224 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE AVESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 



It will be seeu that there is a very close agreement between the pi'incipal 

 measiiremeuts of the Newfouadland and European specimens, and especially be- 

 tween the former and the Tay River (Scotland) specimen. The only departure of 

 importance is in the breadth of the flukes, which are made to appear wider-spread 

 in the Newfoundland specimens. In the case of No. 6 the flukes were cut oif before 

 the whale was brou'^ht to shore, and I bad to rely on measurements not my own. 

 It is quite likely that they were taken in some other manner than direct from tip 

 to tip. In the case of No. 5, one of the flukes only was in position when the whale 

 was drawn up on the slip. The measui'ement given is, thei'efore, really an estimate. 

 The same lack of conformity will be found in the case of Bakenoptera physalus, and 

 for the same reason. 



It is to be regretted that fuller measurements of European specimens are not 

 obtainable, but as the species appears to strand but rarely on that side of the Atlantic, 

 few observations have been recorded. 



ABDOMINAL RIDGES AND FtTRROWS. 



The system of abdominal ridges and fuiTows is simple in the posterior part, 

 but complicated at the anterior end, and better undei'stood from illustrations than 

 from descriptions (see plates 37-39). The description of the Tay River (Scotland) 

 whale given by Struthers, and the description and figure of the Finmark whale 

 given by Sars agree with the Newfoundland specimens. In the former the ridges 

 •wrere 4i or 5 in. wide; in the three Newfoundland specimens the widest were 8, 5, 

 and 6 inches respectively. In Hallas's Iceland Humpback (60, 172) the ridges were 

 2-2^ in. (Danish) in l)readth, which, if coirect, is a notable difference. The ridges 

 are not exactly symmetrical on the two sides of the body and the different ridges 

 anastomose at different points. The ridges and furi'ows farthest from the median 

 line run forward to the infei-ior margin of the mandible, but the median two or 

 three pairs curve inwaixl at the anterior end and unite considerably farther back, 

 forming a sort of median ridge, which Struthers likens to a " second chin." (See 

 pi. 39, fig. 1.) This disposition of the ridges, and the other characteristics mentioned 

 above, were found in the Tay whale. In the Newfoundland specimens many of 

 the furrows were divided longitudinally by a narrow, central supplementaiy I'idge, 

 triangular in section. Other furrows contained similar short ridges arranged 

 diagonally. As already stated, the majority of the fui'i'ows terminate antei'iorly 

 below the margin of the mandible, but those most distant from the median line 

 extend on to the proximal end of the smooth surface of the mandible itself. 



In the three Newfoundland specimens there were 14, 20, and 22 ridges, respect- 

 ively, on the breast between the pectoral fins. In the Tay River whale the number 

 of ridges, according to Struthers, was about 24. Sars states that the number in the 

 Finmark whale was between 20 and 30. Rawitz's largest specimen (14.25 m.) had 

 22 furrows, while the smallest (10.5 m.) had 36 furrows. He does not state at what 

 point or how the count was made. 



Besides the furrows, properly, so called, the Newfoundland specimens displayed 



