BAL.IiNOrXEEID.E. 109 



as compared with that of the processes of the same vertebrae in other 

 species, seem to afford most excellent specific characters, and such 

 as do not appear to vary, so far as I have as yet examined them, in 

 the different ages of the same kind of Whale. 



These characters have shown that we have several kinds of Finner 

 Whales inhabiting our shores ; and I have little doubt that when the 

 skeletons of the whales that inhabit other seas have been similarly 

 examined and compared, there will be found to be many more species 

 of these animals than has hitherto been supposed. Indeed this is 

 proved to bo the case when we examine and compare the baleen, the 

 ear- bones, and other remains brought from different localities. 



" It "will help much in determining specific identity of new or little- 

 known species, if we can show, among those that are well known, 

 what is the usual amount, and what the limit, of variation in size ; 

 for we may assume that it is at least probable that the same laws 

 govern the different members of a group so well defined as the 

 Whales. No species of Baloenoid Cetacean is so well determined as 

 the Northern Right Whale {Balcena Mysticetus), and of none are we 

 able to adduce any approach to the number of instances of the size 

 that various individuals of the species have attained. A skeleton in 

 a late stage of the adolescent period in the Museum at Brussels 

 measures a little over 50' in length ; and Scoresby, as is well known, 

 states that out of 322 examples examined by him, not one exceeded 

 60' in length ; indeed the largest measured was 58', being one of 

 the longest, to appearance, that he ever saw. The adult animals 

 must then have a tolerably limited range of variation, within a few 

 feet of either side of 55'. Again, the common and well-marked 

 species Balai)ioptera rostrata, the dwarf of the family, is still in 

 the adolescent stage at 2o' long, and there is no instance recorded in 

 which it exceeded 31'. The adult Humpbacked Whale {Megaptera 

 longiniana) appears to range within 45' and 50' in length. In the 

 common Fin- Whale {Phi/sahis antiquorum) we have evidence of 

 variation at an adult age, and in the same (male) sex, of from 60' 

 (Eosherville Gardens) to nearly 70' (Alexandra Park and Antwerp 

 Zoological Gardens). It is possible that this species may sometimes 

 attain a few feet longer, but aU the cases in which this is stated re- 

 quire fresh investigation. The alleged length of a whale in the flesh 

 is rarely to be depended on, and even the given measurements of 

 skeletons are often inaccurate, as much depends upon the method of 

 articulation. Size being in the popular mind a point of vital import- 

 ance in a whale, the tendency to exaggerate this quality is a con- 

 stant obstacle to exact investigation. We may conclude, then, that 

 all the evidence at present available tends to prove that the idea 

 which some naturalists entertain, that whales have no definite limit 

 to their growth, is incorrect, and that, as in other mammals, there 

 is an average size to which each species attains, subject to individual 

 differences within a moderate range." — Flower, P. Z. S. 1864, 387. 



" The number of vertebrae and number of ribs have been supjjosed 

 to be subject to considerable individual variation, partly in conse- 

 quence of several distinct species having been confounded, and partly 



