230 THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



9. MacRury, John." Sperm-whale in South Uist," Ann. Scot Nat. 

 Hist., 1897, p. 249. 



10. Peach, C. W. "On the Occurrence of the Sperm-whale near 



Wick," Rep. Brit. Assoc, 1863, p. 106. 



11. Pouchet, G.,and Beauregard, H." Recherches surle Cachalot," 



Nonv. Arch, die Museum (3), 1890, vii., pp. 1-96. 



12. Turner, Sir W. "On the Capture of a Sperm-whale on the 



Coast of Argyleshire, with a Notice of Other Specimens caught on 

 the Coast of Scotland," Proc.Roy. Soc. Ed., 1872, vii., pp. 365-370, 

 632-644. 



13. Turner, Sir W. "Notes on Some Rare Prints of Stranded Whales," 



J. Anat. and Physiol., 1878, xii., p. 593. 



14. Turner, Sir W. "The Occurrence of the Sperm-whale or 



Cachalot in the Shetland Seas," Ann. Scot. Nat. Hist, 1904, 

 pp. 4-1 1. 



15. Walker, Robert. "On the Cachalot or Sperm-whale off the 



North-east of Scotland," Scot. Nat, 1871-72, i., pp. 142-152. 



III. The Blue-whale, or Sibbald's Rorqual 

 (Balcznoptera Sibbaldii, Gray, 1847). 



This is the largest of our North Atlantic whales ; it may 

 be that it is the largest of all its tribe, and the largest of all 

 living animals. But this turns upon the question of whether 

 or no it be specifically identical with those other great whales 

 called "Sulphur-bottoms" by the American whalers, and 

 this question is not to be answered off-hand, nor can we 

 discuss it more than very briefly here. There would seem 

 at least to be no room for doubt that the Sulphur-bottoms 

 caught off the Eastern United States and off Newfoundland 

 (B. {Sibbaldius) sulpJiureiis, Cope) are identical with our 

 " Blue-whales " (as the Norwegians call them) ; and this 

 identity is confirmed by the capture, more than once, off 

 the North Cape by Svend Foyn and others of Blue-whales 

 with American harpoons in their bodies. Guldberg further 

 suspects that the Sulphur-bottoms of the Pacific are also 

 identical with ours ; and Mobius has definitely identified 

 with the same species the large whale known as Nagasukiijira 

 to the Japanese. Very large whales, likewise known as 

 Sulphur-bottoms, are abundant in the Antarctic, and are 

 usually described under the name of Balcenoptera australis, 

 Desmoulins. Of these we still know all too little, in spite 

 of the recent great development of modern methods of 

 whaling in South Atlantic and Antarctic seas. Professor 

 Von Haast could find nothing to distinguish the southern 



