CHAPTER VIII. 
THE NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE, BAL4ZNA GLACTALIS Bonnaterre. 
Since the separation of the Right whale of the temperate eastern Atlantic 
from the Arctic Right whale by Eschricht, the validity of the former species has 
been universally accepted, though opinions have differed as to whether its American 
counterpart is identical with it. The European species, known as the Nordcaper 
or Sarde, was named Lalena glacialis by Bonnaterre (9, 38) and Lalana bis- 
cayensis by Eschricht (1860). The latter name was not accompanied by a descrip- 
tion. Bonnaterre’s diagnosis does not include a reference to a type-specimen. 
Unless there is more than one species on the European coasts, we may, therefore, 
draw characters from whatever specimens have been described. As would natur- 
ally be expected, the later accounts are generally fuller and more accurate than the 
earlier ones, but even the fullest descriptions are to a certain extent fragmentary 
and unsystematic and contain contradictory statements and measurements. To 
thread one’s way through the maze requires a large amount of patience and con- 
sumes a great deal of time, and the results obtained are not entirely satisfactory. 
My study of the literature of the European Right whale, and of American 
specimens, leads me to believe that there is a greater amount of individual varia- 
tion as regards proportions in the genus Lalena than in Balenoptera, and that we 
may not look for the same conformity in this respect in the former as in the latter. 
It is possible, of course, that there may be several species of Ba/ena on the Euro- 
pean coasts and an equal number on the Atlantic coasts of North America, but 
there appears to be no real foundation for such an opinion. ‘To a certain extent 
the variations in proportions observable among specimens hitherto described are, 
no doubt, due to differences in age and to inaccurate measurements. It will be found 
that in general appearance, color, form of parts, etc., the Huropean specimens agree 
well together. 
The European specimens which have been described are few indeed. The 
most celebrated is that captured at San Sebastian, Spain, in 1854. It was a young 
individual 24 ft. 94 in. long. It enabled Eschricht to prove his assumption that 
the Right whale of the temperate eastern Atlantic was a different species from 
the Arctic Right whale. He intended to publish a detailed account of it, but died 
before the work was accomplished (Fischer, 44, 19). Dr. Monedero in San Sebastian 
published a lithographic figure of this specimen, with measurements which have 
been copied by Fischer (44, 19), Gasco (48, 587), ete. This figure has been highly 
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