4 CETACEA. 
up the subject. He has found out that the Hump-backed Whale — 
is evidently a Rorqual (p. 305), but does not record it as a spe- 
cies, nor recognise it as the Cape Rorqual, nor as Dr. Johnston’s 
Whale; the latter he incorrectly considers the same as B. Phy- 
salus. He combines together as one species Quoy’s short-finned 
Rorqual of the Falkland Islands with Lalande’s long-finned 
Whale of the Cape (p. 352). He is in great doubt about the 
hump of the Cachalots (p. 279); his remarks on that subject and 
on the Cachalots of Sibbald, show how dangerous it is for a na- 
turalist to speculate beyond the facts before him. 
Sir William Jardine’s WHALEs in the ‘ Naturalists’ Library’ is 
chiefly an abridgement of M. Lesson’s miserable compilation, 
with some extracts from Knox and other English writers on the 
subject. . 
Nor are the British species better known; for in Fleming’s 
excellent work they are left nearly in the same state they were 
in when Linneus published his twelfth edition of the ‘ Systema 
Nature’; and Mr. Bell’s account and figures are chiefly derived 
from preceding authors: this revision, though not undertaken 
with any view to this subject, has taken three or four species 
from our list, and determined the specific identity of one hitherto 
neglected, and added two or three species for the first time to 
our Fauna. 
I am by no means convinced that all the species in the follow- — 
ing Synopsis are distinct. It is rather to be regarded as a col- 
lection of the accounts of the Whales of different localities, de- 
rived from the specimens and other materials at present at our 
command; and I have endeavoured to select from these sources 
what appeared to afford the best characters for definmg them, 
so as to furnish to those naturalists who might enjoy the oppor- — 
tunity of observing the animals, a short abstract of what has been 
observed with regard to them, and of referrmg them to where 
they could find a more detailed account of each kind. I have 
been induced to adopt this course, as wherever I have had the 
opportunity of examining and comparing the proportions of the — 
allied species of distant seas, and of comparing their bones, they ~ 
have invariably proved distinct, which leads me to believe that — 
many of the other species of different countries, which have been 
regarded as the same, will be found to be distinct, though repre- — 
sentatives of those found in other seas. 
Synopsis oF FAMILIES. 
Suborder I. Skin smooth, bald. Teats 2, inguinal. Limbs claw- 
less ; fore-limbs fin-shaped ; hinder united, forming a forked — 
horizontal tail. Teats inguinal. Nostrils enlarged into 
blowers. Carnivorous. CETE. ae 
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