus. (See pi. 8, fig. 4; pi. 11, fig. 2.)

MARKINGS ABOUT THE EYE, AURICULAR ORIFICE, AND ROOT OF PECTORAL FIN.

In B.physalus, while the upper surfaces of the body are practically all of a
uniform gray color, the region between the eye and the pectoral fin is varied by
markings of different shades of gray, which are very conspicuous in some indi-
viduals. These markings are represented in a rather indifferent manner in Sars's
figure of his Lofoten Ids. specimen (77 / pi. 1, figs. 1 and 2; pi. 2, fig. 1), and are
mentioned by him as follows : " Between the root of the pectoral fin and the corner
of the mouth, on each side above, a whitish (not pure white) mark shows itself,
which sends out above a number of small stripes, of which the most conspicuous
are one passing forward in the direction of the eye, and another backward in the
direction of the dorsal fin " (77, 15, sep.).

In the Newfoundland Finbacks (pi. 11, fig. 1) the most constant and notice-
able marking of the region above mentioned is a whitish line which starts at the
auricular orifice on the right side, curves strongly upward, then downward, and
terminates at or above the anterior insertion of the pectoral fin. On the left side
another light line usually starts at the eye, and may run under or through rather
than over the ear, and terminate at the insertion of the pectoral. This line is
usually much lighter than the surrounding surfaces, and is often bordered with
dark gray. This light line in some cases broadens out at the posterior end and
merges into a large white area of irregular shape and imperfectly defined borders
above the root of the pectoral. This is the area mentioned by Sars. Besides
these markings, in some individuals a distinct gray band, darker than the sur-
rounding surfaces and about as wide as the eye, starts just above that organ, and
running obliquely upward and backward broadens out into a large ill-defined dark
gray area on the shoulder. This dark area is itself invaded by a large, V-shaped,
double, white marking, producing a very complicated succession of tints in this
region. The white or whitish mark above the root of the pectoral sometimes
extends backward and involves the basal portion of the fin itself, and may be sepa-
rated off from the color of the distal part of the pectoral by a very dark line.
(See pi. 10, fig. 3.)

These various markings are more distinct on the right side than the left, and
appear in different combinations, but the light line may almost invariably be
detected, and is quite distinct in foetal specimens. In a freshly-obtained foetus,
12 ft. 9 in. long, the back was of a beautiful cerulean blue, and a very light line
began at the anterior corner of the eye and passed back over the eye (becoming
there almost white) and thence backward just above the auricular orifice. Then it
curved upward and backward over the root of the pectoral and was lost in the

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

125

general color of the surrounding parts. A light line began at the ear and curving
in a semicircle was lost in the region above the root of the pectoral.

In adults the side and top of the head below and in front of the dark oblique
eye-line is usually lighter than the back.

There is commonly a light gray, or whitish, mark under the eye, especially on
the right side, and sometimes a similar mark around the right ear.

HAIRS.

In the Newfoundland Finbacks, at the tip of the mandible and following the
line of the symphysis on each side, are two rows of thick but soft whitish bristle-like
hairs, about ^ in. long. There are about fifteen hairs in each row. In a male foetus
6 ft. 5 in. long there were nine hairs on the right side of the lower jaw, in a row
running obliquely downward and backward and terminating above the tenth right
furrow. On the light upper jaw were twelve hairs, beginning about six inches from
the top of the jaw and irregularly disposed. Around the root of each hair was a
light-colored ring.

DORSAL FIN.

•

The dorsal fin in the Newfoundland Finbacks showed a considerable variation
in size, as in European specimens. The following are the actual vertical heights
in various Newfoundland specimens :

BAL-'ENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. DORSAL FIN.

No.

Sex.

Length of

Whale.

Vertical Height of Dorsal.

$

ft.
. 7O

in.
8

21 in

9

. 64

o

20

$

. 6?

7

I 7 S

$>

62

II

. 2 A.

1 y

9

62

8 . .

. ... l6

$

61

ii

2O

*

61

2

. i8.s

16

*

. 50

I

. 14

8

2

57

6

. IQ

o

<;o

7 .

16

The dorsal fin in these Finbacks is subject to a considerable variation in form,
being normally falcate, but with the tip sometimes longer and more acute, and
sometimes shorter and more rounded ; the posterior margin in some individuals
moderately concave, in others strongly concave. (See text figs. 1-7 and pi. 11, fig.
5.) The variation is, however, less marked and striking than is found in the
Sulphurbottorns. The normal shape of the dorsal in European specimens of B.
physolus is well shown in Sars's figure of his Lofoten Ids. specimen (77, pi. 2, fig.
5). In color the dorsal fin agrees with the dark gray of the adjacent part of the
back. In one instance (No. 2, Snook's Arm) there was an irregular, pure-white
blotch close to the tip of the fin, on the right side.

126

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

FIG. I.

FIG. 5.

FIG. 3.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 6.

FIG. 4. FIG. 7.

DORSAL FIN OF BALMNOPTEBA PHTSALUS (L.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN.

FIG. i. — SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. AD. S . No. 24. FIG. 2. — SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. AD.
S. No. 25. FIG. 3. — SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND. AD. ? . No. 23. FIG. 4.— GLOUCESTER, MASS., IM. S.
(FROM DWIGHT.) FIG. 5. — FINMARK, NORWAY. AD. (FROM MALM.) FIG. 6. — BORSELAER, NETHERLANDS. AD.
S . (FROM VAN BENEDEN.) FIG. 7— LOFOTEN IDS., NORWAY. JR. $ (FROM SARS.)

PECTORAL FIN.

The shape of the pectoral fin in the European £. physalus, according to Sars
is "narrowly lanceolate, with the posterior angle often but little distinct." This is
true of the Newfoundland Finbacks. The anterior border is much straighter than
in the Sulphurbottoms, and the distal half of the posterior margin, which is quite
strongly concave in the latter, is straight in the Finback. These straight contours
and the small size give the pectoral of the Finback a triangular appearance, quite
different from that of the Sulphurbottom, as will be seen by comparing pi. 11,
figs. 1, 2, and 4, and pi. 21. The shape of the pectoral of B. physalus is not
as well shown in Sars's figure (79, pi. 2) as in Delage's photographs (33). In the
former the anterior margin is too much curved, especially in the proximal half, and
the posterior margin is too convex near the axilla. Much better are Sars's litho-
graphic figures of his Lofoten Ids. specimen (77, pi. 2, figs. 3 and 4), in which the
triangular shape of the pectorals is admirably portrayed, though perhaps a little
exaggerated.

There is some variation in the relative length and width of the pectoral, as
will be seen by consulting the table on p. 117, but it is not sufficient in any case to
destroy the characteristic shape of the fin.

In some Newfoundland specimens the contours are much more regular than
in others, and in No. 17 there was a deep emargination at the tip anteriorly, due
possibly to injury. In No. 3 the tip of the left pectoral was blunt and irregular,
due to injuries.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 127

The color of the pectorals is normally gray on the external surface, like the
back, and white on the internal surface and anterior border.

In some Newfoundland specimens the dark-gray external surface was more
or less marked with lighter gray, and the light-gray area at the root of the pec-
toral, already described (see p. 121), sometimes invades the pectoral, so that the
proximal -J- of the external surface may be abruptly and conspicuously lighter
than the remainder. The light area may be defined posteriorly by a dark gray
line running across the pectoral to the axilla and thence to the back.

The anterior thick margin is always white, but this color in some instances
extends much farther upon the external surface of the fin than in others, especially
at the tip. The margin itself is usually more or less streaked with gray, and in
some instances is entirely gray for some distance from the root of the fin, or there
may be a gray patch near the middle of the border.

The internal surface of the fin is sometimes entirely white, or with but a narrow
posterior border of gray, but in most cases the posterior two thirds shade more or
less into gray, especially toward the tip. The tip underneath is commonly marked
with gray lines, either parallel or reticulated. In the majority of cases there are
one or two long gray lines running backward from the tip parallel with the long
axis of the fin, and corresponding in position with the intervals between the digits.
These lines are of so frequent occurrence as to be characteristic of the species.

FLUKES

The flukes in the Newfoundland Finbacks (pi. 12, figs. 7-8) were long and
slender, with acuminate and strongly recurved tips. The anterior border is convex,
the posterior slightly convex near the median line, then nearly straight, and finally
strongly concave at the tips. The median notch was shallow and more or less
open in different individuals.

The flukes are gray on the superior surface, like the back. On the inferior
surface they are all white, except on the margins. The posterior margin is gray
throughout ; this color, however, having a wider extension distally than proximally.
The anterior margin is gray distally, but the white usually invades this margin
proximally. The tip is gray. Near the median line the posterior gray border is
about 7 in. wide and the anterior 2 in. or less. The gray borders fade out into
streaks which run transversely, or as if radiating from the end of the spine, and
this arrangement doubtless gave rise to the erroneous fish-like tail, with rays, seen
in some early figures. The transverse streaks on the anterior margin are crossed
by others running fore and aft, especially near the root of the flukes. (See also
pi. 12, fig. 5.)

WHALEBONE.

One of the principal characters of B. physalus, which was early recognized,
is the party-colored whalebone. Later it was discovered by Sars and others that
the whalebone of the anterior end of the series of the right side is always white.

128

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Some individuals, however, have a few white plates on the left side, in addition to
the large series on the right side.

In a whale 55 ft. 2 in. long (No. 1), the length of the white portion of the right
whalebone series was 4 ft. 1 in., and comprised 166 plates. In No. 2, which was
64 ft. 8 in. long, the white area had a length of about 6 ft., and comprised about
200 plates. In No. 4, ?, 61 ft. 10 in., the white whalebone area was 4 ft. 2 in.
long. No. 7, 9 , 50 ft. 7 in. long, had 270 anterior white plates on the right side.
No. 10, $ , 53 ft. 9 in. long, had about one half the right whalebone, or about 210
plates, white. Only a small number of the most anterior plates in this individual
were entirely white, the other anterior ones being white externally, but gray
internally.

From the foregoing figures it will be evident that the extent of the white
portion of the whalebone is not always the same, nor is it proportional to the
length of the individual. (See also pi. 12, fig. 6.)

The streaked whalebone shows the most extraordinary variety as regards the
width and number of light and dark streaks. As a rule, however, the dark streaks
prevail more and more toward the posterior end of the series, and the plates here
are commonly quite uniform dark gray. The darkest color is on the exterior edge.
The matted surface of bristles appears whitish when looked at in the direction of
the roof of the mouth, with a rather broad margin of dull brown where the whale-
bone plates are dark externally. The width of the throat is about 7 inches. The
plates of whalebone are reduced to nothing posteriorly, the short, matted bristles
being attached directly to the integuments of the mouth, the curly masses of the
two sides approaching each other posteriorly within 5 inches. (See pi. 11, fig. 6;
pi. 12, figs. 3 and 4.)

The length of the longest whalebone in various European and American speci-
mens is given in the following table :

BALJ4NOPTERA PHYSALUS(L). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. LENGTH OF WHALEBONE.

Locality.

Length of Whale.

Sex.

Lenyth of Longest
Whalebone.

Author.

ft. in.

in.

Crouch R

., England

46 6£

?

22"

Crouch

Pevensey

Bay,

M

65 3'

S

23°

Flower

Portsmouth,

it

59 6'

$

21 =

u

Gravesend,

it

60 o

•5

3°!

Murie

Wick, Scotland

65 or 66 o

$

Struthers

Stornoway, Scotland

60 6

$

30'

'

Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland

70 8

O

245

F. W. T.

64 8

o

20B

63 7

o

23.5"

62 8

o

2 1 S'

61 10

o

30*

55 2

$

20"

54 6

s

I7-55

1 Straight. " Whether includes bristles not stated. $ Including the hairy ends.

* Exclusive of bristles. * From the surface of the gums and exclusive of the bristles.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 129

ABDOMINAL RIDGES AND FURROWS.

In B. physalus the abdominal ridges and furrows are broader and less numer-
ous than in B. acuto-rostrata, much narrower and more numerous than in the Hump-
back. They are parallel for the most part, but anastomose frequently at different
points. Sars's description of the furrows in an European (Lofoten Ids.) specimen is
as follows (77, 13 and 14 sep.) :

"The breast furrows, which are very characteristic of the fin-whales, occupy
the whole of the anterior half of the ventral side of the animal, from the tip of
the mandible to the navel. In the present species they are quite numerous
and extend well up on the sides of the body. In a straight line around the
ventral surface about 70 furrows may be counted. The middle ones extend far
backward to the very sides of the navel ; the others become little by little shorter
upward, so that the posterior boundary of the furrowed area on the sides forms a
line passing obliquely from the navel to the root of the pectoral fin. These fur-
rows as a whole run nearly parallel with the long axis of the body and each other,
but are often interrupted, so that a new one takes its origin a little in front
of the place where another ends. On the sides of the neck, or between the
corner of the mouth and the root of the pectoral, the furrows extend farthest up
on the side of the body, and their course is here less regular. From the corner of
the mouth, four short furrows run backward and are somewhat sigmoid, and one
approaches near the root of the pectoral. From the root of the mandible run 8
furrows of unequal length, which converge posteriorly without reaching the root of
the pectoral; they thus lie between the lowest of those from the corner of the
mouth and the first which runs forward from the root of the pectoral, with which
the furrow following most closely takes a quite strongly curved course. At the
root of the pectoral fins both above and below are a number of short strongly
curved furrows."

In the Newfoundland specimens the arrangement of ridges and furrows was
the same, as will be seen on examining pis. 8 and 9. The number and course of
the farrows are, however, subject to considerable variation. In some cases the fur-
rows in the root of the mandible are continuous with those running forward from
under the pectoral, and form one series with them. One or two pairs directly on
the median line of the throat are shorter anteriorly than the lateral ones, so that
there is quite a large plain area immediately under the tip of the mandible.

The total number of furrows between the two pectorals varies considerably in
different Newfoundland specimens, as follows: No. 1, about 80; No. 2, 62; No. 7,
72 ; No. 13, 78 ; No. 4, 56 ; No. 9, 62 ; No. 20, 76. These totals were obtained by
counting from the median line to the root of the pectoral on one side and multiply-
ing by two. The average is the same as in Sars's Lofoten Ids. specimen.

The breadth of the ridges in the vicinity of the middle of their length in New-
foundland specimens was 2 in. to 2£ in., but at the posterior ends they increased
in breadth to 4 inches. The breadth of the furrows depends chiefly on the pressure
exerted from the interior of the body, though they do not always close together
when this pressure is withdrawn. In the dead animal, the weight of the integu-
ments which happen to be nearest the ground pulls the ridges which are higher up

130

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

more or less apart. The furrows on the mandible appear to remain always open,
and the skin at their base is smooth and hard, while that of the breast furrows is
soft and obliquely wrinkled.

The ridges, as already remarked, anastomose irregularly and to a varying degree
in different individuals. Many pairs coalesce near the posterior end, so that the
total number of ridges here is much less than on the breast.

The color of the ridges and that of the intervening furrows do not always
agree. Where there is a solid area of dark gray on the ridges, the furrows are also
dark. Where the dark color of the ridges breaks up into blotches, that of the
furrows commonly remains uniformly dark for a considerable distance farther
toward the median line of the belly. Finally, however, it also breaks up into
blotches ; and along the median line both furrows and ridges are pure white. In a
few cases there are moderate-sized areas of gray on the ridges where the furrows
are entirely white, but this condition is of much less frequent occurrence than the
opposite.

AURICULAR ORIFICE.

As is well known, the whales are without an external ear-conch. The external
auricular orifice is in the form of a small oblong, or occasionally circular, opening,
situated at a short distance behind the eye and nearly in the same horizontal plane.
In the Newfoundland Finbacks the orifice is about 3 in. long and varies somewhat
in position in different individuals, as will be evident from an inspection of the
following table:

BAL&tfOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND.

No.

Sen.

Total Length.

Distance from Center of Eye to
Center of Ear.

ft. in.

in.

II

?

70 8

40

3

$

63 7

36

19

s

62 i [

36

20

?

62 8

36

4

$

61 10

36.5

B. 16

$

60 1 1

36

9

t,

59 i

39

8

?

57 6

4i

12

$

54 6

35

10

$

53 9

3°

7

?

5° 7

32

EYE.

In the Newfoundland Finbacks there is always a ridge, bounded above and
below by converging furrows, at the anterior commissure of the eyelids, and one or
two short furrows both above and below the eye. (See pi. 9, fig. 5.) In No. 2,
9 , the orifice between the lids was 3^ in. long, the long axis of the iris 2 in., the
long axis of the pupil £ in., and the diameter of the eyeball 5 in. In No. 16

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 131

of 1901, the orifice between the lids was 4 in. long, the iris 2 in. in diameter
longitudinally and 1J in. vertically; pupil If in. by £ in.

The iris is brown, with a white border narrow and irregular. The pupil is
elliptical, with the long axis fore and aft.

OSTEOLOGY.

The osteological characters of B. physalus have been abundantly described by
European authors, and especially by Eschricht, Van Beneden, Flower, Struthers,
and Turner. The skull and other parts of the skeleton have been figured several
times by Van Beneden and Gervais, Eschricht, and others. The American speci-
mens allied to B. physalus which have fallen under my notice are the type of B.
tectirostris (Cope), two skeletons in the U. S. National Museum, one in the State
Museum, Albany, N. Y., one at Ward's Natural Science Establishment, Rochester,
N. Y., one in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, and one
in the museum of the Boston Society of Natural History. The last was described
by Dwight in 1872. The species was characterized by Flower in 1864 (45, 392)
as follows :

"Total number of vertebrae 61-64. Ribs 15 pairs. Orbital process of frontal
bone considerably narrowed at its outer end. Nasal bones short, broad, deeply
hollowed on their superior surface and anterior border. Rami of the lower jaw
massive, with a very considerable curve, and a high, pointed, curved coronoid pro-
cess. Neural arches of the cervical vertebrae low ; spinous processes very slightly
developed. Transverse process of the atlas arising from the upper half of the side
of the body, long, tapering, conical, pointed directly outwards. Upper and lower
transverse processes, from the second to the sixth vertebra, well developed, broad,
flat (and united at the ends in the adult, forming complete rings?). Head of the
first rib simple, articulating with the transverse process of the first dorsal vertebra.
Second, third, and sometimes the fourth ribs with capitular processes, reaching
nearly to the bodies of the vertebrae. Sternum broader than long, in the form of a
short, broad cross, of which the posterior arm is very narrow; it might perhaps be
compared to the heraldic trefoil ; it is subject, however, to considerable individual
modifications."

SKULL.

There appears to be no entirely satisfactory drawing of the skull of an Euro-
pean specimen of B. pTiysalus. Lacepede's figure from the St. Marguerite Id.
specimen (Hist. Nat. Cet., 12°, 1, pi. 6) is quite imperfect and indistinct. Cuvier's
figure from the same specimen (Oss. jFoss., 3d ed., 5, pi. 26, fig. 5) is better, but the
muzzle is obviously too sharp. Eschricht's figure (Nordhvalen, pi. 3, fig. 3) is still
better, and in many respects very satisfactory, but the frontals appear to be too
narrow distally and the occipital region is too short. Van Beneden and Gervais's
figure (5, pi. 12, fig. 12) is in many respects an improvement on Eschricht's, but
the perspective and detail of the posterior portion leave much to be desired.
Sars's figure (77, pi. 3, figs. 1-2) of an adult skull in the Christiania Museum
is on the whole the best.

Better than all these hand-drawings is the set of photographs of the Danzig
specimen published by Menge (69, photos.). Menge was under the impression

132 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

that his specimen represented B. laticeps Gray, a synonym of B. borealis Lesson,
but it is in reality B. physahis, as is indicated by the number of vertebrae, color of
body, color of whalebone, etc.

It must be admitted that the correspondence between Menge's figures and those
of American specimens on pis. 1-4 is very close. The skull appears to differ less
from the American specimens than they do from one another, except in one par-
ticular. The width of the vertex appears to be less in Menge's photograph than in
the American specimens, and the proximal end of the nasal process of the maxilla
narrower. This same feature is to be observed in the figures of Eschricht and
of Van Beneden and Gervais, and may constitute a real difference between the
American and European skulls. It is to be noted, however, that Dwight's figure
of the Gloucester, Mass., skull has the vertex and maxilla even narrower than
Menge's photograph, but this figure is not correct as regards the intertnaxillse and
may be otherwise inaccurate.

In Sars's figure of an European skull, the width of the vertex is as great as in
the American specimens, and the occipital border is straight as in the Rochester
(New York) specimen. In the type of B. tectirostris (Cope), the margin of the
supraoccipital is convex forward at the vertex (pi. 1, fig. 1). The breadth of the
vertex is 13£ inches.

As already mentioned, the American skulls differ very considerably among
themselves. It will be noted, for example, that the Cape Cod specimen, No. 16039,
IT. S. N. M., agrees with the type of B. tectirost/ris (Cope) in having very sharp-
pointed nasals (pi. 1, fig. 3), while the Cape Cod skull, No. 16045, U. S. N. M., agrees
with the Rochester (New York) skull in having blunt nasals. (Compare pi. 1, fig.
2 and pi. 3, fig. 1.) The form of these bones in No. 16045 is precisely that given
by Flower for an European specimen in the Royal College of Surgeons, London
(P. Z. 8., 1864, p. 390, fig. 4). This Rochester skull is peculiar in having the antero-
superior margin of the occipital quite square, while in the other skulls the margin
is more or less semicircular. It is a mature specimen, while the others are immature.

The proportions of the skulls, as indicated by comparative measurements, would
constitute an excellent criterion of likeness or unlikeness. Unfortunately, detailed
measurements of skulls of European specimens have been published in but a few
instances, and these are not always comparable. In the first table on page 133
a number of such measurements, reduced to percentages of the total length, for both
European and American specimens, are brought together.

As the American specimens at command are all immature, it is necessary in
instituting comparisons to exclude all the mature European specimens. Unfortu-
nately, this leaves but one European specimen, that stranded at Nairn, Scotland, and
reported by Prof. Struthers (88, 330). As Struthers's measurements can, however,
be thoroughly relied upon, and as all of the American specimens except one were
measured by a single observer (myself), this comparison may be regarded as of more
value than would ordinarily be the case. The average percentages for the
American specimens, including the type of B. tectirostris (Cope), and the percentages
for the Nairn specimen are as indicated in the second table on page 133.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKULL.

133

Falmouth, Eng.
Alexandra Park.
(Flower, 1869.)

Vlielandld.,Netherl.
Antwerp Gardens.
(Flower, 1864.)

Gravesend, Eng.
Rosherville Gardens.
(Murie, 1865.)

Christiania Mus.
(Sars, 1865.)

Nairn, Scotland.
(Struthers, 1889.)

J
1

Gloucester, Mass.
(Dwight, 1872.)

•£*

SP
If

CJ^

k

-fipk *;
^ a

H

aS

sz

u&

II

o-g

Sex and age

S ad.

<$ ad.

s

ad.

$

Total length of whale . . .

72' 2"

60' o'

fbetw.
50' o"

50' o"

68'

4.8' o"

66' o"

67' 6"

and
60' o''

62' io"+

4.7' 7"

straight

Length of skull (straight). .

186"

184"

168"

156"

145-0"

194" '

144"

125"

«-

110.5"

Greatest breadth (squa-
mosal) ,

46.2

*

52 2 *

44 8

46.1

*
45.8

48.0

46.5

48.O

*

A A 6

Breadth of orbital process

Q I

Q 8

10 73

10.3*

Length of beak (straight). .
Breadth of beak at middle
(curved)

71-0

IQ ri

72.3

18 o

69.0

IQ 6

23.1

66.2
18.6

69.1'
21.4

69.4

IQ A

67.2
2O O

66.I8

21 Q

65.2

•3 8

4 6

A Q

5 2

A 2

e 6

Breadth of 2 nasals at distal
end

4 °

e n

A 2

C.Q

6 6

e 2

Length of mandible
(straight)

08 o

02 8

94.8

QC 4

Q4 4

91 8

Length of mandible
(curved)

98.6

101.5

100 o

Depth of mandible at mid-
dle

7.0

7.1

6.2

7.0

6.0

6.4

7 Q

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALUS (I..). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKULL.

Measurement.

American Speci-
mens.

Nairn, Scotland.

Total length ....

IOO.O $

(3)B 47-1
(3 I0-6
(3 67.2
(3 19-6
(4) S.i
(4) S.5
(3) 93-9
(2) 6.7

IOO.O %

45-8

10.7
66.2
!8.6

5-2

5-9
93-1

6.2

Greatest breadth .

Breadth of orbital
Length of beak... .

border of frontal

Breadth of beak at
Length of nasals. .

middle

Breadth of nasals .

Length of mandibl
Depth of mandible

e in straight line

at the middle

The agreement shown in the foregoing measurements is very close except in the
case of the breadth across the squamosals. In regard to this measurement, it must
be said that in all specimens of the several species of Bolcenopt&i'a it exhibits a
considerable range of variation, indicative in part of a real individual variation of
considerable extent, and in part, no doubt, to changes in the skulls in drying.

1 7.5 in. added for premaxillge. 4 Least = 5.5 %.

2 Squamosals peculiarly broad. See Flower. 5 " =7.2^.

3 Least = 6.9$. 8 " =7.2$.

7 Least = 7. 2 jf.

8 To post, curved margin of maxilla.

9 Number of specimens ; the California
skull is not included.

134

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE.

Various European authors have recorded the number of vertebrae in specimens
of B.physalus. These specimens were frequently not absolutely complete, and as
there is some individual variation, the formulae of different observers show a certain
lack of conformity. This affects particularly the caudal vertebrae, the most poste-
rior of which are generally lacking in specimens preserved in museums. In the
following table a number of records are brought together for comparison in the
original form, and on p. 137 the several vertebral formulae are modified in accord-
ance with various indications which are discussed on a subsequent page.

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALVS (L.). EUROPEAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

Author.

Locality.

Date.

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

Flower

Vlieland Id.

1851

7

14'

14 or is2

23 or 24

60 3

M

Katwijk

1841

7

15

14

24

60

«

Falmouth

1863

7

is4

14s

25

6l6

Flower and Gray

Isle of Wight

1842

7

14'

15

i8 + 8

54 +

Van Beneden

Borselaer

1869

7

14

IS

25

61

Lilljeborg

(Bergen Museum)

(1862)

7

15

15

25

62

Heddle

Laman Id.

1856

7

15

4

o —

62

Struthers

Nairn

1884

7

'5

15

25

62

Del age

Langrune

1885

7

14

tS

26'

62

Fischer

St. Vigor

1847

7

14 "

16

25

62

M

St. Cyprien

]828

7

14

15

24"

60

Menge

Danzig

1874

7

14 "

IS

24

60

1 " It is most probable that the I5th pair has been lost." (Flower, P. Z. S., 1864, p. 415.)

* " According to Van Beneden, fourteen or fifteen lumbar, though the place of attachment of
the first chevron bone in the skeleton indicates but thirteen as belonging to this series." (Flower.)

"'The number of vertebrae is 61, the last being modelled in wood; but from the character of
the 6oth I should say that there ought to be 2 below it." (Flower, P. Z. S., 1864, p. 414.)

4 "The last pair was quite rudimentary and unconnected with the spinal column." (Flower,
P. Z. S., 1869, p. 609.)

'"The chevron bones appear to be all present. There are 18." (Flower, P. Z. S., 1869, p.
608.)

"There are 61 vertebrae; but the last is elongated and constricted in the middle, as if it
really consisted of 2 united." (Flower, /. c.)

"The last well developed. There may have been a i5th pair." (Flower, /. c., p. 610.)

""Caudal vertebrae 18, exclusive of those contained in the fin of the tail, which is preserved
entire." (Gray, Zool. Erebus and Terror, p. 50.)

' " At the end of the 25th was found a little conical cartilage. ... It seems to me to
represent a 26th caudal." (Delage.)

10 " The last rib is more elongated than the preceding ribs." (Fischer, C"//. S. O. France, p. 75.)
" It is probable that the last caudals were lost during dissection." (Jbid., p. 79.)

" The i4th pair of ribs, as shown by the photograph, was as long as the preceding pair.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

135

Formulae for various American specimens are as follows :

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

Museum.

Locality.

Date.

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 16045

Cape Cod, Mass.

1876?

7

14'

is°

22 (+3?)

58(+3?)=6i

Albany State Mus.

1880

7

T4'

16

25

62

Ward's Estab., Rochester

Provincetown, Mass.

'893

7

IS

14

t f

Mus. Comp. Zool, )
Cambridge, Mass, j

11 41

1880

7

IS

IS

26

63

Mus. Boston Soc. Nat. )
Hist. t

Gloucester, Mass.

1870

7

IS'

IS

26

63

Mus. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.

Sinepuxent Bay, Md.

1868-9

7

iS

f f

U. S. Nat. Mus.4

Newfoundland.

1901

7

16

14

25

62

These various formulae exhibit a considerable divergence, with no special line
of separation between the American and European specimens. As already re-
marked, several of the formulae require a certain amount of modification because
the specimens were somewhat defective, the number of ribs and chevron bones
actually present probably being less than the original number. These modifica-
tions will now be considered, and afterwards a revised table of formulae.

RIBS.

In skeletons of B. physalus which have been examined under favorable condi-
tions, it has been noted that the last pair of ribs is much shorter than the penultimate
pair and is not attached to the vertebral column. In other words, the last rib is
normally a " floating " rib. It has also been observed that the first chevron bone
is smaller than the second. These facts and other indications lead to the belief
that museum skeletons in which the last pair of ribs is as long as the preceding
pair and the first chevron as large, or nearly as large, as the second are defective in
these parts. Granting this assumption to be correct, we will consider the various
formulas in the preceding tables.

Regarding the Vlieland Id. skeleton (1851) Flower remarks: "There are 14
pairs of ribs present; but as the 14th has not the characters usually met with in
the last rib, and as the 15th vertebra has the end of the transverse process thick-
ened and showing traces of an articular surface, it is most probable, as Van Beneden
supposes, that the 15th pair has been lost." {P. Z. S., 1864, p. 414). Flower also
remarks that though Van Beneden cites 14 or 15 as the correct number of lumbar
vertebrae " the place of attachment of the first chevron bone in the skeleton indicates
but 13 as belonging to this series." (Ibid., p. 414). The formula for this skeleton
with these corrections would be: 7, 15, 13, 27 = 62.

1 The i4th pair of ribs is as long as the preceding ones, and hence an additional pair is
doubtless to be counted.

' As the first chevron in position is of large size, it is probable that an anterior one is wanting.
The condition of the inferior carina of vertebra No. 36 indicates that such was the case.

1 The isth pair of ribs is as long as the preceding pair, and hence 16 pairs may have been
present originally. * Fretal.

136 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

For the Borselaer skeleton (1869) Van Beneden gives 14 pairs of ribs, but as
the last pair is as long as the preceding one probably another should be counted, so
that the formula would stand 7, 15, 14, 25 = 61. For the same reason one dorsal
should be added in the case of the St. Vigor skeleton (1847), so that the forrmila
would be 7, 15, 15, 25 = 62, and in the case of Menge's Danzig skeleton (1874),
making the formula 7, 15, 14, 24 = 60.

Some of the American specimens appear to require modification in the same
manner.

The Cape Cod skeleton, No. 16045, as mounted, has 14 pairs of ribs and 15
lumbar vertebrae. The 14th pair of ribs, however, is as long as the 13th pair, and
hence it is very probable that an additional pair, or 15 in all, should be counted.

The inferior carina of the vertebra immediately in front of the one to which
the first chevron is attached is divided posteriorly, and it is probable that another
chevron was originally attached there. The first chevron in position is large.
Such being the case, and considering the statement just made regarding the ribs,
the number of lumbar vertebrae would be reduced to 13. The formula would then
be 7, 15, 13, 23 + = 58 -K This formula appears exceptional in B.pliysalus unless
such European authorities as Flower, Delage, Fischer, etc., have been mistaken. It
will be noted, however, that Flower (45, 414) proposes 13 lumbars for the Vlie-
land Id. skeleton.

The formula given by Dwight (35, 212) for the Gloucester (Mass.) skeleton is
7, 15, 15, 26 = 63. He states, however, that the inferior carina of the 15th
lumbar is bifurcated posteriorly, and hence it is possible that it belongs to the
caudal series. His measurements show that the 15th pair of ribs is as long as the
preceding ones, and it may be that a 16th "floating" pair originally existed. In
case these conditions existed, the formula would be 7, 16, 13, 27 = 63.

In the skeleton in the State Museum, Albany, N. Y., the 13th rib is 5 ft. 7 in.
long, while the 14th and last rib is 5 ft. 2 in. long. It thus appears that. at
least one additional pair of ribs was probably present originally.

The first and second chevron bones in position are alike in size, from which it
may be inferred that a smaller anterior one is missing. If these inferences are correct
the vertebral formula for the skeleton would be 7, 15, 14, 26 = 62.

In the skeleton in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass.,
the 15th pair of ribs is as long as the 14th pair, so that it is quite likely there was
originally a 16th pair. As to the chevrons, the first in position is only about one
fourth the size of the second, showing that no more are to be allowed for in that
direction. With the modification indicated, the formula for this skeleton would be
7, 16, 14, 26 = 63.

The Newfoundland foetus which I carefully dissected had 16 pairs of ribs.
This number was also found by Struthers in the Peterhead specimen (Journ. Anat.
and Phys., 1871, p. 116). This 16th rib on the right side was 30 in. long, on the
left side, 22 in.. The 15th pair of ribs was 72 in. long. Flower states that in the
Margate skeleton the loth pair of ribs was nearly as long as the 14th, so that
there may have been a 16th pair in this skeleton also. (P. Z. /£, 1869, p. 608.)

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

137

It appears, therefore, that in European specimens the number of ribs varies from 14
to 16 pairs, and in American specimens, 15 to 16 pairs.

With the modifications indicated above, the various European and American
formula} will stand as follows :

BAL^NOPTEBA PHTSALUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA, REVISED.

Author or Museum.

Locality.

Date.

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

Remarks.

EUROPEAN.

Flower

Vlieland Id.

1851

7

15

J3

27

62

it

Katwijk

1841

7

'5

14

24

60

ti

Falmouth

1863

7

'5

H

26

62

Flower and Gray

Isle of Wight

1842

7

IS

15

26

63

8 caudals added for the

number concealed in

the flukes.

Van Beneden

Borselaer

1869

7

15

T4

25

61

Lilljeborg

Coast of Norway

....

7

15

iS

25

62

Heddle

Laman Id.

1856

7

15

-4

o —

62

" Absolutely correct "

(Heddle).

Struthers

Nairn

1884

7

'5

'5

25

62

Delage

Langrune

1885

7

14

iS

26

62

Fischer

St. Vigor

1847

7

15

iS

25

62

M

St. Cyprien

1828

7

'4

iS

24 +

60 +

(+ 2 = 62)

Menge

Danzig

1874

7

'5

14

24

60

AMERICAN.

U. S. N. M. 16045

Cape Cod, Mass.

1876?

7

iS

13

23 +

58 +

(+3 = 6i)

Albany Mus.

(t H

1880

7

15

14

26

62

Rochester

Provincetown, "

i«93

7

'5

14

, .

. .

Cambridge Mus.

U ((

1880

7

1 6

14

26

63

Boston Mus.

Gloucester "

1870

7

16

'3

27

63

Phila. Mus.

Sinepuxent Bay, Md.

1868-9

7

. .

iS

Type of B. tectirostris.

U. S. Nat. Mus.

Newfoundland

1901

7

16

14

25

62

Foetus.

The most frequent formula? for the cervical, dorsal, and lumbar vertebrae of
European specimens shown by this revised table are: 7, 15, 14, and 7, 15, 15. A
comparison with American specimens can scarcely be made with advantage as
there are but six of these with complete formulae as against eleven European speci-
mens. The formulae of two of the American specimens, however, agree with one of the
two most frequent European formula? above cited. In two other cases the Ameri-
can formula is 7, 16, 14. This might be considered as of some importance were it
not that sixteen dorsals are indicated in two European specimens, as already noted
on p. 136. A fifth American formula — 7, 15, 13 — is repeated in the Vlieland
Id. skeleton, according to the interpretation of Flower.

On the whole, the facts regarding the vertebral formula do not appear to
point to specific distinctness between European and American specimens, but the
matter cannot be pronounced upon with entire satisfaction until more American
specimens have been examined.

In Struthers's Nairn (Scotland) specimen the 2d and 3d pairs of ribs had
capitular processes, or beaks ; in Van Beneden's Borselaer specimen, the 1st and
2d pairs; in Heddle's Laman Id. specimen, the 2d, 3d, and 4th pairs. Other Euro-
pean specimens present still different combinations. In the American specimen in

138

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass., the first three pairs of
ribs have capitular processes ; in the Gloucester (Mass.) specimen, the 2d and 3d
pairs; in No. 16045, U. S. N. M., Cape Cod, Mass., the 2d, 3d, and 4th pairs.

In the type of B. tectirostris (Cope) the 1st rib is double-headed, as shown in
pi. 4, fig. 4, and pi. 6, fig. 3. The rib is 30| in. long (straight) to the middle point
of the broad distal end ; the breadth at the distal end, 7£ in. The supplementary
head is 6£ in. long in a straight line, and 2£ in. broad at the free end. A pre-
cisely similar first rib is described by Van Beneden as occurring in the Borselaer
specimen (4, 27-30, fig.). This peculiarity was formerly considered of specific
or even generic importance, but recent investigations, especially those of Sir Win.
Turner, lead to the conclusion that this conformation is properly to be regarded as
an individual variation (see Turner, Journ. Anat. and Phys., 5, 1871, pp. 348-361).

CHARACTERS OF VERTEBRAE.

*

The number of vertebrae in B. physalus has already received attention (p. 134).
The characters of the cervical vertebrae given by Flower in the diagnosis cited in a
previous page (p. 131) are found in American specimens (see Dwight, 35, 213-217,
pi. 1, and this work, pi. 4, fig. 4, and pi. 5, fig. 1, type of E. tectirostris Cope).
Struthers (86, 32) gives as characteristic of the 3d to the 7th cervicals of adult
£. physalus the following :

3d and 4th. Transverse processes slanting obliquely backward.

5th. Transverse processes directed horizontally outward.

6th. Transverse process directed a little forward. Inferior transverse process
usually more or less incomplete.

7th. Supeiior transverse process robust ; inferior transverse process almost
entirely absent.

These characters were found in the Gloucester (Mass.) specimen described by
Dwight (35, 213, 217, figs. 5-7), and occur also in No. 16045, U. S. N. M., Cape
Cod, Mass.

Among the characters of the caudal vertebrae which may be considered impor-
tant are the positions in which the foramina and processes appear or disappear.
Some of these points in European and American specimens are brought together in
the following table :

BALMNOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. CHARACTERS OF VERTEBRAE.

Character.

Falmouth,
England,
1863,
Flower.

St. Vigor,
France,
1847,
Fischer.

Langrune,
France,
1885,
Delage.

Danzig'
Ger-
many,

J874'
Menge,

Gravesend,
England,

'859.
Mime.

Nairn,
Scotland,
1884,
Struthers.

(Mus.Comp.
Zool.,
Cambridge,
Mass.)

Gloucester,
Mass.,
1870,
Dwight.

Cape Cod,
Mass.,
1880
(Albany).

Cape Cod,
Mass.,
No. 16045
U.S. N.M.

Neural spine appears )
last on vertebra No. )

—

52

51

5i(?)

51

50

51 or 52

52

51

50

Last distinct diapophy- )
sis on vertebra No. f

—

50

5i(?)

49(?)

51

48 or 49

49

49

—

48

First perforated dia }

pophysis on vertebra [

44

42

44(?)

—

44

44

44

45

—

43

No )

First complete inferior 1

arterial foramen on >•

—

—

—

49

49

50

5°

—

5°

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

139

The European specimens show a substantial agreement in these characters
with the American specimens and with each other, but in the case of the Borselaer
skeleton, as reported by Van Beneden (4), the first vertebra with perforated
transverse process is much farther back in the series than in other specimens. This
striking peculiarity may perhaps be safely regarded as an individual variation.

CHEVRON BONES.

In Baloenoptera pTiysalus the series of chevrons begins anteriorly with a small
bone, followed by a very large one, after which the bones decrease gradually in
size to the posterior end of the series. Van Beneden made the following signifi-
cant remarks in connection with the Borselaer skeleton : " The chevron bones are
21 in number; the last three of the caudal vertebrae are alone without them. We
count among these bones the osseous rudiments visible in the cartilages, and which
are very rarely preserved. Without particular attention, we should not have found
in all but 15 of these bones" (4, 24.) There is little doubt that the series found
in the majority of specimens in museums is incomplete, and the variations cannot,
therefore, be relied upon in investigations of this kind. The numbers recorded in
various European and American specimens are as follows :

BAL^ENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. CHEVRONS.

European Specimens.

American Specimens.

Locality.

No. of Chevrons.

Authority.

Locality.

No. of Chevrons.

Museum.

Borselaer (1869)

21

Van Beneden

Cape Cod, Mass.

IS

Cambridge, Mass.

Falmouth (1863)

18'

Flower

Gloucester, "

16

Boston, "

Lan grime (1885)

1 6"

Delage

Cape Cod,

13

Albany, N. Y.

Gravesend (1859)

IS

Murie

11 11

H'

(U.S.Nat.Mus.,
( No. 16045.

Nairn (1884)

13

Struthers

STERNUM.

In Flower's diagnosis quoted above (p. 131) the sternum is thus referred to :
" Sternum broader than long, in the form of a short, broad cross, of which the pos-
terior arm is very narrow ; it might perhaps be compared to the heraldic trefoil ; it
is subject, however, to considerable individual variation."

In comparing figures of the sternum of European specimens, the variation at
first appears excessive, but one soon perceives that much of it is due to differences
in age. The figures brought together on pp. 140 and 141 show the sternum of
various European and American specimens. (See text figs. 8 to 32.)

In the midst of this wide variation the sternum of immature individuals takes
quite uniformly the form of a trefoil with short stem and wings, and deeply emar-
ginate anterior border, as shown in the St. Vigor, Lofoten Ids., and Brussels Museum
specimens. It also occurs in the National Museum specimens Nos. 16039 and

1 "The chevron bones appear to be all present" (Flower).

1 Thirteen well developed, the first small, the last two cartilaginous.

1 The first large and hence probably preceded originally by a smaller one.

140

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

FIG. 8.

FIG. g.

FIG. 10.

FIG. ii.

FIG. 12.

FIG. 13.

FIG. 14.

FIG. 17.

FIG. 16.

FIG. 18.

FIG. ig.
STERNUM OF BALMKOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.).

FlG. 20.

FIG. 8. — CAPE COD, MASS. No. 16039 U. S. N. M. IM. FIG. 9. — LOFOTEN IDS., NORWAY. IM. (FROM
SARS.) FIG. 10.— CAPE COD, MASS. No. 16045 U. S. N. M. IM. FIG. n.— ST. VIGOR, FRANCE. JR. (FROM GER-
VAIS.) FIG. 12. — (BRUSSELS Mus.) JR. (FROM VAN BENEDEN.) FIG. 13. — FINMARK, NORWAY. AD. (FROM MALM.)
FIG. 14. — ABBEVILLE, FRANCE. AD. (FROM GERVAIS.) FIG. 15. — CAYEUX, FRANCE. JR. (FROM FISCHER.)
FIG. 16. — ROCHESTER, N. Y. AD. FIG. 17. — GROIX ID., FRANCE. AD. ? (FROM FISCHER.) FIG. 18. — LANGRUNE,
FRANCE. AD. $ (FROM DELAGE.) FIG. 19. — (CHRISTIANIA Mus.) AD. (FROM SARS.) FIG. 20. — (ALBANY Mus.,
N. Y.) AD.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

141

FIG. 21.

FIG. 22.

FIG. 23.

FIG. 24.

FIG. 25.

FIG. 26.

FIG. 27.

FIG. 28.

FIG. 32.

FIG. 2g. FIG. 30.

STERNUM OF BALjENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.).

FIG. 31.

FIG. 2i.— VLIELAND ID., NETHERLANDS. AD. $ (FROM VAN BENEDEN.) FIG. 22.— HERAULT, FRANCE.
AD. ? (FROM GERVAIS.) FIG. 23.— BORSELAER, NETHERLANDS. AD. (FROM VAN BENEDEN.) FIG. 24.— BAYONNE,
FRANCE. AD. (FROM GERVAIS.) FIG. 25.— (CAMBRIDGE Mus., MASS.) AD. FIG. 26.— FALMOUTH, ENGLAND. AD.
$ (FROM FLOWER.) FIG. 27.— PETERHEAD, SCOTLAND. AD. (FROM STRUTHERS.) FIG. 28.— ST. CYPRIEN,
FRANCE. AD. $ (FROM FISCHER.) FIG. 29.— (BOSTON Mus., MASS.) IM. (FROM DWIGHT.) FIG. 30.— THE
SAME, RKVEKSED. (FROM A SKETCH.) FIG. 31.— BORDIGHERA, ITALY. AD. (FROM GERVAIS.) FIG. 32.— CALI-
FORNIA. AD. (WiSTAR INST., PHILA., B. velifera?)

142

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

16045 from Cape Cod, Mass. (See pi. 7, fig. 4.) The Cayeux specimen, cited by
Fischer as young, appears to be exceptional in having the anterior border entire,
with a vacuity below it, and the stem and wings scarcely differentiated. A close
approximation to the normal form of the immature sternum is perpetuated in the
adult in Malm's Finmark specimen, and Sars's Christiania Museum specimen. The
latter leads to the more extraordinary adult form exhibited by the Groix Id., Albany
(N. Y.) museum, Rochester (N. Y.) museum, and Langrune specimens, in which
the anterior emargination is generally pronounced and the wings long and pointed.
A quite different adult form is shown in the Vlieland Id., Herault, Borselaer
(Schelde R.), Bayonne, and Cambridge (Mass.) museum specimens, in which the
anterior border is convex, forming a fourth projection and converting the trefoil
into a quatrefoil. This is carried to an extreme in Struthers's Peterhead specimen,
in which the stem is aborted, and in the St. Cyprien specimen, in which the anterior
portion is very large, with a straight margin and a vacuity within it. Finally, we
have a variation in which the anterior and lateral limbs are merged together, as
shown in the Falmouth and Cambridge (Mass.) museum specimens.

In all these variations the American specimens run parallel with the European

ones.

FIG. 33.

FIG. 35.

FIG. 34. FIG. 36.

SCAPULA OF BALMNOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN.

FIG. 33. — LOFOTEN IDS., NORWAY. JR. (FROM SARS.) FIG. 34.— SINEPUXENT BAY, MARYLAND. IM. S
TYPE OF B. tectiroslris (COPE). FIG. 35.— CAPE COD, MASS. IM. No. 16039 U. S. N. M. FIG. 36.— CAPE COD,
MASS. IM. No. 16045 U. S. N. M.

PECTOKAL LIMBS.

The figures of the scapula of B. physalus published by Malm (65, pi. 3, fig.
5) and Fischer (44, pi. 2, fig. 4) show the superior, or spinal, border quite evenly
convex and the acromion low. These are probably incorrect, as Menge's photo-

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

143

graph (69) shows this bone as having the central part of the spinal border straight,
the posterior part sharply bent downward, the anterior part somewhat so, and the
acromion well raised above the level of the glenoid fossa. Sars's drawing (77, pi.
3, fig. 10) of a Lofoten Ids. specimen is intermediate between Menge's and those of
Fischer and Malm. (See text fig. 33, p. 142.)

In the type of 13. tectirostris (Cope) from Maryland (text fig. 35 ; pi. 6, fig. 2) the
scapula is of the same form as shown in Menge's photograph of the Danzig specimen,
as is that of the Cape Cod (Mass.) adult in the Albany museum, and the National
Museum specimens Nos. 16039 and 16045, also from Cape Cod (text figs. 35 and
36 ; pi. 7, figs. 1 and 2). Dwight writes of the Gloucester (Mass.) specimen: "The
superior border [of the scapula] is pretty regularly curved, except that toward the
last fourth it inclines rather suddenly downward" (35, 222).

The greatest length of the scapula in three adult European specimens is 27.6 %
of the length of the skull. In the Albany museum (N. Y.) adult it is 27.9 %, and
in three immature American specimens 25.3 %. In two European specimens the
radius is 17.2 % the length of the skull, and in two American specimens 17.5 %.

The number of phalanges found in specimens mounted in museums is commonly
reduced from the natural number by the loss of one or more pieces in the process
of maceration to remove the flesh. The numbers included in the following table
are probably quite complete. Those quoted from Struthers and Dwight represent
their own dissections. The metacarpals are excluded :

BAL&NOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. PHALANGES.

Locality.

Authority.

Length.

II.

III.

IV

V.

Carpals.

Remarks.

St. Cyprien, France. . .
Wick Scotland

Fischer.
Struthers

ft. in.
84 o
65 to 66

4

4.

6

7

5

7

4 (or 5)

4.

61

Aeed

Peterhead, Scotland. . .
(Albany Mus N Y )

n
F W T

64 o
63 o

3

A

6
6

5

e

3
?

5

(Cambridge Mus.,
Mass )

Lucas

1

6

c

7

Stornoway Scotland

Struthers

60 6

A

6

c

-!

Borselaer, Netherl ....
Nairn Scotland

Van Beneden.
Struthers.

55 9
So o

2
3

5
6

5
s

3

•2

5

Gloucester, Mass

Dwight.

48 o

^

6

4

2

6'

Lofoten Ids., Norway...

Sars.
Weber

40 83

3

•2

5
6

5
c

4
2

5

Macalister

e

6

•2

Capo Vado Italy

Carnerano

6

6

•7

Langrune France

Delage

•2

6

6

21

Kukenthal.

A

7

7

•J

Embryo, 38 cm long

«

A

7

7

•7,

" 49 "

tt

7

7

6

7

" c8 "

1 Doubtless includes the ossified pisiform cartilage.

3 Includes the pisiform cartilage. The formula is for the left side. The right side had the
following : II., 4 ; III., 6 ; IV., 5 ; V., 2. ' Norwegian measure. * Plus one "encore cartilagineuse."

* Kiikenthal's formulae include one more phalanx in each digit than given above, but it is
obvious from his figures that the metacarpals are included. His remark, that these specimens con-
firm the law that more phalanges are present in the embryo than in the adult, does not, therefore,
hold good when Struthers's Wick (Scotland) specimen is considered. (Anatotn. Anzeig., 5, 1890,
PP- 5°, 51-)

144

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

The most frequent formula for mature individuals, or those above sixty feet,
appears to be — II., 4 ; III, 6 ; IV., 5 ; V., 3. The Albany (New York) and Storno-
way (Scotland) specimens have this formula. The Gloucester (Massachusetts)
specimen is the same on the right side, except that the fifth finger has one less
phalanx. There is, therefore, no ground for the specific separation of American
and European specimens on the basis of the segmentation of the digits.

PROPORTIONS OF THE SKELETON.

The number of European skeletons of B. physalus of which there are detailed
measurements on record is not so large as one might expect, considering the numer-
ous instances in which specimens have stranded on that side of the Atlantic. Com-
panyo's Monographic Illustree is not accessible to me, but I have consulted the data
furnished by Flower, Murie, Sars, Van Beneden, Struthers, Malm, and others. Such
of the measurements of different specimens as are comparable are reduced to per-
centages of the length of the skull, and brought together in the following table,
with similar measurements of some American specimens, including the type of B.
tectirosh'is (Cope) :

BALMHOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKELETON.

Falmouth, Eng.
Alexandra Park.
(Flower, iSftg.)

Vlieland Id. Netherl.
Antwerp Gardens.
(Flower, 1864.)

Finmark Skeleton.
(Malm. 1868.)

Gravesend, Eng.
Rosherville Gardens.
(Murie, 1865.)

Nairn, Scotland.
(Struthers, 1889.)

Bal&n«f>tera sp. ?
California.
Wistar Inst., Phila.

Rochester. N. Y.
Ward's Nat. Scl Estab.

Gloucester, Mass.
(Dwight, 1872.)

16045. U. S. N. M.
Cape Cod, Mass.
Skeleton mounted.

TYPE of B. tectirostrjs
(Cope).

Sex and age

S ad.

S ad.

$ ad.

f

ad.

ad

?

Total length of whale

72' 2"

60' o"

50' o"

68 o"

48' o"

17' to jR'1

" 4i *' skeleton . .

66' 0" '

67' 6"

|6o' loi"

62' 10 " -f-

4S' 7"2

Length of skull (straight) . .

186"

184"

1 80"

168"

145.0"

192.0" "

'89.5"

144"

125"

I2l"

%

*

%

*

*

2O S

%

%

*

«

*

Depth of body of axis. . . .

C A

A A

4 8

4 6

4 8

c 8

Greatest breadth 1st dor-
sal

19 o

18.4

17 d.

18 o

18 i

18 S

Depth centrum 1st dorsal. .

A e

4 -4

5 2

1 7

c 2

e S

6 o

Greatest breadth 1st lum-
bar

2T Q

22 1 4

24. 6 J

22 2

2^ c

2c 6

26 c

Depth centrum 1st lum-
bar

e I

S 2 4

6.0 4

c.c

6 2

ft ^

Greatest breadth 1st cau-
dal

16 4°

i6.6b

l6.q6

16 1 7

Depth centrum 1st caudal. .

6.4

6.8

7.0

6 8

7 6

7 f)

Greatest length of sternum .

1 1,2

10 ^

IO I

8.3

8 q

8 o

o.u

" breadth " "

I3.O

13.1

13.1

12.6

I*i Q

IO Q 9

12 O

" " " scapula. .
depth " ..
Length of radius

27-4
15-6
I7.O

28.0
1 6.8

17 4

15.9

27.9
16.1

27.0

15.5

17.9

26.0
16.1

1 7 5

27.9
16.4
17 4

24.1
14-3

16 2

25-6

16.0

17 6

27.1

16.1

*' " ulna (extreme), . .

IQ 1

IQ 6

18.6'°

18.5

IQ O

18 o

18 4

18 4

' Straight.

2 7 inches are added for last 3 caudals, which are probably missing.

3 5^ in. added for premaxillae.

4 2d lumbar.

6 Vert. No. 38.

6 This is tl>e 38th vert. ; the 36th = 19.0 #.
1 This is the 38th vert. ; the 36th = 18 4 %

8 Vert. No. 36.

9 Broken.

10 2^ inches added for olecranon.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 145

The agreement of the various measurements is, on the whole, a close one, and
where discrepancies appear there is no evidence of a constant difference between
European and American specimens. Dwight's specimen from Gloucester, Mass.,
according to his measurements, has a smaller scapula than any other specimen,
while the type of B. tectirostris has a longer radius. The same differences do not
obtain in the other two American specimens. They may be individual or due to a
difference in the manner of taking the measurements. In the case of Dwight's
Gloucester (Mass.) specimen, the short radius indicated by the measurements is not
found in figure 12, plate 6, of his article.

Much more significant than these differences is the agreement between Dwight's
specimen and that from Nairn, Scotland, measured by Prof. Struthers (88, 330).
The proportions of the vertebrae are practically identical ; the difference in the size
of the scapula, as already stated, is not confirmed by the other American specimens.

8UMMAEY.

The consideration of the various external and osteological characters of Ba-
loenoptera physalus and of American specimens resembling that species has now
been completed as far as circumstances will permit. While numerous discrep-
ancies have been detected in individual cases, the evidence as a whole points
unmistakably, in my opinion, to the conclusion that the same species occurs on
both sides of the Atlantic, and I believe that with further investigation and fuller
data the discrepancies which have been pointed out will be found to rest on
individual or sex variation, or lack of conformity in measurements.

One point, however, appears to me to be worthy of special attention : The
maximum and average total length of both sexes is less for Newfoundland speci-
mens than for those taken at the Norwegian whaling stations in Finmark, or
captured or stranded on other parts of the European coasts.

It is somewhat difficult to determine the importance and real meaning of this
apparent difference in size. Three alternatives suggest themselves. It may be
(1) a real difference ; or (2) it may be due to an exaggeration of the measure-
ments by the Norwegian whalers : or (3) it may arise from the fact that the
Norwegian and Newfoundland whales belong to the same herds, and that the
largest individuals have been killed. As to the second alternative, it has to be
said that while the measurement may be exaggerated there is no evidence that
such is the case. The third point is of more importance. The Norwegian meas-
urements quoted from Cocks were for whales captured off Finuiark between
1885 and 1886, a decade before the Newfoundland fishery began. There was
ample time for the largest individuals to be killed off. But it is necessary to
prove that the herds of the eastern and western Atlantic mingle together. The
present evidence of such a commingling cannot be considered conclusive. Hence,
the difference in size between the Norwegian and American individuals still has
validity. It cannot by itself, however, be considered as proof of specific distinctness,
as it is quite allowable to suppose that there may be separate herds belonging

146 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

to the same species in which the average of size is different. This view seems
most reasonable in the case in question, considering the remarkable correspond-
ence in proportions and other characters.

To my mind, the demonstration of the specific identity of the " Common Fin-
back " of the eastern and western Atlantic in the foregoing pages is practically
complete. That the average size of the specimens taken on the two sides of the
ocean does not agree, is a matter to be explained hereafter, but standing by
itself it does not, I think, invalidate the demonstration.

THE REPRESENTATIVE OF B. PHYSALUS IN GREENLAND.

Robert Brown and others have stated that the Greenlanders recognize two
or more species of large Finbacks under the name of Tunnolilc. There appears
not to have been as yet an opportunity for a zoologist to treat the matter
critically on the basis of specimens of different kinds actually examined and com-
pared, but cetological literature contains some few data bearing upon the subject.

Scoresby gives a few measurements and a brief description of a " Physalis
found dead in Davis's Strait, 105 feet" long (84, i., p. 481). This is more likely to
have represented an American Sulphurbottom than B. physalus (L.), although
the length is no doubt exaggerated. Eschricht gives measurements of a Tun-
nolilc which H. P. C. Moller examined in 1843, but this was also probably a
Sulphurbottom.

In his Oversigt af Skandinaviens Hvaldjur, Lilljeborg (64, 47 and 55) gives a
few measurements of, and some notes on, a skeleton from Greenland in the Copen-
hagen museum, which is probably to be regarded as representing B. physalus.
The description is as follows :

"The skeleton is from a young animal, with loose vertebral epiphyses and
with the outer parts of the annular transverse processes of the 3d to the 6th
cervical vertebra cartilaginous. The number of vertebrae is 61, of which 24
are caudal vertebrae. All the lumbars, as well as the posterior dorsals, are keeled
along the under side of the body, though the keel is least marked anteriorly.
The 13 anterior caudals do not decrease largely in length backward. The
transverse processes of the most posterior dorsals are with rounded terminations,
and also that of the 1st lumbar, and are also directed a little backward, whereas,
on the contrary, the latter are directed forward. The transverse processes of the
6 anterior dorsals are directed forward, the most anterior the most strongly, and
that of the 6th little marked, but still so that the line drawn from the middle
of the tip of one to the same place on the other lies in front of the middle of the
body of the vertebra. The transverse processes of the 7 posterior dorsals are
directed backward, but of these the first and last less strongly. The transverse
processes of the 7th and 8th dorsals are directed straight out on the sides. All the
transverse processes of the lumbosacrals, with exception of the last, are, however,
directed forward. Processus spinosi iuferiores 18."

The characters of the vertebra above given agree with those of the Mas-
sachusetts skeleton in the National Museum, but in the latter the anterior dorsals

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

147

are only very slightly keeled below. The number of chevrons cited by Lilljeborg
is two more than in any American specimen of B. physalus I have examined, but
Flower's Falmouth (Eng.) specimen had the same number as the Greenland
skeleton, as will be seen by reference to p. 139.
Lilljeborg's measurements are as follows :

BALMNQPTERA PHYSALUS. GREENLAND. SKELETON.

Measurement.

ft. in.

Length of skeleton 53 o

" mandible 13' to 14'

Periphery of mandible at the middle 2 3

Length of body of first lumbar o 9

Breadth of body of first lumbar o i if

Length of transverse process of first lumbar i 2§

" " body of fifteenth lumbar o n-J

Breadth of body of fifteenth lumbar ... i of

Length of body of first caudal o n

Breadth of body of first caudal i i

Length of body of third caudal o 1 1 J

Breadth of body of third caudal i oj

Length of transverse process of third caudal o 5!

Breadth of transverse process of third caudal o 6f

Distance between outer angles of processus obliqui of third caudal o 4!

Length of neural spine of third caudal o toj

" body of fifth caudal o 1 1 j

Breadth of body of fifth caudal i \\

Length of last caudal o i

" " sternum i 3$

Breadth of sternum i 8£

Length of first rib 3 9^

" scapula from glenoid cavity to the opposite upper border 2 o

Breadth ditto 3 7^

Length of acromion o ii£

" " humerus i 7^

" " ulna to tip of olecranon 2 4^

" radius 2 3f

" " one pectoral limb from head of humerus 6 i\

Greenland.
(Copenhagen Mu-
seum.)1

OPINIONS OF EUROPEAN CETOLOGISTS REGARDING THE OCCURRENCE OF B. PHYSALUS IN

AMERICAN WATERS.

In the Osteographie (8, 236) Van Beneden and Gervais express the opinion
that Cope's Sibbaldius tectirostris is probably the same as B. physahts (for which
they use the name B. musculus), but they had not seen the type, nor did they enter
into any discussion of the subject. In 1889, again, Van Beneden includes Green-
land in the range of this species, probably on the basis of the observations of Fa-
bricius (7, 224), and remarks, " various authors have reported it at New England,"
referring doubtless to the observations of Dudley, Cope, and Allen.

' Swedish measure.

148 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

In the work previously cited (8, 171), Van Beneden and Gervais seem to
regard the species described by Holbbll under the Eskimo name Kipar~karnak as
probably representing this species, but Eschricht was in doubt as to this, and cer-
tainly Holboll's description is not favorable to this view. It is in part as follows :

" Above on the head it had many rows of high tubercles of rounded form, 3 to
4 in. broad, and perhaps as high. They were located at equal distances from each
other ; hence, in rows. . . . The furrows on the neck and breast reach about
as far back as in B. longimana \_Megapterd\, but stand much wider apart. The
pectorals, which must be regarded as long, were, however, shorter than in B.
longimana. They are quite narrow, and have some irregular emarginations, one
large emargination is to be seen about in the middle. . . . The color is
whale, — black on the back and on the sides, white on the belly ; the underside of
the pectorals and flukes white, on the latter with a black band." (37, 197.)

It is clear, I think, that this was a Humpback and not a Finback whale. Es-
chricht states that Holboll saw this whale only from the deck of a vessel, and asks
very pertinently how he knew that it was the same as the Kiporlcarnak of the Es-
kimos. Fabricius, doubtless, employed this native name correctly, and certainly
for a very different animal from that described by Holboll, as above.

CHAPTER V.

THE SULPHURBOTTOM, £AL^.NOPTERA MUSCULUS (LINN.).

The characters of the Sulphurbottom or Blue whale, the largest of the Finbacks
and of all living animals, have been set forth with exactness in the writings of
Sars (78 and 79), Collett (20), Hallas (00), and Reinhardt (75). That a similar
or identical species frequents the Atlantic coast of North America has been known
for a long time, but specimens have very rarely found their way into American
museums, and exact observations on its external characters are equally hard to find.
Fortunately, at the new southern station of the Cabot Steam Whaling Company,
Newfoundland, Sulphurbottoms are taken in large numbers, and I had opportunities
in the summer of 1901 to make a careful examination of numerous specimens.

The characters ascribed to B. musculus by Sars are as follows (79, 1 8) :

" The length of full-grown individuals is 90 feet [Norwegian] ; and it is not
improbable that it may extend to 100 feet, so that this whale is to be regarded as
the giant of all animals now living.

" The body is less slender than in the ordinary Finbacks [B. phy solus], but not
quite so thick-set as in the Little Piked whale [B. acuto-rostratd]. The greatest
depth is contained about 5^ times in the total length, and the body behind the
navel decreases in size gradually to the root of the flukes.

" The color is everywhere, as well on the back as on the belly, uniform gray-
blue, sometimes lighter, sometimes darker.

" On the pectoral region is generally found a larger or smaller number of small
milk-white spots.

"The length of the mouth is quite great, as in full-grown individuals it may
be contained in the total length about 4£ times. The upper jaw, seen from above,
is proportionately much broader than in the two preceding species [B. physalus
and B. acuto-rostratci], as it begins first to decrease in breadth at the middle of the
length, so that the margins are quite strongly rounded and the snout rather blunt.

" Pectoral fins proportionately larger than in the other species of the genus, but
generally not more than -$- the total length. Their form is somewhat different,
in that they are more falcate, with the hind angle lying anterior to the middle
of the length of the fin. On the outer side they are of the color of the body ; on
the inner side and along the whole anterior convex margin, pure white.

"Dorsal fin extremely small and thin, triangular, and lies far back, at the
beginning of the last fourth of the length of the body, and a good deal behind
a vertical line drawn through the anus.

" Flukes about the same color on the lower side as on the upper, or a little
lighter.

" Whalebone all dark blue-black."

149

150 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

SIZE.

As we see above, Sars gives the length of JB. musculus as 90 ft. (Norwegian),1
but expresses the opinion that it may extend to 100 ft. (Norwegian) 2 in some cases.
In 1877, Collett remarked of the species (20, 161) :

"The usual length of the Blue whale is about 72 ft. 2 in. 3 (22 m.) ; while
individuals are frequently caught that are barely 65 ft. 7 in. (20 m.), sometimes
specimens are obtained which are between 81 ft. 8 in. and 91 ft. 10 in. (28 rn.)
in length. On a single occasion Foyn observed from his boat an individual whose
length he estimated at 132 ft. 10 in. (40^ m.), but as he had another in tow at the
time he could not attack this giant.4 Three of the individuals investigated by me
in 1874 had a length of between 72 ft. 2 in. and 81 ft. 8 in. The females appear
as a rule to be larger than the males."

Sophus Hallas measured six specimens in Iceland in 1867 (60, 176), the
largest of which, a male, was 80 feet (Danish) from the tip of the upper jaw
to the notch of the flukes, measured along the curves.

Cocks has given measurements of the total length of numerous specimens
taken at the Finmark stations (15 to 19). He remarks (15, 17, sep.) :

" I was told, at third hand, of a Blue whale which measured 102 ft., and similar
stories are numerous ; but I doubt if the whales were in any case accurately meas-
ured. Dr. Guldberg does not believe it ever attains a length of 100 ft. ; a little
over 80 ft. is, I believe, the longest that has been at all accurately measured at
Vardo, and whales of this length are the exception. Dr. Guldberg ( Vardo Posten,
Sept. 2, 1883) says of this species: 'Its length varies between 70 and 80 ft; the
individuals that are 70 ft. and under, I have always found to be rather young, and
not full-grown. That it can attain to a length of over 80 ft. is certainly unquestion-
able, although it may be very seldom. But the numerous measurements which
have been taken of various individuals are not trustworthy, since they are not
measured in a right line from the point of the under jaw to the cleft in the
tail fin.'"6

In his reports on the fishery seasons of 1885 and 1886, Cocks gives measure-
ments of numerous specimens of the Blue whale (17 and 18). The largest of these
is 87 ft. 7 in. (85 feet, Norwegian).

In 1886 Guldberg, in a valuable paper on the biology of the North Atlantic
Finback whales (57, 164), confirmed and extended his observations on the size of

1 Equals 92 ft. 8 in., English.

' Equals 103 feet, English.

1 The measurements given in feet in the original I have translated into English feet and
inches for convenience. — F. W. T.

* The fact of having a whale in tow would not have hindered Captain Bull of the Newfound-
land station from attacking a second individual, however large. He frequently brought in two at a
time.

'Guldberg's measurements are, no doubt, Norwegian, so that his statement should read: It
varies between 72 ft. i in. and 82 ft. 5 in., English. Individuals 72 ft. i in., English, and under are
young, etc.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 151

B. musculus. His remarks are so important in the present connection that a trans-
lation of the pertinent paragraphs of his article will be given. He writes :

" It is well known that this whale grows to a great size. The excessive length
of 102 ft. 8 in. a and more has, indeed, been given. Collett states that Commander Sv.
Foyn told him that he had once seen from his ship a gigantic example, whose
length he estimated at 132 ft. 10 in. (40^ m.). I can not, however, refrain from
expressing strong doubt that such large individuals exist. I shall not believe in
such excessive size until I am convinced by correct measurements. Without wish-
ing to decry the practical exercise of estimating with the eye the size of objects at
sea, I have seen cases enough in which the most experienced seamen have at times
been deceived, when observations at great distances were concerned.

"During my last voyage to Finmark in 1883 a very accurate whaler men-
tioned to me that he had seen a Blue whale 102 ft. 8 in. long which was driven to
land on the Murman coast. He had not, however, measured the specimen ! Prof.
Collett states that the usual length is 72 ft. 2 in. I believe, however, that this is
estimated too low.

" In his last article (in P. Z. S., April, 1886) he places the length between 70
and 80 feet, which measure I can confirm. Prof. Sars (in Fork. Vid.-Selsk.,
Christiania, 1878) estimates the length of the full-grown animal at 92 ft. 8 in. This
seems to me set too high. I have prepared the skeleton of many Blue whales.
The first skeleton, a male nearly 78 ft. 9 in. (24 m.) long, was taken to the Uni-
versity of Christiania in 1881 and later the fat was removed, at least from the ver-
tebrge. It showed that all the epiphyses were anchylosed to the bodies of the
vertebrae. In 1882 I directed the preparation of a Blue whale (about 22 m.) which
is in the Royal Museum at Brussels; in the year 1883 I prepared skeletons of two
examples, which were somewhat smaller, the one 22.27 m. and the other about
21.17 m. A full growth was not shown here. I am on that account disposed to
accept 77 ft. 1 in. (23-^ m.) as a minimum for the adult animal.

" As regards the maximum, it is, of course, impossible to say anything with cer-
tainty. I will not dispute a length of 92 ft. 8 in., although I believe that it very
seldom occurs. The largest individual that I have measured was 84 Norwegian
feet [= 86 ft. 6 in. English], or about 26^ m., long; it was shot at sea under my
eyes by the boat Jarfjord. Prof. Aurivillius and Dr. Forstand of Upsala meas-
ured in 1878 an example 86 ft. long,2 and Collett states that in 1868 a Blue whale
96 feet long3 was found dead at sea and towed into Vardo. The Blue whales which
I have seen varied mostly between 72 ft. 1 in. and 82 ft. 5 in. When an animal
measured more than 77 ft. 3 in. or 78 ft. 3 in., it was considered quite large by
the whalers."

The largest recorded measurement for the species is that given by Dubar (34,
17) for the Ostend whale, namely, 31 meters, or 101 ft. 8 in. This is probably
erroneous. In his introduction, Dubar (34, 5) alludes to the same specimen as
being 95 ft. long, while Van Breda (11, 344) and Nyenhuis (71, 166) cite it as 25
ells, or 80 ft. (Dutch) long. Van Beneden mentions the length in various places

1 In the translation the feet are reduced to feet and inches English measure.
a Kind of feet not mentioned. If Norwegian, would equal 88 ft. 7 in. English.
1 Probably Norwegian feet (though Guldberg does not say so), in which case it equals 98 ft.
ii in., English.

152 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

as between 80 ft. and 85 ft. In view of this uncertainty, to which Turner (91,
244) has already called attention, the Ostend specimen can scarcely be cited as
representing the maximum length, though there is no doubt it was a thoroughly
adult, or old, individual. A specimen 30 meters long, or 98 ft. 4 in., is mentioned
by Fischer (44, 72) as stranded at Dunquerque, in 1863. No particulars are given.
The bibliographic reference is to Fredol's Le Monde de la Mer, a book with
which I am not acquainted. Beauregard gives the same length, 30 m., for a male
stranded at Oessant, France, in Feb., 1893 (Comp. rend. Soc. JBiol. (9) 5, 1893, 274).

Another very large measurement is that of Scoresby (84, i-, p. 482), for a speci-
men stranded in the Humber River, in 1750. The length recorded is 101 feet. So
far as I am aware, this is not verified. The North Berwick specimen, described by
Knox (62~), is said by him to have been 78 ft. in a straight line from the snout to
the notch of the flukes, but he adds that " if the line had been passed along the
surface of the body, following its flexuosity, the whole length would have been
from 90 to 95 feet," a statement which may perhaps be properly questioned.

Bars remarked in 1874 (75, 7, sep.) : "The largest example I had opportunity
to see was fully 80 feet1 long in a straight line." This statement is indefinite.
A specimen of this species, figured and described by Van Beneden (7, 257) from
notes furnished by Dr. Otto Finsch, is given a length of 86 feet. It was a female,
and was captured near Vadso, East Finmark, July 7, 1873. Whether the measure-
ment is French or German is not stated ; if the latter, it would amount to 88 ft.
7 in. English measure.

The length of the Longniddry (Scotland) whale, according to Sir Wm. Turner
(91, 199), was 78 ft. 9 in. "along the middle line of the back, from the tip of the
lower jaw to the end of the tail." As the lower jaw projected 1^- ft. beyond the
upper, the length from the tip of the snout would be 77 ft. 3 in. The expression
" end of the tail," as shown by the context, means the notch of the flukes.

From the foregoing records it appears that the largest reliable measurements
are those given by the Scandinavian zoologists and by Dr. Otto Finsch. The
measurement by Aurivillius and Forstand, if in Norwegian feet, represents the
maximum. This is 86 feet, which, if Norwegian, equals 88 ft. 7 in., English measure.
Dr. Finsch's Vadso specimen, if the measurement was in Rheinland feet, was of
the same length, 88 ft. 7 in., English measure. Next follows Guldberg's speci-
men— 84 feet Norwegian, which equals 86 ft. 6 in., English measure. The largest
of the whaler's measurements cited by Cocks is 85 ft. Norwegian, which equals
87 ft. 6^- in., English measure (17, 7, sep.).

It has to be said of all these measurements that they can only be regarded as
approximate, as it is not definitely stated whether they are from the tip of the
upper or the lower jaw, from the notch or the border of the flukes, along the
curves or in straight lines.

The total length and the sex of specimens taken at Balena station, Newfound-
land, in the summer of 1901, and measured by myself, with the assistance of Dr.
D. W. Prentiss, were as follows :

1 Equals 82 ft. 5 in., English.

V

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.
BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND.

153

Capture No.

Date of Capture.

Sex.

Total Length.1

( i) i

. , . J une 20

. . 9

72 ft o in

(2) 2 .

t< it

$

71 " o "

(l) 1

.. . " 21 ....

71 " 10 "

if

(4) 4 . .

... ** 22

9.

. 71 " 6 "

(5) 5

tt tt

$

i J

. 68 " i "

(6) 6 .

" 24

$

65 " o "

17) 7-.

tt

. 67 " o "

(8) 8

U U

<j

61 " o "

(9) V-

" 26 ...

^

. 72 " o "

( 10) 10

" 27 .

$

• 72 " 7 "

n) ii

tt it

$

7I " 6 "

12) 12

" 28 ...

... 9 . ..

.. . . 66 " 6 "

lO 11 . .

it tt

$ ....

6s " u "

14.) 14 ..

" 29 .

77 " 2 "

15) 15

(i <t

. .. . $

. 61 " 6 "

(16) 17..

6s 8 '

" 7 ,

^

. 72 " 2 "

(18) 19

" 4 •

q

74 " 6 "

fio) 20. .

tt U

?

. 70 " -t "

\

2OJ 21 ..

" S

o

11
6s 2

(2l) 22 ..

" 6

o

61 " 3 "

(22) 21 ..

tt u

o

• ... 67 " 3 "

(2^) 24 . .

8 .

o

61 " 2 "

(24) 2? . .

ft tf

. . 9

69 " 6 "

135) 26. ...

it t(

. 6s " 8 "

The males and females in order of size were as follows :

BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND.

Males.

Females.

72

ft. 7 in.

* 77 ft

2 in.

72

" 2 "

'74 "

6 "

71

" 6 "

73 "

10 "

" 0 "

73 "

6 "

68

" 3 "

a?2 "

0 "

67

" 0 "

72 "

0 "

65

' 1 1 '

70 "

3 "

65

" 8 "

69 "

6 "

65

" 0 "

67 "

3 "

63

" 6 "

66 "

6 "

65 "

8 "

65 "

2 "

61 "

3 "

61 "

2 "

6. "

O "

Maximum

72 ft. 7 in.

77 ft-

2 in.

Minimum

63 " 6 "

/ /

61 "

0 "

Average ....

. (10) 68 " i "

(15) 68 "

9 "

'The total length is from the tip of the upper jaw to the notch of the flukes, measured along
the curve of the back. " Contained a fcetus.

154

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

From Cocks we obtain the following statistics of 36 specimens taken at the
Norwegian stations (17 and 18) :

BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NORWAY.

Males.

Females.

85 ft. o in.

87 ft. 6i in.

51 " o "

S2 " 0 "

Average

(36) 74 " o "

(36) 75 " 8 "

On comparing these figures with the previous ones, it will be observed that
the Norwegian whales, both males and females, appear to attain a greater length
than those of Newfoundland. The average length is also greater, though the com-
putation includes individuals smaller than any of the Newfoundland specimens.
Before my arrival at Balena station, Newfoundland, in 1901, and also in the pre-
ceding year, a number of Sulphurbottom whales had been taken. Adding such
of the measurements of these as are available to my own, the following figures
are obtained :

BALMVOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND.

Males.

Females.

Maximum

81 ft. o in.

79 ft o in

Minimum . ....

63 " o "

55 " ° "

Average

(S?) 7° " 8 "

hs) 70 " o "

Though a higher general average is obtained in this way, the maximum and
average for females are a little less than for males. This is due to the fact that
many comparatively small females and few Very large ones were taken in the
summer of 1900.

Averages obtained in this way, as already remarked in treating of B, p/tysalus,
are not satisfactory on account of the inclusion of immature individuals. The best
way to get rid of these, in the case of the females at least, will be to omit from
consideration all specimens having a length less than that of such as are ascertained
to be sexually mature. Guldberg, as we have seen (15, 17, sep.), remarked of the
Norwegian specimens, "the individuals that are 70 ft.1 and under I have always
found to be rather young and not full-grown." He also remarked (57, 164) : "It is
not easy to fix the minimum for gravid females. I am, however, inclined to fix the
minimum at 70 feet \_= 72 ft. 1 in., English measure], and to estimate the average
at about 75 feet [23£ in.] 2 or more." Of the Norwegian females cited by Cocks as
containing foetuses, or having milk running, the smallest is 74 feet 2 in. Of the
females taken at Balena station, Newfoundland, 1901, the following females ob-
served by myself contained foetuses :

' Norwegian feet; equals 72 ft. i in., English measure.

3 77 ft. i in., English measure.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BAL3SNOPTERA MU3CULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. FCETUSES. 1901.

155

Capture No.

Date.

Length of Adult.

Length of Foetus.

Sex of Foetus.

No. i
No. 14
No. 19

June 20

" '9
July 4

72 ft. o in.
77 " * "
74 " 6 "

3 ft. I in.
3 " 8J "
3 " 6i "

?
?
?

Of the specimens obtained at the same station in 1900, the following females
contained foetuses:

BALJENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. . FOETUSES, 1900.

Capture No.

Date.

Length of Adult.

Length of Foetus.

No. 54
No. 99

May 31
July 10

73ft.

73 "

7£t.
•3 "

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. 8£ 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 foetus, is classed by Sir Win. Turner (91, 203) as " adolescent," in ac-
cordance with Flower'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. 7^ in. (27 specimens). The following table suras up these various
statistics :

156

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BAL^NOPTERA MUSCULVS (L.). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN.

Average for
all Specimens

Average
for all

Average
for

Average
for Mature

Average
for Mature

Maximum
for

Maximum
for

Minimum
for

Minimum
for

of both Sexes.

Females.

all Males.

Females '

Males.1

Females.

Males.

Females.

Males.

Locality.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

Length.

Length.

Length.

Length.

Newfoundland

(Balena station)

Season of 1901 (my

1

measurements) .

25

68' 6"

'5

68' 9"

IO

68 3'

6 73' 10"

2

72' 5"

77' 2"

72' 7"

61' o"

63' 6"

Season of igoi, all

7 1

7l' V

(82', sex unknown)

61' o"

63' 6"

Season of 1900, all

•

fn

71' 10"

TQ

70' 1 1 "

48 1 71' 2"

8

75' 5"

T7

75' 5"

79' °"

81 o

55' o'

63' o"

All the foregoing

Newfoundland

n8

7l' 7"

(82' sex tinknown^

55' °"

63' o"

Norway (Cocks) . .

72

74' 10"

36

75' 8"

36

74' o"

24

79' 3"

27

77' 8'

87' 7"

85' o"

52' o"

51' o-

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 case of B. pJiysalus. 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 B. musculus, quoted on p. 149, it
is stated that the pectoral fin is " generally not more than \ the total length," and
that the dorsal fin is extremely small and lies 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 :

1 Specimens 72 feet and over.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BAL&NOPTERA MUSCULUS(l..). BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. 1901.

157

No. i.
June 20.

No. 2.

June 20.

No. 3.
June 21.

No. 4.
June 22.

No. 5.
June 22.

No. 6.
June 24.

No. 7.
June 25.

No. 8.
June 25.

No. 9.
June 26.

No. 10.
June 27.

No. u.
June 27.

Sex

2

$

2

J

s

a

i

$

$

$

$

72' o"

71' o"

73* *°"

73' 6"

68' 3"

65' o"

67' o"

61' o"

72' o"

72' 7"

71' 6'

Tip of snout to eye

15' '"

14' 6"

1 6' o"

16' 3"

14' 6"

13' o"

14' 6"
12 83

13' 9"

15' Si'

(1 6

15' 3i"

14' 8"

12 1s

24 7

23 7

25 3

25 6

24 2

An 8

2 454

-I -fl

22 8

25 6

25 5

24 8

ef) T

Length of pectoral from post. base. . .
" " head of humerus.

7 i
9 10
2 5

55 2
7 10
EG 7

2 6

56 9
S 2

II 5
2 1O1

7 7

II 0

2 Sc

7 4
10 4

2 8

7 5
10 8

2 8

7 2J
10 84

2 IO

47 3
6 9
9 10

2 6

7 9
II 4

2 8

7 10

ii 7
3 o

7 10

10 11
2 8

o 8

O Q

o 8i

o 7i

o 9

O JO

o 7

° 9i

I 2

O IO

I 2

18 5

20 7

20 8

19 7

18 2

20 o'

18 10

16 6

19 9

20 8

20 0

2O 4^

20 7?

22 9

21 9

22 3

24 10*

23 10

18 o

21 7

25 5

26 I

3 10

4 2

3 8

3 8

3 8

3 8

3 5

3 9

3 i°i

4 i

o t;

o 5

O li

O Ix

2 8

2 8

i II

2 3

2 O

i 4

i 3

I IO

No. 12.
June 28.

No. 13.
June 28.

No. 14.
June 29.

No. 15.
June 29.

No. 17.
July 2.

No. 18.
July 3.

No, iq.

July 4-

No. 20.
July 4.

No. 21.
July 5-

NO. 22.

July 6.

No. 24.-
July 8.

Sex . . .

2

£

9

,5

.;

$

$

$

$

s

?

Total length snout to notch

66' 6"

6^' 1 1"

n' 2 "

6V 6'

6s' 8"

72' 2"

7d' 6"

7O' "\'

6<;' 2"

61' 3"

6l' 2"

Tip of snout to eye

14 4

u' i"
ii •**

i6'io "

13' 8"

12 ^a

14 i"

16' o"
i-? 8"

16' 2"

14' 3"

13' 4"

13' o"

12 5

21 7

21 2

22 6

27 4.

2C T

27 O

22 ^

22 2

CT -3

An 7

CT ^

ec TT

Length of pectoral from post. base.. .

7 o

6 10

( 78M

7 o

6 6

7 5

6 4

6' 10

6 9

6 8

IO 2

Q IO

} 8 8 ' <
(»»•)

IO O

9IO

II O

Q Oi

IO I

Q Q

Q Q

2 Q

2 O

(124' f

3 2

2 6

2 8

2 g

2 6

2 6

2 5

2 6

Height of dorsal

I 3£

o 6

o 10

o 7

o 8

o S£

O oi

o 9

o 7

O IO

o 8i

18 9

22 O

17 Q

17 8

IQ 69

in I

18 2

ifl s1

21 e;

21 7

24 o

22 4

22 58

24 510

2O II

21 4

IQ 6

20 o

16 o

16 10

n 8'

TC 8

e g

s ui

-\ c

•j 8

T 7

T Q

•? 8A

4 2

•3 7

3 4i

•3 C

i 8

2 4

2 O

2 O

I 7

I 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 :

1 Curved ; 2' 8" straight. 3 Center. s Center.

5 Curved ; 24' i" straight. 4 Exact. « Left.

7 Right. ' Along curve of peduncle, 2o'l".

8 Post, end of orifice of sheath. 10 Along curve, 25'

158

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS CL.). BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. 1901.

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

No.

No

No

No

No

'9

3

4

9

20

12

21

22

24

8

Sex

9

9

9

9

?

9

?

?

9

9

77'2"

74'6"

73'io"

73'6'

72'0"

72'o"

70'3"

66'6'

65'2"

6lY

6iV

6 I'D*

926"

894

886"

882'

804'

864

843

798

782

735

734

732

21 8

21 7

21.6

22 I

2O Q

21.5

20.3

21.6

20.5

21.2

20 3

22.5

" " " " blowhole
" " " " post, base of pectoral
" " " " " " " dorsal
Notch of flukes to anus
" " " " clitoris
Length of pectoral from post, base
" " " " head of humerus
Greatest breadth of pectoral

28.2
31.1

1 0.6'
15.2"
4* i

18.9

34-3
76.9
28.0
30.8
ii. i
15.4
3-8

34-7
77-3
26.7
29.6
10.3

14-9

3.8

34-i

25.6
28.3

18.8
35-4
78.9
27.4
29.8
10.8
15-8

T 7

33.'8
27.0

29.8
9.0

13-9
3.6

35-5

29.8
32.2
10.5

15-3
4.1

17.3
34.4

75-5
29.9
32.7

IO.O

15-5

3-8

36.2

29-5
31.8
II.O

15.9

3.9

10.9
15.8
4- 1

20. 08

37-1
77-5
27.0

29-5
ii. i
16.1

4.1

Height of dorsal (vertical)
Breadth of flukes

i.i

i.i

0.96

0.86

....

1.4

I.I

1.9

0.9

1-4

1.2

1-3

No.
10

No.
18

No.
ii

No.

2

No.
5

No.
7

No.
13

No.
r7

No.
6

No.
15

Sex

t

$

S

S

S

i

S

$

S

$

63'6"
762"

Total length

72'7"
871'

72'2
866'

7i'6'

858"

7i'o"

852"

68'3"
819"

6^'o"

804"

65'n"
791"

65'8"
788"

65 'o'
780"

%

21. 1

35-2

%

22.2
18.9-

35-0

77.4

27.0
33-8
10.3
15-3
3-8

u.i|S
2^ T

%

20.5
17.1*
34-5
78.4
28.0

36.5
II.O

15.3
3-7
1-5

%

20.4
17.6
33-2
77-7
28.5

II.O

14.9

3-5

I.o

%
21.3

35-4
79-5
26.6

33-9
10.7

IS-'
3-9
i.i

%

21.6

18.9'
36.4
77.1
28.1

35-6
10.7

15-9

4-2

0.87

%

21.4
17.1'

35-2
77-7
28.4
35.8
10.3
14.9
4.2
0.76

%

21.4
18.3
35-5
78.0
26.9
34-1
9-9
14.9
4.0
I.O
24 4

%

20. 0

76.4
30.8
37.o
11.4
I5.I
4-1
1.3

%

21.5

19.0

35-4
77-6
27.9

35-1

II.O

15.7
3-9
0.9

" " " "blowhole
" " " " post, base of pectoral

28.5
35.2
10.8
15.9
4-1
I.i

44 '* *' ** penis

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, etc. 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
observers. Eschricht's Greenland specimen is inchided here for convenience.

1 Average of the two sides.

•Center.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

159

BALJENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN.

rt

3 O
r/. <*>

« GO

fj

13

C

"o

J "^

•X f^

." °°

4! x"

CQ n" °

c

o ^*
c/: . «

T3 « "

."S - ^"
M >• S

Godhavn, Greenland.
Aug. 12, 1843.
(Eschricht, 1846.)

O

o

C

" CO CO

. w CO

2 °" M-

c

1

- . °°

"" S
Si " —

e ^

^ ^
s «
c« .en

Eflgf
IS*

u w £
O 0 q

OOS-

Sex

$

o

o

,

^

Total length

"'/

78'o"2

[77'3"]

68' o"

17-5411

(S7'6")

52' 5"

5i' 7'

948

936"

927

816" *

690"

629"

619"

Tip of snout to eye

*

*

20. =;] "

%

*

%

18.0

^
Ti47l

" blowhole

fi6 8]'

fi6 4!'

ic 7'

' posterior base of pectoral. . . .

41.0 *

36.Q

3 ? I

" " dorsal..

[76.8!

78.0

72.7

[758]

Notch of flukes to anus

26 o

27.1

32 •? 7

3° 4

[M d

" " " " clitoris (or penis)

31 9

7C.I *

Length of pectoral from posterior base

7

IJ-3

1 1.6

head of hurnerus

I - g 3

1^2

H7

Greatest breadth of pectoral ...

3 2

4. O

c o

^? 0

3 2

32

Height of dorsal (vertical)

o 5

I i

Breadth of flukes

2C. 6

24. I

20.3

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 (75),
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 (75, 232 ; 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 :

BALJENOPTEBA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND AND NORWAY.

Measurement.

Newfoundland, 1901.
$ No. 3.

Sars's figure.

1874- s

?V ioff

So' o" (Norweg )

Tip of snout to eye . . . . .

per cent.

21.6

per cent.
21 6

" " " " blowhole .

1 8.q

18 «

' posterior base of pectoral or axilla

M.i

37.1

" " " " " " dorsal .

76 Q

77 O

I I.I

1 I O

V8

1 8

o 06

o 06

1 Center.
* Straight.
' Skeleton.

4 Must be incorrect. * From posterior margin of flukes.

1 Danish measure, in straight line from lower jaw.
' " Longueur totale." ' B. Carolina.

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, 3 and 4, pi. 3). 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 :

BAL^NOPTEBA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND AND NORWAY.

Measurement.

Average of Ten
Males.
Newfoundland.

Sars's Figure,

1878. $

Total length

6q' o"

Tip of snout to eye

per cent.
21.1

per cent.
20. 4

" blowhole (center)

1 7.O

18.4

posterior base of pectoral

3S I

1% O

" " " " " dorsal

77 8

7^.4

Length of pectoral from posterior base

10.7

1 1.2

Greatest breadth of pectoral

1 8

4.Q

Height of dorsal

I OS

1. 1

It will be seen that the principal differences between 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.

BAL&NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). (STEYPIREYDR.) ICELAND.

A. Tegarhorn,
Berufjord,
East Coast.

B. Vedfjord, in
Nordfjord, East
Coast.

o

5
u

o

5

Q

d

3
w

F. Seydisfjord,
East Coast.

Sex

$

$

$

$

$

?

Total length ....

84-?"

864"

060"'

866"

880"'

012"

Tip of snout to eye

%
21 4

#

22.2

%
18.1

%

%

%

" " " " blowhole

10 4

18.8

is s

" pectoral

31.6

' posterior margin of dorsal. . .
Notch of flukes to anus

76.5

78.5
2^.4

" " " penis

T.1 T.

?6.i

Length of pectoral (from axilla ')

I 2. 1

I ^.O

122

!•? 8

I 3 O

13.6

from head of humerus. . .
Greatest breadth of pectoral

14.2

2.7

•5-3

I3.8
3- I

15-4

•z.s

14.6
•5.2

15-'
1.4

Height of dorsal

0.8^5

O.TZ

0.77

Breadth of flukes

20. 4.

10.6

10.6

Danish.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

161

Soph us Hallas's excellent table of measurements of six Sulphurbottoms taken
at Iceland in 1867 (6(T) 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 :

BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). ICELAND AND NEWFOUNDLAND.

Measurement.

Iceland Specimens.

Ten Newfoundland
Specimens.
Males.

Tip of snout to eye

per cent.

(i) 20 6

per cent.

211

" " " " blowhole

\3> •"•'•«

( 1 ) 17 O

I 7 O

' pectoral

(i) -?i 6'

(Q) « ia

' post, margin of dorsal

(2) 77 C

(o) 77 8

Notch of flukes to anus

( I } 2C A

28 i

" " " " penis

( 2} tA. 7

(Q) 7C 2

Length of pectoral

(6) It 2S

TO 73

from head of humerus

(6) 14 7

i c -2

Greatest breadth of pectoral

> { **•'

(C) -5.2

*3-5

^ 8

Height of dorsal

(?) 078

i os

Breadth of flukes

\3> "•/"

(3) 10 O

(2) 21.Q

The agreement of the Iceland and Newfoundland specimens in many propor-
tions is very close. The principal discrepancies are in the distance from the notch
of the flukes to the anus, in the height of the dorsal fin, and in the breadth of the
flukes. The first measurement was made on only one Iceland specimen. As to the
second — the height of the dorsal, — it can only be said that the individual measure-
ments and the average are within the limits of variation of the Newfoundland speci-
mens in this particular. Still it would rather be expected that one of the three
Iceland specimens measured by Hallas would have had a higher dorsal, if there is
no constant difference between Iceland and Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms. Of
the discrepancy in the breadth of the flukes little can be said, as the measurements
are so few, and in the Newfoundland specimens so uncertain.

COLOR.

The best description of the color of European B. muscrulus with which I am
acquainted is that given by Sars in 1874 (75, 233; 9, sep.), after he had seen ten
specimens of the species at Foyn's whaling station in Finmark. It is as follows :

" In all the examples observed by me the whole body, as well on the back as
on the belly, was of a uniform blue-gray or slate-gray color, somewhat darker on
the head and breast, and lightest along the sides, where there is found a quite fine
and peculiar mottling of darker and lighter shades. The whole ground color of the
whale, seen at a distance, has very distinctly a bluish cast, and that in a more

' To anterior base ? ' To posterior base, or axilla.

3 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 lighter than
on the upper."

The color of the 25 or 30 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 compli-
cated 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 appeai-s 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 mimerous 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-

' O

ward, is finely marked with alternating light and dark gray lines running antero-
posteriorly, but finally curving inward toward the median line.

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 is 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
\ 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 Win. Turner remarks of the Longniddry whale (91, 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 description 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. Jwie 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-
neath 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 light 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 pi.
13, fig. 1.)

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 165

No. 3. female. Jime 21, 1901. Total length, 73 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 flue lines running fore and aft, growing
darker toward the posterior margin of the flukes, which is quite dark gray. (See
pi. 13, 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 lined with darkish gray
streaks running fore and aft, but curving inward toward the median line.

No. 5. 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 pi.
18, fig. 1.)

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 aims, but grow gradu-
ally less and less 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 light 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 pi. 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 pec-
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, *. e., with vertical gray and white lines alternating. (See pi. 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 pi. 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, tbeuce 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 neai'ly pure white anterior basal area, with curved vertical narrow gray lines.
(See pi. 14, fig. 1 ; pi. 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. 6 in. 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 pi. 20, fig. 3.)

No. 12. Female. June 28, 1901. Total length, 66 ft. 6 in. 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. 13. 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. A great deal of white on the abdominal ridges. The region under
the base of the pectorals nearly solid white. The white spots on the ridges extend

168 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

as far forward as the middle of the right lower lip, and there are a few white
dashes on the middle of the lip itself. Body veiy light around the head of the
humerus. Flanks nearly solid light gray from the line of the pudendum to the
flukes. Flukes very light underneath, especially nearest the anterior margin.
Dorsal fin almost white except at the tip and about the posterior free margin. Tip
of left pectoral white for about one foot or more externally, with lines and white
markings running proximally nearly to the middle of the length, and considerable
white along the posterior margin. No light blotches visible on the external face
of the left pectoral, but there are some on the right pectoral.

The right side in this whale appears to be lighter than the left.

No. 15. Male. June 29, 1901. Total length, 63 ft. 6 in. A darkish indi-
vidual, with very little white on the ridges, and there mostly close under the pec-
torals, especially at their base. The inferior median line broadly plain gray as far
back as the anus, though with occasional lighter blotches and marks. Dorsal fin
with only a few vertical curved light lines on the darker ground-color. (See pi.
20, fig. 4.)

No. 17. Male. July 2, 1901. Total length, 65 ft. 8 in. A moderately light
individual. A considerable number of white spots at the posterior end of the ab-
dominal ridges, but the clear white does not run on to the flanks. Posterior half
of the ridges much and finely speckled with dark-gray marks on a lighter ground.
The belly and breast become darker anteriorly, and the navel region is, therefore,
the lightest part of the under surface of the body. Some white dashes about the
anus, but the median line posterior to the navel otherwise mostly dark and finely
mottled and lined. Back plain dark gray throughout. The lightest part of the
sides is midway between the line of the dorsal fin and the flukes. No white spots
anterior to the base of the pectorals. Dorsal fin with a "white antero-basal area,
crossed by vertical curved gray lines. Flukes normal in color, with fore-and-aft
light lines, or rather a whitish ground-color, with gray lines crossing it.

No. 18. Male. July 3, 1901. Total length, 72 ft. 2 in. Not a very light
individual. Flanks, from the line of the orifice of the penis backward, largely plain
dark gray. A moderate number of white spots on the abdominal ridges posterior
to the pectorals, and these spots run off on to the flanks inferiorly about as far as
the orifice of the penis. Scattered white marks are found as far back as the anus.
Navel white.

No. 19. Female. July 4, 1901. Total length, 74 ft. 6 in. Quite a light
individual, the sides being nearly all light gray from the line of the anus nearly to
the flukes. Shoulders the same. One or two light blotches on the right lip at
the anterior ends of the furrows.

No. SO. Female. July 4, 1901. Total length, 70 ft. 3 in. The inferior half
of the sides of the body practically all light gray, through the confluence of the
light blotches. The middle of the sides (longitudinally) posterior to the line of the
anus much blotched, and the blotches turn to streaks at the base of the flukes and
run into the lines of the underside of the flukes. Inferior median line posterior to
the navel blotched. A large amount of white on the abdominal ridges, especially

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 169

at their posterior ends. Under the base of the pectorals a semicircular area of
nearly pure white about two feet in diameter. Light (but not white) spots scattered
far forward and anterior to the line of the corner of the mouth. Navel white.
Proximal half of the anterior margin of the right pectoral invaded by the dark
color of the external face. Tip dark, with various dark lines extending backward
on the internal face. Left pectoral all light gray at the base externally, and light
blotches and marks extend nearly to the tip. (See pi. 17, figs. 2 and 4.)

No. 21. Female. July S, 1901. Total length, 65 ft. 2 in. A very light
individual. The ground color light gray and the markings nearly white. On the
abdominal ridges a broad band of white extends from the base of the pectorals
(where there is a large white area) obliquely downward and backward to the pos-
terior end of the ridges, being produced by the coalescence of the white spots.
Anteriorly, white spots extend on the ridges far beyond the line of the eye. Light
streaks above and below the eye, and some light blotches on the left jaw. An
almost white line runs into the eye from behind and streaks of nearly pure white
cover a triangular area between the eye and the ear. Inferior median line, from the
navel to the pudendum, plain gray. Numerous white dashes around the anus and
pudendum. Flukes with a white ground underneath anteriorly, overlaid with gray
fore-and-aft lines. The white of the underside of the left pectoral invades the
external face at the tip, making the whole tip white externally ; white lines run
from the tip externally, nearly one-quarter the length of the fin. (See pi. 14, fig.
2 ; pi. 18, fig. 2 ; pi. 20, fig. 2 ; pi. 21, fig. 3.)

No. 25. Female. July 8, 1901. Total length, 69 ft. 6 in. A light indi-
vidual. Inferior median line blotched throughout. Much white on the abdominal
ridges. Dorsal fin not light, nor white.

No. 26. Female. July 8, 1901. Total length, 65 ft. 8 in. A dark indi-
vidual. The flanks show much more dark gray than light, the blotches of the
latter color being distinct from each other and scattered. White spots on the
abdominal ridges clear, but scattered. At the head of the humerus the same, but
above the pectoral fin the blotches on the sides of the body fuse together into a
nearly solid light area. Light color extends forward to the eye and the corner of
the mouth. Tip of the pectorals, externally, white for about a foot. (See pi. 17,
figs. 1 and 3.)

Hallas gave in 1868 (60, 162) most excellent data regarding the color of six
Iceland Sulphurbottoms, which make it possible to institute detailed comparisons
with the Newfoundland specimens. His notes on color reduced to tabular form
are as follows :

BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). ICELAND.

Color of head and back.

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. $ . Dark gray, with single irregularly-distributed lighter dashes

and spots.

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. I . Uniform dark gray.

C. Ditto. fj . Dark gray, with lighter dashes, or spots.

D. Ditto. f, . Uniform dark gray.

E. Ditto. J . Dark gray, without gradations.

F. East of Seydifsjord. ? . Dark gray, with lighter dashes and spots.

170

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord.

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord.

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. 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.

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord.

B. Vedfjord, in Fordfjord.

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ? .

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. $

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. i

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. <J .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ? .

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.

Color 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.

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. $ .

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. $

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ? .

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. 6 .

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. $

C. Ditto. <3 .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. East of Seydisfjord. 9 .

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. <5 .

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. $

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ?.

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. A small portion against the body grayish-
white.

(Not given.)
Snow-white.
Snow-white. A distinct scar-like stripe on the border.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Color of dorsal fin.

Dark gray, with lighter dashes.
Uniform dark gray.
Uniform dark gray.
Dark gray.
Dark gray.
(Not given.)

Color of flukes above.

Dark gray, with lighter dashes.

Uniform dark gray.

Dark gray, with lighter dashes.

Dark gray.

Dark gray.

Dark gray.

Color of flukes below.

Dark gray, with lighter dashes.

Uniform dark gray.

(Not given.)

Dark gray.

Dark gray.

Dark gray.

Color of whalebone.

All shining black.
All glistening black.
All shining black.
All shining black.
Shining black.
(Not given.)

171

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. $ .

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. $

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ? .

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. $ .

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. $

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ? .

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. $ .

E. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. 3

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. $ .

E. Ditto. $ .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ? .

A. Tegarhorn, Berufjord. $ .

B. Vedfjord, in Nordfjord. 3

C. Ditto. $ .

D. Ditto. 3 .

E. Ditto. <5 .

F. East of Seydisfjord. ? .

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.

In Sars's account of the "Blaahval" the variations in the shape of the dorsal
fin are described as follows: (78, 237 ; sep., 13) :

" 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
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 :

O

No. 1. Female. Dorsal strongly recurved ; 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. 3. 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.

FIG. 37.

FIG. 38.

FIG. 40.

FIG. 41.

FIG. 42.

FIG. 43.

FIG. 44.

DORSAL FIN OF BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.)

FIG. 37. — No. 14, S , BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. FIG. 38. — No. 22, <} , ditto. FIG. 39. — No. r,
FIG. 40.— No. 7, a, ditto. FIG. 41.— No. n, $, ditto. FIG. 42.— No. 2, $, ditto. FIGS. 43
AND 44. — ICELAND. (FROM HAI.LAS.)

, ditto.

No. 4. Female. Dorsal almost exactly as in No. 1.

No. 5. Male. Dorsal bad 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. 15. Male. Dorsal small, sharp-pointed, and strongly reclined.

No. 20. Female. Dorsal falcate.

No. 22. Female. Dorsal moderately recurved ; tip regularly rounded ; pos-
terior 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 B. 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 15^ inches, while 14 inches was the height of
the smallest dorsal found in a Newfoundland B. physalm. 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. pkysalus.

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 B. pTiysalus 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. pTiysalus
was 2.4 %.

PECTORAL FINS.

Regarding the pectoral fins of European B. musculus, Sars remarks as fol-
lows (75, 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 emargiuations, 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 pis. 21 and 13, except that

174 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

the irregularity of the end of the pectorals which occurs in many individuals, ap-
pears to rne to be due in most cases to external injury. The normal, complete
termination is shown in pi. 21, fig. 3. 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, ? , had the tip of the pectorals
blunted. In No. 4, ? , 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, & , 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, ?,
was blunt. In No. 17, 3, 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, 9 , had the tip of the right pec-
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 pi. 15 and pi. 13, figs. 3 and 4.

In No. 2, S, 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, ? , length 72 feet, the distance across the

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

175

head from eye to eye was 11 ft. 2 in. In No. 15, $, length 68 ft. 3 in., the length
of the blowholes was 18£ inches.

EYE.

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 4£ in. in vertical
diameter. The iris was 1-J 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 S, phy solus.
(PI. 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 :

BALJENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. CAUDAL PEDUNCLE.

Depth of Caudal Peduncle.

No.

Sex.

Total Length.

Midway between Anus

Midway between Anus

M idway between post.

and Insertion of

and Notch of

Base of Dorsal and

Flukes.

Flukes.

Insertion of Flukes.

4

?

73' 6'

5' 8"

18

3

72' 2"

....

5'"""

9

?

72' o"

....

6' 9"

• ...

ii

3

71' 6'

....

3'6"

5

f,

68' 3"

....

....

6' 8'

'3

$

65' n"

6' o"

. . * .

'7

$

65' 8"

s' 8"

....

....

'5

f,

63' 6"

....

6' o"

....

8

?

6i'o"

5' «o'

....

The greatest diameter of the body and largest semi-circumference of several of
the Newfoundland Sulphurbottoms were measured, with the following results :

1 At insertion of flukes.

176

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALMNOPTERA MUSCVLUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. GIBTH.

Semi-Circumference of Body.

Transverse
Diameter of Body.

No.

Sex.

Length.

At Tip of

At

At

At

At Tip of

At Head of

Pectoral.

Navel.

Anus.

Penis.

Pectoral.

Humerus.

18

$

72' 2"

I7' 2"

9' 6"

n'o"

9

?

72' o"

18' 2"

,3' 2"

7' 6"

....

5

t,

68' 3"

,7'o"

....

....

7

$

67' o"

....

....

6' 34"

7' 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., 36 ft. 4 in., and 34 ft., respectively.

ABDOMINAL RIDGES AND FURROWS.

The abdominal or thoracic ridges and furrows in this species, as in B.physcdus,
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 2| inches. (PI. 14, figs. 4-6.)

In number the ridges vary as in B. pliysalm, 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 :

BAL&NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. NUMBER OF ABDOMINAL RIDGES.

No.

Sex.

Total Length.

Number of Ridges.

14

?

77' 2"

66

4

9

73' 6"

68

18

6

72' 2"

62

9

9

72' o"

88

ii

£

71' 6"

68

2

$

7,'o"

84

20

?

7o' 3"

68

7

$

67' o"

68

17

$

65' 8"

62

6

$

65' o"

58

8

?

61' o"

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. 177

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. (PL 17, figs. 1 and 2 ; pi. 18, figs. 3 and 4 ; pi. 19, fig. 2.)

The mammae 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 pi. 20, figs. 1 and
2.) In No. 8, 61 feet long, the mammaiy 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 pi. 19, fig. 3.)

The male Sulphurbottom has rudimentary mammae of considerable size con-
cealed in slits like those of the female. (PL 20, figs. 3 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. In a
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, £, length 71 ft. 6 in., the
depth of the flukes at the same place was 3 ft. 8 in.; in No. 14, ?, length 77 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 (pi. 15, figs. 1 and 2;
pi. 16, figs. 3 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.

BALJKNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEWFOUNDLAND. LENGTH OF WHALEBONE.

No.

Sex.

Length of Whale.

Length of Longest Whale-
bone.

Inches.

'4

$

77' 2"

28

19

$

74' 6"

24

10

t,

72' 7"

27

i

$

72f 0"

32

9

?

72' o"

23

ii

3

71' 6"

24

20

?

7°' 3"

24

5

<?

68' 3"

32

12

?

66' 6"

2O

22

?

61' 3"

19

24

?

61' 2"

18

Average 24.7 inches.

The length 32 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 33£ inches long, including the part imbedded in the gum, or about 29£ 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 foatal 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 Balaenoptera musculm has been described by Flower (45,
410-414) under the name of Physalus latirosfo-is, and by Reinhardt (75), Van

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 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 (SI).1

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 prernaxillae 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. pJiysaliis
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
dugmdii or tectirostris are applicable to it." The species called B. 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 B. physalus. The nominal species
known as B. duguidii is also identical with B. 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 Balaenoptera musculus [= B. physa-
lus (L.)] in the form of the head, number of vertebras and ribs, proportions of pectoral
fin, and position of dorsal fin."

(2) " It differs from this species [B. physalus (L.)] and agrees with B. sibbaldii
[= B. musculus (X.)] in the size, color, and in structure of the cervical vertebras."

(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 unmoiinted and lying on the
floor of one of the exhibition halls in the Philadelphia Academy. It was nearly
complete, but lacked several caudal vertebrae, the nasal bones, etc. The maxillae
were separated from the cranium.

The first point made by Cope is that the form of the head agrees with B.
physalus rather than with B. musculus. In the course of his description he re-
marks (31) that the maxillae " have the acuminate outline of those of B. musculus
[= B. physalus (L.)] rather than that of B. sibbaldii [= B. musculus (L.)]." As
a fact, exactly the opposite is true. The average breadth 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 maxillae taken
together, without the premaxillce or median interspace, have a breadth at the middle
of 19.2 fe of the length of the skull. With a suitable allowance for the premaxillae

1 For a figure and brief description of this whale see Around the World, Jan., 1894, p. 40.

180 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

and interspace, the breadth of the rostrum is 28.8 %. It is obvious, therefore, that
the rostrum is not acuminate as in B. physalus.

The second point of agreement between the Ocean City whale and B. physalm
pointed out by Cope is in the number of vertebrae and ribs. He gives the follow-
ing formula for the vertebrae: C. 7, D. 15, L. 17, Ca. 23 = 62. So far as the total
number is concerned, this is the average for B. phi/solus, 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 -f- = 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 2f 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 B. 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 B. physalus 4£ 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-
lus 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 :

BAL&NOPTERA. UUSCULUS (L.). OCKAS CITY, N. J., OCTOBER 8, 18M. FEMALE.

Total length along the middle of the body from snout to notch of

flukes '. 66 ft. 2 in.'

Length of pectoral in middle line 8 " 3 " *

1 " To hinder border of the tail," 66 ft. 1 1 in. (Ives.)

'"From shoulder to the tip," 7 ft. 4 in.; "along the lower margin," 8ft. 3 in.; "along the
upper margin," 6 ft. (Ives.)

THE WHAXEBOXE WHALES OF TUX WHKTKkV XOBTH ATLASTIC.

181

Length of pectoral along anterior border 8 ft. 8 in.

" to termination of white

under-surface 8" 3

Greatest breadth of pectoral 2 " 2

Breadth of flakes 14 " 10

Distance from flakes to anus 20" o

Center of anus to center of navel 10" o

Breadth of caudal peduncle at insertion of flakes i " 8

Tip of mandible to corner of month (along the carves) 16 " 10

Corner of mouth to auricular orifice 3" 6

Distance across the head 13" 6

Length of auricular orifice o "' 2}

" the dorsal fin (Ives) i " o

Height of the same (Ives) o" 5

It is an unfortunate fact that no complete reliable account of the osteology of
B. mtixculu* has been published, unless it be that of Malm. His Monographic
il/uztree is not accessible to me. Equally to be regretted is the fact that the meas-
urements given by Flower (4-5), Reinbardt (Jo), 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 B. musculus are summarized by Van Beneden
(7, 260) as follows :

" This species is distinguished from other Balaenopteras 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 vertebrae 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."

JTOCKER OF VHETEBRJBL

The vertebral formulas given by various European authors for B. ntusculus
are as follows :

BALJKSOFTERA JfCSCTXCS (L.V. ECTlOPKASr. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

.-. . ' ' . -

_:•_.- -.-

~ = ••?.

c.

D.

Ca. I Total. I Type at.

Flower

Humber R., England
(Hall Museum)

i»33

7

16 1 -4

.•- 64«

sMaUti

.

Coast of Holland
(Utrecht Museum)

18—

7'

«5

— 4

2--

64'

latirostris

Tomer Longniddry, Scotland

1869
V*

7

7

15
'5

— 4
— 4

I
I

63
63

(mature)
(foetus)

.-' Gothenburg. Sweden : : -

7

•5

IS

26

63

carriiiuf

KDOX North Berwick, Scotland

:-::

7

15

— 4

3* -

65

Mobras Syh Id., Germany ; 1881

7

16

»5

26

64

1 According to Lahille, the formula for both is generally given as 7 -f- 16 + 15 + 26 = 64 ; bat
Gervais says it should be 7 -f- 16 + 13 + 28 = 64,

' * The two skeletons [Hall and Utrecht] agree in possessing sixty-four Tertebrae, both being
in this respect, fortunately complete " (Flower). ' Lnmbars 15 or 16 (Flower, 45, 410).

* Jardine, Nat. Library, Cetacra, has a figure of this skeleton on plate 6. The lumbars appear
to be 16.

182

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

The only two complete formulae are :

C. 7, D. 15, L. 15, Ca. 26 = 63, — Gothenburg.
C. 7, D. 16, L. 15, Ca. 26 = 64,— Kiel.

H. P. Gervais, without explaining how he arrived at the fact, remarks (51, 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
\_J3. 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 foetal 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 formula generate, 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 vertebrae 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 B. musculus the vertebral formula does not
agree as regards number of caudals with \nsformule general*.

Supposing Turner, Flower, Gervais, Malm, and Mobius all to have been correct,
we should have a variation for the European B. musculus, as follows :

(i) C. 7, D. 16, L. 13, Ca. 28 = 64.
(a) C. 7, D. 16, L. 15, Ca. 26 = 64.
(3) C. 7, D. 15, L. 15, Ca. 26 = 63.

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 foetal specimens. The formulae for
these and the Ocean City whale are given below.

It will be remarked that the three formulae from Newfoundland foetuses are

BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

No.

Locality.

Date.

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

I

Balena, Newfoundland

190 1

7

16

'S

27

65

foetus ?

H

* * *i

1901

7

'S

14

28

64

" ?

19

1901

7

15

16

26

64'

" ?

Ocean City, New Jersey

1891

7

15

•4'

24(+4?)

60 (+4?)

1 Positively correct !

1 Perhaps fifteen lumbars should be counted. It is uncertain.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 183

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 foetus, after I had observed
that the formulae 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 generale, 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.1 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. carolince. 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
(i. e., between the fifty -second and fifty-third vertebrae 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 vertebras in
B. musculus are better determined, little reliance can be placed on the formulas 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 formulae 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 30) — 65 (or 66). Burmeister's B. inter-
media, regarded the same as B. muscuhis both by Gervais (51, m. 6) and by Lahille
(63, 35), 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 maxillae 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 :

1 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 NOETH ATLANTIC.

BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). NEW JERSEY AND ICELAND. SKULL.

Measurement.

Ocean City, New Jersey.

Iceland,

Greatest breadth of skull

90 o in

Breadth of the maxillaj at the middle

17 5 "

20 1 "

Length of the rostrum without premaxillse

US S "

HO q "

Breadth of distal end of frontal over the orbit (greatest).

18.0 "

22.5 "

The principal cranial characters of B. mmculus, the broad maxillae 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 pi. 7, fig. 10. In Hunter's Riigen 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 maxillae 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 13.5 % in the Ocean City whale. Other measurements
of the Ocean City whale are as follows :

BAL&NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). OCEAN CITY, N. J., OCTOBER 1891.

Length of skull, straight 14 ft. 7^ in.1

Greatest breadth, squamosal 7 "

Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end o "

Length of rostrum, straight 9 ' 7 J

Breadth of rostrum at middle, curved i "

Length of mandible, straight 15

curved 17

Depth ' at middle. i

Greatest breadth of axis ; 3

Depth of centrum of axis o

Greatest breadth of ist dorsal 2

Depth of centrum of " " o

Greatest breadth of ist lumbar 3

Depth of centrum of " " o

Greatest breadth of i st caudal 3

Depth of centrum of " " i

Greatest breadth of scapula 4 i i '

depth " 2 6

Length of radius, without epiphyses. . 28!'

" " ulna " 2 6 "

Breadth of radius at distal end o 10 '

" ulna " " " , 08'

2

i

i

o

10

10

1 Estimated. Add 8J in. for premaxillae.
3 Least. The greatest is 18 in.

' Without premaxillae. ' The greatest = 34^ in.
' Breadth of maxilla only.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

185

Vertebrae : 7, 15, 14, 24 -f- = 60 +; several lacking. The last present measures
4^" X 4-L" and is 2f " thick antero-posteriorly. Fifteen should perhaps be counted as
lurabars. It is uncertain.

RIBS.1

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 foetuses 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 vertebrae,
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. mus<yulus, 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, pi. 8).

The following table includes measurements of the ribs of various European
specimens and of the Ocean City, New Jersey, skeleton :

BALJENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. RIBS.

Locality.

Length of
Whale.

Length of
Skeleton.

Length of

Author.

ist Rib.

2d Rib.

3d Rib.

6th Rib.

Ostend Belgium.. .

in.
97.6
(= 2. 48 m.)

in.
82.7

( = 2.1 m.)

in.

in.

Dubar

Knox
Flower
M (inter
Mobius
Cope

N. Berwick, Scotland.
Holland

78'
46' ±

46

s°'±

51' 8"
50' o"
66' 2"

49.0

S9-°

Baltic Sea (1862)

40.0

Sylt Id., Germany. . . .
Ocean City N J

43' o"

598

S'-o'

SCAPULA.

The only illustrations of the scapula of the European Sulphurbottom accessible
are Dubar's (34, pi. 10), which is obviously inaccurate, and the figure copied by
Van Beneden and Gervais from Malm's illustrations of " B. Carolines" (8, pis. 12-13,
fig. 33). Outlines of these figures and of one of the scapulae of the Ocean City, N.

1 No 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.
1 Breadth at distal end, 9^ 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 pi. 7, figs. 5 and 6.

FIG. 45.

FIG. 46.

FIG. 47.

FIG. 48.

SCAPULA OF BALMNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.).

FIG. 45.— OSTEND, BELGIUM. AD. S. (FROM DUBAR.) FIG. 46. — SWEDEN. (FROM VAN BENEDEN AND GERVAIS.)

FIG. 47. — BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. AD. (FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.) FIG. 48. — OCEAN CITY,

NEW JERSEY. IM. 9 . (FROM A PHOTOGRAPH.)

These figures show the strongly projecting anterior 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 scapulae
from American specimens, which while agreeing in general form, show differences
in detail.

The dimensions of scapula? 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 acromiou is 16 in.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALJENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA.

187

Scapula.

Locality.

Sex.

Total
Length.

Length of
Skeleton.

Breadth.

Height.

Proportion
of Height
to Breadth.

Author.

Holland

ft. in.
SO +

ft. in.

46 4-

in.
•icr c

in.
2 I O

*
60

Flower

Baltic (1862)

j)

•jg 2c l

2 ? C *

Miinter

North Berwick Scotland

78 o

60

*o*3

^8

6-? ?

Knox.

Gothenburg Sweden

3

ci 7

4.Q 7

64.4.*

Van Beneden

Sylt Germany

?

so o1

43 O

11

20

6/1 A

and Gervais.

9

60 "?

J.2 I

60 o

Balena Station Newfoundland

61

•?8 c

6* i

F W T

Ocean City N J

9

66 2

AQ C

•7Q O

60 6

F VV T

FIG. 49. FIG. 50.

BAL^NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN. STERNUM.

FIG. 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 Sulphurbottona 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
Gothenburg specimen (8, pi. 13, fig. 34) and in Dubar's figure (34, pi. 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 European from the
Newfoundland Sulphurbottom, which has an erect or proximally-directed olecra-
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
in such mature individuals as the Ostend specimen. Gervais's figure of the South
American Sulphurbottom represents the process correctly as cartilage (51, pi. 1,
fig. 3). With the exception mentioned, the figures of the arm-bones of European
Sulphurbottoms agree well with those of the Ocean City, N. J., and Newfoundland
specimens shown in pi. 7, figs. 7-9.

The following actual measurements of the arm-bones are given by various
authors :

Rheinland measure.

1 From Van Beneden and Gervais's copy of Malm's figure.

1 88 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALJENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. UPPER ARM-BONES.

Radius.

Ulna.

Locality.

Length
of Whale.

Length of
Skeleton.

Length.

Breadth
at Prox.
End.

Breadth
at Distal
End.

Length.

Breadth
at Prox.
End.

Breadth
at Distal
End.

Author.

Holland

ft. in.

5° +

ft. in.
46 +

in.
27.0

in.

6.0

in.
7-5

in.
25.0

in.
7.0

in.
S-S

Flower

Baltic (1862)

qi 8

28 6

7 7

6 2

Munter

N Berwick Scotland

78 o

46 O

Knox

Gothenburg, Sweden
Sylt Id Germany

S1 7

^o o 4

49 7

43 O

29.1'

7-5

8-7

27.22

7-7 3

6.8

Malm
Mobius

48 o

48 o

q -,"

Dubar

Ocean City N J

66 2

12 e.

10 o

^4 •;'

q ,'

y-o

8 o

F W T

42 o"

•IS

o 21;

F W T.

PHALANGES.

The number of phalanges in the European specimens of B. musculus de-
scribed by various authors is as follows :

BAL^NOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN. PHALANGES.

Locality.

Author.

Length.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

Remarks.

Gothenburg

Malm

51' 7"

4

7

7

•?

Uncertain *

Ostend

Dubar

8s' o' +

A

7

6

Iceland

Reinhardt

4.

6

6

Weber

A

6

6

i

foetus 2 27 m

Humber River... .
Coast of Holland.

Flower

H

50' o"

50' o" ±

4
4

6

5

5

5

3
3

Uncertain. 10

The Ocean City whale had the following formula, according to Cope (31) : 4,
6, 5, 3. The phalanges in a Newfoundland foetus (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.

" Behind," incl. olecranon, which is 6.9 in.

* From Dubar's figure.

' Including olecranon.
" In front " = 25 in. ' From a photograph.

9 Including breadth of olecranon, which is 2.2 in. ' Exclusive of olecranon, which is about 7 in.
4 German measure. ' " De likaledes fullstandiga fingrarna." 10 " Artificially articulated."

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 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 ^peci-
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 vertebrae and ribs, general
shape and size of the individual bones of the skull, shape of the scapula, etc., 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 B. musculus (L.).

THE REPRESENTATIVE OF B. MUSCULUS (L.) 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 Tunnolik 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 lunnolik stranded at Grodhavn, August 12, 1843, which account he obtained
from H. P. C. Moller who examined the specimen. Moller's description contains
the following data :

Body more elongate than iu Balaina mysticetus, Megaptera longimana, or
Balcenoptera 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 mammae, 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 Holler one of the pectoral fins, of which he gives
a description and figure (36, 379). 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 ^ the total length of the whale.

Holler's measurements of the exterior were as follows :

Ft. In.

From tip of mandible to notch of flukes (straight) 68 o

" " " " genitalia 46 o

" " "navel 36 o

From notch of flukes to dorsal fin 14 o

" " " middle of genital slit 20 6

" mammae , 21 6

" " " "navel 36 o

" pectorals 42 o

From genital slit to navel 15 o

" " " " swollen part of body 12 o

Length of genital slit i 6

Distance between fore part of pectorals i o

mammae i 7

Length of pectorals 7 6 '

Greatest breadth of pectorals 3 4

Distance between outermost points of flukes 16 o

Flukes from notch to root 3 6

Length of largest baleen (about) 4 o

Breadth of largest baleen i ft. i in. to i 2

Height of dorsal fin o 4

While considering that the identity of this specimen could not be positively
determined, Eschricht, with his usual sagacity, reached the conclusion that it was
probably the .same as the celebrated Ostend specimen. In this he was entirely
justified. The Ostend specimen is now known to have been a Sulphurbottom, £.
musculus (L.).

Holler's measurements, reduced to percentages of the total length and compared
with the average of the ten Newfoundland females of B. musculus, measured by
myself, are as follows :

'The pectoral preserved in the Copenhagen Museum measures n£ ft.- — ESCHRICHT.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BALJENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). GREENLAND AND NEWFOUNDLAND.

191

Measurement.

Godhavn,
Greenland.

10 Newfoundland
Females.
Average.

Total length

68"

Snout to posterior base of dorsal

?8 9 %

(c\ 77 2 'it

Notch of flukes to clitoris

•20 O *

Length of pectoral from axilla

TT-?

" head of humerus

16 o

It 4.

Greatest breadth of pectoral

5 °

4n

Height of dorsal

o 5

1

The correspondence between these measurements is sufficient to show that the
Greenland specimen is at least very close to the Newfoundland Sulphurbottom, if
not identical with it, which probability is strengthened by many points in Holler's
description. The chief differences shown here and in the other data given by
Moller are : (1) the dorsal fin is lower ; (2) the color is black.

Regarding these points it may be said, first, that in view of Eschricht's remarks
regarding the dorsal fin, it is uncertain whether Moller measured the height in the
same manner as myself; second, Holler's specimen had been dead three days when
he saw it and perhaps much longer, so that it is quite natural it should be described
as black. It is to be noted that the parts protected from the light are described as
gray.

The case of this Greenland specimen (and the species it represents) remains,
therefore, substantially as Eschricht left it, namely, with a very strong probability
that it was identical with B. musculus (L.), but with positive determination impos-
sible from lack of more extended data.

1 This length is from the tip of the mandible to the notch of the flukes. In computing the
percentages here and on p. 159, eighteen inches were subtracted for the overhang of the lower jaw.
J To the middle of the genital orifice.

CHAPTER VI.

THE LITTLE PIKED WHALE, BAL^ENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAc6pfcDE.

Sars's diagnosis of this species is as follows :

1. Length of full-grown individuals 20 to 30 feet. (Maximum 36 feet — Van
Beneden.)

2. Body less slender than in the other species of the genus, the greatest depth
equalling 4- the length ; behind the navel gradually narrower ; tail with a rather
high crest above and below.

3. Color above and on the sides of the lower jaw gray -black ; below white ;
dark color of the back descending obliquely behind the pectoral fins and occupying
the greater part of the tail.

4. Length of the mouth exceeding ^ the total length ; upper jaw seen from
above, becoming attenuated rapidly from the base, with the extremity acute, pale

gray-

5. Pectoral fins small, scarcely exceeding •£• the total length, lanceolate, forming
an obtuse angle posteriorly at about the middle of the length; the middle of the
external surface with a broad transverse band of pure white, sharply defined
proximally, less so distally ; base and tip black.

6. Dorsal fin quite high, with the tip strongly curved backward, like a horn.
It lies quite far forward with the anterior insertion at the commencement of the
last third of the total length, and in advance of a vertical line drawn through the
anus.

7. Flukes below whitish, with irregular dark markings.

8. Baleen entirely yellowish-white (79, 15).

Plate 1 accompanying Sars's memoir represents a female 14^ ft. long, captured
near Christiania, Norway, September, 1878. The original drawing was by Sars.
It is an admirable figure in every respect, and corresponds exactly with the fore-
going diagnosis.

Dr. Collett added the following characters in the diagnosis of the species given
by him in 1886 : " Number of plates [of baleen] about 325 ; their greatest length
about 200 mm., not including the bristles." " Inner side [of the flippers] quite
white " (21, 264). Bocourt's figure of the Bretagne specimen (49, pi. 3), which is
in most respects very satisfactory, shows a broader white band on the under surface
of the pectoral than on the upper surface, with the margins nearly as well defined.

As I am acquainted with but three specimens from the east coast of the
United States which may be supposed to represent £. acuto-rostrata, I am unable
to speak with any great degree of confidence regarding the matter of identity in
this case. The three specimens referred to are as follows :

192

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

193

(1) A skeleton 16 ft. 54 in. long from off Monomoy Pt. Lighthouse, Harwich-
port, Massachusetts, in the U. S. National Museum. (No. 20931, from the U. S.
Fish Commission, 1883.)

(2) Measurements, description, and sketches of a female, 15 ft. 4 in., entangled
in the nets of the fishermen near Portland, Maine, in July, 1893, and exhibited in
that city. I owe the data relating to this specimen to Joseph P. Thompson, Esq.,
Vice-President of the Portland Society of Natural History.

(3) Two photographs of a female, 22 ft. 8 in. long, captured near Quoddy
Head Life-saving Station, Maine, Sept. 6, 1889, and reported to the Smithsonian
Institution by Capt. A. H. Myers, keeper of the station.

An imperfect skull was dredged up near Pigeon Cove, Mass., in 1881, and
sent to the National Museum, by Mr. Wm. H. Jackson. It is not now accessible.
(No. 23025.)

The sketch of the exterior of the Portland specimen (text fig. 51) shows that

FIG. 51.

FIG. 52.

BALJENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. PORTLAND, MAINE.

FIG. 51.— FEMALE, LENGTH 15 FT. 4 IN. FIG. 52.— LEFT PECTORAL FIN OF THE SAME. EXTERNAL SURFACE.

(FROM SKETCHES BY JOSEPH P. THOMPSON, ESQ.)

it corresponds with the diagnosis of B. acuto-rostrata as regards the general form, and
in the form of the dorsal and pectoral fins. The color markings on the external face
of the pectoral fin are exactly as in that species, as is shown by Mr. Thompson's
excellent figure (text fig. 52). His notes on this specimen are as follows: "The
color of the body was an ashy black above, passing into a pure white on the belly,
without any distinct demarkations ; nor was there any apparent lateral line. The
blowhole was in a sunken cavity. The eye was very near the corner of the mouth.
The number of longitudinal furrows could not be accurately counted, though they
were very strongly marked, of a pinkish color within the folds, and white without.
The baleen was of a pinkish brown at the bases of the plates and fading in color

194

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

to a dirty white at the free, fringed extremities. The snout was quite pointed and
evidently the upper jaw when closed fitted into a deep groove in the lower, which
was considerably longer and projected beyond the upper." The colors of the body
and of the whalebone are those of B. acuto-rostrata.

Mr. Thompson made the following measurements on the Portland specimen :

Total length, end of snout to forking of the flukes 15 ft. 4 in.

Approximate girth at deepest point (this could not be accurately taken). 9 " o "

Pectoral fin (left side), length 2 " 2 "

" greatest width o " 7 "

1 distant from corner of mouth 2 " i ''

Dorsal fin, length obliquely i " o "

' height approximately o " 8 "

' distant from fork of flukes 5 " i '

Caudal fin, extreme width, point to point 4 ' 2 "

" from fork to anus 4 ' 3 "

End of snout to spiracles 2 ' 6 "

" " " " corner of mouth (upper jaw) 2 ' 8 "

" (lower jaw) 3 ' 3 "

While these measurements show a reasonably close approximation to those of
B. acuto-rostrata given by various European authors, the latter unfortunately pre-
sent so little uniformity among themselves that they are hardly available for the
discrimination of closely allied species. The measurements of ten specimens from
the coasts of France and Great Britain, and those for the Portland specimen and
the New York specimen cited by DeKay in 1842 (32, 130), are given below. For
convenience of comparison they are all reduced to percentages of the total length.

BALMNOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN.

CO

1

1

1

•i

1

|

00

CO

oo

L

1-

"2

s™

H

CO ^

•a"

N

1"

'!•

j« °2

8 > i
S3'5

g£

U 00

•3 8

H oo

||

go?
B w
2 *-'

"SS

« —

41

o oo

|ft

iff

O u"

£ s e

tJ T*

=jr

*|"

[i,.-

U u

C ,

2 i-T

w) ^

CO .

S J

w S

xS|

31

*ii £

^ C

-/. =

.'C

*c

>^ 0

'H

li

113

8,u"

4> ;-

C """'

OS
fe©

§E

»5

o U

ffl

scu

}1

> "
•

|pi

2
O

V

|

V

H

^

£ §

>,

h

S

K

o^^
PH

S

ft

1

B

>

a

Sex and age

Sad.

^ a.lol.

$

Sjr.

9 jr.

9

9jr

Jr-

jr.

9?

9?

Total length

28' 4"'

24' 6"

21' 8'

17' 6"

17' o'

14 o 4

13 »"

13' 5 "'

II XI

9 ir"

i8'o"

15 4

t

%

t

,<

%

K

„

f

f

<

«

<

Tip upper jaw to eye

20 o

21 J

TC q

" " " " blowhole

13.3

....

17.1

(14.2)

13.6

13-5

" " " " pectoral

28 6

/oo T)

27 8

27 7

" ** ** " back of dorsal

70.0

74.6

(78.6)

(72.6)

(68.9)

74-8

71-5

66.9

Tip lower jaw to corner mouth.

16.5

(20.7)

....

17.6

....

19-5?

21.2

" " navel

50 o

Length of pectoral (from axilla ?

I5-35

9-3

....

H. 5

14.7

14-3

12. 35

(14.8)

12.7

12.6s

II. 6

I4.I

Greatest breadth of pectoral. . . .

3 83

3 °

T 6

^ i

T 8

Height of dorsal

a c

4 T

7 i

6 o

Flukes from tip to tip

26.08

25.5

29.4

I8.26

27.6

21.0

27-3

26.4

27.2

1 Straight, to posterior margin of flukes.

*Ant. border, curved. (From axilla, straight = 9.3$.)

1 Straight.

4 French measure.

•Length " external to integuments."

6 This measurement must be erroneous.

' To " extremity of tail," straight ; along curve of

back = 13' 8J".
8 Length of " inner side."

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 *IQfo 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.1

All that can be learned from the foregoing table is that the proportions of the
European and American specimens show an approximate agreement.8

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 JB. acuto-
rostrata. They show also that the center of the pectoral fin above and the center

1 It is also to be observed that their figure of the exterior, stated to be " made to the scale of
i 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.

6

2

7

18 o

O

2i

I

I

I

o

Qi

o

IO

I

i*

2

4

7

2

2

O

I-i 8

I

6

IO-4

2

4

O

IO

O,

o

I

5

O

7

4.O

O

7

O

ii

3

8

I

2

8 o

4

2

28 7

5

7

3

2

2

II

7

3

71 8

Blowholes situated 2 in. in front of a perpendicular line from the eye.
Ear situated just above a line drawn from the eye to the pectoral fin.
Number of abdominal folds, 50.
Baleen pure white, 7 in. long.

196 'THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLAOSTTIC.

of the flukes below are white. The under surface of the body is also white,
and the baleen is light-colored. The gular folds are about 60 in number, as in
B. acuto-rosPrata.

The photographs agree well with the figure of B. acuto-rostrata (also from a
photograph) published by Sir Wm. Turner (92, 41, fig. 1), though the latter is un-
fortunately rather indistinct. The outward curve of the gular folds at the pos-
terior end is, however, well shown in both. Sir Wm. Turner states that in the
Granton specimen the white area of the upper surface of the pectoral was inter-
spersed with black blotches (92, 49). This would appear to have been the case
with the Quoddy Head specimen, but the photograph is unfortunately taken from
such a point of view that the upper surface of the pectoral cannot be well seen.
In Bocourt's figure the white is unspotted.

SIZE.

The maximum size of B. acuto-rostrata is given by various authors as 36 feet,
but I am not certain that this rests on actual measurements of specimens. Esch-
richt states that the Vaagehval may bear young when 23 ft. (Rheinland) long, and
is certainly full-grown when 27 to 29 ft. long (37, 170), and again that the
mature individuals, 24 to 29 or 30 ft. long, taken at the station near Bergen are as
a rule pregnant. The largest with which he was acquainted was the one stranded
in the Weser River, Germany, in 1669, which was 26f ft. long (Rheinland measure
= 27 ft. 5-s^ in., Eng.), and Lesson's specimen found at the mouth of the Charente
River, France, in 1835, which was 7.48 m., or 24 ft. 6 in. (Eug.) long. Turner's
Granton, Scotland, female was 28 ft. 4 in. long, and appears to be, therefore, the
largest recorded specimen. This was measured to the posterior margin of the
flukes.

No full-grown American specimens have been recorded.

OSTEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS.

The data for the comparison of osteological characters are fuller and more
satisfactory. Van Beneden and Gervais (5), Van Bambeke (1), Carte and Mac-
alister (14), and other writers have given detailed descriptions of the skeletons of
European specimens of B. acuto-rostrata, and Sir William Turner has published
(92, 68) an admirable table of measurements of five skulls preserved in the Museum
of the University of Edinburgh, and has corrected errors in the observations of
earlier writers regarding these same specimens.

SKULL.

In comparing the dimensions of the skull of the Massachusetts specimen with
those of European specimens, we have been able to make use of Turner's table and
also to personally measure a skull (No. 13877) belonging to a skeleton in the Na-
tional Museum, from the coast of Norway. These measurements, with others, I
have reduced to percentages of the total length, and brought together with those
of the Massachusetts specimen, similarly treated, in the following table:

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOBTH ATLANTIC.

BALMKOPTERA ACVTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKULL.

197

•4-

• 00

*O H O

ajl &
-S MOO
o ** M

*&

133

jj°-g

a S.S
OO*

CO b£

•o"^-—

C ri

•Z'-ag

Sw »
in1** if

«- E

.2- 3

3Db

Elie, Scotland, 1870.
Univ. of Edinburgh.
(Turner, 1892.)

Burntisland, Scotland, 1870.
Do.
Do.

Dunbar, Scotland. 1871.
Do.
Do.

Granton, Scotland, 1888.
Do.
Do.

Bergen, Norway.
Upsala Univ. Mus.
(Lilljeborg, 1862.)

Greenland.
British Museum.
(Gray, 1846.)

'(-.
*x

^

&

i "
|?

m~

O . j.

c-u 2.

^ n oo

=<=-

y^ fa
0 «Q

-job

St. Paul Id., Alaska.
C. H. Townsend.
(61715, U. S. N. M.)

Puget Sound, Wash.
Type of B. davidsoni.
(12177, U. S. N. M.)

Coast of Norway.
(13877, U. S. N. M.)

$ jr.

jr-

$ jr.

8

S?

9. ad.

jr.

ad.5

9 ad.'

ad.5

Q I I

18'

18'

3° ±

28' 4°

23'o"»

Length of skull (condylo-premax-
illary straight)

32"

40"

44J"1

46"'

7iV

TO"

62i"2

49" "

43*'

48"

61.25'

6I.S"

60. s'

62 5

62.5

60 7

60.0

67 **

67 8

65.2

62 o3

61.5

62.5

62.0'

6l.8

60 8

67 2

60.4

68 o

7O I

72 7

7-5 2

70.1

68 7

64 6

6q .4

71 V

72 81

74 8'

75-7

71.9

75.91

71 6

75 2

From ant. border foramen mag.

102.5

103.2'

103.2'

105 o1

106 4

104.6

IO2. I1

104. i

IO4 I

Ditto to upper border of occiput. . .

28.1

28.1

28.3

26.2

27. i

29.3

25.3

27.6

28.1

Greatest breadth of skull

50.0

31 Q

5L7
32 6

50.0
•20 =;

54.6

•2-J Q

55-4

32 Q

56.6
33.6

oi g

51.1
32.2

14 44

54-7
•32 7

57-3

-1C o

57-2

33 Q

21 q

25.6

22.5

21.8

23 . I

24.3

21.2

20.4

19.8

i8.84

17. Q

20.7

2O.7

" " " " orbital borders

46 Q

45 -°

44 -O

45.6

SO.?

51 .O

44. Q

44.3

5O.O

53 .3

52.1

Greatest breadth of maxilla behind
base of beak
Greatest breadth between outer bor-

45.3

I I Q

41.6
II 8

IO Q

49-7

J-3-5

49-3
n 6

45-0
11.3

48.2

1-2.4.

ie 4

50.4
13 6

Greatest breadth between inner bor-
ders of both premaxillae

7.8

IO.O

IO.I

8.7

10.5

IO.O

9-9

9.8

10.6

Q.I

25.0

20.2

27.7

2Q . 4

30.0

Length of mandible (straight)
along outer
surface

93.8
98.4

99-4
103.7

96.6
103.4

98.9
106.5

100.7
108.0

101.4
109.3

I05.O

97-7
103.4

97-9

IOO.O

IOQ.O

IO.2

8.7

IO.7

9.8

10.5

9-3

9.9

" ' l * ' " coronoid . . .

13-3

c e

12-5

c 6

I2.3
c i

12-5
4. 3

12.9

S 6

12.8
c 4

12.6

5.7

12.5

13.1

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.

8 From Zool. Erebus and Terror, p. 50 ; 2.4" added for premaxillse. In P. 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 T6^ of an inch ; (2) a slight excess in
the height of the occiput, amounting to -fa 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. S. National Museum (No. 13877), and such figures as are found
in the literature. The Massachusetts skull and the Norwegian one are figured on
pis. 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 maxillae 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 (12, pi. 1, fig. 1 ; pi.
2, fig. 1) are on the whole the most satisfactory. Eschricht's figures (57, pi. 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), Capelliui (12), 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 in accord. 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 gleuoid 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 WESTEBN 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. Eschricht's figures (37, pi. 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, maxillse, etc. — Capel-
Hni'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 36th 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 1st small, 1-J- 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 WESTEBN NORTH ATLANTIC.

The description of Van Beneden and Gervais in the Osteographie (5, 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 £. 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 3d 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 vertebrae, 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 vertebrae. The majority of European
specimens have been found to have 48 vertebrae, 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 ATLANTIC.

201

BALJENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

Locality.

Sex
and
Age.

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

Authority.

Norway

7

1 1

12

18

-8

Eschricht ]

(Normal)

7

ii

t«

17

48

(Bergen Mus.)

( " " )

46

7

1 1

12

18

48

North Cape

4.7

(Cambridge Mus.)

7

1 1

12

17 4-

47-1-

Cherbourg, France

46 (4- >)

Greenland

7

ii

12

7

ii

12

(Breslau Mus.)

48

$

7

ii

ia

IQ

en

$

7

ii

T*

IS 4-

46 -1-

Cromer, England.

$

7

ii

12

20

4Q

7

ii

12

18

48

Bergen, Norway

$ }r

7

ii

12

18

48

Malm

7

ii

!•

ic (~l~ i or 2)

46 (-1- I or 2)

5

7

ii

iq

16

7

ii

12

18

48

Mass. (20931, U. S. N. M.) .

7

II

12

18

Is'

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 Balcenoptem, 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) :

" In all the foetuses of the Vaagehval examined by me, I found, 48 vertebrae, of
which 7 were cervicals, 11 dorsals, 12 lumbars, and 18 caudals; furthermore, this
was exactly the number of vertebrae 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. 304) as well as that sent
from the west coast of Jylland in 1841 ( Videns. Sets. Skr., 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. Kroyer'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.

BALjENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. NUMBER OF CHEVRONS.

Locality.

Number.

Authority.

Drogheda, Ireland

8

Carte and Macalister

Bergen Norway

8

Malm

X ft

* t

Coast of Norway

< t

Cromer England

Flower

Granton, Scotland

Turner.

Harwichport, Mass., No. 200-? i .

. o .

F. W. T.

" In all the foetuses of the Vaagchval examined by me, I found 48 vertebrae." — ESCHRICHT.
9 Should probably add one for penultimate caudal.

202

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

For a comparison of the proportions of the vertebrae 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
vertebrae and of other parts of the skeleton :

BAL&NOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKELETON.

Granton, Scotland.
Edinburgh University.
(Turner, 1892.)

TJ
a

rt ^

1° 3
& V

o> <u

Is'!

u"2b

a

V

J?

It--

l'| y

* °

111

«Dd

S

z

c/3

tt»

$^
Is
1 «

Norway.
Carol. Inst., Stockholm.
(Malm, 1869.)

Drogheda, Ireland.
1863.
(Carte and Macalister, 1867.)

Harwichport, Mass.
20931, U. S. N. M.

$ ad

$ ad

ad

ir

? ir

ir.

Total length of whale

28' A"

iV ii*

" skeleton

24' 4"

2V O'4

17' 7*

i6'a*

Length of skull, straight

70"

6s" s

62.S' 4

60 s"

48 8"

M"

47 e»

Greatest breadth, axis

%

28 9a

%

26 2 3

if

26 83

K

26 8"

%

%

20 o9

*

2A. 7

Depth centrum,

e •}'

6 ^

Greatest breadth, ist dorsal

26 4

22 4

Depth centrum, " "

SA

e 8'

6 ?

Greatest breadth, ist lumbar

A I A

•in 2

•2 7 O

Depth centrum, " "

7.c

7 ^

Greatest breadth, ist caudal

2A 7

28 2

2^ "?

Depth centrum, " "

ro o

n e'

8 7

Greatest length sternum

27 O

22 1

22 8

24 O

Id. 4

" breadth "

I 2 O

1 C A

1 ? 2

12 8

in 7

scapula

J.2 O

40 8

T7 6

•an 8

^i 8

1 1 O

depth,

22 O

271

22 4

22 8

20 ^

2O 7

Length of radius

26 A

2J. 6

27 2

24 O8

22 Q

2 "? O

2? 7

" ulna

2C.7 +

24.4

21. Q8

IQ 6

23.6

In the foregoing table it will be seen that on account of difference of age only
Carte and Macalister's specimen is comparable with the Massachusetts skeleton.
Of the former, the measurements which can be used are, unfortunately, very few,
and these few do not all show agreement. The most notable discrepancy is in the
length of the radius and ulna. Carte and Macalister do not explain whether the

1 Condylo-premaxillary.

* Atlas = 19.2 <fa.

* To condyles.

4 Swedish measure. In straight line.
' Atlas = 18.7 #.

5 Posterior median.

7 Anterior.

' With proximal epiphysis.

' Atlas.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

203

epiphyses were included in the measurement, and the importance of the difference
cannot, therefore, be determined. Capellini's figure and measurements (which are
not precisely stated) appear to show that the length of the radius, with the epiphysis,
was between 21.4$ and 21.8$ of the length of the skull in that specimen.

SCAPULA.

The scapula of B. acuto-rostrata is not especially characteristic. It presents
almost the same outlines as those of the scapula of B. musculus (L.), though of
course it is much smaller. The posterior portion of the superior margin is some-
what more sharply bent downward than in B. musculus, and the acromion is long
and somewhat recurved at the tip. Carte and Macalister's specimen from Dro-
gheda, Ireland, is the only one young enough for comparison with the Massachusetts
skeleton. In the former the breadth of the scapula is 31.8% the length of the
skull, and its depth 20.3 %, while in the latter the breadth is 33.9 % and the depth
20.7 %.

FIG. 53.

FIG. 54.

FIG. 55. FIG. 56.

BALMNOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA.

FIG. 53. — NORWAY. AD. (FROM ESCHRICHT.) FIG. 54. — HARWICHPORT, MASS. IM. (FROM A PHOTO.) FIG.
55. — NORWAY. AD. (FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 56. — NORWAY. (FROM VAN BENEDEN AND GERVAIS.)

If the various specimens in the foregoing table (p. 202) are arranged according
to the length of the skull, it will be seen that the percentage of the breadth of the
scapula rises as the size of the skull increases. This is, of course, to be expected,
but it prevents direct comparison of young with adult specimens. The percentages
are as follows :

204

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

BAL.JKNOPTEKA ACUTO-BOSTBATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA.

Locality.

Length of Skull
in Inches.

Percentage of Breadth
of Scapula.

Percentage of Depth
of Scapula,

Drogheda Ireland

37 o

Ti 8

20 1

Mass. (U S N M )

4"? 5

•2-5 Q

20 7

Norway (U. S. N. M.). . .
u

60.5
62.5

39-8

37 6

22.8
22 d.

6s o

40 8

21 T

Granton Scotland

70. o

4.2 Q

^O'1
22 O

The Norwegian skeleton in the National Museum is the only one which
breaks the regular gradation.

The scapula of B. acuto-rostrata, appears to have been seldom figured. Esch-
richt's figure, copied above, is not very satisfactory, and the figure in the Oste'o-
graphie appears distorted. Outlines of these figures and of the scapulae of the
Massachusetts and Norway specimens in the National Museum are shown in text
figs. 53 to 56. The scapulae of the last two are also figured on pi. 27, figs. 3 and 4.

In respect of number of phalanges the skeletons preserved in museums are
usually defective, and no accurate comparisons can be made. The numbers derived
from examination of foetal specimens are far more satisfactory, but the two series
are, of course, hardly comparable. The enumerations of various cetologists for B.
acuto-rostrata are as follows :

BALMNOPTERA ACUTO-BOSTBATA LAC. EUROPEAN. PHALANGES.

Locality.

Age.

Phalanges.

Authority.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

Bergen Norway

Ad.

4
3

4

4(+0
4

4

3(4)

7
7
6
8
8
9
9
7
7

6
6

5

7
7
8

7 (8)
6
6

3
3
3

A+ ?)
4
4
3
3

Lilljeborg

u

Fischer
Malm

14

Kiikenthal
«

Eschricht
Weber

it u

(t «t

u u

Jy-

Embryo

M

u u

For the skeleton from the coast of Massachusetts, No. 20931, which is that of a
young animal, the formula is as follows : Left, 3. 6. 6. 0 +. ; right, 2 +. 7. 5 (+!)• 1 +.

STERNUM.

The sternum of the Massachusetts skeleton has not at all the Latin-cross form
characteristic of adult specimens of JB. acuto-rostrata, but it represents, doubtless,
an immature stage leading up to that form. The anterior moiety is short and
broad, with a rounded contour ; on each side is a tubercle, or rudimentary arm ;

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

205

and behind is a narrow, and rather irregularly cylindrical prolongation. (See pi. 27,
fig. 6 and text fig. 63.)

Bambeke figures a quite similar sternum belonging to the skeleton in the
Museum at Gand, which he describes as shaped like " a nail, with a conical head "
(1, 61). Carte and Macalister's figure of the sternum of the Drogheda, Ireland,

FIG. 58.

FIG. 59.

FIG. 60.

FIG. 61.

FIG. 62.

FIG. 63.

FIG. 64.

FIG. 65.

FIG. 66.

BALJENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. STEBNUM.

FIG. 57. — NORWAY. AD. (FROM GERVAIS.) FIG. 58. — CROMER, ENG. AD. j. (FROM FLOWER.) FIG. 59. —
BOULOGNE, FRANCE. AD.? (FROM FISCHER.) FIG. 60. — NORWAY. AD. (FROM PHOTO.) FIG. 61. — NORWAY?
(FROM ESCHRICHT.) FIG. 62.— GREENLAND. IM. ? (FROM ESCHRICHT.) FIG. 63. — HARWICHPORT, MASS. IM.
(FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 64. — BELGIUM. JR. (FROM VAN BAMBEKE.) FIG. 65. — DROGHEDA, IRELAND. JR. 9.
(FROM CARTE AND MACALISTER.) FIG. 66.— BRETAGNE, FRANCE. JR. (FROM GRATIOLET.)

specimen (14, pi- 6, fig. 1) shows it to be elongated heart-shape, with a posterior
prolongation. This form is totally unlike that of any other specimen of the species
hitherto figured, except the Bretagne specimen cited by Fischer (44, 87, pi. 3, fig.
1). In the latter the sternum consists of an oblong ossified central portion sur-
rounded by a somewhat cruciform cartilaginous portion. The osseous part bears a
resemblance to the sternum of the Drogheda specimen. (See text figs. 57-66.)

206 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

As the sternum is to be regarded partially in the light of a rudimentary organ,
it is not surprising that it varies widely, like all other rudimentary parts. In
adults, however, the variation appears to be less than in other species of Balcenop-
tera. Little stress can be laid upon the form of the sternum of the Massachusetts
specimen from a systematic point of view, as there are no other American specimens
with which to compare it, and it is not from an adult.

The scale of Eschricht's figures, copied above, appears to have been incorrectly
given by him.

As I remarked at the beginning of this chapter, the American material at
command is so meagre as to be unsatisfactory for the solution of the questions
issue. Nevertheless, I think the remarkable correspondence between the careful
measurements of Sir Wm. Turner on the Scotch skulls, and my measurements of
the skull from the coast of Massachusetts, is a sufficient proof of the identity of the
latter specimen with B. acuto-rosfcata. It is my opinion that the lack of corre-
spondence in other particulars between the American specimens and those from
European waters is due partly to inaccuracies in descriptions, measurements, and
drawings, and partly to age and individual variation.

Regarding the identity of Greenland specimens with those from the United
States, I am unable to offer any new proof, not having had any material from the
former locality. The opinions of those who have compared Greenland and Euro-
pean specimens in the various European museums are cited below.

OPINIONS OF EUROPEAN CETOLOGISTS REGARDING EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN SPECI-
MENS OF B. ACUTO-ROSTRATA.

Lac6pede (1803-4) treats Fabricius's Greenland B. rostrata and Hunter's North
Sea specimen as one and the same species, but without critical remarks. It was
not long afterward that the species itself all but dropped from view on account of
Cuvier's destructive criticism of the species of Finback whales.

In 1840 and the years immediately succeeding, Eschricht received three skele-
tons of immature females of the small whalebone whale of Greenland (the first of
their kind to arrive in Europe), and as he already had a skeleton of a VaageJival
from the coast of Norway, he was in a position to institute comparisons of value.
He appears at first to have regarded the Greenland species as distinct, but in his
Untersuchungen (1849) he withdraws this opinion in favor of the view that it is
the same as the European acuto-rostrata, specifically if not subspecifically. He
remarks : " In consequence of the new light on the subject, I must, at all events,
confine myself to the view that the Greenland and Norwegian dwarf-whales appear
to show the same subordinate mutual variations which are found in many species
of land-animals in their varied geographical distribution " (p. 174).

This remark leads the way to considerations of the most fundamental im-
portance from a taxonomic point of view. Many such minor geographical varia-
tions as those alluded to by Eschricht are at this day commonly recognized as
species and subspecies. That they exist among whales as among land animals is

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 207

very probable, but on account of the great amount of individual variation among
cetaceans it would be an almost hopeless task to recognize and characterize them
without a wealth of material which no museum in the world possesses to-day.
To bring together a hundred or a thousand specimens of mice or sparrows side by
side for comparison is an easy task, but to accomplish the same for the huge whale-
bone whales is almost beyond the bounds of possibility. To say nothing of me-
chanical difficulties, the expense involved would be prohibitive.

The most that the cetologist can hope to do is by collating notes upon, and
measurements, photographs, and drawings of, such specimens as can be found at the
whaling stations and in museums, to detect constant differences of considerable
magnitude. These differences will form the basis of his species. Beyond this he
can scarcely go, with any feeling of certainty.

The importance of the bearing of these considerations on the questions of
geographical distribution cannot be ignored, and it may be thought that they impair
the usefulness of the present inquiry, for it is a well-known fact that among
migratory species groups of individuals presenting but slight differences may follow
quite different routes of migration and occupy quite widely separated stations.

There is no doubt much force in criticism along this line, and it should put the
cetologist on his guard against relying too' implicitly upon the results of the rather
crude methods which alone are open to him in systematic work. Nevertheless,
conclusions as to geographical distribution based on such results, carefully worked
out, must certainly have more value than opinions formed on a priori grounds, with-
out actual examination of specimens, of which cetology has not been free in times
past. Furthermore, examination of even a small number of specimens may lead to
the detection of large differences, and so put the question of close relationship out
of court.

The differences between the Greenland and Norwegian skeletons of B. acuto-
rostrata which Eschricht finally thought might be of importance were as fol-
lows : (1) A slight difference in the position of the dorsal fin, amounting to -fa the
total length, as shown in a sketch received by him ; (2) union of the lateral
processes of the 5th and 6th cervical vertebrae in the immature skeletons from
Greenland, a condition not found by him in Norwegian specimens of more
advanced age ; (3) the coronoid process of the mandible " higher, smaller, and
more strongly bent outward " in the Greenland skeletons ; and (4) absence of
obliquity of the upper jaw in the latter.

As to the first point, the position of the dorsal fin, it may be said that a
variation of -fa of the total length, amounting actually in the case of the Greenland
specimen to about 4 inches, is not greater than is found in other species of Balcenop-
Ura. In this particular case, however, it is quite as likely that the sketch was
slightly inaccurate, as that the variation actually existed. At all events, no stress
can be laid on this point under the circumstances.

The second point brought forward by Eschricht as possibly serving to dis-
tinguish the Greenland species was that the specimens though immature and only
about 17 or 18 feet long, had the processes of the 5th and 6th cervicals united,

208

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

forming complete bony rings, a condition not found in the Norwegian VaageJival.
Van Beneden (8, 161) brought together some facts tending to snow that this was
not a matter of importance from a systematic point of view. His observations on
the condition of the lateral processes of the cervicals in various specimens, with
those quoted from Eschricht, Flower, and Gray, are as follows :

BALJEtfOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAO. GREENLAND AND EUROPE. CERVICAL VERTEBRA.

Vertebra.

Greenland.

Louvain Museum.

I

T3 i

]

fj

o :-

c

bi

i §
i]

5 *>.

15

11

55

Greenland.

SB

I*

i

: -c

If

M

1

£ •

£S

*\

•;

Adolescent.

Cromer, England.
\r,,~ r-,01 c —

n

j *-*
in •*•
; »n

0 N

3 •£*

3 tio

1

1 >->

3

Yarmouth, England.

CH

£H

OO

M

J3

3;

3

L.

R.

L.

R.

L.

R.

L.

R.

L.

R.

L.

R.

x

X

x

x

?

x

?

x

x

x

x

x

?th cervical

_

_

x

x

_

_

_

_

_

x

x

x

x

x

_

X = Complete ring formed by union of lateral processes.
L. = Left side.
R. = Right side.

Perhaps the most important of these specimens is the one in the British
Museum. The skull of this, according to Gray, was 46.6 in. long, hence the whole
animal was probably not far from 18 feet, the length of Eschricht's specimens.
Yet only the axis had complete osseous rings. The same was the case with the
Greenland specimen in the Louvain Museum, but the size of this is not given by
Van Beneden.

As Eschricht did not figure the coronoid process of his Greenland specimens,
it is impossible to estimate the importance of the character drawn from its shape
and size. Fortunately, Gray's figure of the skull of the Greenland form, in his
Zoology of the Voyage of the H/rebus and lerror, shows this part.1 I am unable
to see that it presents any characters of importance. It is about as high as in
Norwegian specimens.

The same is true as regards the lateral distortion of the maxillae. This does
not appear to be more or less in the Greenland skull than in Norwegian skulls.

The characters mentioned by Eschricht, taken as a whole, do not therefore
appear of special importance. If the small Greenland Finback is to be distinguished
it must be by means of other peculiarities. Eschricht himself mentions one several
times, but does not appear to regard it as of any importance as a diagnostic charac-

1 PI. 2, P. 50.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

209

ter. This is the color of the pectoral fin. In his figure of the lower side of a
pectoral fin of the Greenland form (37, pi. 8, fig. 2), which was sent to him in salt
in perfect condition, the black color is seen to occupy all but a small portion near
the root, while in Bocourt's figure of the Bretagne specimen and other European
specimens the broad white band is nearly as well marked on the lower side of the
pectoral as on the upper. A copy of Eschricht's figure is here given, text fig. 67. Of

BALMNOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. GREENLAND. PECTORAL TIN.
FIG. 67. — (i) ANTERIOR OR OUTER SURFACE. (2) POSTERIOR OR INNER SURFACE. (FROM ESCHRICHT.)

the Greenland pectoral, Eschricht remarks : " Undeniably the black color has on the
side named [the under side] a wider distribution than appears to take place in
tlieVaagehval" (36, 347). This may of course be merely an individual variation,
but it is at least a very striking difference.

The Greenland skull figured by Gray agrees well in proportions, as already
stated, with European skulls of equal size. If Gray's figure is correct, however, it
presents some peculiarities of its own. The most striking of these is the shape of
the premaxillse which have considerably curved outer margins, and decrease in width
gradually toward the proximal end, so that the nasal concavity is more elongated than
in B, acuto-rostrata. The premaxillse are also much more closely approximated
in the median line than in the latter species. This and the other characters men-
tioned may be due to defects in the drawing, but as the figures in the Zoology of
the Voyage of the Erebus and Terror are quite accurate, they are worthy of further
attention.

Gray, who had access to the skeleton from Greenland in the British Museum,
and who, as is well known, multiplied species without stint, remarks of this species :
" Our Greenland skull does not appear to differ from that of the English skeleton "
(53, 192). He combines American and European references in the same synonymy,
and cites New York, Greenland, and Norway among the localities for the single
species, " B. rostrata" (53, 188).

210 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

Van Beneden and Gervais follow the same course in the Osteographie, adding
Alaska to the list of American localities on the authority of Chamisso. They notice
the form from Greenland which Holboll proposed to call microcepliala,, on
account of its relatively small head, and remark : " As many skeletons are now
known from these parts (Greenland), and since thus far no one has found any dif-
ferences between them, there is every reason to suppose that in these Balcenopterce,
as in Balcena mysticetus, there are individuals with smaller heads" (8, 152).

Van Beneden, in 1889, again expresses the opinion that the Greenland and
European specimens are of the same species, and includes also Scammon's 7>'.
davidsoni, from the North Pacific.

CHAPTER VII.

THE HUMPBACK, MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE).

That a species of whale with very long pectoral limbs and with abdominal
ridges, or, in other words, a Humpback, occurred in European waters, was not
recognized by science until 1829, when Rudolph! read a paper before the Berlin
Academy of Sciences in which he described a specimen stranded in November, 1824,
at Vogelsand, at the mouth of the Elbe River (76). For this specimen Rudolphi
proposed the name Halcena longimana.1 He was content to leave the species in
the Linnean genus Balcena, and it was not until 1845 that the Humpbacks were
regarded as constituting a separate group. In that year Brandt established for
them the subgenus Boops, distinguished by the single character — "pectoral elon-
gate."; This name is preoccupied by Hoops Cuvier, 1817 (fishes). In 1846 Gray
renamed the genus Megapteras and enumerated its principal characters (56, 16).

In Eschricht's list of whales stranded on the European coasts (37, 176) only
two specimens are recorded between 1824 and 1846, a period of twenty-two years.
Van Beneden (7) records very few others up to 1889. This is somewhat remarkable,
as Cocks's statistics of the Finmark whaling stations show a considerable number
of Humpbacks captured, aggregating from 40 to 100 annually.

Although the European Humpback was unknown to science until 1824, Ameri-
can species were described at a much earlier date and were introduced into zoological
nomenclature by Fabricius under the name of Bcdcena loops in 1780,4 and by Bon-
naterre under the name Balcena nodosa in 1789. Bonnaterre's species was founded
on Dudley's description of the Humpback whale of New England waters. Fabricius's
species was based on his own observations in Greenland.

In this case, as the American species (or one of them, if there are several) was
named first, the question to be considered is whether the European species is to be
regarded as a synonym. With the Finback whales the case is the reverse, the
European species having been named first.

The fullest information regarding the European Humpback is to be found in

1 Van Beneden (7, 121) mentions one having been stranded near Greifswald, March, 1545,
another on the coast of Courland in May, 1578, and a third near Stettin in 1628. I have not found
the sources from which Van Beneden derived knowledge of these specimens.

a BRANDT in Tchihatcheff's Voyage Sci. dans 1' Altai Oriental. Paris, 1845. 4°.

"Annals and Mag. Nat. Hist., 17, Feb., 1846, p. 83.

* Preoccupied by Bal&na boops Linnaeus, 1758.

211

212

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOBTH ATLANTIC.

Struthers's elaborate monograph, published in 1889 (57) in Sars's Fortsatte Bidrag,
1881 (50), where there is an excellent figure of the exterior, in Cocks's accounts of
the Finmark fisheries (13-19), and in Van Beneden's works.

For the Greenland species we have Fabricius's description (41, 36) and the
extended discussion in Eschricht's Untersuchungen ueber nordischen Wallthiere,
1849 (37), and Van Beneden's comments on specimens distributed among various
European museums by Eschricht.

Specimens from the Atlantic coasts of the United States and southward are
not common. There are two skeletons in the National Museum, one in the Phila-
delphia Academy of Sciences (type of M. bellicosa, incomplete), one at Niagara, N.
Y. (type of M. ospliyia), one in the Public Museum, Milwaukee, Wis. All these
I have seen and examined. I also examined three fresh specimens at the Snook's
Arm whaling station, Newfoundland, in 1899.

SIZE.

The most satisfactory data relating to the size of the European Humpback are
the measurements obtained by Cocks from the whales at the Finmark whaling stations
in 1885 and 1886 (17 and 18). These measurements are chiefly in Norwegian feet,
without inches, and are probably taken around the curves. They are more likely to
overstate than understate the actual length. To compare with these, the measure-
ments made by the whalers at Balena Station, Newfoundland, in 1900 and 1901,
will be given. In addition, we have the measurements of various specimens stranded
on the coasts of Europe and the United States at different times.

During my stay at the Snook's Arm Station, Newfoundland, in 1899, three
Humpbacks were taken, having the following length from tip of snout to notch of
flukes along the curve of the back :

MEGAPTEBA NODOSA (BONNATERKE). SNOOK'S ABM, NEWFOUNDLAND. 1899.

Capture No.

Date.

Sex.

Total Length.

5
6

21

Aug. 9, 1899

« u u

" 18 "

$
?

9

42 ft. 2 in.

45 " 5 " '
46 "6 "s

The following specimens were taken at Baleua Station, Newfoundland, in 1900
and 1901, and measured by the whalers. The measurement in each case is probably
a maximum, along the curve of the back.

1 Contained a male foetus 3 ft. 3^ in. long.

1 Contained a male foetus 3 ft. 9 in. long.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 213

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATEREE). BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND. 1900 AND 1901.

Date.

Sex.

Total Length.

1900

April 26

<?

46 ft. I I in.

May 7

3

35 " 6 -

(I (i

$

37 ' 3 "

" .0

$

38 "

" 12

s

38 "

" 21

o

34"

" 22

o

4° "

" 30

o

36 "

June 7

3

32 "

23

a

37 "

July 6

3

34 "

1901

May 7

—

27 "

" M

—

3° "

" i5

—

47 "

" 16

—

26 " "calf"

" 20

—

46 "

June 10

—

34 "

((

17

34

In order of size, the males and females of these, and the three Snook's Arm
specimens, and the specimens not having the sex recorded, are as follows :

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATEREE). NEWFOUNDLAND.

Males.

Females.

Sex not Recorded.

46 ft. 1 1 in.

46 ft. 6 in.'

47 ft.

42 " 2 "

45 " 5 " '

46 "

38 " o "

40 " o "

34"

38 " o "

34 " ° "

34"

37 " 3 "

3°"

37 " o "

27 "

36 " o "

26 "

35 " 6 "

11 41

34 o

it <(

32 o

Maximum 46 ft. n in.

46 ft. 6 in.

47 ft. o in.

Minimum 32 " o '

34 " ° "

26 " o "

Averages (10) 37 " 6 '

(4)4- " 6 "

(7) 34 " 10 "

Cocks's statistics for the Finmark stations in 1885 and 1886 are as follows

MEGAPTERA. NORWAY. 1885 AND 1886.

Males.

Females.

Maximum 53 ft. o in.
Minimum 20 " 7 '
Average (25) 37 " 2 "

51 ft. 6 in.

30 " ii "
(6) 43 " * "

1 Contained a male foetus.

214 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

It appears that the maximum for Newfoundland specimens, whether males or
females, is considerably less than for those taken at the Finmark fishery. The
average is slightly larger for the Newfoundland males and considerably smaller for
the females. As the figures include immature specimens these averages are of little
value.

The male taken by Capt. Horn in 1886, and included in Cocks's statistics above
given, is the largest North Atlantic Humpback of which there is a definite record.
This was 53 ft. long, English measure. The largest female is that taken by Capt.
Berg in 1885, which was 51^ ft., English, in a straight line. Cocks says of this
specimen : " Capt. Berg told me that he had this season captured the biggest Hump-
back he has hitherto seen. It was a female, and measured 50 Norwegian feet (51^
feet, English) in a straight line (measured as Dr. Guldberg had directed) " (17, 6,
sep.). None of the specimens which have stranded from time to time on the Euro-
pean or American coasts equal these two in length. Rawitz measured four Hump-
backs at Bear Id. in 1899 (74, 75). The lengths, from the tip of the mandible
to the notch of the flukes, were as (follows : (1) ?, 34 ft. 5 in. (10.5 m.) ; (2) &,
41 ft. (12.5 m.); (3) t> , 41 ft. 8 in. (12.7 m.) ; (4) ?, 46 ft. 9 in. (14.25 m.)
The mandible extended 10 cm. beyond the upper jaw. Rawitz remarks casually
that all four were sexually mature, but this cannot be accepted as correct. He
mentions no fostuses.

There are numerous general statements in literature according to the American
Humpback much greater size than is above given. Many of these have been
collected by Van Beneden (7, 111) and commented on at some length, and have
also attracted the attention of Prof. Struthers (87, 4, foot-note). Van Beneden was
inclined to credit the larger size, but Struthers appears sceptical.

The largest measurement is that given by an anonymous writer in the Philo-
sophical Transactions for 1665 (Vol. i., No. 1, March 6, 1665, pp. 11 and 13; No. 8,
Jan. 8, 166f, pp. 132-133), in an account of the whale fishery at the Bermudas.
He states as follows : " Two old females and three cubs were taken at first and
afterwards 16 other individuals. One old female was 88 ft. long, the flukes 23 ft.
broad, the flipper 26 ft. long, the baleen 3 ft. long. The other female was about
60 ft. long, and of the cubs one was 33 ft. long, and the remaining two 25 or 26 ft."
The great length of the flipper proves that the 88-ft. specimen was really a
Humpback, and the proportion to the total length is nearly the same as in smaller
European and American specimens.

In Hector St. John de Crevecoeur's Letters from an American Farmer, pub-
lished in 1782, it is stated that the "Humpbacks on the coast of Newfoundland
[are] from 40 to 70 feet in length." This general statement may, of course, be set
aside as merely an opinion, or impression, but the measurements given in the case
of the Bermuda Humpback cannot be so treated. Regarding this, Van Beneden
makes the following excellent remarks (7, 110-111) :

" There is without doubt a little exaggeration, but to judge by many bones
that we have seen at Paris, Stockholm, and Bordeaux, the exaggeration is not
great. . . .

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 215

" It appears at all events that in the European seas this animal attains this
size but rarely, and if we see iu the museums of Paris and Stockholm bones of extra-
ordinary dimensions, we ought to believe that the sailors who have collected these
pieces have chosen the bones which were the most remarkable on account of their

size."

The 88-foot Humpback of 1665 must have been considered as presenting very
extraordinary proportions, first, because measurements were made of the flippers,
flukes, and whalebone, which was unusual at that time, and second, because the
other " old female " is recorded as having a length of only 60 feet.

The Greenland Humpback, called Keporkak by the natives, was stated by
Holboll to "reach a length of about 60 feet." (37, 196.)1 This does not indicate
a size much, if any, beyond that of the largest Norwegian specimens.

A much more satisfactory idea of the real size of these whales will be obtained
by ascertaining the average size of adults. Unfortunately, this cannot be done by
averaging the total length of skeletons in which the condition of the bones indicates
full maturity, for very few such skeletons are known. The most that can be done
will be to obtain an average of the length of specimens of females observed to con-
tain foetuses and hence at least sexually mature. No doubt the length may increase
somewhat after sexual maturity is attained, but we shall have at least a convenient,
and really significant minimum, and will be enabled to throw out specimens which
are in every sense immature.

As already noted on p. 212, two females containing foetuses captured at the
Snook's Arm Station, Newfoundland, in 1899, were respectively 46 ft. 6 in. and
45 ft. 5 in. long. The average of these two is 45 ft. 11^ in.

Among the Finmark specimens recorded by Cocks is one female (with foetus) of
45 feet, English, a length nearly equal to that of the Snook's Arm specimens. Cocks
records three other females of greater length, and therefore entitled to be considered
mature. The average length of the four specimens is 48 ft., a considerable in-
crease over the average for the two Snook's Arm specimens, but still more nearly
comparable with it than with the extraordinary dimensions already considered.

A female with young stranded between Fa and Kami Ids., Stavanger Amt,
Norway, in 1846, and believed by Eschricht to have been a Humpback, measured
45 feet, Norwegian, or 46 ft. 4 in., English, a very close approximation to the
Snook's Arm females.

The Finmark specimen described by Sars iu 1881, which was a mature female
(80, 8), was 14.2 m., or 46 ft. 7 in. (English), long in a straight line from tip of
lower jaw to notch of flukes. The figure, measured along the curve of the back
from the tip of the upper jaw to the notch, gives a length of 46 ft. 1 in., English.
This is also very close to the larger of the Newfoundland specimens.

These and other data are brought together for comparison in the following
table :

1 Van Beneden interprets this statement incorrectly as follows : " Holboll va jusqu'a 60 pieds."
(7, in.) The original is " Der Keporkak erreicht eine Grosse von gegen 60'."

216 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

MEQAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATEKRE). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. SIZE.

Locality.

Average for all
specimens of
both sexes.

Average for
all females.

Average for
all males.

Average for
mature
females.

Average for
mature males.

Maximum1
for
females.

Maximum1
for
males.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

No.

Length.

Length.

Length.

NEWFOUNDLAND :
Snook's Arm Sta., 1899. . .
Balena Sta., 1900-1901...
All the foregoing New-

3
18

21
31

7

44' 8"

36' 2"
37' 4"
38' 31"
39' 5"

2
2

4

6

2

45' II?"
37' o"

41' 6"
43' 2"
38' 11"

I

9

ro
25

2

42' 2"
36' II"

37' 6"
37' 2"
40' 6"

2

45' "t"

I
I

3

46' II"
46' II"

58' II"

2

4

I

45' "i"
48' o"
46' ioj"

46' 6"
51' 6"
46' 10^"

46' II" *
53' o"
44' 3"

Finmark Sta., (Cocks), 1885
and 1886

Europe generally (stranded
or captured on the coasts). .

It will be seen that the averages and maxima for the Norwegian specimens with
one exception are larger than for the Newfoundland ones. Standing by itself this
fact might be taken as an indication of specific distinctness. It will be remembered,
however, that in both Balcenoptetra physalus and B. musculus the same relation pre-
vailed, the Norwegian measurements exceeding the American. (See pp. 113 and 154.)

That this should happen in all three cases arouses the suspicion that the Nor-
wegian measurements are taken differently and probably include the projection of
the lower jaw beyond the upper and the breadth of the flukes. A larger number
of specimens was included in every case, giving better opportunity for the introduc-
tion of one or two very large individuals, and thereby increasing the averages. In
the case of the Humpback, the number of specimens is too small to be satisfactory.

An Iceland specimen, male, described by Hallas in 1868 (60, 176), was 43
feet, or 516 in. (Danish) long, from tip of upper jaw to notch of flukes.

COLOR.

Van Beneden's description of the color of the Humpback is as follows (7, 113):
" The color of the animal is black ; under the mandible in front it is entirely white,
or mottled in the deep layers (dans la profondeu)") ; between the ridges it is red-
dish. The caudal fin is black above, white below, surrounded by a black border;
the margins are ordinarily scalloped. The pectoral fins are white on the two sides.
The posterior part of the bosse (dorsal fin) is pure white."

This is far from being a satisfactory description, and is probably compiled
from various sources, and may include the Greenland Humpback, or KeporTcak.

Cocks gives the color of several Norwegian Humpbacks obtained in 1884
(16, 10 sep.). His notes, condensed, are as follows:

In three specimens the whole upper side of the body, both upper and lower
parts of the head, and underside of body toward the tail, black. Otherwise varied,
as follows :

1 The minimum* were as follows :

Females.

Newfoundland 34' o"

Finmark 30' n"

Europe generally 31' o"

8 Also I specimen of 47 ft., sex undetermined.

Males.
32' o"

20' 7"
38' o"

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 217

(1) Specimen about 40ft. long. — Throat, with its furrows, and nearly all of its
under side, white ; part of under side of flukes white ; pectorals black above, white
below, the black extending around the edge to the inner side, with an occasional
blotch of black, and 2 or 3 black rings.

(2) Specimen about 44ft. long. — Under side entirely black, except two white
or marbled patches on the chest, just behind the flippers, and one or two very
small white spots on belly; navel partly white; pectorals entirely white below,
above with proximal quarter black, but black stopping short of anterior margin.

(3) Specimen about 30 ft. long. — Almost entirely black on the under side of
body; pectorals white below, and only black above a little distance from proximal end.

Cocks gives additional notes on specimens captured in 1885, as follows (J7,
4 sep.) :

(1) Male, about 35 ft. long. — Entirely black on under side of the body except
a not clearly-defined patch of white near each point of the under side of the flukes ;
some very small spots of white on chin and belly (due to barnacles). Pectorals all
white below ; above, black for a very short distance at the proximal end.

(2) Specimen 44ft. long. — Pectorals above with the proximal quarter black,
the black extending down the anterior edge, with a few small irregular black
marks lower down.

(3) Male, 42 ft. long. — Entirely black on the belly, but nearly the whole
chest and throat white; chin black, with a few small white flecks. Furrows on
the belly light purplish flesh-color. A small white streak on the upper lip. Very
little black on the outside of the pectorals, including a narrow rim along the
hinder margin.

(4) Small male. — Chin black ; some white on lower jaw ; throat and chest
white as far as posterior end of furrows; remainder of under side black.

Struthers's notes on the color of the Humpback obtained in the Tay River,
Scotland, in 1883, give the following points (87) : All black, except the snow-
white under surface of the flukes and pectorals, and certain spots and streaks of
white about the navel and genital orifice. (Color of the upper surface of the
pectoral uncertain.)

Sars, describing the Finmark Humpback (80, 14), states that the color on the
head and lower jaw is black, in the middle of the throat and breast, white, and
elsewhere on the parts variegated white and black, with rings and spots. The
back, sides, and the whole of the body behind the middle, black. Pectorals white
on both sides throughout, sharply defined from the black color of the body, but
with an ill-defined dark shading on the upper surface at the base. Flukes black
above and below, with white rings along the posterior border, on both surfaces, but
more numerous below.

Rawitz furnishes the following data relative to the color of the four Hump-
backs examined by him at Bear Id. in 1899 (74, 74) :

Male; length, 12.7 m. — Back and sides black. Tip of mandible black, with
lighter places only here and there about its base. The knot-like projection on the
throat also black, but with linear transverse white flecks anteriorly. From the
projection to the line of the corner of the mouth the color is almost entirely white,
stretching only half as far back on the left side as on the right. Middle of throat

218 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

dark gray, irregularly varied with white. The black of the sides extends further
toward the median line of the throat on the left side than on the right. Breast
white, irregularly varied with dark gray, the latter color growing less posteriorly.
Pectorals entirely white on both sides. Flukes variegated above, the black pre-
dominating ; below white with some black flecks, the free border black.

Female; length, 14.25 m. — Back and sides black. Chin, from tip to the knot-
like projection, black, a little variegated on the sides with small white flecks. Poste-
rior to the projection, the throat and breast pure white, with a black median
streak, broad in front and narrowing rapidly posteriorly and ending about on line
of the manubrium sterni, with a few black flecks extending posteriorly. Some
black spots on the white of the under jaw. All the remainder of the throat, the
whole breast and a part of the belly and tail, white. From the axilla and shoulder
the black extends backward and goes into the furrows, while the ridges ( Watte)
remain white. The black shows itself in all the furrows back of the navel. The
black of the sides extends downward with a convex border in front of the genital
region, then recedes again opposite the latter, and finally stretches "a short distance
along the ventral side of the tail." The black does not reach the middle of the
belly. The white posterior to the navel is overspread with black flecks, as if
sprinkled from a brush. Pectorals white on both sides, with irregular black flecks
only on the larger protuberances. Flukes white on both sides, with some black
flecks only on the free border. White rings, produced by barnacles, on the snout,
mandible, belly, pectorals and flukes, in both this and the preceding specimen.

Female; length, 10.5 in. — The whole ventral surface of the body without a
trace of white flecks, but everywhere black. Pectorals black above, pure white
below. Flukes black above, white below, with a variegated free border.

Male; length, 12.5 m. — Body black, slightly variegated in the furrows. Pec-
torals white on both sides. Flukes white below, variegated above and on the free
margin.

These and other reliable observations show (1) that the European Humpback
is normally black on the head, back, sides, and around the caudal peduncle; (2)
that the throat and chest, and the median line below, at least as far back as the
anus, is varied to a greater or less extent with white spots, streaks, and larger areas ;
(3) that the pectorals have the lower surface practically all white, but the upper
surface varied white and black, in some cases almost entirely black, in other cases
the distal three fourths or nearly the whole surface white; (4) that the flukes are
largely black above, more or less white below.

Exactly the same style of coloration and the same variations were found in
three Humpbacks which I examined at the Snook's Arm Station, Newfoundland, in
1899 (see pis. 37-39). These presented the following characteristics:

No. 5. Male. Aug. 9, 1899. (Plate 37.) Upper jaw, back and sides, black.
Part of the lower jaw, the throat, and chest to the line of the pectorals, with
spots, rings, crescents, streaks, and larger areas of white, the two largest areas being
just below the middle of the right side of the lower jaw, and in the median line
between the pectorals. The streaks were chiefly in the furrows, while the rings
and crescents were confined to the ridges and the jaw. These rings appeared to
mark the location of barnacles. The margins of the ridges posteriorly were also
spotted with white, but less distinctly than in front. From the genital orifice to
the insertion of the flukes, the inferior median line was thickly covered with round

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 219

white spots, also apparently due to barnacles. These spots extended up a con-
siderable distance on the sides of the caudal peduncle.

The upper surface of the pectorals was entirely white, except for a short dis-
tance at the root ; the posterior margin was occupied by an irregular, interrupted
black line, consisting of round black spots thickly massed together; on the anterior
margin the knobs or protuberances were black, and were occupied by clusters of
barnacles. The lower surface of the pectorals was entirely white, except the pro-
tuberances and a narrow, poorly defined posterior margin, and the tip, which were
black.

The flukes were black above; below white, with a semicircular black area
surrounding the mesial notch and a similar and larger one invading the white from
the caudal peduncle. The extreme tips and the protuberances along the posterior
margin were also black, and the anterior margin for about 3 in. deep. The dorsal
tin was black, with a few white spots on the free margin and sides. A white spot
behind the eye, and another on the upper lip, near the apex of the jaw.

No. 6. Female. Aug. 6, 1899. (Plate 39, figs. 2, 3.) Similar to the last, but
with much less white. Upper jaw, back, and practically the whole of the body
above and below, from the line of the pectorals backward, black. Throat and
chest strongly varied with white spots, streaks, and blotches, the largest below the
middle of the left side of the mandible. The posterior half of the pectoral ridges
almost completely black, with only a few scattered white spots. Only a few white
spots at the navel and around the genital orifice. Margin of lower jaw black.
Upper jaw with a white spot near the anterior end.

Upper surface of the pectorals almost entirely black in the proximal half, and
in the distal half varied with white and black in equal proportions. Lower sur-
face entirely white.

Flukes black above ; white below in the center of each lobe, with broad black
an tero- posterior mesial band and margins.

Dorsal fin black, with a few white spots on the anterior margin.

No. 21. Female. Aug. 18, 1899. (PL 40, fig. 3.) Less white than in either
of the preceding specimens. The white markings of the body confined almost en-
tirely to the throat, and consisting chiefly of rings. A few white marks extending
along the median line of the breast as far as the line of the pectorals. A few white
spots about the genital orifice and on the inferior margin of the caudal peduncle.

Upper surface of pectorals entirely white except at the root and along the
posterior margin and on the protuberances; lower surface white, except for a
narrow irregular posterior black margin, and black tip.

A young female taken at Provincetown, Mass., in 1879, as shown by photo-
graphs and sketches in the National Museum (pi. 41, fig. 6), had the upper
surface of the pectorals white, with a black mark extending along the axis from
the root about half way to the tip, but not wide enough to reach the margins of
the fin ; the posterior margin with irregular black marks ; anterior margin white,
except on the larger protuberances ; lower surface closely resembling the upper.
Flukes black above ; below, with a large white central area on each lobe, surrounded

220 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

by a broad black border, and separated in the median line by a broad black band
reaching forward from the notch to the caudal peduncle.

It is evident, from a comparison of these several descriptions, that there is no im-
portant difference in coloration between the American and the European specimens.
The principal one to be noticed is contained in Sars's statement that the flukes
of the Finmark whale were black below, as well as above, with rings of white
along the posterior margins. Cocks also describes one Finmark specimen as having
the flukes black below. As he describes another having a part of the under side
of the flukes white, and as the Tay whale (Scotland) had the flukes white below,
it is not likely that this point is of importance.

The color of the Greenland Humpback, or Keporkak, was described by Esch-
richt (37, 71, 146, and 198) from the data given by Fabricius, Holboll, and Motz-
feldt. His statement is as follows :

" In the Fauna Groenlandica, Fabricius says of the Keporkak : ' Color of all
the upper parts, black ; of the throat, pectorals and under side of the flukes, white ;
bases of the abdominal folds blood-red, but the ridges between them, and even the
whole abdomen and the flukes below, variegated black and white.' Somewhat briefer
and clearer is his account in the Danish publication (Stubhval, p. 10) : ' The color
is black on the whole upper half ; on the lower, white with black flecks, as if varie-
gated ; but the chin and the pectorals entirely white, and the bottom of the furrows
blood-red.' Still more definitely speaks Motzfeldt. ' The pectorals of the Keporkak
are entirely white ; the flukes white on the under surface, with a black border ;
both occupied by barnacles.' "

From these descriptions it would appear that the Keporkak does not differ in
coloration from the Humpback of Newfoundland and Europe. The pectorals are
said to be entirely white, whereas in the Newfoundland and European specimens
there was always more or less black at the root. In the whiter specimens, how-
ever, this would be overlooked in a general survey, and the pectorals would be
cited as entirely white.1

In 1868, Hallas described a male Humpback 43 ft. long, found dead and float-
ing on the sea, between Ingolfshofde and Portland, on the south coast of Ice-
land (60, 172). His description, which is brief and concise, may be presented in
translation here :

" The color of the head and back was everywhere shining black, as also the sides
of the body. On the part of the belly between the penis and flukes, where the skin
is smooth, the color was also black, with some irregularly-placed white spots. The
ridges on the throat, breast, and belly were black, but the color dull, and snow-
white spots were found scattered irregularly here and there over the whole surface.
The ridges in the median line of the belly approached within 15 inches [Danish]
of the penis and decreased in length on the sides ; they divided many times. The
breadth of the ridges was 2-2£ inches [Danish], the depth of the furrows between
was 1-H inches [Danish] ; their color light gray.

"The pectoral fins in the upper third of their outer surface were shining black,
in the middle third also shining black, but with irregularly placed snow-white spots,
and in the lowest [distal] third entirely white. On the inner surface the upper

1 See SARS (So, 15).

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

221

third was shining black, but the remainder all snow-white. The anterior border
was thick and rounded, but irregularly eraarginated and covered with numerous
examples of Coronula diadem a / the hind margin sharp and entire.

" The dorsal fin was shining black.

"The flukes were black on the upper surface, with a number of scattered,
irregular snow-white spots ; on the lower surface, the ground color of which was
shining black, these snow-white spots were more numerous. The anterior border
of the flukes was thick and rounded, the posterior margin, strongly emarginate and
occupied by many examples of Corontila diadema.

" The whalebone was all gray-black."

Eawitz (74, 89) states that the whalers account for the variation in color on
the basis of difference of age. " They say that young animals have a black ventral
skin, and the old ones a white skin ; the former have little blubber and the latter
much." He is inclined to accept this explanation, as the four specimens he exam-
ined seem to support it. He remarks : " We should have then, were this explana-
tion correct, the highly interesting physiological phenomenon before us, that with
increasing fat in the corium (unterhaut), the pigment in the epidermal cells
completely disappears."

In order to test this theory I have arranged below the 13 specimens from dif-
ferent parts of the North Atlantic in the order of size, the smallest first. In the
table, the letter W signifies that a part is white, V signifies that it is varied, part
white and part black, and B signifies that it is entirely black, or substantially so.

VMIAITERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. COLORATION.

Color of Pectorals.

Color of Flukes.

Author.

Sex.

Total
Length.

Color of
Throat.

Color of
Breast.

Color of
Belly.

Above.

Below.

Above.

Below.

Cocks

30' o"

B

B

B

W

W

Rawitz

9

34' 5"

B

B

B

B

w

B

W

Cocks

$

35'°"

B

B

B

W

w

. .

f m

Struthers

$

38' o"

B

B

B

. .

w

w

Cocks

40' o"

W

. .

. f

B

w

, t

part

w

Rawitz

3

41' o"

B

B

B

W

w

V

w

ii

$

41' 8"

V

V

V

W

w

V

w

Cocks

$

42' o"

W

W

B

W

. .

. .

, .

True

$

42' 2"

V

V

B

W

w

B

w

Cocks

....

44' °"

B

V

B

*B

w

t ,

True

?

45' 5'

V

V

B

JB

w

B

w

(«

?

46' 6"

V

B

B

w

w

Rawitz

$

46' 9"

W

W

W

vv

w

W

w

Assuming that the thirteen specimens belong to the same species, the fore-
going table lends some support to Kawitz's theory, as the youngest specimens all
have the throat, breast, and belly entirely black. It will be noticed, however, that
my Newfoundland females, which were adults, were but little white, so that it
would appear that whiteness is not invariably assumed by mature individuals, and
may be rather a sign of senility. There is probably a considerable individual
variation in this regard, as there certainly is in other genera. Rawitz's largest

222

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

specimens seem to have been rather unusually white. More evidence is required
before Rawitz's tentative hypothesis can be accepted.

In the majority of the descriptions of European Humpbacks the color of the
dorsal fin is not specified. Van Benedeu states that the posterior part is white
(7, 113). Sars represents it as dark like the back. In Newfoundland specimen
No. 5, the dorsal was black with small irregular white marks ; in No. 6, the dorsal
was blotched and spotted with white on the anterior margin ; in No. 21 also there
was some white on the anterior margin.

PROPORTIONS.

While at the Snook's Arm whaling station, Newfoundland, in 1899, I made
measurements, as already stated, of three Humpbacks, one male and two females.
These measurements are given in the following table :

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). NEWFOUNDLAND.

Measurement.

No. 5, $ , Aug. 9, 1899.
Snook's Arm, Newfoundland.

No. 6, $ , Aug. 9, 1899.
Snook's Arm, Newfoundland.

No. 21, 9 , Aug. 18, 1899.
Snook's Arm, Newfoundland.

Total length from tip of snout to notch of fluk
Tip of snout to posterior insertion of dorsal fir
" ' " ' anterior
eye (center)

es

42' 2"
28' 9"
24' II*

10' 6"
8' 2"
13' 4"

45' 5"
30' 2"

46' 6"

32' 8"

i

n' 2"

8' 4"
1 6' o"'
,7' o"

n' 6"

blowhole

anterior insertion of pectorals.

I4' 2*

" ' axilla

13' i"

o' 12"
15' 8"
10' 6"
14' 63"

o' 12"

•7' 4"
10' n"2

Breadth of flukes

From notch of flukes to anus

"' 5"

" " " " " root of penis

" " " " clitoris

12' 9"
19' o"

15' 2"

12' 9"

13' 7"
19' 8"
.4' i"

" " " " navel

i A' I"
12' 2"

3' 4"
o' 8"

3' i"
3' 7;

o' 2"
i' 9"

Length of pectoral from head of humerus ....

" posterior insertion, or
Greatest breadth of pectoral fin

axilla

3' 6"
o' 6"

Broadest pectoral ridge

o' 5"
3' 4"
4' 3"

Depth of caudal peduncle at insertion of fluke
" flukes at root (antero-posterior)

s >

Length of protuberances on upper jaw

Breadth" " " " "

Length of longest whalebone without the brist
" " dorsal fin

es

i' 10"

5' i"

°; 3;

o i^*

" " orifice of the eye. .

" " iris

Semi-circumference of body opposite navel. . .

14' n"

1 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 M. longimana
Rudolphi, are given in the following table:

MEOAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN.

?

OO

i j
i§&

o"
- oo

•tS'S

rt ,

e E

c «

E£

1
I §

/ogelsand, Germany.
Type M. longimana.
Rudolphi, 1832.)

£ oo -o

S 0000

.5 H oo

:0" W J2

E

rt /— -
1 ^

III

Fay River, Scotland.
883.
Struthers, 1889.)

)ee River, England.
863.
Moore, 1863.)

13
c

rt o
•y rr,

*~^ W^H

° ° n

snook's Arm, Newfoundland.

«0. 21.

899.

Snook's Arm, Newfoundland.
*!o. 6.

899.

Snook's Arm, Newfoundland.
Mo. 5.
899.

J(

is
°^
§•!

s

t

j

S jr.

s

$

f

$ ir.

Total length

51' 6"

46' 7"2

44' '

43' 5

42'

4° 4

38' o"'

31' 4"

29' i"

46' 6"

45' 5*

42' 2*

32' si"

Tip of upper jaw to eye.
Tip of upper jawtoblow-
hole
Tip of upper jaw to pec-

*
25.8

18.3

i8.o4

*
23.3

31 6

19.4

0

!<
23.3'

17-3'

31.6s

25-5
35.1

15. 810

%

24.7

24.6
18.4

X

24.9
19.4

f

21.5

18.7

28.4

Tip of upper jaw to back
of dorsal
Tip of lower jaw to cor-

67.6

67.5

27 Q

23 46

[67-5?
24 6

67.8

64.7

70.3

66.4

68.2

70.6

22 O

25 83

24 O

22 9

A A J.3

P4O 7l

42 ^

dl 8

A2 A

Length of pectoral from

31 o

4

27. 0

28.1

28 9

28 4

Length of pectoral from
head of humerus
Greatest breadth of pec-

33-o
7.0

7 o

34- 14
8. i4

7.O

30.8

28.34
7.Q4

31.6

7 i

32.0

31-5

30.3

7 5

33-4

33-6
7 6

6.1

Ileight of dorsal

I 2

2.1

2.4

1.9

2.2

2.4

2.5

Breadth of flukes, tip to
tiu .

3O.O

34.5

32.6

37. 54

30.0

35 •'

30.9

38.2

37.0

27.1

Height of body at pec-

27 4

F2Q ^1

Height of body between

r 9.3]

NOTE. — Rawitz's measurements of four specimens observed by him at Bear Island, Norway, reduced to percentages
of the total length, are as follows :

i. $ 2. 4 3. $ 4. (?)

Total length 46' 5" 41' 4" 40' 8" 34' I "

Tip of lower jaw to corner of mouth 29.7 %

Length of pectoral from head of humerus . . . 35.355
Height of dorsal 2. 1 %

3'- 755

32.3?

23.0 %
35-7*

1 Danish measure.

2 Straight, from lower jaw.

3 From figure.

4 Approximate.

b Rheinland measure.
' From upper jaw.

7 From measurements given on a photograph and in pamphlet " Story
of the Whale."

8 From " Story of the Whale," — to shoulder. Struthers gives 34.2 %.

9 " Story of the Whale" gives [7i.3#].

10 Cannot account for this small measurement.

11 To head of humerus.

224 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

It will be seen that there is a very close agreement between the principal
measurements of the Newfoundland and European specimens, and especially be-
tween the former and the Tay River (Scotland) specimen. The only departure of
importance is in the breadth of the flukes, which are made to appear wider-spread
in the Newfoundland specimens. In the case of No. 6 the flukes were cut off before
the whale was brought to shore, and I had to rely on measurements not my own.
It is quite likely that they were taken in some other manner than direct from tip
to tip. In the case of No. 5, one of the flukes only was in position when the whale
was drawn up on the slip. The measurement given is, therefore, really an estimate.
The same lack of conformity will be found in the case of .Balcenoptera pJiysalus, and
for the same reason.

It is to be regretted that fuller measurements of European specimens are not
obtainable, but as the species appears to strand but rarely on that side of the Atlantic,
few observations have been recorded.

ABDOMINAL BIDGES AND FURROWS.

The system of abdominal ridges and furrows is simple in the posterior part,
but complicated at the anterior end, and better understood from illustrations than
from descriptions (see plates 37-39). The description of the Tay River (Scotland)
whale given by Struthers, and the description and figure of the Finmark whale
given by Sars agree with the Newfoundland specimens. In the former the ridges
were 4£ or 5 in. wide; in the three Newfoundland specimens the widest were 8, 5,
and 6 inches respectively. In Hallas's Iceland Humpback (60, 172) the ridges were
2-2^ in. (Danish) in breadth, which, if correct, is a notable difference. The ridges
are not exactly symmetrical on the two sides of the body and the different ridges
anastomose at different points. The ridges and furrows farthest from the median
line run forward to the inferior margin of the mandible, but the median two or
three pairs curve inward at the anterior end and unite considerably farther back,
forming a sort of median ridge, which Struthers likens to a " second chin." (See
pi. 39, fig. 1.) This disposition of the ridges, and the other characteristics mentioned
above, were found in the Tay whale. In the Newfoundland specimens many of
the furrows were divided longitudinally by a narrow, central supplementary ridge,
triangular in section. Other furrows contained similar short ridges arranged
diagonally. As already stated, the majority of the furrows terminate anteriorly
below the margin of the mandible, but those most distant from the median line
extend on to the proximal end of the smooth surface of the mandible itself.

In the three Newfoundland specimens there were 14, 20, and 22 ridges, respect-
ively, on the breast between the pectoral fins. In the Tay River whale the number
of ridges, according to Struthers, was about 24. Sars states that the number in the
Finmark whale was between 20 and 30. Rawitz's largest specimen (14.25 m.) had
22 furrows, while the smallest (10.5 m.) had 36 furrows. He does not state at what
point or how the count was made.

Besides the furrows, properly so called, the Newfoundland specimens displayed

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 225

one or two furrows running out of the corner of the mouth and passing backward
across the root of the pectoral fin. (See pi. 37, fig. 3.) These were sometimes
limited posteriorly by two or three short furrows running transversely, so that the
pectoral fin was marked off from the body by an almost continuous depression. In
one instance there were five or six short furrows across the proximal end of the
upper surface of the pectoral fin, and also a longitudinal furrow above the eye.
(See pi. 39, fig. 2.) In none of the five specimens examined (including two foetuses)
were these lines exactly alike in detail. Similar lines about the pectoral are shown
in Sars's figure of the Finmark specimen (80, pi. 2).

DERMAL TUBERCLES.

It is characteristic of the Humpback whales to have a number of hemispherical
tubercles on the snout and mandible. Those on the snout are arranged in three
rows, one median and two lateral. The lateral rows are irregular and in each the
tubercles are arranged somewhat in pairs. On the mandible there is a cluster of
tubercles on each side of the symphysis and others scattered along the jaw in about
three irregular rows.1 The tubercles are elongated. In the Newfoundland speci-
men, No. 5, the larger ones were 4£ in. long, 2 in. broad.

In the Tay River whale there were 7 tubercles in the median line of the snout,
8 on the right lateral row, and 11 on the left lateral row; on the mandible, 6 on
each side of the symphysis, and 6 more along each side of the jaw ; in all, 26 on the
upper jaw, 24 on the lower.

In the Finmark whale a similar arrangement of tubercles is described by Sars :
a median row, and a double row on each side. The number, size, and shape appear
to be incorrectly given in his figure (80, pi. 2), which has been copied in the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 9th ed. (Art. Whale).

Rawitz (74) states that in the Bear Id. Humpbacks examined by him there
were 26 tubercles on the upper jaw and from 13—19 on the lower jaw.

In the Newfoundland specimen No. 6 there were 4 or 5 in the median row on
the snout, one on the wall of the blowhole, and from 10 to 13 in each lateral row;
on the inaudible, 5 on each side of the symphysis, and about 12 additional on each
side of the jaw; making in all from 24 to 31 on the upper jaw, and about 34 on
the lower jaw.

In No. 5 (pi. 37, fig. 3) there were about 24 on the upper jaw, and 28 on the
lower jaw. In No. 21 (pi. 39, fig. 4) there were about 5 large tubercles on each
side of the symphysis of the mandible, and about 5 smaller ones on each side of the
jaw. The number on the upper jaw was not observed.

Eschricht's figure of the foatal Greenland Humpback shows 5 tubercles in the

1 Rudolphi (76, 135) states that the type of B. longimana was without tubercles on the head,
and the figure which he gives shows this condition. It is not certain by whom this supposed
character was observed. Rudolphi does not state that he saw the exterior of the specimen. The
figure was drawn by C. L. Miiller, and shows numerous inaccuracies, among which are the large
size of the dorsal fin, the curvature of the rostrum, the position of the eye, etc.

226 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

median line of the snout, 4 about the blowhole, 9 in the right lateral row, and 8 in
the left lateral row ; making a total of 26, the same number as in the Tay whale.

In the Iceland Humpback examined by Hallas (60, 174) there were 24 dermal
tubercles on the head, of which 5 stood in the median line, 10 on the right side, in
two rows, and 9 on the left side, also in two rows. On the mandible were 21 tuber-
cles, of which 11 were on the right side in a single row, and 10 on the left side.

From these observations it is evident that while the tubercles are indefinite in
number and exact location, their general arrangement is the same in the Humpbacks
of both sides of the Atlantic.

DORSAL FIN.

In the Newfoundland specimen, No. 5, the dorsal fin was erect aud falcate, with
a concave posterior margin. The upper part of the anterior margin was also con-
cave, as if from an injury which had removed a portion of the fin and destroyed
the regularly falcate shape. This may, however, be an individual variation. (See
pi. 37, fig. 1.) In specimen No. 6, Newfoundland, the dorsal fin was similar to that
of No. 5, but the anterior margin was regularly convex, and the posterior margin
almost straight. There was nothing in the shape of the dorsal in these specimens
suggesting a boss or knob. The fin was erect and prominent, like that of a dol-
phin or Finback whale, but thicker at the base.

In the foetus from Newfoundland specimen No. 6, the dorsal was somewhat
falcate, the tip curved backward, the posterior margin with a moderate concavity
or rather S-shaped, on account of a convexity at the base. The tip was not
thickened.

The dorsal fin of the Tay River whale, as figured by Struthers (57, pi. 2, fig.
2) was low, reclined, and rounded ; the anterior margin convex, and the posterior
straight or slightly convex. (See text fig. 72.) The photograph of this whale in
my possession, on the contrary, shows the fin prominent, erect, and somewhat
falcate, exactly as in the Newfoundland specimens.

Eschricht figured the dorsal fin of a Greenland Humpback, or KeporlcaJc, which
was sent him in salt by Capt. Holboll (37, pi. 5, fig. 1). This figure represents the
fin as an obtuse, thick mass, with an irregularly convex posterior margin. I find it
impossible to escape the feeling that this fin was imperfect either from injury or
imperfect preservation, or both. Sars has already expressed the same opinion (80,
13).1 Eschricht published two figures of a f ratal Eeporkak (37, pi. 3, figs. 1, 2),
neither of which is like the dorsal of the adult. One of these figures (fig. 2) is
an enlargement of the dorsal of the foetus represented in the other (fig. 1). It is

1 Sars's comment is as follows: " The figure of the dorsal of a Greenland specimen given by
Eschricht from a preparation in salt is, as already said, quite essentially different [from the normal
shape] and has rather the form of a low fatty lump than that of a real fin, which led Eschricht to give
the whale the Danish common name ' Pukkelhval ' (Hump-whale). It is likely that the part under-
goes important variation in different individuals. Yet I should be more inclined to the opinion that
the example from which the dorsal described by Eschricht was derived had suffered some sort of
injury in that part, whereby the dorsal became deformed."

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

227

not exactly the same, having a much straighter posterior margin and a knob-like
tip joined to it in a manner which makes the figure appear diagrammatic. The
dorsal on the foetus itself (37, pi. 3, fig. 1) is short, erect, and has a slightly concave

FIG. 70.

FIG. 71.

FIG. 68.

FIG. 69.

FIG. 72.

MEOAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATEBBE). PECTOEAL AND DOBSAL PINS.

FIG. 68. — TAY RIVER, SCOTLAND. BONES OF PECTORAL FIN. (FROM STRUTHERS.) FIG. 69. — PROVINCETOWN,
MASS. EXTERIOR OF PECTORAL FIN. (FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 70. — GREENLAND. DORSAL FIN OF A FCETUS. (FROM
ESCHRICHT.) FIG. 71. — THE SAME, ENLARGED. FIG. 72. — TAY RIVER, SCOTLAND. DORSAL FIN. (FROM STRUTHERS.)

posterior margin like adult Newfoundland specimens, but of course more unde-
veloped. (See text figs. 70, 71.)

Holbb'll describes the dorsal of the adult Keporkak (37, 76) as " low, broad on
the side, cut off almost straight toward the tail ; in general, shaped like a broad
lump of fat with a knob." Fabricius describes it as " compressed, with a broader
base, the apex a little acute, in front sloping upward (swrsum repanda), behind
almost perpendicular," but adds " some are obtained, however, which have the apex
equally curved, in some longer, in others shorter." Motzfeldt's description of the
dorsal fin is as follows (37, 198) : "The dorsal fin of the Kepoi'kak has as a very
salient character a protuberance or knob on the anterior (upper) margin."

Brandt describes the dorsal fin of the Humpback as having " a convex upper
border, gradually rising, ending at its highest point behind and above in an obtuse
backward-curved tip, below which is a considerable emargination, . . . and
then gradually merging into a ridge running forward from the tail."

Sars's figure of a Finrnark Humpback (80, pi. 2) shows the dorsal fin strongly
concave posteriorly. His description is as follows :

" As in some species of the genus £alcenaptera, it is compressed like a scythe,
with a rather thick and strongly convex anterior border, and a thin, sharp, and

228 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

evidently concave posterior border. The tip, which is rather obtuse, is strongly
bent backward, so that the whole fin shows a considerable resemblance to that of
the Vaagehval \Balcenoptera dcnto-rostrata]."

From the foregoing discussion it would appear that there is no constant differ-
ence between the Newfoundland, Greenland, and European Humpbacks as regards
the shape of the dorsal fin, unless it be that in the Greenland animal, or KeporJcak,
the tip is thicker. As in the Finbacks, the shape of the dorsal appears to vary to
a large extent in different individuals.

Hallas figured the dorsal of an Iceland Humpback (60, 173) as sloping and
convex or straight posteriorly, much as in Eschricht's Greenland Keporkak.

The different American and European specimens show a remarkable uniformity
in the height of the fin, which varies only between 1.9 % and 2.5 % of the total length
of the body. As regards its position, there is, on the other hand, a lack of uni-
formity. After making due allowance for difference in manner of taking measure-
ments, etc., it still appears probable that the fin is not always situated at exactly
the same relative distance from the head. No two observers agree as to the length
of the base of the fin. This is because the margins pass by imperceptible gradations
into the general contour of the back.

Rawitz (74, 82) repudiates the idea that the dorsal resembles a bunch, and
states that in the Bear Id. specimens which he examined the fin had a strongly
convex anterior border bent backward, and the posterior border concave forward.
He asserts that the white color on the dorsal of the Greenland Keporledk described
by Eschricht was probably due to post-mortem changes because his four Bear Id.
specimens had entirely black dorsals. It is a fact, however, that the Newfound-
land specimens had white marks on the dorsal fin.

THE PECTORAL FIN.

The form of the pectoral is one of the most peculiar characters of the Hump-
back, while in length it exceeds the pectorals of all other whales. The fin is
long, narrow, and thin. On the anterior (upper, or radial) margin it presents
a number of protuberances, which together with the emarginations between them,
produce a serrated outline. There are similar protuberances on the posterior (or
ulnar) margin, especially at the distal end, but less in number, and much less promi-
nent. In the foetus the protuberances are all very strongly marked, and are made
more striking (in Newfoundland specimens) on account of their being lighter in
color than the general surface of the fin. In shape and texture they remind one not
a little of the tubercles on the head.

Eschricht (37, 79) and Struthers (89, 5) by their descriptions and figures have
made plain the connection of the anterior protuberances with the internal structure
of the fin. Each protuberance marks the position of a cartilage of the manus.

The two largest, namely, the one at the proximal end of the series, and one
about midway, mark the position, respectively, of the distal epiphysis of the radius,
and the terminal cartilage of the anterior (2d) digit. The protuberances between
these larger ones mark the position of the intermediate cartilages of the 2d digit,
while those beyond mark the position of the cartilages of the 3d digit.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 229

In both Eschricht's figure of the Greenland Humpback (37, pi. 3, fig. 4) and
Struthers's figure of the Tay River whale (87, pi. 3, fig. 6), there are 10 anterior
tubercles, one for the carpus, or distal end of the radius, 3 for the 2d digit, and
6 for the 3d digit.

There were exactly the same number and the same arrangement in the New-
foundland adults and in the fretus taken from Newfoundland specimen No. 21.
In the foetus from Newfoundland specimen No. 6, there are 11 projections, with the
same arrangement, — i. e., one large proximal one, then 2 moderate-sized, then one
large, and finally 7 small, including the tip of the fin.

Eschricht's figure of the foetus of the Keporlcale, or Greenland Humpback,
shows 8 small protuberances at the extreme distal end of the posterior, or ulnar,
margin of the pectoral. The foetus of Newfoundland specimen No. 21 has the same
number. In addition there are two large elevations near this margin (which can
hardly be compared with those on the anterior margin), one opposite the pisiform
cartilage, or the distal end of the ulna, and one at the distal end of the 5th digit.
These are not represented in Eschricht's figure.

The protuberances of the anterior, or radial, margin and those at the end of the
ulnar margin are preserved in the adult, and give the fin its remarkable outline. In
most specimens each protuberance is occupied by a cluster of barnacles. The clus-
ters are often confluent on both sides of the distal extremity of the fin, forming a
continuous edging. They are always surrounded by black. The proximal two
thirds of the posterior margin of the fin is nearly free of barnacles. This margin
presents a sigmoid curve, convex proximally, concave distally, with the tip directed
backward. Except at the distal end, this margin is even and thin, contrasting
strongly with the thick, sinuous anterior margin.

The same peculiarities are seen in the Tay River (Scotland) whale, Sars's Fin-
mark specimen, and Eschricht's Greenland specimen, and in the young female
from Cape Cod, Mass., in the National Museum (pi. 41, fig. 6).

In four European Humpbacks, as seen by examining the table on p. 223, the
pectoral fin, measured from the head of the humerus, bore the following proportion
to the total length :

Finmark 30.8 $ Cocks

Ireland 31.5 % Warren

Tay River, Scotland 31.6 % Struthers

Dee River, England 32.0 % Moore

Rawitz gives the following as the relative length in four Humpbacks measured
by him at Bear Id. (74, 82) :

(1) 35.7 %; (2) 32.3 % ; (3) 31.7 %\ (4) 35.3 %.

In the three Newfoundland Humpbacks which I measured the proportion was
as follows :

(1) 30.3 % ; (2) 33.4 % ; (3) 33.6 %.

It thus appears that there is a very considerable variation in the length of the
pectoral fin in both European and American Humpbacks. Rawitz's largest meas-
urements are larger than any others I have found.

230 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

THE CAUDAL FIN, OK FLUKES.

The caudal fin in the Newfoundland Humpbacks has a regular, thick, convex
anterior margin, and a thin, sinuate posterior margin, with numerous small finger-
like processes, with deep emarginations between them. The tips are recurved. In
the foetuses of No. 21 and No. 6 the processes of the posterior margin were very
numerous, prominent, and acuminate, producing a singular fringed appearance. It
is evident that this appearance in the adult is not the result of injury, but a natural
character. In the 30-foot specimen from Cape Cod, Mass., in the National Museum,
these processes are very numerous and conspicuous (pi. 40, fig. 2). They were also
found in the adult Newfoundland specimens.

The same shapes and processes are seen in Struthers's figure of the flukes of the
Tay River whale, in Sars's Finmark specimen, and in Eschricht's figure of a foetal
Greenland Humpback. The tips of the flukes are commonly occupied by barnacles.

OUTLINE OF THE CAUDAL PEDUNCLE.

That portion of the body between the anus and flukes (called " the small " by
whalers), which corresponds to the tail in land mammals, has a straight superior
margin, but the inferior margin is broken by depressions and elevations.

In the Newfoundland female No. 21, the sexual orifice is surrounded by thick
protuberant walls, causing a convexity in the inferior outline of the body. The
orifice is preceded by a transverse groove, and terminates posteriorly in a hemi-
spherical boss, behind which is a second transverse groove in which the anus is
situated. Behind the anus is a rounded elevation, terminated by a third deep trans-
verse groove and followed by a prominent compressed elevation or carina. The
same arrangement of parts is found in female No. 6. (See pi. 39, fig. 3.) In male
No. 5, the outline is similar. The penis is contained in a rounded elevation, and
another keel-like, compressed elevation appears behind the anus. These elevations
are also seen in a photograph in the National Museum representing a male Hump-
back at Provincetown, Mass. (See pi. 40, fig. 1.)

Exactly the same form is represented in Sars's figure of a Finmark female as
occurred in the Newfoundland females.

EYE.

Rawitz (74, 79) states that in the Humpbacks examined by him at Bear Id.
the iris of the eye was dark brown, the pupil kidney-shaped, with the long axis fore
and aft.

WHALEBONE.

The whalebone of the European Humpback is described by Van Beneden as
black, with black bristles; but this is not correct. Sars (80, 11) describes it as
" all, as well on the upper as the lower side, of uniform gray-black color, with some
lighter fibres." Struthers's description is more detailed, as follows (57, 13) :

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

231

" In colour, the whalebone on the outside was black, except along the front 12
inches where it was partly white, mottled, but differing in this respect on the right
and left sides. On the left jaw here, at 6 inches from the mesial line, 15 plates are
quite white on their anterior [outer] half but black on the palatal half. Some near
these, again, have the anterior edge black, and the rest of their surfaces white.
Viewed from the palatal aspect, the whole matting of hairs was whitish. The
words in my note-book are 'white, dirty-white, or yellow-white.' Now, in 1887,
after 3 years' exposure, though washed clean, that description could not apply.
The colour of the hairy matting now is dirty-brown mixed with brown-black. The
hairs are fully 4 inches in length, some 6 inches. The hairs of the fringe are thick
and stiff, like bristles, compared with those of my 50-feet-long B. musculus [=-#-
physalus], but the much finer hairs of the matting on the palatal aspect do not differ
in thickness in these two whales."

This description applies well to the Newfoundland Humpbacks which I ob-
served in 1899. In No. 5, $, the right whalebone was all grayish -black, except
from the anterior end backward about one foot, where it was dull whitish. The
bristles along the exterior were of the same grayish-black color, but their matted
interior surface was lighter, with here and there a small area still much lighter. In
No. 6, ? , the most internal bristles were gray-brown, the next lot exteriorly, whitish,
then a pale pink-gray band, and finally the exterior ones part whitish and part gray.
The general effect in looking into the mouth was that of dark gray for 4 inches
next to the roof of the mouth, succeeded by lighter color. A few anterior blades
of whalebone were white externally. In both specimens the external edge of the
blades was very rough, much more so than in Salcenoptera pJiysalus.

Eschricht describes the whalebone of the Greenland Humpback as " entirely
dark in color, when dry black-brown or black, the bristles brownish " (37, 147).
In another place he remarks : " I have received more or less complete sets of whale-
bone of many young and old Keporlcaks, part in brine, part dried. They were all
dark colored, when dried almost black, when preserved moist in salt, the small internal
plates (Nebenbai'ten) more or less gray in part, the bristles almost always brown.
On each side are about 400 plates. The length of the whalebone scarcely exceeds
2 feet " (37, 93).

The size of the whalebone in different European and American specimens is
shown in the following table :

BALJENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. WHALEBONE.

Locality.

Length of
Whale.

Length of
Longest
Whalebone.

Length of
Longest
Bristles.

Greatest
Breadth.

Author.

Tay River, Scotland

40' o"

in.

20

in.

c

in.
f

Struthers

Norway

24 ±

Guldberg

Greenland

24 +

Eschricht

Dee River England

?i'o*

24'

Moore

Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. . .

« u tt

42' 2*

45' 5"

21
22

F. W. T.
F. W. T.

Nearly 2 feet long."

232

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

OSTEOLOGY.

Several skeletons of Humpbacks from the east coast of North America are
preserved in the museums of the United States. I have examined the type of
Megaptera osphyia Cope, taken off the Maine coast, the type of M. bellicosa from
the West Indies, and two skeletons in the National Museum from Cape Cod, Mass.,
viz. : No. 16252, young female, and No. 21492. For the Greenland Humpback,
we have Eschricht's description and figures (36 to 39). For the European Hump-
back, the best descriptions are Rudolphi's account of the type of M. longimana
(76), and Struthers's elaborate study of the Tay River, Scotland, whale (57).
Flower's well-known paper on the skeletons in the museums of Holland and Bel-
gium contains valuable information (45) ; also Van Beneden and Gervais's Oste-
ographie (8), Fischer's Cetaces du Sud Quest de la France (44), and other works
of European naturalists. (See pis. 29 to 36.)

NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE.

The various skeletons of Humpbacks from the North Atlantic, both European
and American, thus far examined present the following vertebral formulae:

MEQAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

Locality.

Date.

Sex
and
Age.

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

Authority.

Remarks.

Vogelsand Germany

1824

if,

7

1 1

22

1:4

Rudolph!

Type of M " . longimana

Tay River Scotland

1883

j

7

10

2 I

52

Struthers

Coast of Maine

l844

7

14

10

17 +

48 +

True

Type of M. osphyia.

Provincetown, Mass., 16252.
Cape Cod, Mass., 21492

,879
1878?

9 jr.

7
7

7

14
14
14.

ii

10
IO

19
19 +

2O

5'
5°+

C I

True
True
Cooe

U. S. Nat. Mus.

<« « «

Type of M bellicosa

Greenland

7

14

II

21

c-i

Eschricht

[Restored.

n

7

14

— 7

I-1

C?

Fischer

Louvain Mus.

<t

7

14.

II

21

S31

u

Brussels Mus.

u

7

14

II

21

SI

Lilljeborg

Lund Mus

The agreement in number of dorsal vertebrae is complete, of lumbars prac-
tically so, and of caudals so nearly that the differences may be regarded as indi-
vidual, or due to imperfection in the specimens. The normal formula would
appear to be :

C. 7, D. 14, L. 11, Ca. 21 = 53.

The following, however, is quite likely to occur as frequently, if a larger num-
ber of specimens should be examined :

C. 7, D. 14, L.10, Ca. 21 = 52.

1 Flower (41) gives 31.

'Van Beneden (<?, 126) also gives 53 as the total number of vertebrae in this specimen. My
own notes on the skeleton, made in 1884, give 52 as the total, and this number is shown in the
atlas of the Oste'ographie (pis. 10 and n, fig. i), viz., C. 7, D. 14, L. 10, Ca. 21 = 52. It is No.
269 in the Brussels Museum.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

233

SKULL.

Measurements of European skulls, which can be compared with one another,
have been recorded in the case of the type of M. longimana (by Rudolphi) and the
Tay River whale (by Struthers).

Measurements of the skull of the Greenland Humpback can be obtained from
Escbricht's figure (39). Of American specimens, I have measured the skulls of the
types of M. osphyia and M. bellicosa, and of two other specimens from Cape Cod,
Mass. These various measurements are brought together in the following table :

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKULL.

Vogelsand, Germany.
Type of M. longimana.
(Rudolphi, 1832.)

Tay River, Scotland.
(Struthers, 1889.)

o

.*

If

**

"0*0

1&

Z£

I

>o

1

"*i
CO . •

I*

£0

I |

£H

S
1 *

a c/j

•g t)

O^rf

ls§

u^

Provincetown, Mass.
1878.
(16252, U. S. N. M.)

Sex and age

$

$

?ir

Total length of whale

4V

40' o'

" skeleton

40"

™'2l"

«'•>"

,,'IO'+

27' o'

Length of skull (straight)

144"'

I2S"

ns"

//

114. s

II*'

91*

Greatest breadth (squamosal)

%

i

S7 O

%

=;8 i

i

?8 8

%

60 I

t

S8 2

Breadth of orbital process of frontal at distal end
(supra-orbital border)

o o"

9 6

IO4

IO 7

8 4

8 2

Length of rostrum (straight)

66 7 *

67 6

66 o

66 4

68 6

68 i

Breadth of rostrum at middle (curved)

17 2"

22. 0

21. 1

22. Q

22.6

2T..O

Length of nasals

70'

7.6

7.8

7.0

7. I

Breadth of 2 nasals at distal end

82*

7V

Length of mandible (straight)

05 8'

06 6

QS.Z

QQ. I

06 6

(curved)

IO4 6

1 06 7

108.8

IO7 7

Depth of mandible at middle

80

8 e

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 M. longimana) except in
a few instances. The breadth of the rostrum in the type of M. 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 (pis. 29 and 32, figs.
1 and 2). It is possible, of course, that this may be a character of the Greenland

1 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 vertebrae.

234

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Humpback, but it is more likely that the figure is incorrect, as the nasals are made
to end against the inferior margins of the premaxillae, 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 premaxillse
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.

VERTEBRAE.

The proportions of the vertebrae in the Tay River whale, and of some Amer-
ican specimens, including the type of M. osphyia, are given in the following table:

UEQAPTEKA NODOSA (BONNATBBRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKELETON.

*jL

III1

J'o'l

rt oo
+2 oo

8 "

C/3 a>

?*S

*J **•• bb

<fi O rt

O ** £

hT

J?

>.

1 >-•

S ^

ii
If

aj

Provincetown, Mass.
(16252, U. S. N. M.)

Greenland.
Lund Mus.
(Lilljeborg, 1862.)

Sex and age

$

$

9 ir

ir

Total length of whale

40' o*

Total length of skeleton

40"

V 2i"

•7C1 C* -4-

^V io* 4-

27' o"

•u' 6""

Length of skull (straight)

144"

126.*

I-K"

114. s"

1 1 3 Off

91*

1235*"

Greatest breadth of axis

*

t

17 8

t

10. 'I

18.8

t

18.1

*
1C, 4

t

Depth of centrum * ...

48

S 2

6.1'

Greatest breadth of ist dorsal. . .

id. 2

17.7

17.0

16.4

ic. 7

Depth of centrum " " ...

c 7

59 (?)

6.6

6.4

Greatest breadth of ist lumbar..

26.0

28.1

24.4

22. 0

Depth of centrum '

6.6

7.4 (?)

7.0

6.7

7-4

Greatest breadth of ist caudal.. .

18.8

21. C.

22.7

10.7

20. 3

Depth of centrum " "

7.O

0.3

8.7

8.4

O 4

Breadth" "

" " scapula

33 3

T.T. 6

31.3

T.T..2

31.8

30. 7

T.I 6

Depth " "

22 3

21 2

21.0

23.1

22.6

23.1

214

Length of radius (without epiphy-

23 7 2

26.0'

24.3"

25.8

26.3'

28.8*

25 2

Length of ulna (without epiphy-
sis)

22. 0 *

21. 1

21. 0

23.0'

24-7 '"

21.4

1 Rheinland measure.
* From figure.

3 With epiphyses =28.8 4.

4 " " =24.0 "

' With epiphyses = 25.5 %.
' Posterior.

7 With epiphyses = 28.8 %.
6 " = 24.1 "

* With epiphyses = 29.7 %.

= 25-5 "
"Swedish; i ft. = 297 mm.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

235

With the proper allowance for difference in age, the specimens show a corre-
spondence indicative of specific identity. The positions in the column at which the
various processes become obsolete and the arterial foramina appear are as follows :

MEOAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. CHEVRONS.

Tay River,
Scotland.

Vogelsand,
Germany.
(Type.)

Provincetown,
Mass.
U. S. N. M.
No. 16252.

Greenland.
Brussels Mus.
No. 269.

Last neural spine is on vert No

4.1

42 '

AO

Last transverse process is on vert. No. . .

39

381

38

37

CHEVRONS.

My notes on No. 269 from Greenland, in the Brussels Museum, show that 9
chevrons are in position. The figure of Megaptera in Van Beneden and Gervais's
Osteographie (pis. 10, 11, fig. 1) shows 12 chevrons. The young specimen from
Cape Cod, in the U. S. National Museum, No. 16252, has 9 chevrons. The Tay
River (Scotland) specimen had 10 chevrons.

SCAPULA.

The scapula of Megaptera is peculiar on account of its evenly convex superior
border and the rudimentary condition of the acromion and coracoid processes.
(See text figs. 73-78 and pi. 34, fig. 4 ; pi. 36, figs. 3-5.)

The percentages of the antero-posterior breadth #nd of the vertical height
(from the margin of the glenoid cavity to the middle of the superior margin) to
the length of the skull in various European and American specimens are as
follows :

MEOAPTEKA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA.

Locality.

Breadth.

Height.

Remarks,

Vogelsand Germany

%

HI

%

22 1

Tay River, Scotland

*2 8'

21 2

Provincetown, Mass. (16252)

1O 7

21 I

Cape Cod, Mass (21942)

?i 8

22 6

Coast of Maine

11 2

21 Q

Type of M osphyia

West Indies

7 T 2

21 I

Type of M bcllicosd

Greenland (Lund Mus )

11 6

2 | A

Arranging the measurements of breadth of scapula according to the length of
the skull, without reference to locality, we have the following :

1 From Rudolphi's figure. Type of M. longimana.

Left. The right = 33.6

236

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA.

Locality.

Length of Skull.

Per cent, of Breadth of
Scapula.

Vogelsand Germany

in.
148 2

11 i

Coast of Maine

lit. o

OO'O
11 2

Tay River Scotland

12^ O

T.2 8

Greenland (Lund Museum)

121 2

•?i 6

West Indies

I 14.1

T.I 2

Cape Cod, Mass. (21942)

in. o

^i 8

Provincetown Mass. (16252)

Q I O

3O 7

We find here, beautifully brought out, a gradual increase in the relative
breadth of the scapula, with the increase in the size of the skull. Unless the
series represented one species, it is hardly likely that this gradation would be
obtained.

The scapulae of the types of M. bellicosa, and M. osphyia, like that of the Tay
River (Scotland) whale, show a low, blunt spine, a very narrow prescapular fossa,
and a slight elevation on the anterior border (pi. 34, fig. 4 ; pi. 36, fig. 3). The
anterior border is nearly straight, though somewhat irregular in the upper three
quarters, while the posterior border is evenly concave. A rudimentary coracoid
is discernible in the United States specimens, as in the Tay River (Scotland)
whale, and in the Greenland skeleton No. 269 in the Brussels Museum.

RADIUS AND ULNA.

Struthers has published a figure (87, fig. 6) of the forearm of the Tay River
whale, which shows well the shortness and strong curvature of the ulna and the
expansion of the radius at the distal end, but hardly gives the impression of mas-
si veness which these bones" have. Malm published a figure (after a photograph)
of the radius of a specimen in the Stockholm Royal Museum, received from St.
Bartholomew Id., West Indies, where it was collected by Dr. Goes (66, fig. 4a).

This last is comparable with the radius of the type of M. bellicosa, which was
also from the West Indies, and probably from St. Bartholomew Id., and was col-
lected by Dr. Goes (see p. 97). The two radii are exactly alike, except that the
Stockholm specimen appears to be a little narrower at the proximal end.

The proportion of the breadth of the radius at the distal end to its length in
various American and European specimens of Megaptera is as follows :

Type of M. bellicosa (Phila. Mus.) 41. i %

St. Bartholomew Island (Stockholm Mus.) 41.0 % '

Type of M. longimana (Berlin Mus.) , 40.9 % *

Greenland (Copenhagen Mus.) 40.3 $

Greenland ? (Brussels Mus.) 38.7 $ *

Type of M. osphyia (Niagara Mus.) 38.2 %

Tay River, Scotland (Dundee Mus.) 35.8 % '

1 The measurements of this radius given by Malm (66, 38) make the breadth at the distal end
only 33 % °f tne length, but it is obvious by examination of the figure that the measurements are
incorrect. The above proportion is from the figure, which is after a photographic original.

2 From the figure.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

237

Fio. 73.

FIG. 74.

FIG. 75.

FIG. 76.

FIG. 77.

FIG. 78.

MEOAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. SCAPULA.

FIG. 73.— GREENLAND. AD. (FROM VAN BENEDEN AND GERVAIS.) FIG. 74. — TAY RIVER, SCOTLAND, t .
(FROM STRUTHERS.) FIG. 75. — CAPE COD, MASS. (FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 76. — PROVINCE-TOWN, MASS. IM. 9 .
(FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 77.— TYPE OF M. OSPHYIA. (FROM A PHOTO. OBLIQUE VIEW.) FIG. 78.— TYPE OF. M.

BELLICOSE. (FROM A PHOTO.)

238

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

The proportion for the Tay River whale is from Struthers's figure (89, fig. 6).
His measurements give only 32.7%. The cause of this discrepancy is not obvious.
All the other specimens show a close agreement.

The correspondence in the bones of the forearm between the types of M.
osphyia and M. bellicosa are seen on comparing plate 34, fig. 4, and plate 36, fig. 3.

The proportion of the length of the radius and ulna to the length of the skull
in various American and European specimens is shown in the following table :

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. RADIUS AND ULNA.

Locality.

Length of
Skull.

Length of Radius.

Length of Ulna.

With
Epiphyses.

Without
Epiphyses.

With
Epiphyses.

Without
Epiphyses.

Vogelsand Germany

inches.
148.2
125.0
91.0
113.0
135-0
IM-5

121. 2

per cent.

23-7'

28.8
29.7
28.8
25.6

per cent.

26.0
28.8
26.1

24-3
25-8

25.2

per cent.

24.0

25-5
24-4

21.9

per cent.

22.0

24-7
22.7
21. 1
21.0

21.4

Tay River Scotland

Provincetown Mass

Cape Cod Mass

Coast of Maine '

West Indies '

Greenland (Lund Mus )

PHALANGES.

The number of ossified phalanges (exclusive of metacarpals) in the European
Humpback has been given by Struthers (87, 38), and of the Greenland Humpback
by Eschricht (37), Van Beneden (8, 134), and others, as follows :

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. PHALANGES.

Locality.

Author.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

Vogelsand, Germany

Rudolphi

2

8

6

»•

Tay River Scotland

Struthers

2

7

6

T.

Greenland

Van Beneden and Gervais

2

7

7'

7

Greenland

Eschricht

2

7

7

2"

1 From Rudolphi's figure — Type of M. longimana.

' Type of M. osphyia. ' Type of M. bellicosa.

' In d' Alton's Die Skelete der Cetaceen, 1827, pi. 3, fig. e, the hand of a Humpback whale, which
from the text appears to be the type of B. longimana, 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 ( j/, 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 ( j/, 141).
It appears to include the metacarpals.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERK NORTH ATLANTIC.

239

The phalanges are incomplete in the type of M. 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 M. bellicosa 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." (##.)

In the immature skeleton in the National Museum from Provincetown, Mass.,
(No. 16252 ?) 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 (pis. 3T-40), both adult and foetal, and in the

FIG. 79

FIG. 80.

FIG. 81.

FIG. 82. FIG. 83.

MEQAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. STEENUM.

FIG. 79. — ST. BARTHOLOMEW ID., WEST INDIES. (FROM MALM.) FIG. 80. — (FROM VAN BENEDEN. LOCAL-
ITY NOT GIVEN.) FIG. 81. — TAY RIVER, SCOTLAND. 3 . (FROM STRUTHERS.) FIG. 82. — ANTILLES. (FROM
FISCHER.) FIG. 83.— TYPE OF M. LONGIMANA. (FROM PANDER AND D' ALTON.)

Cape Cod (Mass.) specimen (pi. 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.

1 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 NOETH 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 M. belli-cosa, and Malm (66, pi. 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.

KIBS.

The first rib in Megaptera is broad at the distal end. In the type of M.
bellicosa it is cut off square (pi. 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 M. 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, pi. 1, fig. 4c) is club-like at
the proximal end, without distinct processes, while the second rib in the Tay River
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 M.
bellicosa, 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 Fininark
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 ATLANTIC. 241

black and white — and the amount aud 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.

V. 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 M. nodosa, longimana, osphyia, bellicosa, americana, etc., are not
substantiated.

Although the type-skeleton of M. 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 M. longimana.

Cope compares his species with M. longimana as described in the works of
Rudolphi, Gray, and Flower, and concludes that it is different for the following
reasons :

1. M. osphyia has long inferior lateral processes in the posterior cervical
vertebrae.

2. The atlas is a parallelepiped 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 M. longimana,
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 vertebras are much higher.

242 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 M. ospliyia (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 1£
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 vertebrae (5th character) in the type-skeleton as mounted is 48,
probably to be distributed as follows : C. 7, D. 1 4, 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 M. longimana. Of chevrons there
are 7 in position in the type of M. osphyia, with places for perhaps 10 in all. Van
Benedeu and Gervais give 12 as the number for M. longimana, 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 M. osphyia the breadth of the first rib on the left side is 9 in.,
and on the right 7-J- 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, 5.3 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 M. 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 M. 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 Balcenopterce ; entire width over and within
edge of orbit, 15^ 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 M. longimana is 9.0
%, and of Struthers's Tay River specimen 9.6 %, while the type of M. bellicosa gives
10.7 %. This approximation shows that M. ospliyia 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 M. longimana 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 Strtithers's
Tay River whale is, according to his measurements, the same as in the types of M.
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 zoologists only from

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 243

American sources, until the time of Rudolphi's description of M. longimana in
1832. This author suspected that his species might be the same as Fabricius's
boops, and Schlegel in 1844 was of the same opinion.

In 1848 Each rich t 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 Balcena 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 Keporkak ; also mentioned by Anderson under the latter name and
introduced into systematic zoology by Klein and Bonnaterre under the appropriate
name Balcena 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 M. americana as
before and citing Fabricius's Bakma boops with a mark of interrogation, under M.
longimana, with the comment : " Rudolphi, and after him Schlegel, refer B. boops,
O. Fabricius, to this species ; and Professor Eschricht has no doubt that Balcena
boops of O. Fabricius is intended for this species, as it is called Kepoi'kalc 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 " (S3, 124),
Gray seems not to have known at this time of Cope's description of M. 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 boops (=
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 M. bellicosa, 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.

NOTE. — 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. I and 2. The individual represented
in fig. I is unusually white and on that account especially interesting.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE, £AL^NA 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 Balcena glacialis by Bonnaterre (9, 3) and Balcena bis-
cayensis by Eschricht (1860). The latter name was not accompanied by a descrip-
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 great 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 Balcena than in Balcenoptera, 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 Balcena 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. 9^- 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, hut it hardly seems possible that the remarkably short
head can be correct. The skeleton was very fully described 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 Re Id., France, in 1680.

In 1877, a specimen was stranded at Taranto, Italy, of which descriptions and
figures were published by Capellini in 1877 (IS) 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 RiosyRial (52, 63-67, Sep.).

In 1893, 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.1

The foregoing memoirs contain practically all the data on the Nordcaper avail-
able for use in comparing European with American specimens.

SIZE.

The total length of the various recorded specimens of the European Nordcaper
is as follows :

BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATEREE. EUROPEAN. TOTAL LENGTH.

Locality.

Date.

Sex.

Total Length.

Age.

Authority.

English
ft. and in.

Original Measure.

Meters.

ft. and in.3

I celand

1891 ?
1680
1852
1891
1891
1890
1889

1891

1877
1878
1811

1854

?

$
$

V
?

5i' 8"
5°' 7"
49' 4'?
47' 7"
47' 7' ±
46' 7" ±
43' 3i"

43' 3*'
39' 4"

"X1

32' io* ±
24' 9*'

50' R.'
471' F.

Guldberg
Fischer
Van Beneden

Guldberg
ii

tt
a

ii

Gasco
Graells
Van Beneden
Gasco

Re Island, France

15-43
15.0?

'4-5

&

Soulac France

Iceland

46' R.
46' ± R.

45' ± R.
42' R.

42' R.

(C

ii

ii

13.2

ii

j " Not entirely
( full-grown "
adolescent.

Taranto Italy

12. 0
10.46

Guetarui, Spain

Fferbaudiere France

28' to 30' F.
26' 9" S.

San Sebastian, Spain . ...

7.56

young

1 These figures on a larger scale were also published by Buchet in 1895 'ln Mem. Soc. Zool.,
France, 8, 1895, 229-231, pis. 6-8. They bear here the legend " Phot, de M. Berg " — In Guldberg's
paper the legend is " Guldberg phot."

2 Skeleton. Van Beneden cites this as 48 ft. long, which must be an error.

3 F.= French measure; R.= Rheinland; S.= Spanish. I am not positive as to the Rheinland.
' In a straight line.

s Fischer states that this specimen was young, but there is no evidence that such was the case.

246

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

It will be observed from the table that the largest European specimen is the
Iceland one cited by Guldberg, which was 51' 8" long in a straight line. Guldberg's
statement regarding it is as follows : " Captain Berg told me that the largest speci-
men captured by him measured 50 feet [Rheinland ?] long (in a straight line) and
46 feet in maximum girth" (59, 15).1

The next largest was that recorded by Segnette as stranded on the island of
Re, France, in 1680. It was a female and its length was 50 ft. 7 in. Fischer
asserts that this individual was young (44, 16), but there is no evidence that this was
the case. He was influenced by the measurements given by Rondelet and Pare for
the whale of the Basques. According to these early zoologists, this whale reached
a length of 36 cubits (coudees), or as Fischer has reckoned it, 23.4 m., or 76 ft. 9 in.
There is no probability that the Nordcaper ever reached such dimensions.

The American specimens hitherto recorded present the following lengths :

Locality.

Date.

Sex.

Total Length.

Age.

Museum.

Authority.

Mch. 20 180.4

s

e-l' o"

Adult

Beaufort N C

1874

$

> .

50' o +

( State Museum,

Long Island, N. V

[Skeleton as mounted, 44 9 ]
Skeleton 44' 9"

Raleigh, N. C.
j Field Col. Mus.,

Elliot

Egg Harbor N. J

Spring, 1882

?s

48' o"

| Chicago
Not preserved

Holder

Feb. is, 1898

9

46' o' est.

Adol. or ad

Wis. Acad. Sci.

Brimley

Long Island, N. Y. . . .

1888
April, 1895

s

Skeleton 45' 3" *

AZ' =;"

Adol.

( U. S.Nat. Mus.,
j No. 23077

F. W. T.
Blake

Charleston, S. C
Long Island N. Y

Jan., 1880
18— ?

$

40' 4"
Skeleton 35' o" -)- est.

Adol.

Charleston Col.
Am. Mus. Nat.

Manigault
Holder

Opposite Philadelphia '.

1862
Mch. 20, 1894

....

Skeleton 37' o" est.

•ao' o" 4-

Jr-

Hist., New York
Acad. Nat. Sci.,
Philadelphia
Not preserved

Cope

A comparison of the foregoing measurements of total length with those pre-
viously given for the European specimens shows that there is no considerable
difference in size in individuals from the two sides of the Atlantic.

The largest American specimen, as above indicated, was 53 ft. long. The
largest European specimen (Iceland) was 51 ft. 8 in. The younger specimens
show a parallel gradation in size. It may be stated, therefore, that European and
American specimens cannot be differentiated by size.

EXTERNAL PROPORTIONS.

The exterior measurements recorded by those who have had an opportunity to
examine the Atlantic Right whale in a fresh condition are so meagre and so little
conformable that they give but scant assistance in determining the questions at

1 Guldberg's own measurements appear to be in Rheinland feet (12 in. Rheinl. = 12.357 Eng-
lish), but he cited one measurement from Capt. Berg in English feet, which may be the kind
intended here, in which case the R£ Island specimen would be the longest one.

'See Holder (j6, 112, 120).

* The length of the skeleton as mounted is probably too great, on account of the exaggeration
of the caudal intervertebral spaces.

4 Type of Balana eisarctica Cope.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

247

issue. Furthermore, the few measurements available for comparison show large
discrepancies, as will be found upon examination of the following table :

BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN.

6

oo

3
II

if

2 %

d. M

JS

(— «

-v

rt

San Sebastian, Spain,
1853. (Copenhagen Mus.)
(Fischer, 1871.)

d> •

CO *»

co-'^:.

t~l » M

- O O1

T3 « OO

C . "
a o

•3° w

•Sjzjj

M

«°S~
w

r^.

!-•.

00 .

M r-.

^<£

"rt ^

it

a «

S3

OO

r*-

CO

2 M
.^ 6

Q u

i

Charleston, S. C., 1880.
(Manigault, Holder.)

N

00

oo

r'fn
t— >co
. oo

2; ~

II

•§•3

C3 I-H

ES.

a

w

o ^

^' 3

00

J jx
o <& ~

0 "*g
M 'C

u ca

o. -^

rt
O

Sex

$

$

?

?

$

0

o

Age. .

ad

Length of whale

4?y '

26' q" '

42;o"a

w A"

™ v

40' 4'

48' o"

r,' 0"

" " skeleton

,c' 7"

Tip of snout to eye

%

212

%

IQ 2

f

%

?

%

^
2^ O

*
22 6 -4-

" pectoral

[274!

2f, f.

Length of pectoral

7 I +

14. O

IS41

i =; 4

16 ^

I A 6

Breadth " "

84

Q 1

8 ?

8 -?

80

Flukes from tip to tip

11 7

11 6

•*o.o

2O 2

2O 2

27 1

•JC ,1

12 1

Girth in front of fore limbs

SO 2

Space between pectorals on abdo-
men

I ^ O

Breadth of margin of mandible ....

I 4.

From highest cranial eminence to
orbit, axially . .

104

Ear above horizon of eye

I 2

from vertical axis of eye

2 8

Eye to anterior face of axilla

A 1

<; o

Circumference of caudal terminus
or " small "

' Small " to caudal bifurcation

8 1

Length of each fluke axially

IQ 2

20 8

Breadth" " " " ....

Q. 1

8.2

7 O

Length of blowhole, axially

2.1

Divergence of blowholes posteriorly

2 8

Nasal prominence, width

2.8

height

7.C

Total circumference

j 56.9

6<; i

Pectoral to pudendum

1 to 58.3

42 8

Length of

6 ?

Pudendum to extremity of tail

20 8

Height at level of blowholes

22 1

of lower jaw at middle. . . .

i i.*

Circumference at middle of bodv . .

C2. t;

" posterior third. . .

2O.2

Longest whalebone

7.1

6.?4

6.6

IO 1

I I 0

1 1 Z

1 French measure.
* Norwegian measure.

3 To anterior insertion (see Gasco, pi. 9, fig. 2).
' Along inner curve.

248

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTEBN NOETH 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 iusisted on in all the accounts of this whale
and appeal's in Monedero's drawing, copied by Fischer (44, 18, fig. 1), Van Beneden
and Gervais, and 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 inaccurate. Nothing is to be seen of this peculiarity in Guld berg's photo-
graphic figures of older individuals. The Re 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 specimens
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,
2Y.3 % of the total length, while the Egg Harbor (New Jersey) whale has the
maximum proportion of 35.4 %. There appeal's to be no way in whicli 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, 1.1%. 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 :

BALMNA OLACIAL1S BONNATERRE. KUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. WHALEBONE.

Locality.

Sex.

Length of
Whale.

Length of
Whalebone.

Charleston, South Carolina

$

ft. in.
4.O 4.

ft. in.
4- 2

Cape Cod Mass

$

4.2 ";

c 6

Egg Harbor, New Jersey

?

48 o

C 0

Cape Lookout North Carolina, 1874

$

^3 o

7 -

1808

$

46 o est

6 4

Taranto, Italy

?

^0 4

2 ll

Iceland

$

4"? *?-t

1 I

(Guldberg's longest Iceland whalebone)

6 «l

(Berg's longest Iceland whalebone) ...

7 4

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC. 249

It 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. 4 in.
long, various writers on the Colonial Right whale fishery mention lengths for this
species of 8 feet and 9 feet. This might he 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 cases.

COLOR.

The Atlantic Right whale known to American whalers was called by them the
Black whale, in allusion to its color. In the European Nordcaper 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, pi. 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 (59, 16) :

"The color of the skin is, as already known, deep black, sometimes with a
tinge of blue (einem Stick 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 (Obei'liautpartien), which were
sharply contrasted from the black dermis layers (Hautpartien) 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 Nordcaper, 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, pi. 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 cirri peds, 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 alcohol 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 Bulletin 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 Nordcaper 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 pi. 46, figs. 1 and 2.)

OSTEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS NUMBER OF VERTEBRAE.

The skeleton of the European Nordcaper has been described in detail and
figured by Gasco (47 and 48*), Graells (52), Capellini (13), and Guldberg (59).
The skeleton of American specimens has been described and illustrated by Holder
(61) and Manigault (68). (See pis. 42-46.)

The number of vertebrae has been given by these authors for several individ-
uals, as follows :

BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

Locality.

Sex.

AL;.'.

Author.

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

Taranto, Italy

?

Adoles

Gasco

7

12

21

c6

tt «

9

«

Capellini

7

i-l

?

6 —

^7

San Sebastian Spain ....

jr.

Gasco

7

TT '

I ?

23

56

Iceland (I)

Guldberg

7

12

21 (-H)

54( + l)

(11) .

7

1 4

1

C

c6

(III)..

it

7

14

-J

S6

(Guldberg's formula for the species)

7

12

23

c6

BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATERRK. AMERICAN. VERTEBRAL FORMULA.

Locality.

Sex.

Age

C.

D.

L.

Ca.

Total.

Long Island N Y (I)'

7

ID

26

57

" " " (II)'..

7

14

ii4

20 +

52+'

jr.

7

14

1 1

24

56

Charleston S. C

$

jr.

7

14

ii

23

55

Cape Lookout N. C , 1874

$

ad.

7

14

ii7

22-f-

54+

Provincetown Cape Cod Mass 8

7

14

1 1

24

56

Long Island N Y (III)'

7

14

ii

2?

57

1 Gasco gives 13 pairs of ribs, but thinks there may have been 14 pairs. Hence, the formula
was perhaps 7, 14, 12 (or n), 23 (or 24) = 56. "U. S. National Museum, No. 23077,

' Amer. Mus. Nat History. "Holder states that the total is "probably 57." 'Or 12.

4 Possibly only 10 lumbars. ' Type of B. dsarctica. ' Mus. Comp. Zoology. ' 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 vertebrae 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 (52, pi. 3)
to have but 8 lumbar vertebrae 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 vertebra 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 situ in a number of adult and foetal 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, pis. 2-4) and Graells (52, pis. 3-4). 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 occipital, and the processes are
directed forward. This relation of the bones is shown especially in 52, pi. 4, fig. 2,
but also in pi. 4, fig. 1, and in pi. 3, fig. 2. In the latter, which is a figure of the
entire skeleton, the skull appears to be a reduced copy of pi. 4, fig. 2. In pi. 3,
fig. 1, which is a view of the entire skeleton from the side, the orbital process of
the frontal is represented more as if directed backward 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-
maxillae 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 inexactness." This latter may, therefore, be con-
sidered the more reliable.

Gasco's figures (47, pi. 2, figs. 1 and 2 ; pi. 3, fig. 1) of the Taranto (Italy)
whale show a very close agreement with the skull of the specimen from Long
Island (New York) iu the National Museum, No. 23077, pis. 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 (61, pi. 12) the
superior outline of the rostrum does not descend rapidly enough anteriorly, due
perhaps to the intermaxillae 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 premaxillae extend so far back as to pre-
vent the union of the maxillae with the median anterior prolongation of the frontal
at the vertex. In the American skulls in the Washington, Philadelphia, and
Raleigh museums the premaxilhe are shorter posteriorly and the maxillae 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, pi. 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. 23077, except that there is a difference in proportions in the case
of the Taranto specimen, as represented in Gasco's figure (47, pi. 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-
FIG 84 der is in part overlaid by the intermaxilla when the nasal is in position,
so that the latter then appears rectilinear in outline, as in 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.

253

BAL^ENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKULL.

1^1

•o-(flj

.-•1
•o(OJj

o .£

l|i

•0-u

Jsl

J2<3£

•?»»

c .-a

ill

I»l
-orj "

««

O H f
u ' S

Ditto from Gasco's top
and side figures.

Ditto from under view
and enlarged view of
nasals.

K.
1

'3

§1

go

B
"rt

o.

Joo**"

O " w

C/5 C «

Sex and age

Q

Jr-

Total length of whale

47' 7" +

47' 7"

46' 4 " +

42' 4-

•3d' t."

" " " skeleton.

3?' Q"

Length of skull (straight) .. ....

154 3"

TC-3 Q"

ICQ 7"

8Q o"

87 T"

6

65.1

62.Q

*
65.3

%

63 6

60 7

72 2

7O 7

t

68 9

*

Length of rostrum (straight)

79.2

75-7'

74-9 '

68 24

12 25

io.6s

9.2

6.7s

8 Q

8 i

7.3

7 7 '

8 Q

8 7

6 7 3

Q7.5

98.5

Q4. 3

IOO O

08 s

88 i1

IO2.5

IOI.O

IO2.Q

102.5 2

IIO I

Depth " ** at middle

7.i *

End of nasals to end of rostrum (on

82 5 2

78 O

cc 85

66 2

Cape Lookout, N. C,
1874.
(Raleigh Mus.)

>•'-

*a

•o .

13

91

^t

^-.

A

*z

"S3

^SS

?1
^S

>'s

*S5

iTsw

gj*

89 g

E g 8,
<iJ~2

°: 1

in

eS^
1"U

IfS

2 cJ=
0^

Coast of New Jersey.
Type B. cisarctica.
(Phila. Acad. Nat. Sci.)

$ ad

«'

eo'o''-J-

d-i' o'

37'o"-4-

«' 3"s

•5C' 7"»

07' f,"

128 o"

K

66.1

K

62.0

H

66.0

*
68.5

%
64.6

•
68.1

80 q

79.0

76.6

78.2

81.3

78.8'°

Q ^

14. 1

5.1

7.8

7-3

7-3

7-4

8.3

Breadth of 2 nasals distally

6.6

II. O

7.2

6.5

8.3

7.8"

5.4

4.8

5.8

106.0

5-7

64

QO I

98.0

96.8

110.5

93.4

95.4

IOO.O

107.0

1 08 .6

5.3

101.3

105.7

7.2

7.3

6.6

8.5

6.8

7.2

76 6

71.4

78.9

83.8

80.0

1 From "hind angle," i. e.. base of rostrum; hence smaller. s From figure. 3 Least, from figure.

4 On comparing Gasco's figures it will be seen that the rostrum in the top view is much too short. 5 Straight.

* Total length given only approximately by Capellini ; hence taken from Gasco, 2.27 m.

1 " From point of meeting of internal lateral margin with inferior margin of thecondyle" ; hence, asmaller per cent.
8 Caudals spaced too much, • From Manigault. I0 Least. " Twice yi.

254 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

There is, as already stated, considerable variation, the cause of which is not entirely
clear. This variation affects the American specimens, which I have endeavored to
measure in a uniform manner, nearly as much as the European specimens, the
measurements of which are collected from various sources.

The measurements of the Taranto (Italy) whale given by Gasco in the text of
his article (47) do not agree with measurements taken from his figures, and meas-
urements from the different figures do not agree with one another. Furthermore,
Capellini's measurements of the same specimen do not altogether agree with Gasco's.
Guldberg's measurements of the Iceland skulls also lack conformity to a consider-
able degree. While these differences may be partially due to different methods of
measurement, it can hardly be supposed that they all arise in that way. This
explanation does not serve in the case of my own measurements.

It seems probable that the discrepancies are in part due to the shrinking and
warping of the various bones of the skull. The long, slender maxilla3 and pre-
maxillaB, the long orbital processes of the frontals and maxillae, seem quite easily
subject to such distortion, and in some skulls it can readily be seen that warping
has taken place. Again, it should be observed that most of the skulls are those of
young individuals, and probably exhibit differences of proportions con-elated with
different stages of growth. Aside from all this, however, it is undoubtedly true
that the species shows a considerable individual variation in proportions.

The measurements of the length of rostrum in Guldberg's skull, received from
Capt. Amlie, and in Capt. Berg's No. 2, are from the base of the same and not from
the posterior margin of the maxilla, as in other cases. This accounts for the
diminished length. The measurement of the rostrum of the Taranto whale was
taken from Gasco's figure of the upper surface of the skull (47, pi. 2, fig. 1) ; but
it is obvious on comparing this figure with the side view that the rostrum is too
short in the former. A measurement from the side view gives about 77.2 % for
the length of the rostrum, which is no doubt more nearly correct.

Gasco's measurements of the mandible of the San Sebastian whale of 1854
are "from the point of meeting of the internal lateral margin with the inferior
margin of the condyle>" which accounts in part at least for the much smaller
proportion.

The other discrepancies, affecting the breadth of the skull across the orbits, the
length of the mandible, and the distance along the curve of the premaxillse, from
the tip of the nasals to the tip of the premaxillse, cannot be so readily explained.
As they occur in both the American and the European series, however, they cannot
be regarded as indicating specific differences. Doubtless, many of them would dis-
appear if the various specimens could be brought together for actual comparison.

CHARACTERS OF THE VERTEBRAE.

Measurements of the vertebras and other parts of the skeleton in a few Euro-
pean and American specimens are given in the following table :

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 255

BAL^NA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SKELETON.

Jfl
111

co M ,.J

" W OJ

T: M J3

C .T3

ad*
^OJ

J«

rt OU

rt ^"-P

C O1 o
rt . vi

1

J&8

1> . in

cfl n «

O

z

11

O

O A
J Jj)
u _w

*i

1

JH

Long Island, N. Y.
(Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist.)

bo t-»

||

Charleston, S. C.
Jan. 7, 1880.
(Charl. Coll. Mus.)

Coast of New Jersey, i
Type ^?. cisarctica,
(Phila. Acad. Nat. Bci.1

s

$ im.

jr.

5 ad.

6s

47'7" +

47' 7*

34' 3"

39' 4

24'io"

50*0" 4-

37' Q"

44' o"

17' o" i

154.3"

'SS.Q'

113.4"

89.3"

63.0"

152.0"

150 o '

128 o"

%

*

%

21. 01

21. 1

%

23 8

^
18 4.

17 8

18 8

16 6

18 8

20.3'

17 2

17 8

l6 I

TC S

18 i

8.8

6 o4

e 8

6 6

8 o

27.7'

26.8

2J. ^

26 29

26 6

7-72

5.64

5 84

6 i4

7 71

6 i

25 21

IO I3

7 o4

8 2

8 -74

R n*

7 ^

Q ^

0.9

'* breadth " ...

8 3

Greatest breadth of scapula

3t.9

31.3

28.9

30.9

30 6

28 2

28 i

" depth "

26 o

27.6

22.2

24.2

23.1

22 7

15 3

16.1

12 2

! , T»

I* 76

12.9

13.2

I I.Q

n 8

12 I&

TO [5

TO 75

G:isco has given figures of many of the vertebrae of the Taranto (Italy) skele-
ton (47, pis. 3, 5, 7, 8), in which the outlines are taken from photographs. These
figures I have compared with the Long Island (N. Y.) skeleton in the National
Museum, No. 23077, and find a most complete agreement, except in one or two
cases. In the figure of the 4th lumbar of the Taranto skeleton (vertebra No. 24)
the anterior zygopophysis is much smaller than in the Long Island skeleton, and
the posterior margin of the base of the neural arch is much more curved. In the
side view of the 1st lumbar of the Taranto whale (vertebra No. 21) the transverse
process is represented as having a peculiar shape and direction which is not evident
in the front view of the same vertebra, and is not found in the Long Island skele-
ton. The sixth caudal (vert. No. 39) of the Taranto skeleton is represented as
having only a shallow emargination inferiorly, while in the Long Island and other
specimens the emargination is very deep and the anterior and posterior margins
come close together, foreshadowing the formation of the foramen which is found in
the posterior caudals. There is every probability that this figure is incorrect, or
that the vertebra is imperfect below. All the vertebrae of the Taranto skeleton
are figured without the epiphyses, and hence appear thinner than they otherwise
would.

1 From figure.

'' I4th dorsal.

3 Probably 2d caudal.

4 Anterior.

5 With proximal epiphysis.

6 Caudals too much spaced.

7 Posterior.

8 From Manigault.

9 Vertebra No. 22.

10 Twice

256

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

The points in the vertebral column at which the several processes and fora-
mina appeal- or disappear furnish data of considerable importance in the compari-
son of species. These data are brought together in the following table :

BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. VERTEBRAL CHARACTERS.

g

(A

o

^"

£

CJ

^--,

B

'J

•

'« "?

3

• C/3

. *j

^

CJ* ^

. X

t, C rt

.*•?

0, 3

. S

r* •

^ *x

^^.^

5

a) ^f,

^i:^

^t 2

C/J »—

C

• ID

. ^"

ta ^

c/i

^

• ^

r-

x^

'S 5

Z

^ w

8 B

;

S ^Q

£ -is *n

*z

« s

"3 »

8. -2

r-

2'S

, 3

Ja

BO

2^
w

•gN

2^1

2'c3

* &

^ J

"S

O ui

rt

.2 -°

N

v -—

O ^i.

oJ S

*^ w

bfl

^^ tt

•*-• iT d

TT . V

C n

« . w

M

o S

g-13
uES

11

u!i

-j
Uii

6 Hi

Jl

-t Q~
C 10 O

jS'sy.

« D,

5.5

Hfi.

Hi

First vertebra with perfor- "}

ated transverse process, f

16'

,g

^O

38

38

38

^6S

"?8

17

No. . . J

O

O

o

O /

Transverse processes end )

4O

J.I

A2

4.1

42

,

,

.

on vertebra No j

tw

T1 *

T1

«"*

T"

T

'

*

Neural spine ends on ver- )
tebra No j

43

45

46

45

44

45

45

44

44

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 Zoology, 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

1 Right side only.

2 Left side only.

3 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 flunterius, a genus which no one now accepts. The superior or
vertebral extremity of the first pair of ribs is bifurcated. In the right one the
bifurcation 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 cm. 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
lib. Its apex is distant from the superior extremity of the rib only 2 cm. 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:

BALMNA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. BREADTH OF FIRST RIB.

Locality.

Left.

Right.

Guetaria Spa.ui

in.
7.O

in.
6 2

Taranto Italy

•2.0

6.6

S O

Long Id., N. Y. (Field Col. Mas)
Cape Lookout N C (Raleigh Mus )

8.0

6.S

875

6 7e

Lori" Id N Y ( Amer Mus )

c 7tr

6 e

Amagansett N. Y (Natl. Mus)

A S

Charleston S C

4 S

£

6 o

Coast of New Jersey a

^•2CJ

7 8<!

The length of the first rib in a straight line is as follows :
1 Aanal. Mus. Civic. Geneva, 14, 1879, pp. 606, 607. * Type of B. cisarctica.

258

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. LENGTH OP FIRST RIB.

Locality.

Length of Skull.

Length of First Rib.

Left.

Right.

in.

153-9
"3-4

89-3
63.0

in.

50-4'
32-7

15-7

in.

38.' 2
26.O

15-7

Taranto Italy

Long Id., N.Y. (Field C
Cape Lookout, N. C. (R
Long Id., N. Y. (Amer.
Amagansett, N. Y. (Nal
Charleston S C

152.0
152.0
128.0
124.0

"14-5

9&-S

48.0
44-5
33 5

49.0

5°-5

35-°
38.3
29 5
29 o

aleigh Mus )

Mus )

1 Mus)

29-5
28.75

Coast of New Jersey ".

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

FIG. 85. FIG. 86.

BAL&NA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. STERNUM.

FIG. 87.

FIG. 85. — TARANTO, ITALY. (FROM GASCO.) FIG. 86.— ICELAND. (FROM GULDBERG.) FIG. 87.— LONG ID.,
NEW YORK. (AMER. Mus. NAT. 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.

1 Whether right or left not specified.

1 Type of B. cisarctica.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

259

The Cape Lookout (N. C.) skeleton, the Cape Cod (Mass.) skeleton in the
Museum of Comparative Zoology, and that in the Field Columbian Museum, have
sterna closely resembling that of the Taranto skeleton (pi. 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 Bcdcenoptera 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 cm. wide ; in
Guldberg's Iceland skeleton, No. 1, 46 cm. high, 37.5 cm. 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, pi. 6, fig. 8). The
glenoid, or posterior border, is evenly concave from the glenoid fossa half-way to

FIG. 91.

FIG. 92.

FIG. 93.

BAL^NA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. SCAPULA.

FIG. 88.— LONG ID., NEW YORK. (AMER. Mus. NAT. HIST.) (FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 8g.—£Hlto. (FIELD
COLUMB. Mus.) FIG. 90.— Ditto. (U. S. NAT. Mus.) FIG. 91.— CHARLESTON, S. C. (FROM A PHOTO.) FIG. 92.
TYPE OF B. CISARCTICA. (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. cisarctica 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 pi. 45, figs. 2-5.)

The following are actual measurements of the greatest breadth and height of
the scapula in various American and European specimens :

BALJENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. SCAPULA.

Scaj

mla.

Greatest breadth.

Greatest height.

Christiania (Capt. Berg, III).

in.
1^4. 3

in.
4.Q 2

in.
41 I

" (Capt. Berg I). .

i <; 5 o

48 o

42 <

128 o

-26 o

20 o

Washington

124. O

11 z

20 O

Charleston

i r4 c;

•?6 o

24 =;

St Sebastian (Guetaria)

I I 7 A

12 7

2^ 2

Philadelphia '

06. 5

30 o

2T. O

Taranto

8q.l

27 6

2 1.6

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
scapulae. Cope recorded in 1868 that there was in the museum of Rutgers College,
New Brunswick, N. J., a scapula 48^ 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.8

PHALANGES.

Gasco gives (47, 40) the following formula for the Taranto skeleton, I, 0 ? ; II,
4 ; III, 5 ; IV, 3 ; V, 3. Professor Rios y Rial also gives a formula for the Guetaria
skeleton, but it appears to be entirely hypothetical.

1 See table on p. 255. * Type of B. cisarctica.

3 See Proc. Acad. Nat. Set. 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 :

BALJENA GLACIALIS BONNATEBBE. AMEBICAN. PHALANGES.

Digits.

I

II

Ill

IV

V

Provincetown Mass ,

Mus. Comp. Zoology

Right

i

4

5

3

3

Long Island N Y

Field Col Mus

Left
Right

i

2

4
4

5
5

3

2 +

3
3

Long Island N Y

Amer Mus. Nat. Hist

Left
Left

2
2

4
4

5
t.

2 +

4

3

4

Amagansett N Y

U. S. Nat'l Mus., No. 23077 •

j

Right

I

4

4

2

3'

I

Left

I

4

4

2

3'

SUMMARY.

The foregoing discussion of European 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.

o. The number of ribs and vertebrae 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 1 1 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. CISARCTIGA.^

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,1 but as he regarded all whales
of the genus Balcena 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,2 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. 3 Nevertheless, in the work Om

'See ESCHRICHT and REINHARDT, " Om Nordhvalen," Videns. Selsk. Skr.,5 Rakke, naiurvidens.
og math. Afd., 5 Bd., 1861, p. 479, foot-note 5. " See Comptes Rendus, 1860. Separate, p. 2.

"See GASCO, " Intorno alia Balena presa in Taranto, Atti R. Ac ad. Napoli, 1877, p.
Separate, 1878, pp. 12-13.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 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 bis B. cisarctica 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 biscayensis (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, etc.] " (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 (sorelle) ; both belong to Balcena 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. cisarctica belonging to the Civic 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 B. cisarctica, 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. cisarctica)
exactly resembles that of Tareuto (" B. biscayensis'''1) (48, 581, footnote 2).

The Osteographie 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. cisarctica'] is no other than the Balcena biscayensis'''' (8, 236).

In 1883, Holder summed up the opinions regarding the affinities of B. bis-
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-

1 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.'1'1

In 1889, Van Beneden stated explicitly his opinion that B. cisarctica was
identical with B. biscayensis. He remarks: "The Balcena biscayensis of Eschricht
is the Sletbag (whale with smooth back) of the ancient Icelandic whalers, the
Noi'd-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 Balcena cisarctica, and Professor Capellini that of
Taranto whale, Balcena tarentina (Balcena Van Benediana). The Balcena Swc-
denborgii [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, according to Prof.
Reiuhardt 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 (59}.

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. biscayensis 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 Osteographie 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 Balcena biscayensis is a synonym of Balosna
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.

1 It is difficult to harmonize this last remark with the statements in the Osteographie (see
p. 107 of that work).

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 265

In support of his opinion, he brought forward in 1871 (J$) two characters as
distinguishing biscayensis 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 8£ cm. This rib,
according to Fischer, is " infinitely more massive, more rounded, and thicker" than
in Balcena 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 cisarctica 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,1 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 cm., and two others a diameter of 10.2 cm.
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 cm., and the maximum diameter of the 3d rib in the 39-foot Taranto specimen,
as shown by Grasco'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 cisarctica, — it will be interest-
ing to read Grasco's description, quoted on p. 257. This shows that the bifurcation
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. biscayensis at San Sebastian (not the type) has the bifurcation on one side
only, and that but slightly developed.2

In another paper, published in 1872 (43, 19), Fischer again sums up his opin-
ions regarding B. biscayensis and B. cisarctica, as follows :

" The Balcena biscayensis, the Nord caper 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, pi. 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 Balcena cisarctica of the
coast of North America, belong to a different group, very near to the Balcena 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,' (b) the
' Sletbag,' (<?) Balcena tarentina of Capellini, and (d ) Balcena 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 Halibalce'na britannica, B. vanben^deniana, and B. mediterranea
" have not sufficient characters to be classified," and can be as well associated with
the Nordcaper as with B. 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 1857.1 The whale which they first found here, accord-
ing to Fischer, they considered different from the whale of the Bay of Biscay,
and called 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

" Mdmoire address^ en 1710 a M. de Planthion, syndic general du pays de Labourd, par les
ndgociants de Saint-Jean-de-Luz et de Cibourre." (Journal La Gironde, 29 Avril, 1857.)

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

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. dsarctica 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. dsarctica 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. dsarctica 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
small, 1 to 5."s

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:

BAL^NA OLACIALIS BONNATERRE. AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. LENGTH OF SKULL.

Locality.

Sex.

No. of times length of skull is con-
tained in length of skeleton.

Authority

Charleston S C

$

^.73

F. W. T

San Sebastian, Spain

3.63

Gasco

Guetaria "

3.63

Graells

Cape Lookout N. C

$

7.1; 7

F. W. T.

New Jersey

3-74*

Cope

Taranto. Italy..

2

4.77*

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 14 pairs.

"From the animal in the flesh; but from the skeleton this proportion is not more than
i to 3.98, or in round number, i to 4." (Foot-note by FISCHER.)

' Type of B. dsarctica, Cope's measurements. My own measurements give 3.84.
* See Fischer's foot-note.

268 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

NOTE. — Since the foregoing account of Balana gladalis 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 o 40.0

Upper jaw to blowhole 9 2 2 1.6

" ant. insertion of pectoral 14 o 33.0

Length of pectoral from anterior insertion 6 o 14.1

Breadth of pectoral 2 9 6.5

Breadth of flukes (tip to notch and notch to tip again) 13 6 31.8

Length of blowholes o 8

Distance between blowholes anteriorly o 7 ....

Longest whalebone 5 6 ....

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, i, 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, etc., 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, togetheruwith 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, etc.

In 1872 Capt. Scammon published a description of a small JSalcenoptera,
under the name of B. 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 1893 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 (53, 96 ; 54,
1 ; 55, 43), 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 Agaphelm 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.

"Cnllamach" whale allied to Balcena glacialis Bonnat.

Megaptera versabilis " " Megaptera nodosa "

Halcenoptera velifera " " Balcenoptera physalus (L.)

Sibbaldius sulfureus " " Balcenoptera muscvlus (L.)

Balcenoptera davidsoni " " Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata (Lac.)

Balcenoptera borealis of the eastern North Atlantic has no representative, so
far as known at present, in the North Pacific, — an interesting circumstance.

Balwna sieboldii 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 Scammou'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.

1 3,990. Sea of Japan. Capt. C. M. Scammon, 1873 8 " 2 "

" 13,988. N. W. coast of America. Capt. C. M. Scammon 8" 2"

" 57,134. "Northwest." Bought of Wm. Philips & Son, New Bedford, Mass., 1883 7" 2"

Regarding this species, Van Beueden 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"1:

Ft. In.

Extreme length 49 7

Length of pectorals 13 7

Breadth " 3 2

Distance from snout to pectorals 12 o

corner of mouth to snout 9 6

eye to snout 10 2

" spoutholes to snout 9 4

Breadth of flukes 15 7

Depth " " 3 4

Distance from anus to flukes 1 1 6

" genital slit to flukes 17 o

Length of folds on belly 1 6 o

Whole breadth of folds on belly 10 o

1 These measurements were corrected in the Marine Mammals, p. 39, and the later figures
are given here.

272 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTEBN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Ft. In.

Distance from flukes to hump 12 3

Length of hump along the back 3 o

Height" " i o

Depth of small close to flukes 2 6

Thickness of small close to flukes i 6

The characters included in the foregoing paragraphs are all identical with those
of M. 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 M. 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 M. nodosa. The breadth of the pec-
torals is 6.4 %, against 6.1 % to 7.6 % in M. 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 M. 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. Female. 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. 3. Female. Color of body black above, slightly mottled with white and
gray below. Fins and flukes, black above, white beneath. Number of laminae 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, Scammon adds :

" We have frequently recognized, upon the California coast, every species here

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 273

described, and eveu 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: 1st. 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 pi. 41, figs. 1, 2.)

The number of abdominal ridges is not different from that found in M.
nodosa.

One peculiarity merits attention. Scammon states that some parts of the body
in the Pacific Humpback are occasionally gray. The Newfoundland Humpbacks
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 :

274 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

MEGAPTERA VERSABILIS COPE. CALIFORNIA AND BERING SEA.

Measurement.

No. i.
California.
1872. $
Scammon.

No. 2.
Ditto.

9

No. 3.
Ditto.

?

Bering Sea.
1866. $
Scammon.

Total length

ft.
48
10
8
10
16
28

12
12

5
'3
3

0

4
18

3

2
O

3
4

S
4

25
i

in.
o
10
o
o

0

o
6
1 1

o
o

5

IO

o
o
6

o

Ii

6
6

4
6

0

9

ft. in.
48 o

ft. in.
52 o

12 5'

IO O '

ii 9'

ft.
49

IO

9
9

12

in.

7

2

4
6

0

" " blowholes . . ,

" corner of mouth

" " pectorals

16 6

" " dorsal fin

ii 6

12 O

I I
17

6

o

" " " " genital slit

Navel to genital slit

13 o
3 °

12 O

3 6

13

3
r

3
'5
3

7

2
0
O

7
4

Breadth of pectorals

Height of dorsal fin

Length " " "

14 o
4 3

Antero-posterior breadth of lobes of flukes

Length of orifice of ear

" genital slit

From pectorals to top of back

eye to top of head . . .

Girth below pectorals

Depth of caudal peduncle at insertion of flukes.. . .
Length of longest baleen

2

6

2 9

O IO

2 8

o 9
° 5

Breadth " " "

Length of fringe of baleen

Reduced to percentages of the total length, these measurements are as follows :

MEGAPTERA VERSABILIS COPE. CALIFORNIA AND BERING SEA.

No. i.

California.
1872.
Scammon.

No. 2.
Ditto.

No. 3.
Ditto.

No. 4.
Bering Sea.
1866.

$

$

$

$

Total length

48' o"

48' o"

12' o"

AQ' 7"

Snout to eyes

t

20 8

%

%

E27 2!

*

20 t;

" " blowholes

16.6

186!

188

" " pectorals

T^.'?

34 4

' post margin of dorsal fin

[66 6]

Length of pectorals

27 I

27 I

21 I

27 t;

Breadth " "

7.1

6.2

7.O

6.4

Height of dorsal fin

i 7

2.O

Breadth of flukes

37 Z

1O.O

"?! 4.

1 From lower jaw.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

275

The averages of these several percentages, compared with those of the three
Snook's Arm, Newfoundland, Humpbacks which I measured, are as follows:

MEQAPTERA VERSABILIS AND M. NODOSA. NORTH PACIFIC AND NEWFOUNDLAND.

Measurement.

North Pacific.

Newfoundland.

Snout to eye

%
(t\ 21 ?

i

" " blowholes

Vj; "O

m 18.0

(2\ 18 o

" " pectorals

(2) 11 o

Length of pectorals

26 2

(2^ 28 c

Breadth" "

6 7

(2) 7 6

Height of dorsal fin

(2) i o

(2) 2 T.

Breadth of flukes

} <
( •? ) •?•? o

(2) 17 6

The agreement exhibited is quite close, except as regards the distance from
the tip of the snout to the eye, and the breadth of the flukes. The reason for
the discrepancy in the former measurement is not clear, as the photographs at
command do not show any noticeable difference in the position of the eye. Though
there is no doubt considerable variation in the actual breadth of the flukes, all
measurements of this part both in the present and the Finbacks vary more than
could be expected. There appears to be some difficulty in measuring the flukes
accurately, or else different observers use different methods of measurement.

The photographs of the Humpback taken in Henderson Bay, Puget Sound,
Washington, September 5, 1896, reproduced in plate 41, figs. 1-4, confirm many of
the characters given by Scammon, and afford others showing that the species bears
the strongest possible resemblance to M. nodosa.

Thus, the dermal tubercles on the head are arranged in three rows, — a median
one and a double one on each side. The median row has about 6 tubercles and
each lateral one about 10, as in M, nodosa. There is a cluster of tubercles at the
symphysis of the mandible, and about 10 on each ramus. The dorsal fin is low,
with a concave anterior border, and a knob-like tip, as in one of the Newfound-
land specimens.1 A deep furrow extends backward from the mouth across the
shoulder. The pectorals are white above with a median dark mark proximally;
below, entirely white. The flukes are undoubtedly more or less white below.
Unfortunately, the pectorals are turned in such a position that the emarginations
on the anterior border cannot be seen. This whale, according to an account pub-
lished in the Northwest Magazine May, 1897, was 45 ft. long; the pectoral fins
about 9 ft. long; the flukes 13 ft. from tip to tip.

In two photographs of California " scenery " presented to the National Museum
by Mr. Chas. H. Townsend, Humpbacks are represented, showing the pectorals.
(See pi. 40, fig. 4; pi. 41, fig. 5). One shows the under side of the left pectoral,
which is white for the most part, but with black in the proximal fourth, and a nar-
row black posterior border, and black on the tubercles of the anterior border.

' This same form is shown in the photographic views of antarctic Humpbacks published by
Racovitza in the cetology of the voyage of the Belgica, 1903.

276 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

There are two emarginations between the tubercle which marks the distal end of
the radius and that which marks the ends of digit 2, showing that there are three
phalanges in this digit as there are in M. longimana. Beyond the second digit
there are at least five emargiuations, as in the Atlantic species.

The second California photograph shows the upper side of the left pectoral of
a Humpback and the flukes. The pectoral is nearly all black above, with irregular
streaks of white distally and a white anterior border. There are two emarginations
between the end of the radius and the end of digit 2, as in the last photograph and
in M. nodosa, and about six emarginations beyond, as in that species. The flukes
appear more or less white below.

The first California photograph also shows the peculiar outline of the inferior
surface of the caudal peduncle characteristic of M. nodosa.

A skeleton from Pacific County, Washington, was exhibited in the World's
Columbian Exposition in 1893. This specimen, according to a label attached to it,
stranded at Long Beach, Pacific County, Washington, July 9, 1892. The length
was 47-^- feet and the girth 48 feet. The skeleton had the following vertebral for-
mula : C. 7, D. 14, L. 11, Ca. 20 — 52. This same formula occurs in many specimens
of M. nodosa, except that the caudals are usually 21. Seven chevron bones were
present, and three more were apparently wanting to complete the series. The axis
presented a complete ring on the right side, formed by the union of the diapophyses.
The ring on the left side was nearly complete. The ribs were rounded on the outer
edge distally and thin and sharp on the inner edge. The centra of the sixth and
seventh dorsals were malformed and anchylosed together inferiorly.

There are in the National Museum several pieces of whalebone labelled as
having been collected by Capt. Scammon on the Pacific coast. Two of these
(No. 9791) were from a Humpback taken on the coast of California, November,
1869. Their length, without the bristles, is 18£ in., and the width at the base,
5^ in. The longest bristles measure 7f in. The blades are dull black, and the bristles
also blackish at the base, changing to a dull faded brown toward the tip. Nos.
12263 and 12264 were obtained by Capt. Scammon at San Luis Obispo, California.
These pieces are larger and thinner than the preceding and have a dull whitish
surface with a metallic iridescence. I think there is no doubt they have been
altered in color by immersion in poisonous fluid to destroy vermin. The larger
plate, without the bristles, is 26 in. long, and 10£ in. wide at the base.

Gray, in 1866, gave the name Megaptera kuriza to the Humpback included
by Temminck in the "Fauna Japouica" under the name of Balcena antarctica
(53, 131). This was based on a Japanese drawing, and not on a specimen, and
therefore has no validity as a species. The drawing is inaccurate in many par-
ticulars, but undoubtedly represents a Megaptera. So far as specific characters are
concerned, it is not worthy of consideration. The matter is chiefly interesting as
showing the occurrence of Megaptera on the coast of Japan. Of this Gervais,
Mobius, and others have since given confirmation.

Those authors who, like Van Beneden, regard all the Humpbacks as belong-
ing to one species, naturally assign this whale to Megaptera longimana, or nodosa.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 277

Flower (1885) prefaces his list of specimens of Megaptera in the British
Museum, which include a skull arid other bones from California, with the following
remark: "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 charac-
ters have not been as yet clearly defined." (46, 5.)

BAL^ENOPTEKA VELIFERA Cope. 1869.

Cope had no specimens on which to base this species, and named it from
Scammon's description and sketches. (See p. 90.) The description is probably
that given by Scammon in the article to which Cope's systematic synopsis forms
the introduction (83, 52-53, figs. 9-10). From this Cope extracted the following
characters (83, 16):

Color " shaded from the brown of the upper to the white of the lower
surfaces."

Dorsal fin large ; situated " at the commencement of the third fourth of the
length from the head."

Baleen light lead-color, streaked with black, and its surface marked with
transverse roughening.

The species is divided into two forms, a northern one with a large dorsal fin,
and a southern one with a " very small fin." These forms, however, are not
named.

Scammon's description is as follows :

" One picked up by Capt. Poole, of the bark ' Sarah Warren,' of San Francisco
affords us the following memoranda: Length sixty-five feet. Thickness of blubber
seven to nine inches. Yield of oil seventy-five barrels. Color of blubber a clear
white. Top of head quite as flat and straight as that of the Humpback. Baleen,
the longest two feet four inches, greatest width thirteen inches, its color a light lead
streaked with black, and its surface presents a ridgy appearance crosswise ; length
of fringe to bone two to four inches, and in size this may be compared to a cambric
needle.

"Its side fins and flukes are in like proportion to the body as in the California
Gray. Its throat and breast are marked with deep creases or folds, like the Hump-
back. Color of back and sides black or blackish-brown ; belly a milky white. Its
back fin is placed nearer to the caudal than the hump on the Humpback, and in
shape approaches to a right-angled triangle, but rounded on the forward edge, curved
on the opposite one, and the longest side joins the back in some individuals ; in
others the anterior edge is the longest." (83, 52.)

Later in the same account Scammon states regarding one shot with a bomb-
lance : " We got quite a good look at the under side of the whale . . . and
our observations agreed with those noted on board the ' Sarah Warren ' in relation
to color of belly and the creases on throat and breast. The under side of the fins
was white also."

Again he remarks :

278

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

" On the northern coast [of North America] the Finbacks, in many instances,
have a much larger fin than those in warmer latitudes, and I am fully satisfied that
these are a distinct species, confined to the northern waters. . . . Several [Fin-
backs] have been seen in May and June, on the coasts of California and Oregon,
and in Fuca Strait in June and July of the present year [1868 ?] ; these observations
satisfy me that the dorsal fin of this, the northern species referred to, is strikingly
larger than in the more southern Finbacks.

"Appended is a sketch of one individual of several seen in Queen Charlotte
Sound in February, 1865, which is a fair representation of them all. Those I have
noticed about Fuca Strait seem to have the back fin modified in size between the
extremely small [one] found on [the coast of] Lower California and the one here
represented."

The figures (Nos. 9 and 10) accompanying the article are quite crude, and, while
they represent a Finback whale fairly well, are unreliable for critical comparisons.
For example, in figure 9, which represents the B. velifera of the coast of California,
the height of the dorsal fin is about 7 % of the total length. If this were correct, it
would indicate a species with an enormous fin as compared with B.physaliis of the
North Atlantic, in which the height of the dorsal averages 2.3 %oi the total length.

In fig. 10, which represents the northern form of B. velifera, the dorsal is given
the increased proportion of about 8|- % of the total length.

In these figures, furthermore, the shape of the pectoral fins, flukes, and " small "
(or caudal) peduncle is unnatural, judging from photographs taken from fresh
specimens of Atlantic Finbacks.

We hear no more of these Pacific Finbacks until Scammon published his great
work on the Marine Mammals of the Northwestern Coast, in 1874. In this the de-
scription of 1869 is repeated with practically no alteration, but with the addition of
measurements of " a Balcenoptera which came on shore near the outer heads of the
Golden Gate" (82, 34). Unfortunately these measurements are of very little im-
portance, except that the total length — 60 feet — is given. Reduced to percentages
of the total length, Scammon's measurements, compared with the averages for
Newfoundland specimens of B. phy solus, are as follows1:

BALMNOPTERA PHTSALUS (L.) AND B. VELIFERA COPE.

Measurement.

Newfoundland.

California.

Bering Id.

Total length

[average!

60 ft.

<;i.6q ft.

*

20.4

%

20.8

K

27. -\

" " blowhole

18.15

22.0

" " post base of dorsal

77 O

72. 0

Height of dorsal

2.4

2.7

Breadth of flukes

22.4

21. T

28.0

•?2.=;

•?o.i

1 Dr. L. Stejneger's measurements of a Finback found on Bering Id. are also included here for
convenience. Further reference to them will be made later.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 279

The agreement in two of the measurements is close, but the distance from the
flukes to the vent is larger in Scammon's specimen. This may be a real difference,
or may be due to measuring around the curve of the lower border of the caudal
peduncle.

In connection with the text are given an outline figure of the northern Finback
and a shaded figure of the southern form. The latter, with those of other species
in the same work, are among the most beautiful delineations of whales that have
ever been published, and there is no doubt of their general accuracy, though they
would admit of some correction in details.

In the outline figure above mentioned, the dorsal fin is still represented as
having a height of nearly 8 % of the total length, which must be regarded as an
exaggeration. In the shaded figure of the southern Finback, the height of the dorsal
fin is reduced to about 3 %, which is probably closer to the truth. On account of
the discrepancies in these sketches and drawings, though produced by so competent
an observer as Scammon, they can hardly be used in critical comparisons of species.
Indeed, they can only serve to give us an approximate idea of the type of Finback
Scammon had under observation. This is all the sketches profess to do.

Putting together the information to be derived from the descriptions and
figures of 1869 and 1874, we determine that the species of Finback which Cope
called B. velifera, is 60 to 65 feet long, black or blackish-brown on the back and
sides, white on the belly and under side of the flippers; the dorsal fin falcate,
moderately large, and situated at a point more than two thirds the distance from
the end of the snout to the notch of the flukes ; the whalebone short (longest 2
ft. 4 in.), light lead color, streaked with black, with bristles 2 to 4 inches long and
thick as a "cambric needle " ; flippers about 15.5 % of the total length, flukes about
23.3 % to 23.8 %.

If all these characters were to be considered as reliable, we might conclude that
B. velifera represented a species intermediate between B. physalus and B. musculus
of the North Atlantic. The moderate size, the white belly, the streaked whalebone,
and anterior portion of the dorsal fin correspond with B. physalus ; the large
pectorals and broad flukes ally it to B. musculus. As, however, the sketches show
discrepancies, the descriptions and measurements are meagre and more or less indefi-
nite, nothing whatever is recorded regarding the skeleton, and there is no type-
specimen, it is necessary to hold that the species was not completely characterized
by Scammon and Cope, and that its real characters and affinities still remain to be
elucidated. We may properly consider that what Scammon had in mind under the
name of " the Finback," was the common moderate-sized Finback of the Pacific coast
of the United States, and, if there are more than one, that which corresponds most
closely to the B. physalus of the North Atlantic.

No material which passed through Scammon's hands, and which may be con-
sidered to represent B. velifera, is in the National Museum, except two pieces
of whalebone, Nos. 13981 and 13982 U. S. N. M. These, according to the record,
were obtained by Capt. Scammon near Tres Marias Ids., Mexico, in 1873. They
are entered as "baleen of humpback whale." This is rather unfortunate as it

280 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

throws doubt on their authenticity, since they plainly belong to Balcenoptera and
not to Megaptera. However, the error is probably a clerical one.

The two pieces are thin and have the surface roughened by longitudinal and
transverse raised lines. One piece (No. 13981) has a length of 23 in., and a breadth
at the base of about 8.5 in. The second piece (No. 13982) is 28 in. long, with a
breadth of 9.5 in. at the base. The former has t\vo light-colored, translucent

O *

longitudinal bands, about ^ in. wide, near the outer margin.

As no other material, representing this species, which passed through Scam-
mon's hands, is now accessible, I have endeavored to find out what the " Common
Finback " of the Pacific coast really is from other sources. The material at com-
mand is meagre and consists only of (1) a skeleton formerly owned by Cope and
now in the museum of the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia (see pi. 6, fig. 4 ; pi. 28,
figs. 5, 6) ; (2) measurements of a specimen captured off San Clemente Id., Cal., in
1895, and exhibited in Celoron, New York, in 1896.1

The Wistar Institute skeleton is that of an adult animal, which, according to
a record on a piece of paper found in the box which contained the skeleton, was 68
ft. long. The mounted skeleton is 62 ft. 10 in. long. It is a very fine and practi-
cally perfect specimen. The whalebone is slate-colored, streaked longitudinally
with whitish, and the right anterior 6 or 8 inches all white. This is characteristic
of £. physalus. The vertebral formula is as follows : C. 7 ; D. 15 ; L. 15, Ca. 23
+ = 60 +. The last caudal is about the size of an apple. There are fifteen
chevron bones. The following measurements were taken with the aid of Dr. Green-
man, to whom my best thanks are due :

SKELETON (MOUNTED) FROM WEST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA IN THE WISTAR INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA.

(BELONGED TO COPE.)

Total length of skeleton, mounted 62 ft. 10 in.

Length of skull, straight, without premaxillse 15 " 6£ '

Breadth" " greatest 7 " 9 "

Length of rostrum, without premaxillae 10 " 6£

Breadth" at middle 3 " Si "

Length of mandible, straight 15 ' 4 "

curved 16" 5"

Breadth of orbit, least i of

greatest 20

Breadth of scapula 4 '' 2 "

Height " " 2 " 7 "

Length of radius 2 " 9^ '

" " ulna, least 2 " 6J "

" " " greatest 2"i^"

Breadth of axis

Depth of mandible at middle i " i J

Length of acromion of scapula, greatest 14 "

" coronoid 6£ "

1 For these measurements I arn 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. 133) :

BALMNOPTERA PHYSALUS AND B. VELIFERA f SKULL.

Measurement.

East Coast
B. physalus.

California

skull.

Total length of skull

IOO %

IOO %

Greatest breadth

%
4.7 I

%

48 o

Breadth of orbital border of frontal

10 6

to \

Length of rostrum

6? 2

60 I

Breadth of rostrum at middle

io 6

214.

Length of mandible in straight line

0} 0

04 8

Depth of mandible at the middle

6 7

7 O

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. 133.

It should be stated also that as the premaxillse were not in place in the Cali-

FIG. 94. FIG. 95.

BALMNOPTERA VELIFERA COPE? CALIFORNIA.

F.IG. 96.

FIG. 94. — SKULL. FIG. 95. — CERVICAL AND DORSAL VERTEBRAE. FIG. 96. — LUMBAR VERTEBRA. FROM
BELOW. (WlSTAR INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA.)

fornia skull when measured, an allowance had to be made for their extension beyond
the maxillae. This amount (7| in.) may have been a trifle too great.

By reference to the measurements of Atlantic skeletons of JS. pJiysalus 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 ATLANTIC.

16.1 %. The length of the radius shows an equally close agreement— 17.3 % in the
Atlantic 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. 32), 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 B. 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
pi. V, fig. 3).

This skeleton is more noticeable for its
agreement with B. 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

FlG g7 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 :

Total length from tip of mandible to tip of flukes 55 ft. o in.

Tip of snout to blowhole 8 " 2

Length of pectoral " from shoulder-joint " 5 " 4

Height of dorsal fin o " 1 1

Breadth of flukes 9 " 10

Notch of flukes to posterior base of dorsal 10 " 8

Tip of mandible to eye 12 " 6

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. 288

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 :

Newfoundland San Clemente

specimen. Id. specimen.

% %

Distance from notch of flukes to posterior base of dorsal. . . 100.0 100.0

Tip of snout to blowhole 71.8 76.6

Length of pectoral from shoulder 50.0 53.4

Height of dorsal fin 8.6 10.8

Breadth of flukes 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 B. 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 tlie 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 -fa the
total length, which latter was 6-|- 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 Scamrnon, and
it is possible that B. velifera is characterized by larger fins than B. physalus. A
rigid comparison of measurements, however, is not feasible.1

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 8£ in. ; (£) length 24 in., width
71 in. (probably much wider originally) ; (c) 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
about -fa 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 -fa.

284 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

above given indicates that B. 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 B. pkysalus.

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 Balcenop-
tera musculus [= B. physalus (L.)] bears the name therein of Balcenoptera
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.

BALCENOPTERA 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 8. lorealis or gigas of the
North Atlantic. Capt. Scarnmou describes it to be a gray or brown above, paler
than on the Balcenoptera velifera, and beneath, a sulphur yellow. Length from
seventy to ninety feet. The colors of the 8. 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. Bartolrae 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 Megapiera bellicosa, Prof. Cope added a description
of the whalebone of the species, four laminae 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 OP 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
SMaldius 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. Laminae with weak transverse rugosities" (29, 108).

In the Marine Mammals, Scarnmon 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 Iceland, of a Sulphur-
bottom, presumably this species, taken by him at some locality not stated :

Length 95 ft.

Girth 39 "

Length of jawbone 21 '

Longest whalebone 4 "

Yield of whalebone 800 Ibs.

Yield of oil no bbls.

From these several records, it is evident that B. sulf areas 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 B. sul/ureus, one a crude outline, in the
article edited by Cope (83, fig. 11), and the other in the Marine Mammals (82, pi.
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 is 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 is dark. 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 NOKTH ATLANTIC.

have been "improved " by the lithographers. Scamtnon's rough outline figure does
not help to understand the more elaborate one. While in general it resembles B.
musculus, the folds, etc., are laid on in a very indifferent manner, so that exact
comparisons are out of the question.

It is to be remarked that Scarnmon 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 B. musculus in that regard. We must believe,
either that he never saw a specimen, or that the species is very differently colored
from B. musoulus, 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. 13984-5 U. S. N. M.) labelled
as having been obtained by Capt. Scammon at Monterey, Cal., in 1873, 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. Scatnmori's specimens one, No. 13984, is 28£ in. long; the other,
No. 13985, 27£ 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 Balcenoptera 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. Steiudachner
had himself brought from San Francisco."

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 287

Pechuel (73, p. 1188, fig. A. 6) has a figure to which he gives the name Sib-
baldius sulfureus, but it does not appear to have been based on the examination of
specimens. He remarks :

" I 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."

RHACHIANECTES GLAUCUS Cope.

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. Ball. The genus Rhachianectes was established in 1869,
with the following exceedingly brief diagnosis :

Ehachianectes 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 Balcenoptera, it
is in the present genus like that of JSalcena" (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 plicae. . . . 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 sulcus 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. This feature, if existing, is interesting, as
indicating a tendency to the plicae 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 Baluena 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,1 the fully grown varying but little in
size; its greatest circumference 28 to 30 feet, its 'flukes' 30 inches in depth and 10
feet broad. It has no dorsal fin. Its pectorals are 6^ feet in length, and 2^ feet in
width, tapering from near the middle toward the end, which is quite pointed.2 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 shown
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, 2^ inches in length, is about 18 inches behind the eye, and a little above it."
(82, 20.)

Ball's and Scammon's descriptions agree well together, except that according

" 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 foetal 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 HhacManectes 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.1 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.

Ball 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 MOBIUS, Ueber den Fang und die Verwerthung der Walfische in Japan. Beilage zu den
Mitth. Sekt. Kusten- und Hochsee- Fischer ei, No. 7, July, 1894.

290

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

RHACHIANECTES GLAUCUS COPE. CALIFORNIA.

Measurement.

&-^ ""* c

N.I

- . V g

I « I s

«iKSt/}

K

£

V

c,H-
o a "a

SSQ

o
M

v ~-

5 .,|

Jill

Total length

ft. in.

ft. in.

48 o'

ft. in.

Snout to blowholes .

6 0

8 o

** ** corner of mouth . ...

V

" " eve..

7 6

IO 43

' pectorals

Notch of flukes to anus

" " " " genital orifice

16 8

16 6

Length of pectorals

6 6

6 o

C O

Width "

2 IO

" flukes

8 o

Circumference at point of pectorals

21 O

o y

Distance from pectorals to top of back

d. 6

corner of mouth to top of head

2 6

o 8

Antero-posterior breadth of flukes

i z

Thickness of each lobe of flukes

O Q

Depth of caudal peduncle at junction with flukes

i 6

Lower jaw extends beyond the upper

O A.

Length of genital slit

i 6

From genital slit to line of pectorals

1C O

" line of pectorals to end of mandible

*i •

1C O

Length of exterior canthus of mouth

i 6

from eye to margin of canthus

o 6

Width of mouth at canthus

40

i 6

Width of largest baleen

o o

Leneth of largest bristles of baleen..

o <;

These measurements are so little in accord that new observations are very
much to be desired.

WHALEBONE.

The larger portion of the whalebone of one side of the mouth, from a speci-
men taken at San Luis Obispo, Cal. (No. 23306, U. S. N. M.) was sent to the National
Museum by Mr. C. H. Townsend. This whalebone is entirely yellowish -white,
both blades and bristles, except at one end of the series. Here for a distance of
about 8 inches the blades and bristles are dull chocolate-brown. The end-blades
are entirely brown, the next have some white on the inner side, then follow a
number brown on the outer edge only, and finally all white, like the majority of
the series. The blades are very thick on the outer margin, with a rounded edge.
The largest plates measure 18 in. in length without the bristles, and 6 in. at the
base. The longest bristles measure 9£ in., and were perhaps originally a little
longer.

OSTEOLOGICAL CHARACTERS.

The skeleton of Rhachianectes has been described in more or less detail by
Ball (26, 226-227), Van Beneden (6), Malm (£7) and Beddard (8, 168).

There is a skull in the National Museum (No. 13803) which Mr. Dall obtained

' From end of mandible. * From length of mouth. ' From chin to eye.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

291

at Monterey, Cal., and which belongs to one of the specimens described in 1868
(26, 226, 227) ; the British Museum contains a skeleton ; and there is a skull in
the museum of the California Academy of Sciences.

The vertebral formula in the British Museum skeleton, according to Beddard,
is C. 7, D. 14, L. 14, Ca. 21 = 56. Ball's Monterey specimen No. 1 had the fol-
lowing: C. 7, D. 13, L. and Ca. 28 plus those concealed in the flukes.

SKULL.

The peculiarities of the skull can be best understood from the figures on pi. 47,
which represent the Monterey specimen in the National Museum. This same skull
was figured by Van Beneden in 1877 (6, 96), from photographs furnished him by
the Museum. Most striking are the rugosities of the occipital, the large size of
the nasals, the shortness of the nasal portion of the intermaxillae, and their great
depth anteriorly, the overlapping of the orbital process of the frontal by the proxi-
mal portion of the maxilla, and the strong tubercle on the posterior margin of the
former. All these characters are seen equally as well developed in the skulls
figured by Malm (67) as in the Monterey specimen.

These and many other characters stamp it as a very distinct form, approaching
closely neither JBalcena nor JBalcenoptera.

The following measurements are from the Monterey skull in the National Mu-
seum, and the data given by Malm (67, 17-37). I am not positive that I have
interpreted all of Malm's measurements correctly.

RHACHIA.NECTES GLAUCUS COPE. SKULL.

Measurement.

$*.

Sjz-s

w rt

dxQ
*d

rt .^,

£ 3 £
o-S|
*SS

Sjfe

. vz

0 ~ 5

£ES

-.3.2

0.5,2
ZE-*

*^6
= •=1

*ss

3jfs
Ifl

Total length from the tip of premaxilla to occipital
condyle (straight)

mm.

2/164

mm.

mm.

mm.

mm.

mm.

Greatest breadth

IO41

1 040

820

8?o

840

Length of rostrum

I 74O

Breadth " " at base

e84

" middle

«7J

across premaxillse at same point

184

Length of maxillae from frontal border

161; i

Greatest breadth across maxillas proximally

8<i

Length of premaxillse

2OO7

' nasals in median line

"?CX

700

Breadth of nasals at anterior end

171

ICC

Distance from anterior end of nasals to anterior end
of supraoccipital

^7^,

Length of orbit point to point (least)

16^

' palatine bones

3Q42

3 7O

Breadth across anterior and of zygomatic processes
of squamosals

O4O

JOOO

70O

7C.O

Breadth across anterior angles of orbital processes of
frontals

880

640

Breadth across posterior angles of orbital processes
of frontals. .

00 I

710

' Straight. Around the curves = 866 mm.

• The exposed portion.

292 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

VERTEBRAE.

Of the vertebrae, Beddard remarks (2, 168): "The atlas was missing; the
remaining [cervical] vertebrae are quite independent of each other as in the Rorquals ;
and they have the wide lateral foramina formed by the transverse processes, which
is so conspicuous a feature of those vertebrae in Balcenoptera and Megaptera."
Further than this the vertebra have not been described.

STERNUM AND LIMBS.

The sternum is described by Beddard as " cross-shaped, but the arms of the
cross very short, and the posterior termination almost a fine point."

According to Ball's notes, the scapula was in " breadth and height not very
different, with a short, broad coronoid process, its head opposite first rib. Ap-
parently only 4 fingers, of which the second is the longest."

Van Beneden remarked regarding this species in 1875: "It appears to us
demonstrated and confirmed to-day . . . that the Devilfish of the American
whalers is allied to the true whales by the absence of folds on the throat and of a
dorsal fin, and by the presence of cirripeds and Cyami on the skin ; and that it is
allied to the Finbacks by the shortness of the baleen and the shape of the ros-
trum." " It is neither a Balcena, a Balcenoptera, nor a Megaptera " (5, 36, 37).

BALCENOPTERA DAVIDSONI Scammon.

A nominal species which requires comparison with B. acuto-rostrata is the B.
davidsoni of Scammon, described in 1872 (81). Scammon described this species
again and figured it in his Marine Mammals (82, 49-51), and Mr. W. H. Ball
noted it in the appendix to this work, and gave measurements of a skull in the
museum of the California Academy of Sciences. Scammon's revised description is
substantially the same as the original one. A comparison of this description with
Sars's diagnosis and figure of B. acuto-rostrata indicates a close similarity.

Scammon states, however, that in his species the white marking of the
pectoral is near the base. This is hardly true of B. acuto-rostrata, in which it
may be said to be near the middle. Scammon's figure corresponds with his descrip-
tion in this particular, and shows the white band as very narrow, while in B. acuto-
rostrata it occupies from one third to one half of the surface of the pectoral. If this
distinction were constant it would, of course, have a certain importance. Unfortu-
nately Scammon's description is not explicit on this point and his figure cannot be
relied upon in detail. For example, the shape of the head is entirely unlike any Fin-
back, and the lower lip is similarly incorrect. The same is true of the caudal region,
the dorsal fin, and the flukes. If these characters were really as represented in
the figure, it would be necessary to remove the species from the genus Balcenoptera.

The skull, however (of which more will be said later), is indistinguishable
generically, if not specifically, from B. acuto-rostrata. Nearly all the figures of
whales in Scammon's work were evidently " improved " by the lithographers, with
the result that they must be regarded as to a certain extent diagrammatic.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 293

Scarnrnon's measurements of B. davidsoni, show a very close agreement with those
of Sir Win. Turner's specimen from Granton, Scotland, except in theposition of the dor-
sal fin. In Scammon's specimen the distance from the tip of the snout to the posterior
margin of the dorsal fin is 66.6 % of the total length, while in the Granton specimen it
is 70 $, and in other European specimens, from 71 % to 74$. This difference would
be of importance if substantiated, but a study of Scammon's measurements shows
that it is due to an error. He states that the genital opening is slightly behind the
anterior edge of the dorsal fin. We may presume, therefore, that the latter is about
6 in. in advance of the former, which is 9 ft. 6 in. from the notch of the flukes, or 17
ft. 6 in. from the tip of the snout. The anterior edge of the dorsal fin is, therefore,
17 feet from the tip of the snout, and as its base is 2 ft. 4 in. long, the posterior edge
would be 19 ft. 4 in. from the tip of the snout, which is 71.6 % of the total length.

That this calculation is substantially correct is shown by the fact that in the
fcbtus from the same specimen, the measurements of which are given by Scammon,
the distance of the posterior margin of the dorsal from the tip of the snout is 71.2 %
of the total length. The dorsal fin in B. davidsoni, is, therefore, situated as in
B. acuto-rostrata.

Mr. W. H. Dall, in the appendix to the Marine Mammals (82, 304, 305) gave the
following measurements of a skull of unknown locality, presented to the museum of
the California Academy of Sciences, by Mr. Merrill :

BALj&MOPTERA DA VIDSONI SCAMMON. SKULL.

In. and looths.

Length of skull in straight line 48.00

Breadth of condyles 4-So ?

Breadth of ex-occipitals (to outer edge of suture) 17.00

Breadth of squamosals 27.00

Height of foramen magnum 2.00

Length of supra-occipital 13.00

Length of articular process of squamosal, antero-posterior 8.00

Length of orbital process of frontal, right to left 10.00

Breadth of orbital from curved border of maxillary to hinder edge of orbital process of

frontal 9.00

Breadth of orbital at upper surface of outer end 6.50

Nasals, length 4.50

Nasals, breadth of the two at posterior end r.oo

Nasals, breadth of the two at anterior end 2.50

Length from curved border of maxillary to tip of beak 3°.oo

Length of maxillary 33-°°

Projection of premaxillary beyond maxillary 1.50

Breadth of maxillaries at hinder end 6.00

Breadth of maxillaries across orbital processes 1 2.50

Breadth of beak at base (curved) 16.50

Breadth of beak at £ its length from base (curved) 1 2.00

Breadth of maxillary at J its length from base (curved) 2.50

Breadth of premaxillary at same point (curved) i.oo

Breadth of beak at middle (curved) 9.00

Breadth of maxillary at middle (curved) 2.50

Breadth of premaxillary at middle (curved) 1.50

294

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

In. and tooths.

Breadth of beak at f its length from base (curved) 6.00

Breadth of maxillary at J its length from base (curved) 1.50

Breadth of premaxillary at f its length from base (curved) 1.25

Length of lower jaw in a straight line 47 oo

Height at coronoid process

Length from posterior end of condyle to coronoid process.

Height of ramus at middle

Amount of curve

Length of otic bullse

6.00

7-5°
4.00
6.50
3-5°

The osteological material of this species in the National Museum available for
the study consists of (1) a skull from Puget Sound (Cat. No. 12177, U. S. N. M.),
presented by Capt. C. M. Scammon about 1872, and very probably belonging to
the individual from which the original description was drawn, and hence the type
of the species ; (2) a skull from St. Paul Id., Pribilof Group, Alaska (Cat. No. 61715,
U. S. N. M.), collected by Mr. C. H. Townsend of the U. S. Fish Commission.

Measurements of these skulls, reduced to percentages of the total length, are
given on page 197, with those of specimens of B. acuto-rostrata. It will be observed
by reference to the measurements that the Pacific specimens agree in all but one or
two of the proportions given with those from the Atlantic in the closest possible
manner. In each proportion in which one of the Pacific skulls differs from the
Atlantic ones, the other harmonizes with the latter, so that there cannot be said to
be a constant difference in any of the proportions between the specimens from the
two oceans. For convenience, the actual measurements of the two Pacific skulls,
and of the Norway skull, No. 13877, are given below :

BALMNOPTERA ACUTO-KOSTRATA LAC. AND B. DAVIDSONI SCAMMON. SKULL.

Measurement.1

S

£ .
>,

*g

D.l

r-
r*«

oo
fi

N

-JL

•; .^ -a

'-< S c
*\l

^3^ «-
£

*— b£

tco a

r- <u 0-«

** a.
« ^

S

*2r .
c/i_-j5

. 3 2

—i « J5
= 0- ^

ir> -J
~ V3
I"-

vO

Length of skull (condylo-premaxillary)

in.
60 C

in.

61 c

in.

"beak

^6 7 <

Ul .^

-?8 o

jy-^o
^6 o2

' maxilla

' premaxilla

AZ S

AC 2 Z.

AA a 3

Ant. border foramen margin over vertex to tip of beak

6 ?. O

44-D

60 5 3

Ditto to upper border of occiput

I 7 O

Greatest breadth of skull

-JA C

Breadth at base of beak

2O C

OD-^O

66-3

" middle of beak

***o

12 ^

•*«3

I 2 7 C

" orbital border of frontals

7 I C

72 7 £

Greatest breadth of maxilla behind base of beak

•2O C

ouo

between outer borders of both premaxillaj

8.2S

O.S

*y-3

8 2?

inner "

c e

6 =;

6 o

From vomer at ant. end of palate through to vertex

I ?. 7S

i cr c

Inner margin nasal processes of max. to end of orbital process of max. .
Outer edge of premaxilla to end of orbital process of maxilla

17-75

16.0

19-25

16 o

17.75

i z z

1 All straight, unless otherwise stated.

2 Add 2 in. for breakage.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

295

In spite of the correspondence in general proportions between two Pacific
skulls and the Norway and Massachusetts skulls, my associates, Dr. L. Stejneger
and Mr. G. S. Miller, Jr., who examined them with me, while side by side in one of
the halls of the Museum, pointed out certain characters in which the two Atlantic
skulls appeared to them to differ from the two Pacific skulls. The principal of
these were (1) that the nasal processes of the maxillse were bent toward the median
line much more strongly in the Pacific than in the Atlantic skulls, and (2) that the
orbital process of the maxillae was shorter and thicker in the former than in the
latter. The characters will be seen by comparing the figures on plates 22 and 23.
I also noted that in the Pacific skulls the vomer appeared to descend more opposite
the anterior end of the palatines, giving a stronger curve to the inferior profile of
the cranium, and that the palatines were broader posteriorly. I have endeavored
to bring out some of these differences in the last three measurements of the fore-
going table. These measurements reduced to percentages of the total length of
the skull are repeated below :

BALJENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. AND B. DAVIDSONI SCAMMON. SKULL.

S -

s

S".

s .

*8 -

£ ^

*!l

£2 .

Measurement.

<"•*%

^ §

j?:|

C^'-3'3

»«

^ 0

C> <-.

|D mrt ^rt

t-T *"•

r^^

rC Wi

***>£

°ffi

oo

r- 3

M

M

in.

in.

in.

in.

Total length of skull, straight

A7 C

60 Z

61 =;

6 1 25 'J

Distance from inferior surface of vomer at ant. end of palatines to

*

*

*

^

21 6

22 n

Inner edge of proximal end of nasal process of maxilla to distal end

of orbital process of maxilla, straight

26 5

20 i

7 T 7

Outer edge of premaxilla to distal end of orbital process of maxilla,

straight

2 1 6

26 5

26.0

2 C -2

It would appear from the foregoing that the vomer is deeper in the Pacific
skulls, but the proportional length of the orbital process of the maxilla does not
differ materially in the Norway and Pacific skulls. The breadth of this process, as
shown by plates 22 and 23, is greater in the Pacific skulls than in the one from
Norway. This greater breadth, however, is approximated in Eschricht's figure of
an adult skull from Norway (37, pi. 9, fig. 1).

If any of these differences prove constant on examination of a larger number
of specimens, it will probably be the greater depth of the vomer and the bend-
ing inward of the nasal process of the maxilla. As regards the latter, Eschricht's
and Capellini's figures of European skulls present a substantial agreement with our
skulls from Norway and Massachusetts.

1 Type of B. davidsoni.

' 2 in. added for breakage.

296 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOBTH ATLANTIC.

A series of vertebrae belonging to a small Finback whale were found by me
on St. Paul Id., Pribilof Group, Bering Sea, July 30, 1895. They were 27 in
number, and included the 7th cervical, 11 dorsals, and 15 lumbars and caudals. It
will be observed that the number of dorsals is the same as in B. acuto-rostrata.

Of this species Van Beneden remarked in 1889 (7, 165) : " In our opinion it is
a synonym of JBalcenoptera rostrata" (= JB. acuto-rostrata).

CHAPTER X.

CONCLUSIONS.

The conclusions reached in the foregoing pages are :

(1) That the species of whalebone whales occurring in the western North
Atlantic Ocean are identical with those occurring in the eastern North Atlantic.

(2) That these species are the Bowhead, or Greenland Right whale, Balcena
mysticetus, the Black whale, Balcenaglacialis, the Humpback, Megaptera nodosa, the
Sulphurbottom, Balcenoptera musculus, the common Finback, Balcenoptera physalus,
and the Little Piked whale, Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata, and probably the Pollack
whale, Balcenoptera borealis.

(3) That the range of one of these whales — the Humpback — extends south-
ward at least as far as 1 8° North Lat.

(4) That the probability of the identity of the North Pacific species with
those of the North Atlantic is strengthened by the evidence herein collected.

As modifications of the preceding statements, several particulars require to be
brought forward. Both the Little Piked whale and the Humpback of Greenland
may possibly possess characters entitling them to be regarded as separate sub-
species. These differences, however, are quite as likely to be due to inaccuracy of
observation. As the species are migratory, it is probable that the Greenland indi-
viduals mingle with individuals from farther south and are identical with them
both specifically and subspecifically, but additional evidence is needed to prove
this hypothesis.

As no specimens of the Pollack whale, Balcenoptera borealis, from American
waters have been examined, it is not certain that the species is really the same on
both sides of the Atlantic. As the other species are the same, the presumption is,
of course, that the Pollack whale also undergoes no modification. This, however,
requires to be demonstrated.

As evidence is strengthened regarding the specific identity of the whales of
the North Atlantic and North Pacific, the belief that the same species of large
whales range all over the globe is, of course, also strengthened. It is well-known
that whales closely resembling Megaptera nodosa, B. acvto-rostrata, B. musculus, and
B. physalus — to mention no others — occur in the South Atlantic and the Antarctic
seas, and also — the second and last, at least — about New Zealand.

Some competent zoologists have expressed the opinion that the species are
cosmopolitan, but as already said in the case of the North American species, such
opinions have not been based to any large extent on the critical examination of

297

298 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

considerable numbers of specimens from the regions mentioned. Such opinions
have,' of course, a certain interest and value, but knowledge will not be greatly
increased without the study of new material.

Even should it be demonstrated that the species of large whalebone whales are
cosmopolitan, it does not follow that the individuals constituting these several
species range throughout the globe. The probabilities are much against such
world-wide movements, and in the case of the Right whales it appears to have been
demonstrated by Maury that individuals do not cross the equator. In this latter
case, and perhaps in others,' it would appear that the study of the migrations of
separate groups of individuals, or schools, can be carried on profitably without
regard to the general facts pertaining to the distribution of the species as a whole.

The following diagnoses of North Atlantic species are intended to summarize
the observations of earlier writers both American and European, as well as those
detailed in the preceding pages. The diagnosis of Balcvnoptera borealis is based on
Collett's admirable account of that species (21).

BALDEN A GLACIALIS Bonnaterre.
Black whale, Nordcaper, or Biscay whale. Plate 50, fig. 2.

Form massive. Head very large. Rostrum narrow and curved, with a pro-
tuberance near the anterior end (" bonnet "). Blowholes elevated and followed by
a distinct depression. Lower lip very large, oblong, the free margin more or less
sinuous.

Pectorals very broad, short, with a convex posterior margin and pointed tip.

Color black throughout, or with more or less white on the throat and breast
in some individuals.

Rostrum of skull very long and narrow; the anterior half strongly curved.
IntermaxillaB broad, occupying nearly the whole upper surface of the rostrum.
Nasals very large, broad, oblong. The free anterior border w-shaped. Orbital
process of frontal very narrow, somewhat tubular, and only moderately bent back-
ward, the orbital border very narrow, oblique. Occiput broad, with convex sides.

Sternum broadly and irregularly triangular. Scapula broader than high ;
broad near the base. Vertebral formula: C. 7, D. 14, L. 11 (10-12), Ca. 23 (-26).
Total 55 (-57).

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (Bonnaterre).
Humpback. Plate 50, fig. 1.

Form massive and peculiarly ungraceful, size moderate. Head flat and obtuse.
Abdominal ridges few and broad, 14 to 30. Average total length, 48 feet ;
maximum, 55 feet.

Pectorals, from head of humerus, 32 per cent, of total length ; lanceolate, with
extremity recurved ; anterior margin with ten or eleven very prominent sinuosities
corresponding to the joints of the manus ; posterior margin convex proximally,
concave distally, with several small sinuosities at the extremity.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 299

Dorsal low, thick at the base, erect or somewhat falcate, with the anterior
margin usually concave near the middle.

Flukes broad, with convex anterior border, concave posterior border, and
acuminate extremities ; posterior border crenate.

Abdominal ridges converging in the median line below, anteriorly, forming an
irregular projection below the symphysis of the mandible.

Inferior outline of the body from the pudendum posteriorly broken by three
convexities, of which the largest and most salient is behind the anus. Head and
lips with numerous low rounded tuberosities ; three rows on the head, one median
and two lateral ; a large irregular aggregation at the symphysis of the mandible
and others scattered along the rami. A semi-elliptical furrow above the base of
the pectoral.

Color black, with white markings. Body black, with a varying number of
white areas and markings on the lower surface, especially on the mandible, the
abdominal ridges, and about the pudendum. Many of the smaller white markings,
especially on the mandible, are in the form of complete or incomplete rings, or
circular areas, and are due to barnacles. White markings occasionally on the
upper jaw, behind the eye, and on the dorsal fin. Pectorals virtually all white on
the upper surface, or with the basal one third to one half clouded with black ; a
narrow, irregular posterior border and the larger anterior sinuosities, when occu-
pied by barnacles, black. Under surface entirely white. Flukes black above, with
some white markings near the extremities ; below, usually with a large white area
on each side of the median line, bordered anteriorly and posteriorly with black.

Whalebone dull grayish black, with some more or less dull whitish plates on
the right side anteriorly. Bristles dull grayish black ; the matted mass somewhat
varied in tint.

Skull very broad ; rostrum obtuse, sides slightly convex. Outer margin of
intermaxillse sinuous. Nasals narrow, the anterior free margin acutely pointed.
Orbital process of frontal triangular, very broad transversely ; orbital margin
narrow, oblique, the posterior angle extending out much farther than the anterior.
Occiput narrow anteriorly. Coronoid process of mandible low. Vertebral for-
mula: C. 7, I). 14, L. 11 (-10), Ca. 21. Total, 53 (-52).

BAL^ENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.).

Sul/phurbottom. Plate 48, fig. 2.

Form massive ; size veiy large. Head very broad and obtuse.

Average total length, 76 ft. ; maximum, 89 feet. Pectorals, from head of
humerus, 15 per cent, of the total length, falcate, obtusely pointed. Dorsal fin very
small ; its height about 1 per cent, of the total length ; very variable in form, but
usually more or less falcate ; situated behind the line of the anus.

Color of the body mottled gray throughout ; the proportion of light and dark
tints varying greatly in different individuals ; head a little darker and nearly uniform ;
body usually lightest at the shoulder and between the pectoral and navel ; darkest

300 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

between the navel and anus ; some entirely white spots ou the posterior ends of the
abdominal ridges.

Pectorals gray on the upper surface except at the tip, usually with some
lighter blotches ; white ou the lower surface, anterior margin, and tip. Dorsal fin
dark gray, usually with whitish center crossed by light vertical, curvilinear markings.
Flukes gray above and below ; the lower surface with fine light and dark gray lines
running antero-posteriorly.

Whalebone entirely black.

Rostrum of the cranium very broad; free margin of maxillae convex; nasals
oblong, with truncated anterior margin. Vertebral formula: C. 7, D. 15 (-16),
L. 14 (-16), Ca. 26 (-28). Total, 63-65.

BAL^ENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.).
Common Finback. Plate 48, fig. 1.

Form remarkably slender, size large. Head narrow and pointed.

Average total length, 59 feet ; maximum, 81 or 84 feet (?).

Pectorals, from head of humerus, 12 per cent, of the total length, lanceolate,
pointed. Dorsal fin moderate; its height about 2^ per cent, of the total length;
more or less falcate ; situated just posterior to line of anus.

Color of the body dark gray above, white below ; the two colors merging by
imperceptible gradations on the flanks. Coloration of the head not bilaterally
symmetrical, there being more white on the right side than on the left, at least as
far back as the pectoral ; right ramus of the mandible white externally, and also
the anterior third, or more, of the whalebone; left ramus of the mandible and left
whalebone dark gray. Dorsal fin dark gray like the back. Pectorals gray on
dorsal surface, white on ventral surface and anterior margin. Flukes dark gray
above, white below, with gray posterior margin. Gray of the flanks extending
obliquely downward and backward from the pectorals toward the flukes, but not
reaching the inferior margin of the caudal peduncle, where there is a narrow white
edge, bounded anteriorly by a linear gray mark directed obliquely forward and
downward toward the anus.

Whalebone gray striped longitudinally with yellowish white in varying pro-
portions ; anterior whalebone on right side of body all yellowish white.

, Rostrum of the skull narrow and acuminate ; free margins of maxillae nearly
straight. Nasals narrow, and pointed anteriorly in the median line. Vertebral
formula: C. 7, D., 15 (-16), L. 14 (-15), Ca. 25 (-26). Total, 61-63.

BAL^ENOPTERA BOREALIS Lesson.
Pollack whale. Plate 49, fig. 2.

Form moderately robust. Size moderate. Average total length, 46 to 47 feet;
maximum, 54 feet. Pectorals, from axilla, 11 per cent, of total length, slender and
pointed. Dorsal large, high, and falcate ; vertical height about 4 per cent, of the
total length ; situated just anterior to the line of the anus.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC. 301

"Color bluish black above, with oblong light colored spots; the underside as
far as the genitalia more or less white. The whole of the tail, with the flukes and
the flippers on both sides, is exactly similar to the back in color."

Whalebone plates, black; bristles, white.

Rostrum of the skull elongated and triangular with straight sides, as in £.
pliysalus. Orbit very large. Nasals oblong and truncated anteriorly. Coronoid
process of mandible low. Vertebral formula: C. 7, D. 14 (-13), L. 14 (-15),
Ca. 20 (-21). Total, 55 (-56).

BAL^ENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA Lacepede.
Little Piked whale, or Lesser dinner. Plate 49, fig 1.

Form heavy, size small. Head narrow and pointed. Abdominal ridges
numerous and narrow.

Average total length, 26 feet (?) ; maximum, 30 feet.

Pectorals, from axilla, 12.5 per cent, of total length, lanceolate, pointed. Dor-
sal fin large ; its height about 5 per cent, of the total length ; situated just in
advance of the line of the amis.

Color of the body dark brownish gray above, white below, the two colors
joining rather abruptly on the flanks ; inferior margin of caudal peduncle white.
Mandible dark gray. Dorsal fin dark like the back. Pectoral fins above with the
middle third white, and tip and base dark gray ; below similar, but with more
white. Flukes gray above, white below. More or less gray mottling on the white
abdominal ridges (?).

Whalebone all yellowish white.

Rostrum of cranium triangular, pointed, with straight sides. Orbital process
of frontal large and oblong; orbit very large. Nasals large and triangular, the
apex directed backward, the anterior free margin transverse or slightly convex.
Vertebral formula: C. 7, D. 11, L. 12 (-13), Ca. 18 (-20). Total, 48 (-50).

APPENDIX I.
LIST OF WORKS CITED.

1. BAMBEKE (VAN), C. Quelques remarques sur les squelettes de cetaces, conserves h la collec-

tion d'anatomie compare de 1'universite de Gand.
Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 26, 1868, pp. 20-61.

2. BEDDARD, W. S. A book of whales.

London, 1900, 8°, pp. i-xv, 1-320, 21 pis.

3. BENEDEN (VAN), P.-J. Notice sur la decouverte d'un os de baleine a Fumes.

Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 23, No. i, 1867, pp. 13-21. (Separate, pp. 8.)

4. — . M^moire sur une Baldnoptere capture^ dans 1'Escaut en 1869.
M<?m. Acad. R. Belg., 38, 1871, pp. 1-36, pis. 1-2.

5. — . Un mot sur la baleine du Japon.
Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 41, 1875, pp. 28-37.

6. — . Le Rhachianectes glaucus des cotes de Calif ornie.
Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 43, 1877, pp. 92-96, pi. i.

7. — . Histoire naturelle des cetaces des mers d'Europe.
Brussels, 1889, 8°, pp. 1-664.

8. — , et GERVAIS, PAUL. Ost^ographie des cetace's vivants et fossiles, comprenant la
description et 1'iconographie du squelette et du systeme dentaire de ces animaux, ainsi
que des documents relatifs a leur histoire naturelle.

Paris, 1880 (1868-1879), 4°, pp. i-viii, 1-634. Atlas, folio, pis. 1-64.

9. BONNATERRE (ABBE). Tableau encyclopedique et methodique des trois regnes de la nature,

dedi£ et presente a M. Necker, Ministre d'Etat, et Directeur General des Finances.—
Cetologie.

Paris, 1789, 4°, pp. i-xlii, 1-28, pis. 1—12.

10. BRANDT, J. F., und RATZEBURG, J. T. C. Medizinische Zoologie oder getreue Darstellung

und Beschreibung der Thiere, die in der Arzneimittellehre in betracht kommen.
Vol. i, Berlin, 1829, 4°, pp. i-iv, 1-198, 25 pis.

11. BREDA (VAN), J. G. S. Eenige bijzonderheden omtrent den Walvisch, die den sden Novem-

ber 1827 bij Oostende gestrand is.

Algemeene Konst- en Letter-Bode, No. 48, Nov. 30, 1827, pp. 341-348.

12. CAPELLINI, G. Sulla balenottera di Mondini, rorqual de la mer Adriatique di G. Cuvier.

Mem. R. Accad. Sci. Bologna (3), 7, 1877, pp. 413-448, pis. 1-4. (Separate, 1877, pp.
1-40, pis. 1-4.)

13. — . Delia balena di Taranto, confrontata con quelle della Nuovo Zelanda e con
talune fossili del Belgio e della Toscana.

Mem. R. Accad. Sci. Bologna (3), 8, 1877, pp. 3-32, pis. 1-3. (Separate, 1877, pp. 1-34,
pis. 1-3.)

14. CARTE, ALEX., and MACAHSTER, ALEX. On the anatomy of Baltenoptera rostra/a.

Philos. Trans., 1868, pp. 201-261, pis 4-7.

15. COCKS, ALF. H. The finwhale fishery on the coast of Finmarken.

Zoologist (3), 8, 1884, pp. 366-370, 417-424, 455-465. (Separate, pp. 1-22.)

303

304 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

1 6. COCKS, ALF. H. Additional notes on the finwhale fishery on the North European coast.

Zoologist (3), 9, 1885, pp. 134-143- (Separate, pp. i-io.)

17. — — . The finwhale fishery of 1885 on the North European coast.

Zoologist (3), 10, 1886, pp. 121-136. (Separate, 1886, pp. 1-16.)

1 8. . The finwhale fishery of 1886 on the Lapland coast.

Zoologist (3), u, 1887, pp. 207-222. (Separate, 1887, pp. 1-16.)

19. — . The finwhale fishery off the Lapland coast in 1888.
Zoologist (3), 13, 1889, pp. 281-290. (Separate, 1889, pp. i-io.)

20. COLLETT, ROBT. Bemaerkninger til Norges Pattedyrfauna.

Nyt Mag. for Naturvidens., 22, 1877, pp. 54-168.

21. . On the external characters of Rudolphi's Rorqual (Balanoptera borealis).

Proc. Zoo' I. Soc. London, 1886, pp. 243-265, pis. 25-26.

22. COPE, E. D. Note on a species of whale occurring on the coasts of the United States.

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1865, pp. 168-169.

23. — . [Description of the cranium of a blackfish from Delaware Bay, and note on a
whale from Mobjack Bay, Virginia.]

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1866, pp. 7-8.
24. . Third contribution to the history of the Balaenidse and Delphinidse.

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1866, pp. 293-300.
25. . [Note on a specimen of a young whale obtained near Bahia, Brazil.]

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1867, p. 32.
26. . On Agaphalus, a genus of toothless cetacea.

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1868, pp. 221-227.

27. — . Second contribution to the history of the vertebrata of the Miocene period of the

United States.

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1868. pp. 184-194.
28. . [Notes on extinct and recent cetacea.]

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1868, pp. 159-160.
29. . On Megaptera bdlicosa.

Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc., 12, 1873, pp. 103-108.
30. — . Catalogue of aquatic mammals of the United States, by F. W. True. (Review.)

Amer. Nat., 18, 1884, pp. 1123—1124.
31. . A finback whale (Balcenoptera) recently stranded on the New Jersey coast.

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. (1891), 1892, pp. 474-478.

32. DE KAY, J. E. Zoology of New York, pt. i, Mammalia, 1842, p. 130.

33. DELAGE, YVES. Histoire du Baliznoptera musculus e'choue sur la plage de Langrune.

Arch. Zoo'l. Expe"r. et G/n. (2), 3 bis, suppl., 1885, mem. i, pp. 1-152, pis. 1-21.

34. DUBAR, J. Oste'ographie de la baleine e'choue'e a 1'Est du port d'Ostende, le 4 Novembre

1827; precede'e d'une notice sur la d^couverte et la dissection de ce ce'tace'e.
Brussels, 1828, 8°, pp. 1-61, pis. 1-13.

35. DWIGHT (Jr.), THOS. Description of the whale (Baltenoptera musculus Auct.) in the possession

of the Society: with remarks on the classification of finwhales.
Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 2, 1872, pp. 203-230, pis. 6-7.

36. ESCHRICHT, D. F. Undersogelser over Hvaldyrene. Femte Afhandling. Finhvalernes

Osteologie og Artadskillelse.

Danske Videns. Selsk. natur. og math. Afhandl., 12, 1846, pp. 227-396, pis. 9-16.

37. . Zoologisch-anatomisch-physiologische Untersuchungen iiber die Nordischen

Wallthiere.

Vol. r, Leipzig, 1849, 4°, pp. i— xvi, 1—206, pis. 1—14.

38. — . og REINHARDT, J. Om Nordhvalen (Balcena mysticetus L.) navnlig med Hensyn

til dens Udbredning i Fortiden og Nutiden og til dens ydre og indre Saerkjender.
Danske Vidensk. Selsk. Skr. (5), natur. og math. Afd., 5, 1861, pp. 435-592, pis. 1-6.

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 305

39. ESCHRICHT, D. F. On the Greenland Right whale (Balana mysticetus L.), with special refer-

ence to its geographical distribution and migrations in times past and present, and
to its external and internal characteristics.
Ray Society publications, 1866.

40. — . Recherches sur la distribution des Cetac^s dans les mers bor6ales.
Ann. Sci. Nat., Zool., i, 1864, pp. 201-224.

41. FABRICIUS, O. Fauna groenlandica.

Stockholm & Leipzig, 1870, 8°.

42. FISCHER, P. Sur la baleine des Basques (Balczna Biscayensis).

C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, 72, 1871, pp 298-300, foot-note.

43. — . Documents pour servir a 1'histoire de la baleine des Basques.
Ann. Sci. Nat. (5), Zool., 15, 1872, Art. 3, pp. 1-20.

44. — . Grace's du Sud-Ouest de la France.

Act. Soc. Linn. Bordeaux, 35, 1881, pp. 5-220, pis. 1-8. (Separate, Paris, 1881, 8°,
pp. 1-220, pis. 1-8.)

45. FLOWER, WM. H. Notes on the skeletons of whales in the principal museums of Holland and

Belgium, with descriptions of two species apparently new to science.
Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1864, pp. 384-420.

46. . List of the specimens of cetacea in the zoological department of the British

Museum.

London, 1885, 8°, pp. i-vi, 1-36.

47. GASCO, F. Intorno alia balena presa in Taranto nel Febbrajo, 1877.

At. R. Accad. Sci. Napol., 7, No. 16, 1878, pp. 1-47, pis. 1-9. (Separate, Naples, 1878,
pp. 1-47, Pis. 1-9.)

48. — . II balenotto catturato nel 1854 a San Sebastiano (Spagna) (Baleena biscayensis,
Eschricht) per la prima volta descritto.

An. Mus. Civ. Star. Nat. Geneva, 14, 1879, pp. 573-608.

49. GERVAIS, P. Remarques sur 1'anatomie des c&ace's de la division des Batenid^s tirdes de

1'examen des pieces relatives a ces animaux qui sont conserves au Museum.
Nouv. Archiv. du Mus. d"Hist. Nat. Paris, 7, 1871, pp. 65-146, pis. 3-10.

50. . Sur la baleine de la Me'diterranee.

Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 14, 1862, pp. 186-193.

51. GERVAIS, H. P. Me'moire sur deux squelettes de baleinopteres rapporte's du Cap Horn.

Mission Sci. Cap Horn, 6, Zool. i, 1891, pp. 1-62, pis. 1-4.

52. GRAELLS, M. P. Las ballenas en las costas oceanicas de Espafia.

Mem. R. Acad. Cien. Madrid, 13, Pt. 3, 1889, pp. 1-115, P^8- I-9-

53. GRAY, J. E. Catalogue of seals and whales in the British Museum.

2d ed., London, 1866, 8°, pp. i-viii, 1-402.

54. — . Synopsis of the species of whales and dolphins in the collection of the British

Museum.

London, 1868, 4°, pp. i-io, pis. 1-37.
55. . Supplement to the catalogue of seals and whales in the British Museum.

London, 1871, 8°, pp. i-vi, 1-103.
56. . Zoology of the voyage of the Erebus and Terror. Cetacea.

1846, 4°, pp. 13-53, Pls- »-3°-

57. GULDBERG, G. Zur Biologic der nordatlantischen Finwalarten.

Zool. jfahrb., Syst. Abth., 2, 1886, pp. 127-174.

58. . Bidrag til noiere Kundskab om Atlanterhavets rethval (Evbaltena biscayensis,

Eschricht).

Chris. Videns.-Selsk. Forhandl. for 1891, 1891, No. 8; pp. 14.

59. . Zur Kenntniss des Nordkapers. (Eubalana biscayensis Eschr.).

Zool. Jahrb., Syst. Abth., 7, 1893, pp. 1-22, pis. 1-2.

306 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

60. HALLAS, S. Optegnelser om nogle paa et Hvalfangst-Tog i Havet omkring Island iagttagne

Hvaler.

Videns. Meddel. Naturh. Foren. Kjob., Aar 1867, 1868, pp. 150-177.

61. HOLDER, J. B. The Atlantic Right Whales: A contribution, embracing an examination of

(i) the exterior characters and osteology of a cisarctic Right whale — male; (2) the ex-
terior characters of a cisarctic Right whale — female; (3) the osteology of a cisarctic
Right whale — sex not known. To which is added a concise re'sume^ of historical men-
tion relating to the present and allied species.

Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., i, 1883, pp. 99-137, pis. 10-13.

62. KNOX, F. J. Account of the Rorqual, the skeleton of which is now exhibiting in the great

rooms of the Royal Institution, Princes Street.
Edinburgh, 1835, 8°, pp. 1-16.

63. LAHILLE, F. Ostdologie de baleinoptere de Miramar.

Revista Mus. de la Plata, 9, 1899, pp. 79-120, pis. i-n. (Separate, La Plata, 1898,
pp. i-40,_pls. i-n.)

64. LILLJEBORG, W. Ofversigt af de inom Skandinavien (Sverige och Norrige) antraffade Hval-

artade Daggdjur (Cetacea).

Upsala Univ. Arssk., 1861, Math, och Naturvet., pp. 1-38; 1862, pp. 1-80. (Separate,
Upsala, 1862, pp. 1-118.)

65. MALM, A. W. Om ett i zoologiska Riksmuseum befintligt skelett af Balcenoptera musculus

(Companyo) fran Finmarken.
Oefvers. Vet. Akad. Forhandl., 1868, pp. 95-103, i pi.

66. . Hvaldjur i Sveriges Museer, Ar 1869.

Svens. Vetensk. Akad. Handl., 9, No. 2, 1870, pp. 1-104, pis. 1-6.

67. . Skelettdelar af Hval insamlade under Expeditionen med Vega, 1878-1880.

Bihang K. Sven. Vet. Akad. Handl., 8, No. 4, 1883, pp. 1-114.

68. MANIGAULT, G. E. The Black whale captured in Charleston harbor.

Proc. Elliott Soc., 1885, pp. 98-104.

69. MENGE, A. Scelet des breitkopfigen Finnwals, Pterobalcena laticeps.

Schrift. naturforsch. Gesell. Danzig, Neue Folge, 3, Heft 4, 1875, 29 pp., 4 photo, plates.

70. MOBIUS, K. Ueber den Fang und die Verwerthung der Walfische in Japan.

Sitzber. K. Prtus. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 52, 1893 (1894), pp. 1053-1072. (Separate,
pp. 1-20.)

71. NYENHUIS, J. T. B. Over de walvischaardige Dieren, op de Kusten van Nederland van de

vroegste Tijden af gestrand of gevangen.

Algem. Konst- en Letterbode voor 1836, pp. 163-169.

72. PALLAS, P. S. Zoographia Rosso- Asiatica.

i, (1811), 1831, pp. 286-288.

73. PECHUEL-LOESCHE, M. E. Wale und walfang.

Ausland, 44, 1871, pp. 985-990, 1017-1021, 1043—1047, 1066-1070, 1108-1111, 1131-
1136, 1182-1188, 1230-1234; 45, 1872, pp. 6-1 1.

74. RAWITZ, B., Ueber norwegische Bartenwale.

Sitz. Ber. Ges. Nat. Fr. Berlin, 1897, pp. 146-150.

75. REINHARDT, J. Nogle Bemaerkninger om Islaendernes " Steypireydr," en Efterskrift til Hr.

Hallas's Optegnelser om nogle paa et Hvalfangsttog i Havet omkring Island iagttagne
Hvaler.

Videns. Meddel. naturhist. Foren. Kjoben. for 1867, 1868, pp. 178-201. (Separate,
Copenhagen, 1868, pp. 1-26.)

76. RUDOLPHI, D. K. A. tiber Balcena longimana.

Abhandl. K. Akad. Wissensch. Berlin, aus 1829, 1832, pp. 133-144, pis. 1-5.

77. SARS, G. O. Beskrivelse af en ved Lofoten indbjerget Rorhval.

Chris. Videns.-Selsk. Forhandl., Aar 1865, 1866, pp. 266-295, P^5- I-3'

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 307

78. SARS, G. O. Om. " Blaahvalen " (Balcenoptera sibbaldii, Gray), med Bemaerkninger om nogle

andre ved Finmarkens Kyster forekommende Hvaldyr.

Chris. Videns.-Selsk. Forhandl. for 1874, 1875, pp. 227-241, i pi. (Separate, pp. 1-17,
i pi.)

79. • — — . Bidrag til en noiere Characteristik af vore Bardehvaler.

Chris. Vidensk.-Selsk. Forhandl., Aar 1878, No. 15, pp. 1-20, pis. 1-4.

80. — . Fortsatte Bidrag til Kundskaben om vore Bardehvaler, " Finhvalen " og
" Knolhvalen."

Chris. Videns.-Selsk. Forhandl., Aar 1880, 1881, No. 12, pp. 1-20, pis. 1-3.

81. SCAMMON, C. M. On a new species of Balcenoptera.

Proc. Cal. Acad. Set., 4, No. 20, Jan., 1873, pp. 269-270. (Printed in advance, Oct.
4, 1872.)

82. - . The Marine Mammals of the north-western coast of North America, described

and illustrated: Together with an account of the American whale-fishery.
San Francisco, 1874, 4°, pp. 1-320, i-v; pis. 1—27.

83. — , and COPE, E. D. On the cetaceans of the western coast of North America. By
C. M. Scammon, United States [Revenue] Marine. Edited by Edward D. Cope. Part
i. Systematic synopsis of the species of the cetaceans of the west coast of North
America. By Prof. E. D. Cope. Part 2. Natural history of the cetaceans of the seas
off the north-west coast of America, with an account of the elephant seal appended.
[By Capt. C. M. Scammon.]

Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1869, pp. 13-63, 8 pis.

84. SCORESBY, W., Jr. An account of the Arctic regions, with a history and description of the

northern whale-fishery.

Edinburgh, 1820, 2 vols., 8°.

85. STEJNEGER, L. Contributions to the history of the Commander Islands. No. i. Notes on

the natural history, including descriptions of new cetaceans.
Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 6, 1883, pp. 58-89.

86. STRUTHERS, J. On the cervical vertebrae and their articulations in fin-whales.

Journ. Anat. and Phys., 7, 1872, pp. 1-55, pis. 1-2.

87. . On some points in the anatomy of a Megaptera longimatia.

^ourn. Anat. and Phys., 22, 1887, pp. 109-125; 1888, pp. 240-282, 441-460, 629-656;
23, 1888, pp. 124-164, 308-335, 358-373. (Separate: Memoir on the anatomy of the
Humpback whale, Megaptera longimana. Edinburgh, 1889, 8°, pp. 1-188, pis. 1-6.)

88. . On the rudimentary hind-limb of a great Fin-whale (Balcenoptera musculus) in

comparison with those of the Humpback whale and the Greenland Right whale.
Journ. Anat. and Phys., 27, 1893, pp. 291-335, pis. 17-20.

89. TRUE, F. W. Annotated list of the aquatic mammals of North America, with catalogue of

specimens exhibited at London.

Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., 27, 1884, pp. 634-644.

90. TOWNSEND, C. H. Present condition of the California Gray Whale fishery.

Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 6, 1886, pp. 340-350, pis. 6-7.

91. TURNER, WM. An account of the great finner whale (Balcenoptera sibbaldii) stranded at Long-

niddry. Part i. The soft parts.

Trans. R. Soc. Edinburgh, 26, 1870, pp. 197-251, pis. 5-8.

92. . The lesser Rorqual (Balcenoptera rostrala) in the Scottish seas, with observations

on its anatomy.

Proc. It. Soc. Edinburgh, Sess. 1891-92, pp. 36-75.

APPENDIX II.

AMERICAN SPECIMENS OF WHALEBONE WHALES IN EUROPEAN MUSEUMS.
(Chiefly from Van Beneden, Flower, and Gray).

BALDEN A MYSTICETUS L.
Vienna, Austria.

i. Baleen from Bering Strait, collected by Captain Scammon. (Van Beneden.)

BAL^NA GLACIALIS (Bonn.).

Louvain, Belgium. (Museum of the University.)

i. Ear-bone of an adult, presented by Cope. (Van Beneden.)

Milan, Italy. (Civic Museum.)

i. Cast of one ear-bone of the type of B. cisarctica. (Gasco.)

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (Bonn.).
Bordeaux, France.

1. Fragments of skulls, jaws, pectoral elements, vertebrae, etc. From Martinique Id. (Van

Beneden; see also Fischer, 7, 58.)

2. Bones from Bermuda. (Van Beneden.)

Copenhagen, Denmark.

1. Skeletons of different ages from the East coast of Greenland, sent by Holboll to Eschricht.

(Van Beneden.) (Many of these distributed to other European museums.)

2. Other specimens, viscera, foetuses, etc. (Van Beneden.)

Brussels, Belgium. (Royal Museum.)

i. Skeleton from Greenland, received through Eschricht. (Van Beneden.)

Louvain, Belgium. (Museum of the University.)

i. Skeleton from Greenland, received through Eschricht. (Van Beneden.)

London, England. (British Museum.)

1. Complete skeleton, nearly adult, from Greenland. (Flower.)

2. Skull, with baleen, from Greenland. (Flower.)

3. Tympanic bones from Greenland. (Van Beneden.)

4. Fretus from Greenland. (Flower.)

5. Skull and various bones from California. (Flower.)

Stockholm, Sweden. (Royal Museum.)

i. Numerous bones from St. Bartholomew Id., West Indies; received from Dr. Goes. (Van
Beneden.)

Lund, Sweden.

i. Skeleton from Greenland; obtained from Eschricht. (Van Beneden.)
Leyden, Netherlands.

i. Skeleton received from Eschricht. (Van Beneden and Gervais.)

308

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OP THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 309

BAL^NOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA Lac.

London, England. (British Museum.)

1. Skeleton from South Greenland. (Flower.)

2. Stuffed specimen, very young, from Greenland. (Flower.)

Louvain, Belgium. (Museum of the University.)
i. Skeleton from Greenland. (Van Beneden.)

•

Stuttgart, Germany.

i. Skeleton from Labrador. (Van Beneden.)

Copenhagen, Denmark.

1. (Eschricht states that Holboll transmitted three skeletons from Greenland. Anat. Unter-

such., p. 173.)

2. Seven foetuses in alcohol. (Van Beneden.)

BAL^NOPTERA DAVIDSONI Scammon.

Vienna, Austria.

i. Baleen from San Francisco, Cal. (Van Beneden.)

BAIwENOPTERA PHYSALIS (L.).

Stuttgart, Germany.

i. Skull from the mouth of the Maroni River, Dutch Guiana; stranded in 1877. (Van
Beneden.)

Copenhagen, Denmark.

i. Skeleton of an immature individual from Greenland, 53 ft. (N.) long. (Lilljeborg.)

BAL^ENOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.).

Copenhagen, Denmark.

i. Bones of a pectoral fin, from Baffin Bay; collected by Holboll. (Van Beneden.)

St. Petersburg, Russia.

i. Skeleton from the Arctic Ocean. Collected by Peter Kargin, 1740. (Pallas; Van Beneden.)
This species. ?

Vienna, Austria.

i. Baleen collected by Capt. Scammon. (Van Beneden.) This species. ?

RHACHIANECTES GLAUCUS Cope.

Vienna, Austria.

i. Baleen collected by Capt. Scammon. (Van Beneden.)

EXPLANATION OF PLATES.

PLATE 1.

FIGURE 1. Cranium of the type of Sibbaldius tectirostris Cope. Dorsal view. Philadelphia Academy of

Natural Sciences.
FIGURE 2. Cranium of Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Dorsal view. No. 16045, U. S. National Museum. Cape

Cod, Mass. Collected by the U. S. Fish Commission.
FIGURE 3. Cranium of Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Dorsal view. No. 16039, TJ. S. National Museum. Cape

Cod, Mass. Collected by the U. S. Fish Commission.

PLATE 2.

FIGURE 1. Cranium of the type of Sibbaldius tectirostris Cope. Ventral view.

FIGURE 2. Cranium of Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Ventral view. No. 16045, U. S. National Museum. Cape

Cod, Mass.
FIGURE 3. Cranium of Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Ventral view. No. 16039, U. S. National Museum. Cape

Cod, Mass.

PLATE 3.

FIGURE 1. Cranium of Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Dorsal view. Cape Cod, Mass. Ward's Natural Science

Establishment, Rochester, N. Y.
FIGURE 2. The same. Ventral view.
FIGURE 3. The same. Lateral view.

PLATE 4.

FIGURE 1. Cranium of the type of Sibbaldius tectirostris Cope. Lateral view.

FIGURE 2. Cranium of Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Lateral view. No. 16045, U. S. National Museum. Cape

Cod, Mass.
FIGURE 3. Cranium of Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Lateral view. No. 16039, U. S. National Museum. Cape

Cod, Mass.
FIGURE 4. Bones from the type-skeleton of Sibbaldius tectirostris Cope. Right first rib (double-headed), first

lumbar, first dorsal, and axis.

PLATE 5.

FIGURE 1. Cervical and dorsal vertebrae of the type-skeleton of Sibbaldiiis tectirostris Cope.
FIGURE 2. Lumbar vertebrae of the same.
FIGURES 3 and 4. Caudal vertebrae of the same.

PLATE 6.

FIGURE 1. Ribs of the type-skeleton of Sibbaldius tectirostris Cope.
FIGURE 2. Left scapula and humerus of the same.
FIGURE 3. Right first rib of the same (double-headed).

FIGURE 4. Anterior portion of the skeleton of Balcenoptera velifera (?), from behind, showing the ribs,
sternum, etc., in position. Coast of California. Wistar Institute, University of Pennsylvania.

3"

312 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOBTH ATLANTIC.

PLATE 7.

FIGURE 1. Scapula of Balcenoptera physalus (L.) from skeleton No. 16039, U. S. National Museum. Cape

Cod, Mass.

FIGURE 2. The same from skeleton No. 16045, U. S. National Museum. Cape Cod, Mass.
FIGURE 3. Scapula from skeleton of Balcenoptera velijera (?) in Wistar Institute. Coast of California.
FiGURK 4. Sternum of Balcenoptera physalus (L.) from skeleton No. 16045, U. S. National Museum.
FIGURE 5. Scapula of Balcenoptera musculus (L.). Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.
FIGURE 6. Scapula from skeleton of Balcenoptera musculus (L.). Ocean City, N. J. Philadelphia Academy

of Natural Sciences.

FIGURE 7. Radius and ulna from the same.
FIGURE 8. Humerus from the same.

FIGURE 9. Ulna of Balcenoptera museulus (L.). Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.
FIGURE 10. Nasals of the same.

PLATE 8.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera physalus (L.). No. 7 S . Showing dark left lip and the pectoral ridges. (The dark line
crossing the white ridges obliquely is due to slime from the surface of the water.)

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 18 $ .

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 9 4 . Showing greater extension of dark color on the left side than in the
preceding specimens.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 13 $ .

All specimens from Snook's Arm Station, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 9.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera physalus (L.). No. 7 ? . Ventral view.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 4 ? . Ventral view, showing the enlarged mammary glands which appear

as large rounded eminences immediately in front of the pudendum.
FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 20 ? . Ventral view, showing the white right lip.
FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 2 $ . Anterior portion of ventral surface, showing large extension of

dark color.
FIGURE 5. The same species. No. 17 $ . Dorsal view, showing right eye, auricular orifice, " corner of

mouth," and pectoral.

All specimens from Snook's Arm Station, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 10.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera physalus (L.) . No. 20?. Head, showing white right mandible, anterior portion of
upper jaw, and whalebone.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 9 i . Head, showing dark left jaws and whalebone.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 17 $ . Lateral view of anterior portion of body, showing white right man-
dible, and the peculiar markings above the eye and at the base of the pectoral.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 18 $ . Pudendum, mammary fossae, and anus. a. clitoris, 6. mammary
fossae, c. vestibule, d. anus, e. gray anal lines.

FIGURE 5. The same species. No. 9 {, . Ventral view.

All specimens from Snook's Arm Station, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland.

/

PLATE 11.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera physalus (L.). No. 12 S . Dorsal view (head lying in the water). Showing the right
white mandible, and the peculiar markings above the eye, auricular orifice, and base of pectoral.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 13 S . Showing similar markings on the left side.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 18 $ . Head. Dorsal view.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 7 ? . Dorsal view.

FIGURE 5. The same species. No. 18 ? . Dorsal fin. (The peculiar markings are due to abrasion by the cables.)

FIGURE 6. The same species. No. 18 ? . Showing the whalebone in position and the " roof of the mouth."
(The mandible has not been removed).

All specimens from Snook's Arm Station, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 313

PLATE 12.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Provincetown, Mass. Length reported as 65 ft. 4 in., and "the

largest of the finback species ever taken here" (Provincetown).

FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Ventral view. (The flukes are an addition by the photographer.)
FIGURE 3. The same species. Showing the mouth. Provincetown, Mass.
FIGURE 4. Another view of the same specimen.

FIGURE 5. The same specimen as Figure 3, showing flukes, penis, etc.
FIGURE 6. Stripping a carcass of Balcenoptera physalus (L.) at Nantucket, Mass. Showing the white anterior

right whalebone.
FIGURE 7. Flukes of Balcenoptera physalus (L.), No. 26 $ . Ventral surface. Snook's Arm Station, Notre

Dame Bay, Newfoundland.
FIGURES. Flukes of Balcenoptera physalus (L.), No. 253. Ventral surface. Snook's Arm Station, Notre

Dame Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 13.

FIGURE 1. Baloenoptera musculus (L.), No. 2 S . Anterior portion of body. Dorsal view, showing broad head,

light mottled color of shoulder, and white extremity of pectoral.
FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 3 S . Pectoral region, showing mottled coloration, auricular orifice, eye,

and pectoral.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 23 S . Lateral view of anterior half of body.
FIGURE 4. The same species and specimen. Lateral view.

All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 14.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera musculus (L.), No. 9 ¥ . Dorsal view.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 21 9 . Lateral view.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 10 S . Ventral view.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 2 S . Ventral view.

FIGURE 5. The same species. No. 8 S . Ventral view.

FIGURE 6. The same species. No. 21 s . Ventral view.

FIGURE 7. The same species. No. 6 <? . Dorsal view of anterior half of body.

All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 15.

FIGURE 1. Baloenoptera musculus (L.). No. 3 $ . Head, showing tongue and whalebone in position.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 6 S . Showing whalebone in position.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 23 S . Lateral view of head. (The mandible is probably in the position

it has in life.)
FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 23 ? . Anterior view of head. The bio whole -appears at the summit of the

broad head, and the eyes at the lateral extremities. (The mandible is out of position and exaggerated

in size.)

All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 16.

FIGURE 1. Balmioptera musculus (L.). No. 23 2 . Right eye and " corner of mouth."
FIGURE 2. Left eye of the same specimen.

FIGURES. The same species. No. 9 S. Whalebone and " roof of mouth."
FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 14 5 . Left whalebone in position.

All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 17.

FIGURE 1. Balmioptera musculus (L.). No. 26?. Ventral view, showing navel, pudendum, and scattered

spots of light gray.
FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 20 $ . Ventral view, showing a large amount of light color at the posterior

ends of the abdominal ridges.
FIGURE 3. The same species, No. 26 S (already shown in Figure 1). The dark coloration and paucity of spots

are especially noticeable.
FIGURE 4. The same species, No. 20 ? (already shown in Figure 2). Shows the distinct white spots on the

abdominal ridges and white area at base of pectoral.

Both specimens are from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

314 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

PLATE 18.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera musculus (L.). No. 5 $ . Ventral view, showing small amount of light color on the
abdominal ridges.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 21 S . Ventral view, showing large area of whitish color on the abdominal
ridges.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 9 9 . Ventral view, showing large amount of light color on the abdomi-
nal ridges.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 9 ¥ . Showing the profuse light spots on the belly.

All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 19.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera musculus (L.). No. 7 $ . Ventral view, showing small amount of light color on the

abdominal ridges.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 8 S . Navel region.
FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 23 ? . Lateral view of the mammary fossae and pudendum, showing the

slight projection of these parts.

FIGURE 4. The same species. Piece of skin from the flanks, showing mottled coloration.
All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 20.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera musculus (L.). No. 8 $ . Pudendum, mammary fossae, and anus. (The mammae are
in the furrows which are intermediate between the median line and the external furrows.)

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 21 ? . Pudendum, mammary fossae, and anus ; for comparison with pre-
ceding figure. (The mammae are in the long furrow nearest the median line on each side) : a. clitoris ;
b. mammary fossa ; c. orifice of vagina ; d. anus.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 11 S . Orifice of penis sheath and mammary fossae containing rudimentary
mammae : a. orifice of penis sheath ; b. mammary fossae.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 15 $ . Ventral view, showing (a) penis sheath ; (b) mammary fossae, and
(c) anus.

All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 21.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera musculus (L.). No. 8 $ . Pectoral fin, showing abnormal extremity. Dorsal view.

FIGURE 2. The same. Ventral view.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 21 $ . Left pectoral.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 7 S . Left pectoral, showing incised extremity.

FIGURE 5. The same species. No. 4 S . Left pectoral.

All specimens from Balena Station, Hermitage Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 22.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacepede. No. 20931, U. S. National Museum. Off Monomoy

Point, Harwichport, Mass. Young. Dorsal view.
FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 13877, U. S. National Museum. Coast of Norway. Adult. Dorsal view.

PLATE 23.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera davidsoni Scammon. Type-skull. No. 12177, U. S. National Museum. Admiralty

Inlet, Puget Sound, Washington. Dorsal view.
FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 61715, U. S. National Museum. St. Paul Island, Pribilof Group, Bering

Sea. Dorsal view.

PLATE 24.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacepede. No. 20931, U. S. National Museum. Off Monomoy

Point, Harwichport, Mass. Young. Ventral view.
FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 13877, U. S. National Museum. Coast of Norway. Adult. Ventral view.

PLATE 25.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera davidsoni Scammon. Type-skull. No. 12177, U. S. National Museum. Admiralty

Inlet, Puget Sound, Washington. Ventral view.
FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 61715, U. S. National Museum. St. Paul Island, Pribilof Group, Bering

Sea. Ventral view.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 315

PLATE 26.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera davidsoni Scammon. Type-skull. No. 12177, U. S. National Museum. Admiralty

Inlet, Puget Sound, Washington. Lateral view.
FIGURE 2. Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata Laceptkle. No. 20931, U. S. National Museum. Off Monomoy Point,

Harwichport, Mass. Young. Lateral view.
FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 13877, U. S. National Museum. Coast of Norway. Lateral view.

PLATE 37.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera davidsoni Scammou. No. 61715, U. S. National Museum. St. Paul Island,

Pribilof Group, Bering Sea. Lateral view.
FIGURE 2. Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacepede. No. 20931, U. S. National Museum. Off Monomoy Point,

Harwichport, Mass. Young. Lateral view.
FIGURE 3. The same species. Right scapula of skeleton No. 13877, U. S. National Museum. Coast of

Norway. Adult.
FIGURE 4. The same species. Scapula of skeleton No. 20931, U. S. National Museum. Off Monomoy Point,

Harwichport, Mass. Young.
FIGURE 5. The same species. Sternum of skeleton No. 13877, U. S. National Museum. Coast of Norway.

Adult.
FIGURE 6. The same species. Sternum of skeleton No. 20931, U. S. National Museum. Off Monomoy Point,

Harwichport, Mass.

PLATE 28.

FIGURE 1. Balcenoptera davidsoni Scammon. Valdes, Alaska. Ventral view. Photographed by F. C.
Schroeder, U. S. Geological Survey.

FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Dorsal view.

FIGURE 3. Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacepede. Quoddy Head, Maine. Ventral view.

FIGURE 4. The same specimen. Lateral view.

FIGURE 5. Balcenoptera velifera (?). Anterior portion of skeleton in Wistar Institute, University of Penn-
sylvania. Coast of California.

FIGURE 6. The same, showing cervical and anterior dorsal vertebrae.

PLATE 29.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera bellieosa Cope. Type-skull. San Domingo or St. Barthlomew Island, West Indies.

Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Dorsal view.
FIGURE 2. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). No. 21492, U. S. National Museum. Cape Cod, Mass. Dorsal view.

PLATE 30.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera bellieosa Cope. Type-skull. Ventral view.

FIGURE 2. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). No. 21492, U.S. National Museum. Cape Cod, Mass. Ventral view.

PLATE 81.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera bellieosa Cope. Type-skull. Lateral view.

FIGURE 2. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). No. 21492, U. S. National Museum. Cape Cod, Mass. Lateral view.

FIGURE 3. The same species. Cape Cod, Mass. Milwaukee Public Museum. Lateral view.

PLATE 32.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). No. fff Sf , S , U. S. National Museum. Provincetown, Mass.

Young. Dorsal view.
FIGURE 2. The same species. Cape Cod, Mass. Milwaukee Public Museum. Dorsal view. (The figure is

much distorted.)

PLATE 33.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). No. -}ffff, S , U. S. National Museum. Provincetown, Mass.

Young. Ventral view.
FIGURE 2. The same species. Cape Cod, Mass. Milwaukee Public Museum. Ventral view.

316 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

PLATE 34.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera bellicosa Cope. Type-skeleton. Cervical and dorsal vertebrae.

FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Lumbar vertebrae.

FIGURE 3. The same specimen. Caudal vertebrae.

FIGURE 4. The same specimen. Right scapula, humerus, radius, and ulna.

PLATE 35.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera bellicosa Cope. Type-skeleton. First lumbar, first dorsal, axis, and atlas. Anterior

view.
FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Ribs.

PLATE 36.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera osphyia Cope. Skull from the type-skeleton. Niagara Falls Museum, New York. (This
type is in such a position in the museum that it is impossible to obtain an entirely satisfactory photo-
graph. In this figure the anterior extremity of the rostrum and mandible have been added in pencil.)

FIGURE 2. The same specimen, showing artificial arrangement of phalanges.

FIGURE 3. The same specimen. Pectoral region. The vertebrae are mounted backwards.

FIGURE 4. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). Right scapula of No. |ffjjf, ?, U. S. National Museum. Province-
town, Mass. Young. Exterior view.

FIGURE 5. The same species, No. 21492, U. S. National Museum. Cape Cod, Mass. Exterior view.

PLATE 37.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). No. 5 $ . Showing white pectorals and under surface of flukes.

Snook's Arm Station, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland.
FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Ventral view.
FIGURE 3. The same specimen. Head, showing white areas under the eye and at tip of snout, and white

rings on the mandible caused by barnacles.

PLATE 38.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). An unusually white specimen.
FIGURE 2. The same species.

From negatives taken by William Palmer at Balena Station, Newfoundland, 1901.

PLATE 39.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). No. 5 t . Ventral view, showing characteristic arrangement of
ridges anteriorly.

FIGURE 2. The same species. No. 6 ? . Dorsal view.

FIGURE 3. The same species and specimen. Ventral view, showing small amount of white on exterior sur-
face of the pectoral, and on the belly.

FIGURE 4. The same species. No. 21 $ . Ventral view.

All specimens from Snook's Arm Station, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland.

PLATE 40.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera nodosa (Bonnaterre). Provincetown, Mass. Male. Ventral view.

FIGURE 2. The same species. Flukes from No. 13656, ? , U. S. National Museum. Provincetown, Mass.

Dorsal view.

FIGURE 3. The same species. No. 21 S . Snook's Arm Station, Newfoundland.
FIGURE 4. Megaptera versabilis Cope. Coast of California. Photograph obtained by Mr. C. H. Townsend.

PLATE 41.

FIGURE 1. Megaptera versabilis Cope. Henderson's Bay, Puget Sound, Washington, September 5, 1896.

Shows the arrangement of dermal tubercles, shape of blowholes, color of pectoral fin, etc.
FIGURE 2. The same specimen.
FIGURE 3. The same specimen. Head and back, showing characteristic shape of dorsal fin, dermal

tubercles, etc.

FIGURE 4. The same specimen. Mouth.

FIGURE 5. The same species. Coast of California. Photograph obtained by Mr. C. H. Townsend.
FIGURE 6. Right pectoral of Megaptera nodosa. No. 13656, ? , U. S. National Museum. Provincetown, Mass.

Exterior surface.

EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 317

PLATE 42.

FIGURE 1. Balcena glacialis Bonnaterre. Skull from skeleton No. 23077, U. S. National Museum. Long

Island, New York. Dorsal view.
FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Ventral view.

PLATE 43.

FIGURE 1. Balcena glacialis Bonnaterre. Skull from skeleton No. 23077, U. S. National Museum. Long

Island, New York. Lateral view.
FIGURE 2. The same species. Skull from skeleton in State Museum, Raleigh, North Carolina. Cape Lookout,

N. C. Lateral view. Photograph presented by Mr. H. H. Brimley, Curator of the State Museum.

PLATE 44.

FIGURE 1. Baltena cisaretica Cope. Type-skeleton. Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences. Lateral

view of anterior portion, including the lumbar vertebrae.
FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Lateral view of the caudal vertebras.

PLATE 45.

FIGURE 1. Balmia glacialis Bonnaterre. Skull from skeleton in Charleston College Museum, South Caro-
lina. Charleston, S. C. Lateral view.

FIGURE 2. The same species. Left scapula from the same skeleton.

FIGURE 3. The same species. Left scapula from skeleton in American Museum of Natural History, New
York. From Long Island (?), New York. Photograph presented by Dr. H. C. Bumpus, Director of
the American Museum of Natural History.

FIGURE 4. The same species. Left scapula from skeleton in Field Columbian Museum, Chicago. Long Island,
New York. Photograph presented by Dr. D. G. Elliot, Curator of Mammals, Field Columbian Museum,

FIGURE 5. The same species. Left scapula from skeleton No. 23077, U. S. National Museum. Long Island.
New York.

PLATE 46.

FIGURE 1. Balcena glacialis Bonnaterre. Head of specimen found dead 28 miles off Highland, Cape Cod,
April, 1895. Photographed in Herring Cove, Provincetown, Mass.

FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Lateral view. (The flukes are an addition by the photographer.)

FIGURE 3. The same species. Sternum from skeleton in Field Columbian Museum, Chicago. Long Island,
New York. Photograph presented by Dr. D. G. Elliot, Curator of Mammals, Field Columbian
Museum.

FIGURE 4. The same species. Sternum from skeleton in Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard Uni-
versity. Photograph presented by Mr. Outram Bangs, Curator of Mammals.

PLATE 47.

FIGURE 1. Rhachianectes glaucus Cope. No. 13803, U. S. National Museum. Monterey, Cal. Dorsal view.
FIGURE 2. The same specimen. Ventral view.
FIGURE 3. The same specimen. Lateral view.

PLATE 48.

FIGURE 1. Common Finback. Balcenoptera physalus (L.). Restoration, based on Sars's figures, amended

from photographs and sketches of Newfoundland specimens.
FIGURE 2. Sulphurbottom, Balcenoptera musculus (L.). Restoration, prepared in the same manner as Figure 1.

PLATE 49.

FIGURE 1. Little Piked Whale, Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata Lacepede. Restoration, based on the Quoddy

Head, Maine, specimen.

FIGURE 2. Pollack Whale, Balcenoptera borealis Lesson. After Collett.
FIGURE 3. Gray Whale, Rhachianectes glaums Cope. After Scammon.

PLATE 50.

FIGURE 1. Humpback, Megaptera nodoxa (Bonnaterre). Restoration based on Sars's figures amended from

Newfoundland specimens.
FIGURK 2. North Atlantic Right Whale, Balcena glacialis Bonnaterre. Restoration based on photographs

of Massachusetts and Long Island specimens.

INDEX.

Acosta, Joseph de, fable of Indians killing whales, 27,

31, 35, 37, 41, 42
AgaphelicUe, 47

Agaphelus, 80, 104, 105, 270, 287
Agaphelus gibbosus, 47. 56, 104, 105

measurements of, 106
note on, 103

Agaphelus glaucus, 80, 81. 104
Alaska, whales of. 33
Aleutian Islands, whales at the, 33
Allen, J. A., bibliography of cetology, 62

list of cetaceans of Massachusetts, 58
opinion regarding Balcena cisarctica,

264

Amagansett. Long Island, whales sighted off, 63
Ambergris, 35

American cetaceans, first references to, 6
American specimens of Balcenoptera physahts, 131
American whale fishery, Clark's history of the, 68

Douglass's remarks on the,

71

Felt's notes on the, 72
Lanman on the, 76
Starbuck's history of the. 68
American zoologists, writings of, on whalebone

whales. 34
Anderson, John, resume on whales in northern

waters. 39
Arbavirksoak, 42
Arbec, 42

Arctic .Vegaptera, 98, 99
Ashley, George U., 4
Atlantic right whale, 23

Holder's memoir on the, 62
Atwood. N. E., notes on cetacea of Massachusetts,

58

on the scrag whale, 37
Aurivillius, C. W. S., 152

Baffin. William, first voyage of, 10

in Wolstenholme Sound, 12

letter of, to Sir John Wolstenholme,

10
second voyage of, 10

Baffin Bay, whales of , 6, 10

Bahama Islands, spermaceti whales at the, 29

Bahia finner, 103

Baia de Balienas, whales seen in the, 32

Balcena, 40, 42, 43, 79, 287

Balcena, Flower's remarks on, 63

mentioned by Bonnaterre, 45
Brisson, 40
Erxleben, 42

species of, distribution of, 56
Van Beneden on the geographical distribu-
tion of, 57

Balcena attncans, 42
Balcena antipodarum, 265
Balcena antipodum, 266
Balcena australis, 50, 63, 263. 265, 266
Balcena btscayensts, 15, 39, 55, 57, 60, 244, 262
Basque fishery for, 13
ribs, Gasco's description of, 257
Balcena boops, 41, 46, 51, 61, 243
Balcena cisarctica, 3, 55, 56, 57, 60, 63, 78, 79, 263-267
description of the type-skeleton

of, 79

measurements of the type-skele-
ton of, 79

note by Cope on, 61
type-skull of, nasals in, 252
Van Beneden's remarks on, 56
Balcena gibbosa, 41, 42, 45, 104, 105
Balcena glacialis, 23, 39, 45, 68, 244, 266, 270, 297

American specimens of, in Euro-
pean museums, 308
chevrons, 256
color, 249

Guldberg's remarks on, 249
of American specimens of, 250
diagnosis of, 298

length of American specimensof , 246
European specimens of,

245

measurements of, 247, 268
opinions of cetologists regarding,

262
phalanges, 260

number of, 261
proportions of, 246
ribs, 256

measurements of, 257, 258
scapula, 259

proportions of, 260
skeleton, measurements of, 255
skull, 251

length of, 267
measurements of, 253

319

320

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC.

Balcena glacialis, sternum, 258

summary of discussion of, 261
vertebrae, characters of, 254, 256
vertebral formula, 250
whalebone, 248

Balcena glacialis in Charleston (S. C.) harbor, 62
Balcena jubartes, 53
Balcena lamanoni, 266
Balcena longimana, 51, 225, 243

type-specimen of, 211, 233
Balcena macro, 45
Balcena mediterranea, 266
Balcena musculus, 41, 46
Balcena mysticetus, 5, 12, 20, 34, 40^3, 45, 47, 50, 53,

56, 210, 265, 266, 270, 297
American specimens of, in Euro-
pean museums, 308
range of, 12

Balcena nodosa, 45, 46, 54, 211
Balcena physalis, 6, 41, 42, 45
Balcena ro/strata, 41, 46
Balcena sieboldii, 270

Van Beneden's opinion regarding,

271

whalebone of, 2,71
Balcena svedenborgii, 264, 266
Balcena tarentina, 266
Balcena vanbenedeniana, 264, 266
Balcena vera, 40
Bakence, 41
Balcenidce, 47, 48
Balcenoptera, 81, 287

Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata, 46, 51, 53, 55, 63, 104,

105, 192, 270, 292, 297
American specimens of,

193

American specimens
of, in European mu-
seums, 309

cervical vertebras, char-
acters of, 208
chevrons, 201
Collett's note on Bo-
court's figure of, 192
comparison of speci-
mens from Greenland
and Norway, 207
diagnosis of, 301
figures of, by Sir Wm.

Turner, 196
• measurements of, 106,

194

measurements of a
specimen from New
England, 195
measurements of a
specimen from Port-
land, Me., 194
opinions of European
cetologists regarding
European and Ameri-
can specimens of, 206

Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata, osteological characters

of, 196

pectorals, color of, 209
phalanges, 204
Portland (Me.) speci-
men, description of,
193

Sars's diagnosis of, 192
scapula, 203

proportions of,

204

size of, 196
skeleton, characters of,

199
measurements

of, 202
skull, 196

characters of, 198
Capellini's figures

of, 198
measurements of,

197

specimen of, from
Quoddy Head, Me.,
195

sternum, 204
summary of discussion

of, 206

Van Beneden and Ger-
vais's remarks on,
210
variety microcephala,

210

vertebral formula, 201
Eschricht's remarks
on, 201

whalebone, size of, 231
Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata from Greenland, color

of pectorals in, 209
Gray's remarks on,

209

Balcenoptera borealis, 87, 132, 270, 297
diagnosis of, 300
Balcenoptera brasiliensis, 103
Balcenoptera Carolines, 183, 185
Balcenoptera davidsoni, 58, 78, 91, 210, 269, 270,

292
American specimens of, in

European museums, 309
found off Cape Flattery,

67

original description of, 91
skull, characters of, 295

measurements of, 293-

295

specimens of, 294
type-specimen of, 91
Van Beneden's opinion re-
garding, 296

Balcenoptera ditguidii, 179
Balcrnoptera intermedia, 183
Balcenoptera miramaris, 183

INDEX.

321

Balcenoptera musculiis, 58, 149, 150, 216, 270, 297

abdominal ridges, characters
of, 176

abdominal ridges, number of,
176

American specimens of, in
European museums, 309

caudal peduncle, measure-
ments of, in Newfoundland
specimens, 175

Cocks's remarks on length of,
150

Cocks's statistics of length of
Norwegian, 154

color, Sars's description of,
161

color of Iceland specimens
of, 169

color of Newfoundland speci-
mens of, 162

comparative measurements
of Greenland and New-
foundland specimens of , 191

comparative measurements
of Iceland and Newfound-
land specimens of, 161

comparative measurements
of Newfoundland and Nor-
wegian specimens of, 159,
160

diagnosis of, 299

by Sars, 149

dorsal fin, 171

shape of, 172

eye, in Newfoundland speci-
mens, 175

flukes, 177

fetuses of, at Newfoundland,
155

girth, in Newfoundland speci-
mens, 176

Guldberg's remarks on length
of, 150, 151

hairs, 178

head, shape of, in Newfound-
land specimens of, 174

individual variation in color
of Newfoundland speci-
mens of, 164

list of specimens taken at
Balena station, Newfound-
land, in 1901, 153

mammary slits, 177

measurements of Iceland
specimens of, 160

measurements of Newfound-
land specimens of, 174

navel, 177

Ocean City (N. J.) specimen

of, 179

Ocean City (N. J.) specimen of,
measurements of 184, 189

Balcenoptera musculus, Ocean City (N. J.) specimen

of, nasals of, 184
Ocean City (N. J.) specimen

of, phalanges of, 188
Ocean City (N. J.) specimen

of, ribs of, 185
Ocean City (N. J.) specimen

of, scapula of, 186
osteological characters of,
summarized by Van Ben-
eden, 181
pectoral fins, 173
pectoral fins of Newfound-
land specimens of, 173
pectoral fins, Sars's descrip-
tion of, 173
phalanges, 188
proportions of, 156
radius and ulna, 187

measurements

of, 188
ribs, 185

measurements of, 185
scapula, 185

figures of, 185
measurements of, 187
skeleton, 178
skull, 183

measurements of, 184
Rheinhardt's figure of,

183

" small," shape of, 175
statistics of length of New-
foundland specimens of, 154
sternum, figures of, 187
summary of discussion of, 188
table of measurements of
European specimens of, 159
table of measurements of
Newfoundland specimens
of, 157
table of statistics of length

of, 156

vertebral formula of, 181 , 182
whalebone, 177
Balcenoptera musculus from Greenland, description of,

189
measurements

of, 190
Balcenoptera physalus, 6, 40, 43, 84, 107, 111, 216,

270, 297

abdominal ridges and fur-
rows, 129

American specimens of, 131
American specimens of, in

European museums, 309
•auricular orifice, 130
captured off Gloucester,

Mass., 60

chevron bones, 139
color, asymmetry of, 121
color of, described by Sars, 120

322

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Balcenoptera phynalus, color of European specimens

of, 119

color of Newfoundland speci-
mens of, 121
color, variation in, 121
comparative measurements
of American and European
specimens of, 118
diagnosis of, 300

by Sars, 107
dorsal fin, 125

height of, 173
measurements of,

125

eye, 130, 175
flukes, color of, 127
shape of, 127
foetuses, size of, at Snook's

Arm, Newfoundland, 113
hairs, 125

Lilljebovg's description of a
skeleton of, from Green-
land, 146
markings about the eye.'ejc.,

in, 124
measurements of distance

from eye to ear in, 130
opinions of European cetolo-

gists regarding, 147
osteological characters of , 131
pectoral fins, 142

color of, 127
shape of, 126
phalanges, 143
proportions of, 115
representative of, in Green-
land, 146
ribs, 135
scapula, 142

skeleton, measurements of,
144

proportions of, 144
skeleton from Greenland,

measurements of, 147
skull, 131

figures of, 131
measurements of, 133
proportions of, 133
size of, at Newfoundland,

112, 113

at Norway, 113
specimen of, stranded in Bos-
ton harbor, 60
sternum, 139
summary of characters of,

108
summary of discussion of

characters of, 145

table of measurements of

American specimens of, 117

table of measurements of

European specimens of, 117

Balcenoptera physalns, table of measurements of
Newfoundland specimens
of, 116
table of statistics of length

of, 115
vertebrae, characters of, 138

number of, 134, 138
vertebral formula of, 137
vertebral formula of Ameri-
can specimens of, 135
vertebral formula of Euro-
pean specimens of, 134
whalebone, characters of, 127
color of, 127
measurements of,

128

Balcenoptera sibbaldii, 183
Balcenoptera sulfureus, 284

characters of, furnished by

Scammon, 284
description of, 90
measurements of, by Scam-
mon, 285

PechueFs remarks on, 287
Van Beneden's opinion re-
garding, 286
whalebone, 286

described by Cope,

285

Balcenoptera tectirostris, 85, 111, 132, 179
characters of, 85
measurements of, 86
radius, 145

ribs, characters of, 138
scapula, 143
skeleton, measurements of,

88

Balcenoptera tuberosus (Cope), 81
Balcenoptera velifera, 48, 78, 90, 270, 283, 284
characters of, 277
habits of, 9

measurements of a specimen
from San Clemente Id., Cal.,
282

measurements of, by Scam-
mon, 278

original description of, 90
Scammon's description of, 277
scapula, 282
skeleton, 282

measurements of, 280
skull, measurements of, com-
pared with Bahenoptera
pliysalus, 281
specimens of, 280
sternum, 283

Van Beneden's opinion regard-
ing, 284

whalebone, 279, 283
Balena station, Newfoundland, 154
Balenots, 35, 36
Bancroft, H. H., 32

INDEX.

323

Bangs, Outrani, 4

Barbadoes, whale fishery about the, 61

Basque whale, 57, 60

Basque whale fishery, 13, 50, 60

Fischer's statements regarding

the, 266
Basques, acquaintance of, with the "Grand Bay"

whale, 12
Beaked whale, 46
Beard, D. G., 4
Bearded whale, 12
Beauregard, H., 152
Belle Isle, Strait of, 43

colonial whale fishery in, 70
Belon, P., 85
Beluga, 14, 36

Beneden (Van). See Van Beneden.
Bering Island, finback observed by Dr. L. Stejneger

at, 283
Bermuda, humpback whale of, 40

humpback-whale fisher}', 29
Verrill's statement regarding whales at, 30
whale fishery at, 27, 29
whales of, 72
Bickford, J. , type of Megaptera osphyia captured

by, 91

Biscay whale, 15, 267, 298
Blaahval, 171, 173
Blaekfish, 44, 54
Black whale, 78, 79. 249, 297, 298

captured in Charleston (S. C.) harbor, 62
Blake, J. H., 268

notes on Balcenoptera acttto-rottrata . \ '.)•">
Blue whale, 149, 150, 162

Cocks's measurements of, 150

Bocourt's figure of Balcenoptera acuto-roxtrata, 192
Boddaert's edition of Linnseus's Sy sterna Naturae,

American species of whales mentioned in, 41
Bolau, H., summaries of natural history and geo-
graphical distribution of cetaceans, 63
Bonnaterre, Abbe, species of Balii'iia mentioned by, 45

Tableau Encyclopedique of, 44

Bonnycastle, Sir Richard, observations on whales of
Newfoundland, 53

linupx, 211

Boty, Iver, narrative of, 6
Bow-head, 5, 39, 42-44

Bradford's and Winslow's Journal of Plymouth Col-
ony, 22

Brickell's natural history of North Carolina, 37
Brimley, H. H., 4

on right-whale fishery around Beau-
fort Inlet, North Carolina, 26

Brisson, M. J., species of Bahena mentioned by, 40
Regne Animal of, American species of

whales mentioned in, 40

British Museum, Flower's list of cetacea in the, 62
Brookhaven, New York, colonial whaling at, 75
Brown, Robert, on Greenland cetacea, 61

on Greenland finbacks, 189
Buckelwal, 61
Bull, Captain, 4

Bunch whale, 37
Buzzard's Bay, Mass., 6

Cabot Steam Whaling Company, 4, 111, 114, 149
California finback, 66
California gray whale, 54, 66, 80, 287
California, gray-whale fishery of, 61

Jouan's observations on the whales of, 54
whales at Monterey, 33

San Simeon Bay, 68
whales off coast of, 67

Monterey County, 67
Santa Barbara County, 66
San Luis Obispo County, 66
California humpback, 66
California ranger, 54
California sulphurbottom, 66
Californian whaling stations, 62
Canada, Gaspe, whales at, 19, 20

whales of, 20, 44

Cape Cod, Mass., colonial whale fishery at, 69
whales in Barnstable Bay, 22
whales of, 22

Cape Farewell, whales near, 9, 10
Cape Ma}-, N. J., whales killed at, 76
Cape Sable, whales seen near, 22
Cape St. Lucas, whales at, 32
Capellini's figures of skull of Balcenoptera acuto-ros-

trata, 198

Carolina, Catesby's natural history of, 37
Carolinas, Lawson's observations on whales of the, 36
Cartier, allusions to cetaceans by, 14

second voyage of, 14
Catesby's natural history of Carolina, 37
Caulkins, Frances M., history of New London, Con-
necticut, 73
Central America, Oviedo's account of whales on

Pacific coast of, 31
Ulloa's reference to whales on Pa-
cific coast of, 32
Cetacea, geographical distribution of, 207

remarks regarding species among, 206
Champlain, description of whale fishery in New

France, 17
voyages of, 18
Charlevoix's history and general description of New

France, 36

Clark, A. Howard, history of American whale fish-
ery, 68
Classification of whales, Anderson's, 39

Klein's, 38
Coat, Captain, remarks on geography of Hudson

Bay, 13
Cocks, A. H., 152

notes on color of Norwegian hump-
backs, 216
remarks on length of Balcenoptera.

tinixcidiis, 150

statistics of length of Balcenoptera
musculus taken at Norwegian sta-
tions, 154
statistics of length of Megaptera, 213

324

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC.

Cocks, A. H., statistics of Norwegian Balcenoptera

physalus, 113
Collett, Robert, note on Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata,

192
on length of Balcenoptera musculus,

150

Colonial shore whale fishery, records of the, 68
Common finback, 43, 54, 84, 107, 111, 114, 297

diagnosis of, 300
Connecticut whale fishery, Caulkins's note on, 73

Williams's article on, 73
Cope, E. D., 269

article on Agaphelus, 81
cetological works of, 57, 78
description of whalebone of Balcenop-
tera sulfur eus, 285
diagnosis of Rhachianectes, 288
list of cetacea of coasts of North Amer-
ica, 81
remarks on Balcena cisarctica and bis-

cayensis, 263

types of his species of whales, 3, 78
Grain, Mrs. W. E., 4
Crevecceur, St. John de, letters from an American

farmer, 214
Cullamach whale, 270
Cumberland Sound, whales in, 8, 9
Cuvier, Frederic, natural history of cetaceans, refer-
ences to American species of
whales in, 48

remarks on Dudley's species, 49
Cuvier, G., 262

Ball, Wm. H., 290, 293

list of North Pacific cetaceans, 59,

90
specimens of Rhachianectes observed

by, 81
Davis, John, first voyage of, to Greenland, 8

third voyage of, to Greenland, 8, 15
Davis Strait, colonial whale fishery in, 70

whales in, 6, 8, 10
DeBry, T.,35

Delaware bay, Watson's notes on whales in, 76
whale fishery in, 26, 76
whales in, 24
Delphinapterus, 7, 36
Delphinidce, 48
Devilfish, 287, 292

De Vries, D. P., on the occurrence of whales in Dela-
ware Bay, 24
Disko whale, 43
Dixon, S. G.,4
Douglass, Wm., summary of British settlements in

North America, 71.
Drake's voyage in 1579, 32
Drift fish, 23
Drift whales, 70, 73
Dubar, J., 151

Dudley, Paul, essay upon natural history of whales,
37

Dudley, Robert, voyage of, to West Indies, 16
Dudley's humpback whale, 4, 40-42, 211

scrag whale, 40-42, 45
Duhamel's remarks on bowheads in temperate waters

of Canada, 44

remarks on Greenland fishery, 44
Du Tetre, J. B., general history of the Antilles, 30, 35
remarks on whales among the An-
tilles, 30

remarks on whales at Guadaloupe, 31
remarks on whales at Martinique, 31
Dwight, Thos., description of a common finback, 60

Earll, R. Edward, on whale fishery of Maine, 65
Easthampton, New York, colonial whaling com-
panies of, 75

Edge, Thomas, voyages of, to Spitzbergen, 11
Egede's description of Greenland, 39
Elliot, D. G., 4

Erxleben's Systema Regni Animalis, American spe-
cies of whales mentioned in, 42
Eschricht, D. F., cetological works of, 49

remarks on Greenland Balcenoptera

acuto-rostrata, 206
on the identity of the Vaagehval

and Tikagulik, 51
on the species of finbacks, 52

Eschricht, D. F., and Reinhardt, J., on the Greenland

right whale, 53
discussion of the
"Grand Bay
whale," 11

Eschrichtius robustus, 48
Eubaliena cisarctica, 47

Fabricius, Otto, account of Greenland whales, 42

Fauna Groenlandica, 42
Felt, J. B., annals of Salem, Mass., 72
Ferrelo's voyage in 1543, 32
Finback whale, 24, 37, 40, 42, 44, 46, 49, 54, 65
Dudley's, 49
at Gloucester, Mass. , 63
at Mt. Desert, Me., 64

Finback whales of Newfoundland, 66, 111, 112
of Unalaska, 68
of Washington, 67
of the West Indies, 30
Van Beneden on the geographical

distribution of, 57
Finfish, 39, 40, 41
Finne-fiske, 42

Finner whale of the Oregon coasts, 78, 90
Finnfisch, 42
Finsch, Otto, 152
Fischer, P., 152

account of Basque whale fishery, 13

on the Basque whale, Balcena biscayen-

sis, 60

opinion regarding Megaptera bellicosa,
243

INDEX.

825

Fischer, P., opinion regarding species of Balcena,

264, 266

views on extension of Basque whale fish-
ery, 266
Florida, River of the Dolphins, 27

whales in, 27

Flower, Sir Wm. H., description of osteological char-
acters of Balcenoptera physa-
lus, 131

list of cetacea in British Mu-
seum, 62

on species of Balcena, 63
on species of Megaptera, 63,

277
opinion of, regarding Balcena

cisarctica, 264
Forstrand, Dr., 152
Fortin, Pierre, reports on fisheries of Gulf of St.

Lawrence, 54

Fox, Luke, voyage of, to Hudson Bay, 13
Foyn, Svend, 162

Foyn's Finmark station, whales taken at, 159
Freeman's history of Cape Cod, 72
Frobisher Bay, whales in, 7
Frobisher. Martin, third voyage of, to Davis Strait, 7

Gali's voyage in 1584, 32

Gasco, F. , description of the ribs of Bakena glacialis,

257
formula for Taranto skeleton of Balcena

i/lariiiliis. 260
remarks on Bahena cisarctica and biscay-

ensis, 263

Gaspe, Canada, whales at, 19, 20
Gelcich, Eugen, article on Duro's Disquisiciones

Nauticas, 15
Geographical distribution of cetaceans, 48, 59

Eschricht's es-
say on, 53
Geographical distribution of finbacks, Van Beneden's

paper on, 57
Geographical distribution of right whales, Van Bene-

den on, 55
Gervais, H. P., on vertebral formula of Balcenoptera

musculus, 182

( Irrvais, P. See Van Beneden and Gervais
(icsni-r, t'nnnul, 35
Gibar, 19, 20
Gibbar, 40, 45
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, voyage of, to Newfoundland

in 1583, 16
Gmelin's edition of Linna?us's Systema Nature,

American species of whales mentioned in, 41
Goes, A. , 236

specimen of Megaptera bellicosa obtained

by, 97
Goode, G. Brown, on whales in American waters,

62

Gosnold's voyage to Massachusetts in 1602. 20
Grace of Bristoll, voyage of, to the Bay of St. Law-
rence, 16

Grampus, 44, 75

Grand Banks, whales on the, 65

Grand Bay, Newfoundland, 43

location of, 12

Grand Bay whale, 10, 11, 12, 20, 266
Grand Bayaco Baleac, 266
Gray, J. E., classification of whales, 47

criticisms of Van Beneden's map of dis-
tribution of Balcena, 55, 56
note on Megaptera bellicosa, 48
on Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata from

Greenland, 209

on geographical distribution of cetacea, 48
supplement to catalogue of seals and

whales in British Museum, 47
systematic treatises of, on cetacea, 47
Grayback, 62, 287
Gray whale, 60, 62, 65, 66, 80

geographical distribution of, 59
off California coast, 66
Gray-whale fishery, 59, 61
Greenland, Balcenoptera musculus in, 189

Egede's account of whales of, 39
measurements of Balcenoptera physalus

from, 147
representative of Balcenoptera physalus

in, 146
specimens of Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata

from, 206
whales of, 6, 7

Greenland Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata, Gray's re-
marks on, 209

Greenland cetacea, Robert Brown on, 61
Greenland humpback, 49, 51, 229
color -of, 220
dorsal fin of, 226
length of, 215
Greenland right whale, 5, 10, 34, 39, 40, 43, 45, 47,

266, 297

Greenland whale, Scoresby's note on a, 189
Greenland whales mentioned in Fabricius's Fauna

Groenlandica. 42
in Muller's Prodro-

mus, 42

Greenman, Dr., 4
Grenada Ids., fishery for humpback whales at the,

61
Guldberg, G. A., 152

on length of Balcenoptera musculus,
150, 151

britannica, 266
Hallas. Sophus, data regarding color of Iceland sul-

phurbottom, 169

description of color of Iceland hump-
back, 220
measurements of sulphurbottom

taken at Iceland, 161
on length of sulphurbottom in Ice-
land, 150
Harvey, A. W., 4

326

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Harvey, John, 4

Harvey & Company, of St. John's, Newfoundland. Ill

Henry, Joseph, secretary of Smithsonian Institution,

58

Hermitage Bay whaling station, 114
Holholl, Captain, 226

Holder, J. B., memoir on Atlantic right whales, 4, 62
remarks on Balcena cisarctica and bis-

cayensis, 263

Holmes, John F., on whales off Plymouth, Mass., 65
Houttuyn's Dutch translation of Linnseus's Systema
Naturaa, American species of whales mentioned
in, 41

Hubbard's general history of New England, 75
Hudson, Henry, first voyage of, 9

in Greenland waters, 9
last voyage of, 9
Hudson Bay, whales in, 13
Hudson River, whales in, 23
Hudson Strait, whales in, 9
Humpback whale, 41, 44, 46, 49, 54, 211, 297, 298
Dudley's, 40-42, 49
of Greenland, 49, 51, 60
of Newfoundland, 111
Humpback-whale fishery, 59, 61

at Grenada Ids., 61
in the West Indies, 61
Humpback whales, 54

at Bermuda, 28, 29
geographical distribution of, 59
near Newfoundland, 66
on Pacific coast of Central Amer-
ica, 32
skeletons of, compared by Van

Beneden, 54
Hump whale, 41

Hunchbacked whale of Atlantic coast. 91
Hunterius, 266
Hunterius biscayeitsis, 47
Hunterius svedenborgii, 265
Hunterius temininckii, 265
Hyperoodon, 6, 41, 51

Iceland, measurements of specimens of Balcenoptera

musculus from, 160
Iceland right whale, Guldberg's remarks on color of,

249
Iceland sulphurbottom, 58

color of, 169

Indians, whaling by, 67, 74, 75
Ives, J. C., 179

Jackson, Wm. H., 193

Jayne, Horace, 4

Jones, J. Matthew, on Bermuda whale fishery, 29

Jouan, H., memoir on right whales and sperm

whales, 54
Jubartes, 40, 46
Jupiterfisch, 42
Jupiter fish, 40

Kepokarnak, 52, 148

Keporkak, 42, 215, 220, 226, 227, 229, 243

Keporkarsoak, 42

Killelluak, 42

Killer, 44

Klein, J. T.,Historia Piscium Naturalis, classification

of cetaceans in, 38
Knobbelfisch, 40
Knobbelvisch, 41
Knotenfisch, 40, 41
Knox, F. J., 152
Kokujira, 289

Labrador, colonial whale fishery at, 70

whales of, 16

La Hontan's new voyages to North America, 35
Lanman, James H., article on American whale fish-
ery, 76

Laudonniere, on whales in Florida, 27
Laverdiere, works of Champlain edited by, 18
Lawson, J., on whales of the Carolinas, 36
Leeward Islands, sperm whales caught about the, 61
Lefroy, Sir J. H., colonial records of the Bermudas

collected by, 29
Lescarbot, 35

description of whale fishery in Gulf of St.

Lawrence, 16
Lesser finner, 301
Lewis and Clark's references to whales on the Oregon

coast, 46
Lilljeborg's description of skeleton of Balcenoptera

physalus from Greenland, 146
Lindeman, Moritz, on Arctic fisheries, 59
on sea fisheries, 61
on whale fisheries, 59
Linnaeus's Systema Naturae, 1, 40
List of works cited, 303
Little piked whale, 46, 192

diagnosis of, 301
Long Island, New York, colonial whale fishery of, 69,

73,75
records of town of East

Hampton, 76
Thompson's history of, 74
whales at, 24

whales on south side of, 75
Longniddry (Scotland) whale, 152, 155

Macy, Obed, on the scrag whale, 38
Magnus, Olaus, 34

Maine, finback whale at Mt. Desert, 64
Monhegan , whales at, 21
Quoddy Head, specimen of Balcenoptera acuto-

rostrata from, 195
whale fishery of, 64, 65
whales off coast of, 64
Malm, A. W., list of cetaceans in Swedish museums,

60
measurements of Rhachianectes glau-

cus, 291

Manigault, G. E., description of black whale captured
in Charleston harbor, 62

\

INDEX.

32V

Martens, F., 262

Martha's Vineyard, bones of whales at, 20

whales killed at, 70
Martinique, whales about, 80
Maryland, Assateague beach, whales driven on shore

at, 76
Massachusetts, bones of whales found at Martha's

Vineyard, 20
cetaceans of, 58

finback whale at Gloucester, 63
whales at Cape Cod, 71, 72, 82
at Duxbury, 72
at Gloucester, 64
at Nantucket, 21
at Plymouth, 65
Young's note on whales at Cape Cod,

72

Massachusetts Historical Society, collections of, ref-
erences to whale fishery in, 72
Mather, Richard, voyage to New England in 1635,

23

Measurements, system of, 4
Megaptera, 82, 91, 211

American specimens of, 212
Flower's remarks on species of, 63
length of specimens of, at Norwegian

whaling stations, 213

Van Beneden on the geographical distri-
bution of, 57

Megaptera from Greenland in European museums, 55
Megaptera americaita, 48, 60, 241
Megaptera bellicona, 60, 97, 102, 103, 232, 239, 241, 242
note on, by J. E. Gray, 48
remarks on the original descrip-

of, 97

type-skeleton of, 97, 212, 233,
236, 240, 242

measurements

of the, 100
notes on the, 101
Megaptera loops, 63
Megaptera brasiliensis, 103

note on, 102

Megaptera kuzira, 102, 276
Megaptera lalandii, 102
Megaptera longimana, 48, 52, 55, 60, 92, 98, 99, 102,

241, 242, 276
type-specimen of, 236

Megaptera nodosa, 211, 241, 270, 272, 276, 297
abdominal ridges, 224
American specimens of, in Euro-
pean museums, 308
at Bermuda, large specimens of,

214

caudal peduncle, 230
chevrons, 235
color, 216, 218, 221

at Snook's Arm Station,

Newfoundland, 218
Cocks's notes on, 216
in Greenland specimens,
220

Megaptera nodosa, color in Iceland specimens, 220
Rawitz's notes on, 217
Rawitz's theory of, 221
Sars's notes on, 217
Struthers's notes on, 217
dermal tubercles, 225
diagnosis of, 298
dorsal fin, 226

comparison of, in
American and Euro-
pean specimens, 228
Sars's description of,

227

eye, 230
flukes, 230
length of specimens of, at Balena

Station, Newfoundland, 213
length of specimens of, at Snook's

Arm, Newfoundland, 212
measurements of, 223
measurements of Newfoundland

specimens of, 222
pectoral fins, 228

length of, 229
shape of, 228
phalanges, 238
radius and ulna, 236

measurements of,

238

ribs, 240
scapula, 235, 237

measurements of, 235
proportions of, 236
size, 212
skeleton, 232

measurements of, 234
skull, 233

measurements of, 233
statistics of length of, 216
sternum, 239, 240
summary of discussion of, 240
vertebrae, 234
vertebral formula, 232
whalebone, 230
Megaptera osphyia, 48, 82. 91, 98, 102, 232, 239, 241,

285

characters of, 241
notes on, 94
notes on the original description

of, 92

type-skeleton of, measurements

of, 94, 96

notes on, 95

type-specimen of, 4, 91, 212, 233,

236, 241
Megaptera vermibilis, 48, 78, 102. 270

characters of, furnished by

Scammon, 271
color of, notes by Scammon

comparison of, with Megaptera
nodosa, 272

328

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Megaptera versabilis, measurements of, by Scam-

mon, 271, 274

measurements of, compared
witli those of Megaptera no-
dosa, 275

original description of, 102
pectorals, 275
Scammon's figures of, 279
skeleton of, from Washington,

276

tubercles, 275
whalebone, 276
Megapteridce, 48
Miller, Jr., G. S., 295
Mobjack Bay, Virginia, 84
Moller, H. P. C., description of Balcenoptera muscu-

lus in Greenland, 189
Mflller, O. F., Prodromus of Zoology of Denmark,

Greenland whales mentioned in, 42
Muller, P. L. S., annotated edition of Linnseus's
Systema Naturae, American species of whales
mentioned in, 41
Myers, A. H., 193

Nantucket, whales at, 21
Narwhal, 35

Natural histories of the seventeenth century, 34
eighteenth century, 35
nineteenth century, 46
Nieuw Engelandsche Penvisch, 41
New England coast, whales of the, 20, 37, 64
New England, colonial whale fishery of, 75
New England finback, 71
New England humpback, 71
New England right whale, 71
Newfoundland, Balena Station, length of Megaptera

at, 213
Bonnycastle's observations on the

whales of, 53
humpback whales of, 44
length of specimens of Megaptera no-

dosa at Snook's Arm, 213
list of specimens of Balcenoptera
museulus taken at Balena Station,
1901, 153

measurements of Balcenoptera mus-
eulus at Balena Station, 157
Reeks's article on zoology of, 60
Sir Humphrey Gilbert's voyage to,

16

whale fishery at, 2, 70, 111
whales observed about, 11, 13, 66
Newfoundland and Norwegian specimens of Balve-
noptera museulus, comparative measurements of,
159, 160

Newfoundland finbacks, 66, 111, 112
Newfoundland humpback, 66, 111, 273
Newfoundland specimens of, common finback, 84

Megaptera nodosa,

measurements of, 222
Newfoundland sulphurbottom, color of, 162

dorsal fin of, 172

Newfoundland whale fishery of the sixteenth and

seventeenth centuries, 12
Newfoundland whaling stations, 4
New Jersey, Cape May, whales killed at, 76

Watson's notes on whales on coast of, 76
whale fishing on coast of, 76
New London County Historical Society, 73
New York, colonial whale fishery of, 73, 74
Hudson River, whales in, 23
Long Island, colonial whaling at, 75

whale captured in Peeonic

Bay, 73

whales at, 24, 75

Thompson's history of Long Island, 74
New York Bay, whales in, 23
Niagara Falls Museum, 4
Nielsen, A., 4
Nieremberg, J. E., 35
Nordcaper, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 49, 53, 56, 249, 250, 263,

264, 298

North American whalebone whales, chronological
account of contributions to the natural history
of, 34
North Atlantic right whale, 244

diagnosis of the, 298
North Carolina, Beaufort, partial skeleton of Balcena

glacialis found at, 260
Brickell's natural history of, 37
whale fishery on coast of, 26
North Pacific, humpback of the, 78, 102

Pechuel's observations on whales of

the, 60

right whale of the, 59
North Pacific whales, comparison of, with those of

the North Atlantic, 270
Dall's list of, 59
observations on, 269
specimens of, 269

Norwegian and Newfoundland specimens of Balfc-
noptera miisciilns, comparative measurements
of, 159, 160

Norwegian Balcenoptem pln/salus, size of, 113
Norwood, Richard, observations on whales at Ber-
muda, 28
Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, whales taken in,

111
Nyenhuis, J. T. B. , 151

O'Callaghan's documents relating to colonial history

of State of New York, 73
Ocean City (N. J.) whale, 179, 182, 183, 189

measurements of, 184
nasal bones, 184
phalanges, 188
ribs, 185
scapula, 186
Oregon, whales on the coast of, mentioned by Lewis

and Clark, 47
Ostend whale, 151, 152, 158, 190

scapula of, 187

Oviedo, on whales of Pacific coast of Central America,
31

INDEX.

329

Pacific Coast, whales of the, 31
Pacific Ocean, humpback whale of, 273

Jouan's observations on the whales of

the, 54

Palliser, Hugh, 70

Parkhurst, Anthony, letter to Hakluyt, 15
Pechuel-Loesche, M. E. , on Balcenoptera sulfureus, 287

on whale fishery, 59

Penn, Wm., on whales in Delaware Bay, 26
Pflockfisch, 40-42
PhyxalicUe, 48
Physalus antiquorum, 48
Physalus brasiliensis, 102, 103
Physalus latirostris, 178
Pike-headed finner, 53
Pike whale near Newfoundland, 66
Pollack whale, 297

diagnosis of, 300
Porpoises, 44, 65

Portland Society of Natural History, 193
Prentiss, D. W., 152

Eawitz's notes on color of humpback, 221

Reeks, Henry, articles on zoology of Newfoundland,

60

Reinhardt, J. , figure of skull of Balcenoptera mus-
culus by, 183
on the sulphurbottom of Iceland,

58
opinions regarding Balcena cisarctica

and biscayensis, 264
Rhachianectes, 80, 81, 105, 270

diagnosis of, by Cope, 287

Van Beneden's opinion regarding the

affinities of, 292
Rhachianectes glaums, 47, 56, 65, 80, 287

American specimens of, in

European museums, 309
characters of, furnished by

Scammon, 288
figures of, by C. H. Townsend,

289

by Scammon, 288
measurements of, 290
original description of, 80
pectorals, 292
size, 289
skeleton, 290
skull, 291

measurements of, 291
specimens of, 290
sternum, 292
vertebrae, 292
vertebral formula, 291
whalebone, 287, 289, 290
Right whale, 24, 29, 37, 38, 43, 54, 60, 68
Right whale captured in Charleston harbor, Van

Beneden's remarks on, 57
Right whale of the Atlantic, 267
Right whale of the North Atlantic, 244

diagnosis of, 298

Right whale of the North Pacific, 59
Right whale of the Northwestern Coast, 270
Right-whale fishery of North Pacific, 59
Right whales, 19

Right whales, Atlantic, Holder's memoir on, 62
geographical distribution of, 55, 59
on Atlantic coast, Van Beneden's note

on, 57
opinions of cetologists regarding North

Atlantic species of, 262
Rios y Rial, Professor, 260
Rissmuller, L., 4
Rochefort, C. de, natural history of the Antilles, 30,

35
on whales and other monsters of the

sea, 30

Rondelet, G., 34, 35
Rorqual, 46, 49
Rorqualus antarcticus, 49
Rorqualus boops, 49
Rorqualus musculus, 49

Rutgers College, scapula of Balcena glacialis in the
museum of, 260

Sagard-Theodat, G., observations of, on whales of

Gulf of St. Lawrence, 19

St. Lawrence, Gulf of, colonial whale fishery in, 72
Duhamel's references to bow-
heads in, 44
fisheries of, 54
Lescarbot's description of

whale fishery in, 16
Sagard-Theodat's observations

on whales in, 19
voyage of the Grace of Bris-

toll to, 16

whale fishery in, 59, 60, 70
whales in, 13, 66
St. Lawrence River, Charlevoix on whales found in,

36

sulphurbottom of, 44
whales in, 14, 36

Santa Lucia Id., whale fishery at, 61
Sarda, 12

Sardaco Baleac, 266
Sarde, 56, 267
Sars, G. O., 152

description of abdominal furrows of Ba-
lcenoptera physalus, 129
color of Balcenoptera mus-
culus, 161
Balcenoptera phys-
alus, 120
dorsal fin of Balcenoptera

mitsculns, 171
dorsal fin of Norwegian

humpback, 227
pectoral fins of Baloenop-

tei-a musculus, 173
diagnosis of Balcenoptera acuto-rostrata-

192
Balcenoptera musculics, 149

330

THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC.

Scammon, C. M., 269

cetological works of, 58
collection of whalebone by, 57
description of Balcenoptera velif-

era, 277
diagnosis of Balcenoptera david-

soni, 58
figures of Megaptera versabilis by,

279
Rhachianectes glaucus

by, 288
measurements of a Balcenoptera

sulfureus, 285
Balcenoptera

velifera, 278
Megaptera ver-
sabilis, 274

notes on color of Megaptera versabil-
is, 272

on characters of Balcenoptera sulfu-
reus, 284

Balcenoptera velif-
era, 277

Megaptera versabil-
is, 271

Rhachianectes glau-
cus, 288

on marine mammals of north-
west coast of North America, 58,
59, 269, 278
on the scrag right whale in the

North Pacific, 38

on the sulphurbottom of the north-
west coast, 90
statements regarding Balcenoptera

davidsoni, 292
Scammon's species of whales, 78

types of, 3
Scoresby, Jr., W., 152

note on the Greenland whale, 189
Scrag whale, 37, 38, 41, 49, 71, 80

Dudley's, 40-42, 45, 49, 104
Sharp-nosed whale, 53
Sherwood, Geo. H., 4

Shumagin Islands, Alaska, whales at the, 33
Sibbaldius borealis, 90, 284
Sibbaldius gigas, 90, 284
Sibbaldius laticeps, 81, 87
Sibbaldius sulfureus, 48, 78, 90, 270, 284

original description of, 90
Sibbaldius tectirostris, 48, 85, 147, 285
characters of, 85
Cope's notice of, in " American

Naturalist," 89
identity of, 87
type-skeleton of, measurements

of, 86, 88
measurements
of the cervi-
cal vertebrae
of, 89
ribs of, 138

Sibbaldius tectirostris, type-skeleton of. scapula of , 143

type-specimen of, 85, 132
Sibbaldius tuberosus, 48, 81

identity of, 84

original description of, 82

type-specimen of, 81

account of the
capture of
the, 82
Sletbag, 264
Smith, John, allusion to finbacks on coast of Maine, 21

voyage of, to New England, 21
Smith's Sound, whales in, 11
Snook's Arm, Newfoundland, list of finbacks taken

at. 112
whaling station at.

Ill

Souffleur, 30, 31, 36
South American sulphurbottom, 183
Southampton, New York, colonial whaling companies

of, 75

Species among cetaceans, 3
Spermaceti, 36
Spermaceti whale, 37
Spermaceti whales at Bahama Islands, 29
Stafford, Richard, letter on whale fishery at Bermuda,

28
Starbuck. Alex., history of American whale fishery,

68

on early fishery laws, 23
Steipe-Reydus, 46
Stejneger, L., 295

account of a finback on Bering Island.

283

Steller, G. W., observations on whales of Alaska, 33
Steypiredr, 58
Stone, Witmer, 4

Strait of Belle Isle, whale fishery in the, 71, 72
Struthers, J. , monograph of Megaptera longimana,

212
Sulphurbottom whale, 44, 54, 58, 146, 149. 156, 161,

297

diagnosis of, 299
South American, 183
Sulphurbottom whale of Iceland, 58
Sulphurbottom whale of Newfoundland, color of. 162
Sulphurbottom whale of Northwest Coast, 78. 90,

284
Systema Natura; of Linnaeus, 1

Taliaferro, Edwin, whale captured by, 81

Taliaferro, P. A., account of the capture of the type-
specimen of Sibbaldius tuberosus, 81, 82

Tampon whale, 45

Thompson, Benj. F., history of Long Island, New
York, 74

Thompson, J. P., description of Balcenoptera acuto-
rostrata from Portland, Me., 193

Thorfinn Karlsefne, Saga of, 6

Thrasher, 44

Tikagulik, 51

INDEX.

331

Tobago Id., whale fishery at, 61

Torqueniada's account of Viscaino's voyages to Lower

California, 32
Townsend, Chas. H., 275, 290, 294

on California gray whale,

RliucMunectes glaucus, 65
Trumpo, 28
Tunnolik, 58, 146, 189
Turner, Sir Wm., 152

figure of Balcenoptera acuto-ros-

trata by, 196
on length of Longniddry whale,

152, 155
Turton's translation of Linnseus's Systema Naturae,

American species of whales mentioned in, 41
Types of Cope's and Scaramon's species, 3

Ulloa, Francis, on whales in the Gulf of California,

32

Unalaska, finback whales at, 68
United States Fish Commission, 193

reports and bulletins
of, 63, 65

Vaagehval, 51, 201

Van Beneden, P.-J., 3, 151, 152

cetological writings of, 54
comments on whales of west

coast of North America, 57
comparison of skeletons of

humpback whales, 54
natural history of cetaceans of

seas of Europe, 54
on Balcenoptera davidsoni, 296
on Balcenoptera sulfureiis, 286
on Balcenoptera velifera, 284
on geographical distribution of

Balcena and Megaptera, 57
on geographical distribution of

finbacks, 57
on geographical distribution of

right whales, 55
on right whales on Atlantic coast

of United States, 57
on the affinities of Rhachian-

ectes, 292

remarks on Balcena cisarctica,
56

Balcena cisarctica
and bifscayensis,
55, 263, 264
right whale taken
in Charleston
harbor, 57
remarks on size of Megaptera,

214

summary of osteological charac-
ters of Balcenoptera miisculus,
181

Van Beneden, P.-J., and Gervais, P., osteography of

cetacea, 55

Van Beneden, P.-J., and Gervais, P., remarks re-
garding Me-
gaptera ox-
phyia and
boops, 243

Van Breda, J. G. S., 151

Van der Donck, A., description of the New Nether-
lands, 23, 26

note on whale fishery in Dela-
ware Bay, 26
Variation, individual, 3

Verrill, A. E., statement regarding whales at Ber-
muda, 30
Vinvisch, 41

Viscaino's note on whales at Monterey, California, 33
Viscaino's voyages along coast of Lower California, 32
Viscaino's and Aguilar's voyage in 1603, 32

Ward, F. A., 4

Washington, whales off Cape Flattery, 67

whales off Quillihute River, 67
Watson, John F., annals of Philadelphia, 76
Way mouth, description of Indians' manner of killing

whales, 20
Weeden, Wm. B. , on colonial whale fishery of New

England, 75

West Coast whales, specimens of, 269
West Indies, Du Tetre's remarks on whales at the, 31
humpback-whale fishery in the, 61
whales of the, 30

Whalebone whales, American specimens of, in Euro-
pean museums, 308
first authentic notice of, on east

coast of North America, 14
nomenclature of the, 1
Whale fishery, American, Douglass's remarks on the,

71

Felt's notes on the, 72
history of the, 68
Lanman on the, 76
Basque, 60

on Newfoundland banks, 60
colonial, of Long Island, New York, 73
of New England, 75
of New York, 73, 74
records of the, 68
Douglass's remarks on the American,

71

Lindeman on the, 59
North Pacific gray whale, 59
North Pacific humpback whale, 59
North Pacific right whale, 59
of Bermuda, 27-29
of Carolina, 44
of Davis Strait, 70
of Delaware Bay, 24, 26, 76
of Gulf of St. Lawrence, 16, 59, 70, 72
of Maine, 64, 65
of New England, 44
of Newfoundland, 2, 70
of New France, Champlain's descrip-
tion of, 17

332

THE WHALEBONE "WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOBTH ATLANTIC.

Whale fishery, of New Jersey, 76

of New London, Conn., Caulkins's

note on, 73

of New London, Conn., Williams's ar-
ticle on, 73
of New York, 44
of North Carolina, 26
of Santa Lucia Id., 61
of Strait of Belle Isle, 70-73
of Tobago Id., 61
Pechuel's articles on the,- 59
Whale skeletons in museums, 2
Whale Sound, 13

whales in, 10
Whales at Gloucester, Mass., 64

at the Bahama Islands, 29
Whales in American waters, first attempt to identify,

12

of the Pacific coast, 31
on New England coast, 64

Whaling station at San Simeon Bay, California, 68

Snook's Arm, Newfoundland, 111
Whaling stations, Californian, 62
White porpoises, 36
White whale, 7, 36, 43

Williams, C. A., on whaling at New London, Conn., 73
Winsor, J. , history of Duxbury, 72

remarks on fisheries of the Basques, 14
Wistar Institute, skeleton of Balcenoptera veliferain,

280
Wolstenholme Sound, 13

whales in, 11

Young, Alex., chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers. 72
note on whales in Barnstable Bay,
Cape Cod, 22

Zorgdrager, C. G., 262
Ziphius cavirostris, 30

LJ
I-
<
_J
CL

S
Z

to
D

o

O

o

g
Q

tr.

D

>.

!

i

i.
O

u
S.

S n

as
O

S
03

I

\

i

o
Z

•g
o
O

> w

a «*

o

>

UJ
O

a

y

o

e

en

z
o

O
O

z

I
H
CO

C/)

D

~H IT>

X *

0^ O

^ 'S

aq

o

u
M.

cd

o

a!

O

o.
o
U

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxin.

PLATE 3.

FIG. i.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.
CRANIUM OF BALMNOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.).

Figs. 1-3. — Cape Cod, Mass., Ward's Natural Science F.stablishment, Rochester, N. Y.

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxni.

PLATE 4.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 4.

BAL&NOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.).

Fit;. i.— Typi- of /I. 1,-cliraslris (Cope). Fig. 2.— Cape Cod, Mass., No. 16045 U. S. N. M. Fig. 3.— Cape Cod, M;i^.. \... 16039 U. S. N. M.
Fig. 4. — Type of />'. tectirostris (Cope); first rib. first lumbar vertebra, first dorsal vertebra, axis.

i

0.

X
X
X

o
o

UI

I

*

o

S

m
cc
t-
z
o
O

03

L

x
x

X

o

I

^
o

h-
co
z
g
I-

O

o

3 I
in i
2 m

It

£ a

IS

(j)

*J W

—

CQ .«

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxiu.

PLATE 7.

FIG. 7.

FIG. 3.

FIG. 10.

FIG. 4.

FIG. i.

FIG. 8.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 9.

FIG. 5. FIG. 6.

BALJENOPTERA PHYSALUS (L.), B. MUSCULUS (L.), AND B. VELIFERA COPE (?).

Fig. t.—S. physalits, Cape Cod, Mass., No. 16039 U. S. N. M. Figs. 2 and 4.— Ditto, No. 16045 U. S. N. M. Fig. 3.— B. --elifera (?), California.

Figs- 5, 9- IO- — B. muscu/us, Newfoundland. Figs. 6-8. — Ditto, Ocean City, N. J.

X
X
X

J

o

X

X
X

o

z

*:

o

z
o
t-

Z
O

O

<0

U* < _

UI

X
X
X

o

z
o

I-

O

o

10

u

O

o
I-

D

O

O

\

CO

HI

X
X
X

m

IT

; h-

Z

O

o

CO

o

I-
Z
O

o

r
t

2
CO

<
-J
0.

I

o
o

I

X

X
X

o

O
O

CO

o

CM

o

I

o

h

t-
z
o
O

I

o
>

o
o

I

CO

CM
CM

O

O
X

z
O

h-

I-
z
O
O

I
t

"\JBRT;

ir

CO

CM

X
X
X

J
o

H
Z
O

o

X
X
X

J
o

I

o

i-

t-

z
o
O

CO

in

(N

a

O
O

to

<N

X
X

x

i

uT

§

ul

_l

O

z
g

i-

O
O

CO

N
CM

-I
0.

o

O
O

8

X

t

CO

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxni.

PLATE 28.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

FIG. 4.

FIG. 5. FIG. 6.

BAL&NOPTERA DAVIDSONI, ACUTO-ROSTRATA, AND VELIFERA (?).

Figs, i and 2.—B. (iavidsoni, Valdes, Alaska. Figs. 3 and 4.— B. acato-rostrata, Quoddy Head, Maine. Figs. 5 and 6. — B. velifera(~t), California.

a

Ul

a

.

in JJ

g ".
Q I

0! S

S1

S u

z «

o §•
« u

' I

o
>

o

o

p
m
o:

h-
z
O
O

I

I

3 ««.

S;

r u'

[V p. ,

!*! (^

| |

^ 5

5 *

s "°

) «

a
O

o
m

ul

x

X
X

J

o
ui

§

I-

D
a
<r

I

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxni.

PLATE 31.

FIG. i.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

CRANIUM OF MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). LATERAL VIEW.
Fig. I.— Type of M. bellieosa Cope. Fig. 2.— Cape Cod, Mass., No. 21492 U. S. N. M.
Fig. 3. — Cape Cod, Mass. (Milwaukee Public Museum.)

111

I-

o

LT

I-

o
O

I

m

m
in

x
x
x

uT

§
ui

o

i-

CO

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxin.

PLATE 34.

Fu;. i.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

Fi.;. 4.
MM;APTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). [TYPE OP M. BELLICOSA COPE.]

I.— Cervical anil dorsal vertebra. Fig. 2. — Lumbar vcrtebne. Kit;. 3. — Caudal vertebnv.
Fii;. 4. — Kiijlit M-a|itila, bumerus, and radius and ulna.

I-

c

X
X
X

J
o

o
a

UJ

g
^-

=>
m

a:

X
X

X

o

o

o

t
ID

z
o
o

I

h-
05

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxm.

PLATE 37.

FIG. i.

Fir,. 2.

FIG. 3.

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE).
Figs. 1-3. — Snook's Arm, Newfoundland, No. 5, $ ,

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxm.

PLATE 38.

FIG. i.

M !•:<;. \PTERA NODOSA (BoNNATERRE). BALENA STATION, NEWFOUNDLAND.
Fin. r. — A very white individual, 1903. Fig. 2. — Another specimen, 1403.

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxm.

PLATE 39.

FIG. i.

FIG. 3.

FIG. 4.

MEGAPTERA NODOSA (BONNATERRE). SNOOK'S ARM, NEWFOUNDLAND.
Fig. I.— No. 5, $ . Figs. 2 and 3. — No. 6, 9 . Fig. 4.— No. 21, S .

ui
h

O

I-
z
o

o

I

K;

CO

I

X

x
x

o
o

u

I

o

I-
3
o

IT

1

r
t

to

u
I-

X
X

J
o

o

H

O

O

o

s

I
H

CO

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxm.

PLATE 43.

FIG. 2.

CRANIUM OF BALMNA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. LATERAL VIEW.
Fig. I.— Long Id., New York, No. 23077 U. S. N. M. Fig. 2.— Cape Lookout, North Carolina. (State Museum, Raleigh, N. C.)

x

X
X

o

Q
ul

_l

5

o

o
o

03

xf

UI

t-

X
X
X

J
O

o

H
3
5

IX

h-
z
o
O

w

<

£

O

o
O

co

w

£ *

s

*

ft;

o

o

h

w
z
o

I-
z
o
o

g

k,

o
£

o

o

I-

o
U

CO

SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE, VOL. xxxm.

PLATE 49.

FIG. i.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 3.

FIG. i. — LITTLE PIKED WHALE, BAL.£.\OPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LACEPEDE.
FIG. 2. — POLLACK WHALE, BAL.-EXOPTERA BOREALIS (LESSON).
FIG. 3 —CALIFORNIA GRAY WHALE. RHACH1A.VECTES GLAUCUS COPK.

*r\ B R A «7"

or rn£

UNIVERSITY
or

X
X
X

J

o

' I •> 1J

OT
Z
O

o
o

co

o

fa

o
£

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

LOAN DEPT.

This book is due on the last date stamped below,
or on the date to "which renewed. Renewals only:

Tel. No. 642-3405

Renewals may be made 4 days prior to date due.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.

Duec _^

subject to recall afier —

MAV aa'jri

R£r:D 10 EAKIH

SGTFMITJig LTB<

JUL - 7 1975

(\PRII w*

LD21A-50m-2,'71
(P2001slO)476 — A-32

General Library

University of California

Berkeley

U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES