nv 
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on 
THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. ‘ 
(6) “Each of these two species has its stations at fixed times, and they do not 
frequent the same waters; the southern limits of one are the northern limits of 
the other. 
(c) “It is the same species which visits the coasts of Europe in winter and the 
coasts of America in summer.” 
In a paper entitled “A Word regarding the Whale of Japan,” published by 
Van Beneden in 1875,' are a few interesting comments on the whales of the North 
Pacific which may be supposed to visit the west coast of North America, and on a 
collection of whalebone made by Capt. Scammon and deposited in the Vienna 
museum by Dr, Steindachner. 
A paper published by Van Beneden in 1878 under the title of “The Geo- 
graphical Distribution of the Finbacks,” * contains numerous allusions to American 
material and observations, and an expression of opinion regarding the identity of 
various species of the east and west coasts of America described by Cope, Scam- 
mon, and other American writers. 
In 1880 Van Beneden published a brief account of the Right whale taken in 
Charleston harbor on Jan. 7th of that year. He remarks concerning it: 
“We connect this whale, without hesitation, with the species which the 
Basques hunted for centuries in the English Channel, the North Sea, and the At- 
lantic, and of which only a few individuals remain; the species is almost com- 
pletely exterminated. . . . We have been able to assure ourselves that the 
Balena cisarctica is the same which in winter visits the shores of Europe.” ® 
In 1885 Van Beneden published a note on information he had obtained from 
Dr. Holder of a small school of Right whales which appeared on the Atlantic coast 
of the United States in the preceding winter. He states that the school consisted 
of 6 individuals, of which 4 were captured, comprising 8 adults and one young,— 
the largest 60 feet long. As before, he expressed the opinion that the species is 
the same as the Basque whale, Lalena biscayensis.' 
In describing a barnacle believed to have been taken from a whale captured in 
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, or on the coast of Europe,> Van Beneden takes occasion 
to set forth a number of theses regarding the geographical distribution of certain 
species of Balaena and Megaptera, and their parasites. The statements regarding the 
Atlantic Right whale and Humpback are of interest in the present connection. 
Prof. Cope’s contributions to American cetology began in 1865, when he 
established the species Lalena cisarctica on the basis of a specimen obtained from 
* Van BENEDEN, P.—J., Un Mot sur la Baleine du Japon. Aull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 41, 1875, 
p. 28. 
*Van BENEDEN, P.-J., La Distribution Géographique des Balénoptéres. Bull. Acad. R. 
Belg. (2), 45, 1878, pp. 167-178. 
* Bull. Acad. R. Belg. (2), 49, 1880, pp. 313-315. 
“Van BENEDEN, P.-J., Sur l’Apparition d’une Petite Gamme de Vraie Baleines sur les Cétes 
des Etats Unis d’Amérique. Bul. Acad. R. Belg. (3). 9, or 54, 1885, p. 212. 
* VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Une Coronule de la Baie de Saint-Laurent. Bull. Acad. R. Belz. (3), 
20, 1890, pp. 49-54, 1 pl. 
