424 THE RIGHT WHALE. 



this Whale had become nearly extinct, and our whalers had pushed northwards, where they 

 supposed they had found larger specimens of the same species. The truth is, however, the 

 Whale they had been capturing was one adapted by nature to live in temperate waters, and 

 the persistent pursuit of them had resulted in their extinction, nearly. 



The Right Whale they now found in the Arctic regions, is one adapted to the cold waters, 

 and is never seen out of them. The seamen cared little about species so long as the new 

 Whale gave them larger baleen and more oil. Consequently, as there were no students of 

 marine zoology in those days in our country, the Atlantic Whale escaped scientific treatment, 

 though it is now known that this is the same as the Biscay Whale, so long the object of 

 pursuit by the Basques. 



The Atlantic Wliale, not being extinct, has lately shown itself in several examples. The 

 first one examined by science was a young one, and Professor Cope, of Philadelphia, named it 

 as above : cisarctica, meaning that its habitat is this side of the Arctic seas, as it was found to 

 be confined to the temperate Atlantic. 



There are few specimens of this Whale known. The American Museum, in Central Park, 

 has a skeleton of a full-grown one, the carcase of which was thrown ashore on Long Island. 



ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE.- BalaenactfarcHm(Cot>e\ 



In 1882, one of these Whales was captured off Montauk Point, Long Island, and brought into 

 New York harbor, where it was exhibited. This was the first adult ever examined for scien- 

 tific purposes. It was a female, and measured forty-eight feet in length. We had the pleasure 

 to make a thorough examination of this Whale, which, in view of the unique circumstances, 

 was likely to prove very acceptable to science. Soon after this specimen was examined, and a 

 description of it was drawn up for publication in the fourth Bulletin of the American 

 Museum of Natural History, Dr. Manigault, of Charleston, S. C., informed the writer of an 

 adult male that he had examined. This Whale was captured in Charleston harbor, and the 

 skeleton was preserved in the Museum of Charleston Medical College. This occurrence was 

 most fortunate, as the characteristics of both sexes were recorded in the Bulletin, with a 

 drawing of the skull of the latter and its baleen. 



Here, then, is a valuable record of this rediscovered species. A drawing of the exterior 

 of the female is included, made from the creature as it lay at the pier in New York, and 

 a drawing of the skeleton of the one found on the Long Island shore. 



The baleen of this species is far inferior to that of the Arctic Whale. It is shorter, and 

 is coarse in fibre. That of the latter is a good portion of the value of a captured whale ; its 

 length being sometimes twelve feet. 



This Whale was known to the sea-faring people of Eiirope in ancient times as Nordcaper, 

 as it was captured near the North Cape of Iceland ; this being its northernmost limit. 



While this edition was passing through the press, a most unexpected accession to the few 

 examples of this Whale known to Science has occurred. The old whalers of Southampton, 

 Long Island, espied lately, during the coldest days of this unusually cold winter, the "blow- 

 ing" of several Right Whales. Boats were fitted out at once, and Capt. Edwards, a veteran 



