53 



a small quantity of inferior whalohono, and a limited amount of blubber 

 or subcutaneous fat. Tbere are four and probably five species of tbe 

 ronpial. (1) Sibbaldi. named in lionor of Sir liobert Sibbaldi ; liorealis ; 

 (3) Kostrata; (4) Musculus. and (">) Sulpbureus. The sibbaldi is the 

 greatest of all the whales. Whalers know it by its large size and by the 

 height to which it spouts. Its speed too, when going rapidly, is great — 

 something like twelve miles an hour. It feeds uiwn Crustacea, lives mainly 

 in pairs, and reproduction is said to take place every three years. The 

 species borealis, known as Rudolph's Korcpuil has a length of forty to fifty 

 feet ; color bluish l)lack above and white below ; upper surface with oblong 

 light spots. Baleen black with white bristles ; number of plates three hun- 

 dred and thirty. It is inoffensive in character. It is estimated that it can 

 remain under water eight to twelve hours. The species rostrata has a 

 length of twenty-five to thirty-three feet, color greyish-black above, and 

 white below; dorsal fin high at commencement of last third of the body; 

 pectoral fin one-eighth of the total length of the body ; plates of baleen 

 about three hundred and twenty-five. This is the smallest of the rorquals, 

 and is readily distinguished from them by the white band which crosses 

 the pectoral limb, and by the sharp snout — hence the specific name of 

 "rostrata". The species musculus, grows to a length of sixty to seventy 

 feet. The color is gray-slate above, white below. The dorsal fin low with 

 straight margins, is placed slightly in front of the last fourth of the body: 

 the pectoral fin has a length of one-ninth of the body. The plates of 

 baleen and bristle are of a dark bluish black color, and the number of them 

 ranges up to three hundred and seventy. This is perhaps the commonest 

 species of the rorquals. The species Sulphureus, commonly known as the 

 "Sulphur Bottom" whale, is one of the longest of the whales; an example 

 of it having been measured and found to be ninety-five feet in length with 

 a girth of thirty-nine feet. It weighed one hundi'ed and forty-seven tons, 

 and yielded one hundred and ten barrels of oil. Ordinarily one of them 

 yields about eight hundred pounds of baleen or whalebone. The name is 

 derived from the yellowish color of the under parts of its body ; the back 

 is lighter in color than is usual, and is sometimes a very light brown, 

 approaching to white. During the months from May to September, inclus- 

 ive. the.se whales are found in large numbers close in with tho shore. 



The family Odontoceti is composed of the toothed whales. Correlated 

 with the pre.sence of the teeth is the absence of baleen or whale1)one. 

 r.eddard says. "So shaiiily defined are the Odontoceti from the Mystacoceti 

 that intei-mediate types are sadly to seek; and both addition.s, in fact, 

 have each specialized on their account in the same kind of direction in 

 parallel lines. We have great-headed Cetaceans in both groups. The 

 Cachalot corresponds to the Right whale. There are giants and pigmies 

 amongst the families of each. The small Kogia is a near ally of the bulky 

 Cachalot. The somewhat dwarfish Xeobalaena is not far off from the 

 leviathan of the Greenland seas. There are Odontocetes without a dorsal fin, 

 and Odontocetes with that fin. The Rorquals correspond to the latter, the 

 Greenland whale to the former. The head of the Sperm whale or cachalot 



