14 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



It will be seen (i) that there is very little difference in 

 size from month to month, and that (for instance), the median 

 sizes are remarkably constant throughout the season ; (2) 

 only in regard to the size of the smallest whales do we see 

 signs of a gradual increase as the season goes on in other 

 words there is some little indication that the youngest 

 whales, of about 35 feet long or thereby, are growing per- 

 ceptibly bigger, by several feet, during the six months of 

 the fishing season. 



When we examine the full statistics of sizes of all the 

 2400 Finners, we easily see that the recorded measurements 

 are only approximate, for there is a marked predominance 

 of records at the even or round numbers, 50, 55, 60, 

 65 feet, etc. We do not find in these series of figures (or in 

 Fig. 13) any indication of "age-groups," that is to say of 

 a breaking up of the whole series into separate "cusps," 

 indicative of successive annual increments of growth. To 

 begin with, the measurements are not accurate enough for 

 this purpose, and it may well be also that the natural 

 inequalities and irregularities of individual growth soon 

 smooth over and obscure the differences of size due to the 

 mixture of the several batches or " broods," each one year 

 older than another. 



It is obvious that the recorded girths vary very greatly 

 that is to say, for a given length the statements as to girth 

 vary immensely in individual whales. I find, for instance, 

 that among the male Finner-whales taken during the month of 

 August, fifty-seven whales, all of 60 feet long, are said to have 

 measured in girth from 19 to 32 feet (with a median of 23 

 feet) ; and twenty-five whales, with a girth of 23 feet, are said 

 to have varied in length from 56 to 6'j feet (with a median 

 of 61 feet). To correlate the whole series of measurements 

 in our 2400 Finners would be a very heavy task, and I shall 

 only attempt to set it forth in the simplest of ways 

 namely, by determining the median and quartile values both 

 for length and for girth, and by taking the ratio between these. 



The following is the result, taking the whole catch firstly 

 according to months or seasons, all years together ; and 

 secondly according to the several years of our whole period : 



