48 



llexiious, or " nol kindly," so that when cut into strips, 

 th{;y have the defect of being variously bent, and taj:)ering 

 towards tlie end, which, with their brittleness, greatly re- 

 duces their value. 



The Cai'E Whale, Baliena australis. 



Tab. 1,/. 3. Baleen. 



The Baleen is about 6 feet long, elongate triangular, rather 

 ra]iidly tapering to a fine point. The internal fibres are 

 rather coarse, but much finer than the former. 



1'here are sometimes imported with these Baleen, a few 

 yellowish white " fins," which seldom exceed 2 feet in 

 length ; in these, the fibres as well as the enamel is white, 

 they are not so transparent as the white Greenland fins 

 before referred to, but have the same coarse texture, and are 

 brittle like the black southern specimens, and as they do 

 not take so good a polish, they cannot be used for making 

 shavings for platting, &c. 



There has lately been brought by the South Sea ships, 

 several hundred weight of a very small kind of Whalebone, 

 which is implanted in the remains of the palate, in three or 

 four series gradually diminishing in size towards the inner- 

 most series ; each piece is linear, compressed, almost t to g^ 

 of an inch wide, rounded on the edge, varying from 5 to 8 

 inches in length, and ending in a tuft of black hair-like 

 fibres ; in texture, colour, and external appearance it ex- 

 actly agrees with the Baleen of the Southern Whales, and 

 1 suspect it must form the inner part of the " screening 

 apparatus " of that animal ; and if that is the case, the ex- 

 istence of these separate pieces near the middle of the 

 roof of the mouth will form a very peculiar character in 

 this kind of whale. I am further strengthened in this belief 

 b)' perceiving amongst some short pieces of " Southern 

 Whale-fin," probably forming the end part of a side, at the 

 inner or shorter or palatine edge of each blade, two or three 

 small separate linear processesof Whalebone eudingaparcel 

 of hairs similar to the pieces and form, above described, but 

 of a smaller size and rather more v\'avy. Scoreshy, who gave 

 a very detailed account of the position of the Baleen in 

 Greenland Whales, [Arcl. Reg. i. 457, and ii. 415), does not 

 mention anything of the kind in that animal. 



The Baleen of this animal is sometimes called the Whale- 

 fin of the " Black Fish," the name that is sometimes ap- 

 plied to the PJiyseier Microps. It may be this species that 

 Beale and other South Sea whalers refer to under the name 

 of Black Fish. 



M. Schlegel and F. Cuvier, are much distressed because 

 in describing the Delphimis Capensis, I wrote by mistake 

 shortness instead of length, [seeFtniii. Japan, 13; F. Cuvier, 

 Cetac. 147). Yet, M. Schlegel is liable to the same mis- 

 take. Thus in p. 23, he has evidently written B. Antarc- 

 liqiie for B. Arclique, and the Plates 26, Bahcnoplera Ant- 

 arctica, though it is the same animal as Balaiiia Antarc- 

 tica, in p. 27 ; but if such oversights are to be constantly 

 referred to, we should have little else to do, — and as to M. 

 F. Cuvier, Schlegel has pointed out many important mis- 

 takes in his description of the Cape Whale. — Faun. Jap. 2. 



In the translation of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom, published 

 by Henderson (which is a reprint of the American transla- 



tion), the account of fishing for the Cape Whales at 

 Table Bay, is placed under the Manate or Sea-Cows, ap- 

 parently because " Cow or female whale are principally 

 taken!" p. 182. 



In the Museum of the Bristol Institution, Mr. Stutchbury 

 informs me there are two lower jaws of the "Cape Whale," 

 one 15 the other 16 feet long — and the ribs and scapula. 



Mr. WaiTvick prepared the skeleton of the young one 

 mentioned in the text, and sold it to M. Boissenaux of Paris. 

 Mr. Warwick has kindly sent me a measurement of a 

 female whale of this species taken at False Bay Fishery, 

 said to be full-grown, and considered by the whalers as of 

 large size : — 



Ft. In. 

 " Total length .... 68 



Height of the body .... 14 



Length of head .... 16 



Width of tail .... 15 6 



Length of ribs .... 10 6 



Diameter of gullet .... 2 



I could not pass my hand through it. Number of 

 vertebrae 52. From all the conversations I have had with 

 the whalers, I do not think the Cape Whale ever attains 

 the size of the Greenland species. These whales of the 

 Cape, I constantly found covered with TuhicineUa Balce- 

 iiarum and Coronula Bahenaris ; but the Spermaceti 

 Whale was seldom or never so covered : they occur prin- 

 cipally on the head, where they are crowded, and but rarely 

 on the body, and then only single scattered ones." 



Western Australian Whale. Balasna marginala. 

 Tab. 1,/". 1. Baleen. 



The Baleen very long, slender (nearly eight times as 

 long as wide at the base), pure white, thin, with a rather 

 broad black edge on the outer or straight side. 



Inhab. W. Australia. 



This species is only known from three laminae of Baleen 

 which have been kindly given to me by Mr. Warwick. It 

 is so much smaller and broader, compared with its width at 

 the base, and so differently coloured from the Baleen of 

 any of the other species, that I feel called on to consider 

 it as distinct. 



Length, 20 inches, width at the base, 2 inches 6 lines. 



The following are the measurements of the samples of 

 the different kinds of" Whale -Jin''' in the British Museum. 



Greeuland. North Western. Southern. 



In. L. In. L. In. L. 



Length of blade, entire 144 .... 112 0.... 90 



Widthatba.se .... 11 0.... 10 0.... 9 



„ at middle .... 6 .... 4 .... 3 6 



„ at f length 2 4 .... 2 



„ of hair at end 10 .... 7 .... 7 



Thickness at base .... 4 4 .... 4 5 .... ^ 

 ,, at middle 

 „ I the length .... 



Bal.enoptera. 

 The Baleen of this genus, and of the hump-back, is short. 



