402 NATURAL SCIENCE [June 



barren of whales; 77' to 78"* 40' X. produces ' second-sized whales' 

 averaging from ten to twelve tons of oil ; whilst from 79^ to 80° 20' 

 N". are found only ' nursery whales,' averaging from fi\'e to ten tons 

 of oil each. The following statistics will illustrate this: — In 1814 

 Captain Sutter made his celebrated capture of forty-four whales in 

 79'' X.; they averaged only 5f tons each. In 1886 fourteen 

 whales, killed by two vessels fishing together in the same latitude, 

 averaged the same. In 1884 Gray killed four whales in 77 oO' 

 N"., which averaged thirteen tons each ; and the same year three 

 whales in 73° N., which averaged seventeen tons of oil. In 1863, 

 also in 73° N., he killed eight whales which averaged 16| tons of 

 oil. Scoresby, in about the same latitude, on the 15th August 

 killed three whales, and a companion vessel a day or two later, a 

 fourth ; these averaged twenty tons each. Lastly, on the 2 1 st 

 June 1887, D. Gray, in 73" 40' N., killed a female whale which 

 measured 57 feet in length, and yielded twenty-seven tons of oil ; 

 the longest slip of ' bone ' of this monster measured 1 1 feet 4 inches, 

 and weighed when cleaned 9 lb. 5 oz. Scoresby inclines to the 

 opinion that these three classes of whales represent distinct ' tribes,' 

 and that they adopt separate lines of migration ; the latter is un- 

 doubtedly the case, but that they differ from the other whales, 

 except in age or sex, is unlikely. Reasoning from analogy it seems 

 not improbable that, if the adults of both sexes form themselves 

 into different ' schools,' individuals at other stages of growth may 

 do the same. We know that in the case of the Eared Seals the 

 ' l)achelor ' or non-breeding seals separate from the breeding 

 portion of the community, and it may be that the adult and non- 

 breeding Greenland whales herd in separate flocks habitually, a still 

 further sexual division of the adult flock taking place at certain 

 periods. Scoresby {I.e., p. 292) thinks that the females and young 

 retire into the interior of the bays and sounds in the summer, which 

 he considers is the commencement of the period of gestation ; but 

 even this, supposing it to be the case, would not account for the 

 disproportion of ' suckers ' to young growing whales, much more 

 conspicuous now than in his day, and especially so in the Greenland 

 seas. Females accompanied by suckers are now rarely met with„ 

 and it follows that they must either have a secure hiding-place in 

 which to remain until the young are able to take care of themselves, 

 or that reproduction has for many years been greatly arrested, or has 

 almost ceased, the young whales found in latitude 80" N. being the 

 last of their race. The age of these whales would fairly coincide 

 with the introduction of steam, and it may be that the old whales 

 have since been so harried at a period when rest and seclusion are 

 absolutely essential, that they have ceased to perform their natural 

 functions. 



