CETACEA. 29 
Megapteron Americana, Gray, Zool. Ereb. & Terror, 52. . 
_ Tnhab. Bermuda, March to end of May, then leave. 
[have a tracing of the Bermuda Whale, but do not know from 
whence it was derived: it is said to be common in that island. 
It is very like the figure of Megaptera longimana, but the dorsal 
fin is represented as lower, and the tail wider. This is doubtless 
the Whale described in Phil. Trans. i. 11 and 132, where an ac- 
count is given of the method of taking it. It is described 
thus :— Length of adult 88 feet; the pectoral 26 feet (rather 
less than j the entire length), and the tail 23 feet broad. There 
are great bends (plaits) underneath from nose to the navel; a fin 
on the back paved with fat like the caul of a hog; sharp, like the 
_ ridge of a house behind; head pretty bluff, full of bumps on both 
sides; back black, belly white, and dorsal fin behind.” 
__ * Upon their fins and tail they have a store of clams or bar- 
-nacles, upon which he said rock-weeds and sea-tangle did grow a 
hand long. 
“They fed much upon grass growing at the bottom of the 
sea: in their great bag of maw he found 2 or 3 hogshead of a 
_ greenish grassy matter.” —Phil. Trans, 1. 13. 
_ Baleen from Bermuda, called Bermuda finner, is extensively 
imported ; it is similar to the baleen of the Grey Finner. 
3. MecapTera Porsxop. Porsxop, or CapE HuMP-BACK. 
_ Dorsal nearly over the end of the pectoral. 
__ Intermaxillary narrowed and contracted in front. 
Temporal bone broad, triangular. 
* Second and third cervical vertebrae united by the upper part 
_of their body.” —Cuvier. 
-Rorqual du Cap, Cuv. Oss. Foss. v. 370. t. 26. f. 1-4. Skull, t. 
26. f. 19 to 21. Verteb.f.9 & 22. Fins, f. 24. Pelvis, t. 25. 
 £.15, tongue bone, all from Lalande’s specimen. 
_B. Balznoptera Poeskop, Desmoulin, Dict. Class. H. N. u. 164, 
from Lalande’s MSS. 
B. Lalandii, Fischer, Syn. 525, from Cuvier. 
B. Capensis, A. Smith, from Cuvier. 
Megaptera Poeskop, Gray, Zool. E. & T. 17. 
 Rorqual noueux, Voy. Pol Sud, t. 24, fem. not described. 
_ Balznoptera leucopteron, Lesson, N. Tab. Reg. Anim. 202. 
-Hump-backed Whales, Ross, Antarctic Voy.i.161,191; Mitchell, 
__ Trav. Austr. ii. 241; Beale, H. Sperm. W. 12, 30. 
Tnhab. Cape of Good Hope, Lalande; called Poeskop. Skele- 
ton, Mus. Paris. 
$e Lalande’s account was published by Desmoulin. who merely 
