358 SPECIES OF RIGHT WHALES CHAP. 
beast, moreover, appears to be fierce, a somewhat rare attribute 
of Whales. It has been spoken of, indeed, as “a cunning, 
courageous, and vicious” animal. Rhachianectes is essentially a 
coast Whale, and loves to lie in the surf in quite shallow water 
waiting for the tide to float it off. This Whale varies much in 
colour from black to mottled grey and black, and reaches a length 
of about 40 feet. 
Fam. 2. Balaenidae.— The Right Whales of the genus 
Balaena are to be distinguished from Neobalaena and from 
the Rorquals by the following characters :— 
The size is large, 50 to 60 feet. There is no dorsal fin. The 
head is more than or nearly one-fourth of the entire length of 
the animal. The baleen is very long. The throat is not grooved. 
The orbital process of the frontal is not wider than the down- 
ward process of the maxilla. The cervical vertebrae are all 
fused. The scapula is rather high. The hind-hmb has the 
rudiment of a tibia. The intestine has no caecum. 
A vast number of different genera have been founded on 
detached bones, bits of whalebone, and more or less complete 
skeletons of Right Whales coming from different parts of the 
world. In Dr. Gray’s catalogues we find the following allowed, 
viz. Balaena, Hubalaena, Hunterius, Caperea, Macleayius. The 
number of “species” distributed among the genera is some 
thirteen or more, with whose names we shall not trouble the 
reader. As a matter of fact there are not more than two species 
which can with certainty be identified and distinguished, both of 
which are so close that they cannot possibly be placed but in 
the same genus, Balaena. In no group of Whales—in no group 
of animals probably—has imagination run riot to so terrible an 
extent in the formation of genera and species as in these Right 
Whales. This multiplication or rather division of genera has 
arisen from an old idea that Whales coming from different seas 
must be of different kinds, a notion now thoroughly exploded. 
The term “ Right Whale” simply means that the Whales of 
this genus are the right kind of Whale for the whaler to pursue. 
Their whalebone is longer and more valuable, while the oil is 
not only more abundant but of a superior quality. The two 
species demand a separate account. 
The Greenland Whale, Balaena mysticetus, is one of the rare 
instances of a Whale which has an exceedingly limited range in 
