288 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 
The whalebone of specimen No. 1 is described as “ light yellow.” 
In Scammon’s article, published in 1869, is a more extensive description of the 
external characters, as follows: 
“The California Gray is unlike other species of alwena in its color, being of a 
mottled gray ; some individuals, however, of both male and female, are nearly black. 
The jaw is curved downward from near the spoutholes to the ‘nib end,’ or snout, 
and is not so wide as that of the other species in proportion to the size of body. 
The length of the female is from 40 to 44 feet,’ the fully grown varying but little in 
size; its greatest circumference 28 to 30 feet, its ‘flukes’ 80 inches in depth and 10 
feet broad. It has no dorsal fin. Its pectorals are 64 feet in length, and 23 feet in 
width, tapering from near the middle toward the end, which is quite pointed” It 
has a succession of ridges, crosswise along the back, from opposite the vent to the 
flukes. 
“The coating of fat, or blubber, is 6 to 10 inches in thickness, and of a reddish 
cast. The average yield of oil of the female is 40 barrels. The whalebone, or 
‘baleen, of which the longest is 14 to 16 inches, is of a light brown color, the grain 
very coarse; the hair or fringe on the bone, likewise, is much coarser and not so 
even as that of the Right whale or Humpback. 
“The male may average 35 feet in length, but varies more in size than the 
female, and the average quantity of oil it produces may be reckoned at 25 barrels.” 
(83, 40-41.) 
This description was accompanied by two crude figures of the exterior, repre- 
senting the animal as black, with nearly regular blotches of gray all over the body, 
without a dorsal fin or furrows on the throat, and with the dorsal line near 
the flukes broken by a series of rounded sinuosities. 
The species was figured again by Scammon in his Marine Mammals, in 
1874. Here it appears as gray, with a large amount of white irregularly scattered 
over the superior surfaces, as if snow had fallen on it. One short furrow is shown 
on the lower jaw and the dorsal outline is somewhat irregular, 
The description which accompanies this figure contains the following charac- 
ters, not given in the earlier one : “ Under the throat are two longitudinal folds, which 
are about 15 inches apart and 6 feet in length. The eye, the ball of which is at 
least 4 inches in diameter, is situated about 5 inches above and 6 inches behind 
the angle of the mouth. ‘The ear, which appears externally like a mere slit in the 
skin, 24 inches in length, is about 18 inches behind the eye, and a little above it.” 
(82, 20.) 
Dall’s and Scammon’s descriptions agree well together, except that according 
’“ Forty-four feet, however, would be regarded as large, although some individuals have been 
taken that were much larger, and yielding sixty or seventy barrels of oil.” (Note by Scammon.) 
* “The size of flukes and fins usually varies but little in proportion to the whole.” (Note by 
Scammon. ) 
