THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC, 283 
was white in front and across the throat, with a white fringe on the entire roof of 
the mouth—the rest was jet black.” This last statement would indicate that the 
whale was allied to B. borealis, but coming to me at second-hand, I do not know 
how much reliance to place upon it. Reducing the measurements above given to 
percentages of the distance from the notch of the flukes to the posterior margin of 
the dorsal fin, which seems likely to be the most reliable measurement, we have 
the following as compared with the Newfoundland specimen of BL. physalus No. 7, 
which was of about equal size: 
Newfoundland San Clemente 
specimen. Id. specimen. 
& % 
Distance from notch of flukes to posterior base of dorsal... 100.0 100.0 
iis) OF GACHIE WO) DONNIE, onarsc0ansasoea soso vunsousmedas 71.8 76.6 
Wenrthrotpe ctorale tomas hOUllGl etre erespeuetrnerateicle «iets '-'- a 50.0 53-4 
leightiotmdorsall ith, cqasceudesiucaste estes cscs <cccs <6 O10 10.8 
TBeaeNaltloy Lope VENWES pase HOCd odo Poco SRN ROS Oe Eee 2.2 93-2 
The approximation shown is interesting, but it is neither sufficiently close 
nor sufficiently remote to justify any positive assertions in the case. 
It remains to mention the specimen examined by Dr. L. Stejneger on Bering 
Id. in 1882, which may be supposed to represent 2. velifera. It was not a fresh 
specimen, having lain on the beach for a long time prior to Dr. Stejneger’s visit. His 
description and measurements are given in the Proceedings of the National Museum 
(85, 74, 75). In a general way they agree with B. physalus, but the head is pro- 
portionately much shorter, and the dorsal fin farther forward (see p. 117). Dr. 
Stejneger remarks incidentally that the height of the dorsal fin was about 51, the 
total length, which latter was 64 times the length of the pectorals. This would 
make the dorsal a little higher and the pectorals much longer than in B. physalus. 
In these respects there is an approach to the proportions of the San Clemente Id. 
specimen given above and to the proportions casually mentioned by Scammon, and 
it is possible that B. velifera is characterized by larger fins than B. physalus. A 
rigid comparison of measurements, however, is not feasible." 
Dr. Stejneger brought back three pieces of the whalebone of the Bering Id. 
specimen (14504 U.S. N. M.; original No. 1629). These are yellowish-white and 
grayish, and striped precisely as in B. physalus, from which they present no 
tangible differences. The three pieces are of the following dimensions respectively: 
(a) length, without bristles, 28 in., width at base 8} in.; (>) length 24 in., width 
74 in. (probably much wider originally) ; (¢) length 17 in., width 6 in. The smallest 
piece is almost entirely translucent yellowish-white, with but two prominent dark 
stripes, while the largest piece is nearly all dark and opaque in the deeper layers, 
though in part superficially overlaid with translucent light-colored layers. 
In spite of various apparent deviations, I am of the opinion that the evidence 
‘For example, Dr. Stejneger states, as just mentioned, that the height of the dorsal fin was 
about 3/5 the total length. In the table of measurements, however, the total length is given as 
51.69 ft., while the height of the dorsal is 1.37 ft. or about 3g. 
