168 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



Note on a Species of WHALE occurring on the coasts of the United States. 



BY E. D. COPE. 



As a contribution to the history of the cetaceans of the Atlantic, I desire 

 to give a brief account of the osteological characters of a species of whale- 

 bone whale, the Black Whale of the whalers of our coast. 



Individuals are frequently cast ashore Eastward, and some are known to 

 enter New York harbor. They were formerly abundant about the mouth of 

 the Delaware : a letter of Wm. Penn's, dated 1683, states that eleven were 

 taken that year about the capes. Five specimens are stated to have been 

 seen in the Delaware river since that time, and two of great size are recorded 

 to have been found on the coast of Maryland.* Three have come under my 

 notice, one taken opposite this city three years ago, one cast ashore in Reho- 

 both Bay, Del., and one in Mobjack Bay, Va. 



The first of these, a half grown individual, was taken and exhibited for 

 some time, and its nearly complete skeleton, presented by George Davidson, 

 occupies a prominent place in the Academy's museum, and has afforded the 

 best means of determining the affinities of the species. From an examination 

 it is' evident that it is a species of the genus Eubalaena, Gray, therefore widely 

 different from the right whale, Balaena mysticetus, and congeneric with 

 the B. australis and antipodarum of the Southern seas. While dif- 

 fering in many points from the first, it is strongly separated from the last two, 

 and has no doubt remained without proper notice up to thepresent time. 



The total length of the specimen, in which all the epiphyses are as yet un- 

 united, is thirty-one and a half feet ; which the presence of the intervertebral 

 cartilages would extend to thirty-seven ; of this the head, measured axially, is 

 eight feet five inches, or a little less than one-fourth. This proportion is 

 similar to that of the australis. The vertebrae are fifty-six, of which the 

 seven cervicals are all united, the posterior three in the lower part of their 

 centra only ; above, they form a solid crest, the atlas and the last attached 

 by the superior part of their neural arches only. The fourth, fifth and sixth 

 cervical diapophyses are distinctly united .on one side, while the remainder 

 are separate ; on the other side the seventh is united with the three posterior, 

 and the three anterior are united. The first, second and third only have 

 inferior transverse processes. The thirty-first vertebra from the cervicals, or 

 sixteenth from the last rib is the first that encloses the vertical foramen with 

 the diapophysis, and the neural spine is strong on the thirty-seventh. Of the 

 ribs, which appear to have been all preserved, there are fourteen pairs ; the an- 

 terior are single headed. Of the dorsal vertebrae the first four have slender 

 elongate diapophyses ; the anterior zygapophysis is first definitely separated 

 on the tenth. The scapula is 29 inches broad by 23 high. 



The outline of the top of the muzzle is much arched ; the frontal orbital 

 processes are subtransverse and rather broad. The supraoccipital is more 

 produced anteriorly than represented by Cuvier in the a u s t r a 1 i s.f Nasals 

 heavy, nine inches and a half long by three, or distally four inches broad, 

 much as represented for the B. mysticetus. J with the posterior outline 

 oblique inward, attached by a plicate suture. They are much narrower than 

 in the Leyden Eubalaena, which is evidently not the true australis, whose 

 skeleton I have studied in the Jardin des Plantes. 



In the periotic bones there is much peculiarity discoverable. The specific 

 characters are confirmed by the same portion of a much larger individual 

 from Newport, R. I. The meatus is narrow, occupying nearly the whole 

 length of the bulla, but is nearly closed by the curved marginal anterior pro- 

 cess. Its form from below is that of a rounded trapezium, with a deep ante- 



* Watson's Annals of Philadelphia, ii. 428. 

 t Ossemens Fossiles, pi. 226. J Flower P. Z. S. London, 1864, 390. 



[Aug. 



