60 CETACEA. 



the Rorqualus rostratus, of DeKay. It is of a black color, un 

 derneath of a reddish white; inhabiting the North Sea, and has 

 been found at Volognes, in France, in the Thames, at Dcptford, 

 Eng., and in the bay of New York. The other species, eight in 

 number, are included in a fourth genus, Physalus. The names of 

 the species, as given in the catalogue above referred to, are P. an- 

 tiquorum, the Razor Back, or Great Northern Rorqual; P. Boops, 

 of which a specimen, thirty-eight feet in length, is in the British 

 Museum. This is probably one of the smaller Rorquals, and was 

 taken in 1846. P. Sibbaldi, another Rorqual, of which a speci 

 men is found in the Museum at Hull, Eng., forty feet long; P. 

 fasciatus, the Peruvian Firmer, found on the coasts of Peru ; P. 

 Iwasi, the Japan Finner. It is very rare. A specimen, taken 

 nearly a century ago, was twenty-five feet long ; P. antarcticus, 

 so named by Dr. I. E. Gray, from the baleen of a New Zealand 

 species; P. Brasiliensis, the Bahia Finner, named from baleen, 

 brought from Bahia. P. australis, the Southern Finner, found 

 in the seas of the Falkland Islands. 



The genus Balaenoptera, is divided into two sections, one 

 distinguished by the smoothness of the skin, of the throat and 

 under parts, of which there is one species, Balaenoptera physalus, 

 called the Finfish. The other section is characterised by the deep 

 longitudinal regular folds into which the skin of the throat and 

 under parts is thrown, and which are supposed to be capable of 

 great dilatation. Of this there are several species. The name 

 Rorqual, which they bear, is of Norwegian origin, meaning &quot; whale 

 with folds.&quot; The Rorquals have sometimes been arranged into 

 greater and lesser Rorquals, (major es et minores.) Twenty -five 

 feet is said to be the limit, as to length, of the smaller division. 

 Their baleen is white and short; the folds are of a rosy tint. 

 They frequent the rocky bays of Greenland, (especially during 

 summer,) and the coasts of Iceland and Norway, rarely descend 

 ing into lower latitudes. They are very active in their habits, 

 so that, although valued in northern climates for the extreme 

 delicacy of their flesh, yet the natives do not attempt to harpoon 

 them, but wound them with their darts and spears, and after a 

 fortunate hunt, hope to discover them dead and stranded. The 

 smaller Rorquals yield an oil peculiarly delicate, and esteemed by 

 the Icelanders as an article of their materia medica. The Rorqual 

 of the Southern Seas, B. Australis, resembles the Northern 

 Rorqual. Its great power and velocity make it difficult of cap 

 ture, and its products by no means repay the risk and labor of 

 taking it. It is sometimes called the Black Whale, and rnis been 

 found in considerable numbers on the shores of California. 



