184 



ALLEN: NEW ENGLAND WHALEBONE WHALES. 



of the largest male and female recorded by T^ue (1904, p. 116) from Newfoundland, to which 

 I have added the relative percent that each measurement bears to the total length. 



External Measurements of the Common Finback. 



Weight. — The specific gravity of a Fin Whale is slightly more than that of sea water so 

 that when freshly killed it sinks, but the generation of gases due to decomposition eventually 

 brings it to the surface. The weight of a 60-foot specimen, according to Murie (1865) was 

 estimated at 45 tons. Guldberg (1907) has suggested a method for obtaining the approxi- 

 mate weight of a whale by means of a mathematical formula. The body is likened to a solid 

 produced by placing two cones of equal diameter base to base, the height of the posterior cone 

 twice that of the anterior. If the greatest diameter (D) (| the circumference) and the total 

 length, are known it is possible to obtain the volume of a cone by the formula (V = 3 i D-L). 

 This, if the specific gravity be assumed to be the same as that of water, gives also the weight. 

 Guldberg averaged the lengths and girths of twenty-one Finbacks ranging between 51 and 

 68 feet long, and from these obtained a mean of 62.5 feet (19.45 meters) for the length and 29.6 



