NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 223 



not before characterized. The whale was first driven on shore on its back, and 

 the gular and thoracic regions were seen to be entirely without ridges or plicae 

 of any kind, but as smooth as any other part of the body, or as the throat of a 

 right whale, Balaena cisarctica Cope, which is not uncommon on the same 

 coast. 



This my informant told me was the species known among the whalers as the 

 "Scrag Whale." Though this name is indefinite when applied by whalers of 

 different nationalities, it is probably used with accuracy by those accustomed 

 to any particular region. At any rate I have little doubt that this is the spe- 

 cies called by the same name by Dudley, who in 1725 wrote an account of the 

 whales known by the whalers of the coasts of New England. He says it is 

 near the right whale (B. c i s a r c t i c a) in figure also; " is near akin to the 

 fin-back, but instead of a fin upon its back, the ridge of the after part of its 

 back is scragged with half a dozen knobs or knuckles. He is nearest the right 

 whale in figure and quantity of oil. His bone is white, but won't split." This 

 is published, with an account of the other species known, in the 33d volume 

 of the Philosophical Transactions. He mentions particularly the fin-back and 

 hump-back whales, describing the deep folds of the chin, throat and sides of 

 those genera. There can be little doubt that his " scrag whale " had a smooth 

 throat like the Balsenaj, and not a plaited one like the Baltenopteras and their 

 allies. By the preceding account it has been shown that the species has but 

 four slender fingers at the carpus; hence it is obviously the type of genus in- 

 termediate between Bal*na and Megaptera, not hitherto recognized, — furnished, 

 however, with the scapula of Bala^noptera. 



Captain Atwood, a resident of a part of the peninsula of Cape Cod, Mass., 

 who is a good observer of the life of the ocean, thus writes of the scrag whale 

 in J. A. Allen's Catalogue of the Mammals of Massachusetts, in the Proc. Bos- 

 ton N. H. Soc. for 1868: 



" Scragg. — A species of whale known by this name, and nearly allied, if not 

 identical with the right whale, is sometimes taken here. It is the opinion of 

 many of our whalemen that they are not a distinct species, but are the young 

 right whale that lost its mother while very young, and has grown up without 

 parental care, which has caused a slight modification. The most prominent 

 feature is on its dorsal ridge ; near the tail there are a number of small pro- 

 jections or bunches, having some resemblance to the teeth of a saw. It has no 

 dorsal fin or hump on its back." 



Additional evidence of the existence of this genus has been furnished by the 

 Smithsonian Institution. In accordance with recommendations and directions 

 furnished by the writer, VVm. H. Dall, the enterprising director of the West 

 r Coast Scientific Exploring Expedition, originally commanded by Dr. Kennicott, 

 sent to the Institution drawings and descriptive notes of the grey whale of the 

 coasts of Upper and Lower California. The writer has also examined an al- 

 most complete set of whalebone, with some other portions of the same species, 

 in the museum of the Jlssex Institute, at Salem, Mass. The baleen is similar 

 in character to that of The present species, but presents specific differences. 

 The notes of Capt. Dall indicate a long-finned, smooth-throated whale, wiih a 

 flat-pointed head like a fin-back, and no dorsal fin, but a series of knobs on the 

 posterior region of the back. That it in all respects conforms to the generic 

 type of the Atlantic species, can be determined from the description which 

 follows. 



The Atlantic species was named from Dudley's description by the com- 

 piler, Erxleben, without his adding to our knowledge of it, Bahena g i bbo s a. I 

 will follow Dr. Gray in adopting this name. The latter author, in his excel- 

 lent Catalogue of Seals and Whales in Brit. Mus., refers it, on the basis of the 

 same description, to Balaena, with doubt. 



Genus AGAPHELUS Cope. 

 Fingers four, elongate. Cervical vertebrae ? Lumbar and anterior caudal 



1868.] 



