54 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 
Jouan’s memoir on the Right whales and Sperm whales, 1859,’ is an excellent 
summary of observations on these forms, with some references to Finbacks, Hump- 
backs, Blackfish, ete. Though largely based on the data furnished by American 
whalers, it does not relate especially to whales in American waters. Jouan discusses 
the different kinds of whales, but is not fortunate in his discrimination of species. 
Of “ B. nodosa Lacep.” he remarks: “This is a Humpback, or perhaps a whale that 
is found in California, which the whalers designate by the names of ‘California 
Grey,’ or ‘Californian Ranger.” Of the Humpback, which he places among “les 
baleinoptéres,” he remarks ; 
“The Humpbacks are encountered in very great numbers in the same places 
as the Sperm whales and Right whales; but it is especially on the coasts of Chili, 
Peru, California, and New Zealand that they are found most abundant. 
“We have seen the bay of San Carlos de Monterey, California, literally covered 
with these great cetaceans which swim like porpoises, going down head foremost, 
and elevating their broad tails in the air.” 
Pierre Fortin’s report on the fisheries of the Gulf of St. Lawrence for 1861 
and 1862, published in 1863 by the Fisheries Department of Canada, contains, at 
page 109, a list of cetacea, etc., of the Gulf. The species mentioned are the Right 
whale, Humpback, Common Finback, and Sulphurbottom. The notes on these 
whales occupy two pages, the facts cited being of some interest, but hardly as 
definite as could be desired. His report for 1865 (p. 49) contains a note on the 
whale fishery, but very little regarding the whales. The Gulf fishery is also the 
subject of a few paragraphs in the report for 1867 (p. 24). 
The cetological writings of P.—J. Van Beneden, both in number and in scope, 
greatly surpass those of any other zodlogist, and in importance rank with those of 
Eschricht and Flower. Though he compiled much from the writings of others, 
and repeated the same matter many times in different publications, the amount of 
original work he accomplished in cetology constitutes a monument of which any 
zoologist might be proud, and Van Beneden built himself many such. He had 
but little American material at command, but was familiar with the writings of 
American cetologists and included their observations in his summaries, frequently 
commenting on them at some length, and expressing opinions of his own regarding 
the facts brought forward. 
His Natural History of the Cetaceans of the Seas of Europe, published in 1889,” 
which is a combination of several papers on different groups, published between 
1886 and 1889, contains references to all of Cope’s and Scammon’s species of baleen 
whales, and to some American material in European museums, but nothing not 
already in the Ostéographie and other earlier publications. In 1864, Van Beneden 
published the results of a comparison of the skeletons of the Humpback whales of 
1 Jouan, H., Mémoire sur les Baleines et les Cachalots. M/ém. Soc. Imp. Sci. Nat. Cherbourg, 
6, 1859, pp. 1-40. 
7 Van BENEDEN, P.-J., Histoire Naturelle des Cétacés des Mers d'Europe. Bruxelles, 
1889. 8° 
