ADVERTISEMENT 
Dr. Frederick W. True, the author of the present memoir, has here brought 
together extensive original data relative to the external and osteological characters 
of the large whales of the western North Atlantic, for the purpose of determining 
whether the species are the same on both sides of that ocean. The facts have 
been derived from a study of fresh specimens at the Newfoundland whaling 
stations, the collection of the United States National Museum, and the skeletons 
in other large museums of the United States. Special study was given to the 
type-specimens of American species proposed by Professor E. D. Cope and Captain 
C. M. Scammon, all of which, with one exception, were examined by the author. 
The investigation is preparatory to a study of the geographical distribution 
and migrations of the larger cetaceans in the North Atlantic, which could not be 
undertaken until the identity of the species themselves was determined. Numer- 
ous facts, however, relating to the occurrence of whales at different points off the 
coasts of North America, and the seasons of their appearance and disappearance, 
have been assembled, 
The results of the investigation show that several American species which 
have been proposed are quite certainly nominal, and that, as a whole, the species 
of the Atlantic coast of North America cannot be distinguished from those of 
European waters. 
Some attention has been paid to the whales of the North Pacific. The in- 
formation previously recorded has been brought together in orderly sequence and 
various new facts added, but the amount of material at present available is insuffi- 
cient to serve as a basis for discrimination of closely allied species. It is certain, 
however, that the whales of the North Pacific, with one exception, bear an ex- 
tremely close resemblance to those of the North Atlantic. The California Gray 
whale, Rhachianectes glaucus, has no counterpart in the Atlantic. 
One well-known European species, the Pollack whale, Balenoptera borealis, 
not previously known in North American waters, was observed at the Newfound- 
land whaling stations while this volume was passing through the press. 
The illustrations include views of the type-specimens of the species proposed 
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