CETACEA. 63 



C^taci^s, Cuv. Tah. Eletn. 1798; Duvernoy, Tub. Atiim. Vert. 



Spiracules, J. Brookes, Cat. Mm. 38, 1828. 



BaliEiiidfe, RiippeU, Verz. Sotck. Samml. 186, 1845. 



Cetacea vera sen Camivora, Oiven, Cat. Mas. Coll. Surg. ii. 439. 



Dr. Peters objects to the tail being considered the representative 

 of the hind feet of the Whale. He observes : " Prof. Reinhardt dis- 

 covered only a rucUnient of a femur in Balania Mysticetus, all other 

 [whales] ha\-iug the pelvis without the vestiges of Umbs. You know 

 very well that the horizontal taU-fui is only an expansion of the 

 soft parts. How did this expression escape you ? " — Letter, 2-4th 

 Nov. 18G4. 



I am stiU not convinced that the tail docs not represent the hind 

 members, at least analogically if not actually. 



Belon and Rondelet appear to have known the Dolphin {Delphinus 

 Delphis), the 'Oudre' {D. Tursio), and the Phocteua (P. vulgaris); 

 but their account of the Spermaceti \\Tiale is very indistinct. 



Clusius, in 1(505, first described and figured the Sperm Whale in 

 a recognizable manner, from two specimens thrown on the coast of 

 Holland in 1598 and 1601 ; and Johnston (t. 41 & 42) well figures 

 one of these specimens. 



In 1071, Martens, in his 'Voyage to Spitzbergen,' gave a descrip- 

 tion and figiire of the "WTialebone Whale, the " Pin-fish " (Balceno- 

 ptera Physalus), the Weise Fish {Beluga Catodon), and the Butzkopt 

 (Orca Gladiator) ; and his figiu'es of the first and second have been 

 the chief authorities for these animals until this time. 



In 1692, Sibbald published a small quarto pamphlet, with three 

 plates, describing the Whales which had come under his observation. 

 He divides them into three groups : — I. The Small "WHiales with teeth 

 in both jaws, of which he notices three — the Orca (0. Gladiator), 

 the Beluga, and one from hearsay, which from its size was probably 

 a Poi'poise (Phoccena vulgaris). II. The larger Whales with teeth 

 in the lower jaw: — 1. the Sperm Whale; and 2. the Black Pish. 

 And III. The Whalebone Whales, of which he describes three speci- 

 mens. The arrangement he proposed is the one used in tliis Catalogue ; 

 and his work forms the groundwork of all that was known on the 

 larger Cetacea up to the Liunean time : but Artedi and Linnteus 

 committed the mistake of regarding individual peculiarities resulting 

 from accidental circumstances as specific distinctions, so that three 

 of their species have to be reduced to synonyma. [There is a later 

 edition, edited by Pennant, which appeared in Edinburgh in 1773.] 



In 1725, Dudley, in the 'Philosophical Transactions' (No. 387), 

 describes all the AYhalcs now recognized by the whalers, except the 

 Black-fish: viz., 1. the Eight or Whalebone AMiale ; 2. the Scrag 

 \\Tiale ; 3. the Fin-back Whale; 4. Bunch or Humpback Whale; 

 and 5. the Spermaceti ^Miale. Cuvicr, in liis historical account, 

 scarcely sufiiciently estimates either Sibbald's or Dudley's contri- 

 bution. 



Bonnaterre, and after him Lacepode, in their Catalogues, collected 

 together A\'ith great industry all the materials they could find, in 



