THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 209 
ter. This is the color of the pectoral fin. In his figure of the lower side of a 
pectoral fin of the Greenland form (37, pl. 8, fig. 2), which was sent to him in salt 
in perfect condition, the black color is seen to occupy all but a small portion near 
the root, while in Bocourt’s figure of the Bretagne specimen and other European 
specimens the broad white band is nearly as well marked on the lower side of the 
pectoral as on the upper. A copy of Eschricht’s figure is here given, text fig. 67. Of 
BALZENOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. GREENLAND. PECTORAL FIN. 
Fic. 67.—(1) ANTERIOR OR OUTER SURFACE. (2) POSTERIOR OR INNER SURFACE, (FROM ESCHRICHT.) 
the Greenland pectoral, Eschricht remarks: “ Undeniably the black color has on the 
side named [the under side] a wider distribution than appears to take place in 
the Vaagehval” (36, 347). This may of course be merely an individual variation, 
but it is at least a very striking difference. 
The Greenland skull figured by Gray agrees well in proportions, as already 
stated, with European skulls of equal size. If Gray’s figure is correct, however, it 
presents some peculiarities of its own. The most striking of these is the shape of 
the premaxillee which have considerably curved outer margins, and decrease in width 
gradually toward the proximal end, so that the nasal concavity is more elongated than 
in BL. acuto-rostrata. The premaxillz are also much more closely approximated 
in the median line than in the latter species. This and the other characters men- 
tioned may be due to defects in the drawing, but as the figures in the Zodlogy of 
the Voyage of the Hrebus and Terror are quite accurate, they are worthy of further 
attention. 
Gray, who had access to the skeleton from Greenland in the British Museum, 
and who, as is well known, multiplied species without stint, remarks of this species : 
“Our Greenland skull does not appear to differ from that of the English skeleton ” 
(53, 192). He combines American and European references in the same synonymy, 
and cites New York, Greenland, and Norway among the localities for the single 
species, “ . rostrata” (53, 188). 
