THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 249 
It will be observed that while in the young European specimens the pro- 
portional length of the whalebone falls below that of the American specimens, 
nevertheless, the largest Iceland whalebone equals or exceeds that of the largest 
American specimen. While the discrepancies above mentioned are not explainable 
at present, it appears that adult European and American specimens have whale- 
bone of equal length. 
Although the largest whalebone cited in the preceding table is only 7 ft. 4 in. 
long, various writers on the Colonial Right whale fishery mention lengths for this 
species of 8 feet and 9 feet. This might be regarded an exaggeration, but there 
are slabs of whalebone from the Pacific Right whale in the National Museum 
which measure 8 ft. 2 in. and 8 ft. 6 in., respectively, and the whalebone of the 
Atlantic species may have formerly reached that length in some cases. 
COLOR. 
The Atlantic Right whale known to American whalers was called by them the 
Black whale, in allusion to its color. In the European Nordeaper the body in all 
recorded cases was black. The young San Sebastian whale, judged by the copy 
of Monedero’s drawing given by Graells (52, pl. 1, fig. 2) appears to have been 
uniform black. The Taranto whale, according to Gasco (47, 14), was also uniform 
black, as was Segnette’s specimen of 1680. Regarding the Iceland whales, Guld- 
berg remarks as follows (59, 16) : 
“The color of the skin is, as already known, deep black, sometimes with a 
tinge of blue (e/nem Stich ins Blaue). This deep black color is spread over 
the whole body. On this account, I was surprised that Capt. Larsen remarked 
that the young example caught by him was of a lighter color on the belly. This 
statement was, however, in part at least confirmed by the fragments of skin sent 
me, as many of these showed white epidermis layers (Oberhautpartien), which were 
sharply contrasted from the black dermis layers (//autpartien) on the same pieces. 
In the pieces of skin preserved in alcohol, the unpigmented epidermis layers were 
yellowish-white, and the boundaries very sharply defined from the deep black pig- 
mented parts. By inquiry among the sailors and others, who had seen the freshly 
caught Nordcaper, as well as by Raa communication by letter with Capt. Berg 
it was, however, established that only single white spots appeared here and there 
on the otherwise black body. The white “spots were found on the extreme tip and 
surface of the pectorals, on the tip of the flukes as well as in the ‘bonnet’ on the 
suout,—all places infested by parasites. The spots are small and can hardly be 
found in all examples. 
“In the specimen figured (59, pl. 1), judging from the photograph, white spots 
appear to occur around “the genitals, but I can not affirm this with certainty.” 
The foregoing statements seem to confirm the idea that the European Nord- 
eaper is normally black throughout. The white spots appear to be due to the 
alteration of the skin produced by parasitic cirripeds, as in the Humpback. The 
yellowish-white spots in the alcoholic specimens of skin might be attributed to a 
separation of the epidermis, and accumulation of air or alcohol below. 
