LITTLE PIKED WHALE. 



263 



In an adult whale 28 feet long, Turner (1892, p. 48) was unable to discover any hairs 

 on either upper or lower jaw, so that it may be they drop out or wear down with age. 



Baleen. — The whalebone plates of the external rank numbered about 316 on each side in 

 a Provincetown specimen I examined in 1910. Collett (1886) gives the number as about 325. 

 In color they are usually described as entirely yellowish white, but in the above specimen there 

 was a basal band of a purplish tinge due to a veining of that color, and this was most conspicuous 

 in an area about 15 mm. broad and the same distance from the base of each plate. The longest 

 plate of baleen in the 15-foot whale was about 108 mm., (4 inches) but in an adult whale the 

 largest are about 200 mm. (8 inches) on the exterior edge, not including the fraj'ed bristles. 



External Measurements. — The following table gives the comparative dimensions of five New 

 England specimens, all of which, however, are immature. I have therefore added the dimensions 

 of an adult specimen taken at Granton, Scotland, as recorded by Turner (1892) . The percentage 

 that each dimension bears to the total length of the specimen is given in the third column for 

 each individual. In this table, Nos. 1, 2, and 5 were measured by Mr. J. H. Blake, No. 3 by 

 myself, and No. 4 by J. P. Thompson (the last reproduced from True's monograph of 1904.) 



Balaenoptera acuto-rostrata. 



