io 4 NATURAL SCIENCE. Feb.. 



Geographical Journal illustrating the voyage of the "Jason" (9), and 

 need not be further referred to here. The object of the vessels was to 

 find whales and seals, and for this purpose they would not leave the 

 ice margin, as open water would be barren for them ; the commercial 

 interests of the voyage would therefore prevent them taking advantage 

 of likely openings for purposes of exploration ; if the two could have 

 been done together well and good, if not the latter must give way to 

 the exigencies of the former. 



Of course the object of this search, the Cetacea, possessed the 

 greatest interest in the eyes of the visitors, but their hopes of finding 

 any member of the family Balaenidae were soon disappointed ; various 

 Balaenopteridae (Fin Whales) were very abundant, but on only one 

 occasion was it even surmised that a Right Whale was seen. After 

 Ross's repeated assertions that he had seen great numbers of the 

 largest sized black whales lying about upon the water in all directions, 

 this was a grievous disappointment. The ships were in the same 

 latitude and longitude as Ross, and on the same day of the year, but 

 not a Right W T hale was seen. Ross also speaks of the sea being full 

 of marine invertebrata upon which the whales were feeding, amongst 

 them Clio boiealis, which with " rice food " (Calanus finmarckicns) con- 

 stitutes their principal diet in the Arctic seas. Capt. Gray was told 

 by an old whaler, trained by himself, who was on the " Diana," that no 

 " whale's food " such as is met with in the Greenland seas was on any 

 occasion seen by him. This in itself, if normal, would account for 

 the absence of the whales ; but it seems incredible that such a change 

 should have taken place since the year 1840 in the character of the 

 lower forms of life inhabiting the same sea. What are we to think 

 then — was Ross mistaken, and did his characteristic description of 

 the Right Whale, an animal which must have been well known to 

 him, really originate in a mistake as to the species ? It is impossible 

 to say, but the facts remain that neither the Right Whale nor its food 

 were met with, though large Fin Whales and the Euphasia which 

 forms their proper foods warmed in the water. Unfortunately, those 

 present were not sufficiently acquainted with the characteristics of the 

 various Fin Whales to speak with certainty as to their species, and 

 none were captured ; it is therefore useless to add anything to what 

 has already been said on the subject, further than that a species of 

 Orca was also met with in abundance. 



Failing whales, the commanders of the vessels turned their atten- 

 tion to the seals, which were exceedingly numerous. No new species 

 were found, nor any of the Otariidae. The four species were the Sea 

 Leopard, Stenorhynchus leptonyx (de Blainville), Weddell's False Sea 

 Leopard, Leptonychotes weddelli (Lesson), the Crab-eating Seal, Lobodon 

 carcinophaga (Gray), and Ross's large-eyed Seal, Ommatophoca rossi 

 (Gray). Weddell's Seal appears to have been the least frequent. 

 Mr. Bruce (4) gives some interesting particulars of the habits of these 

 beautiful creatures: they leave the ice about 7 p.m. to feed, returning 



