132 



Family XYI. 



EIGHT WHALES. 



"Without dorsal fin or hump of fat ; palate furnished with long 

 baleen ; head usually of more than a fourth of the entire length of 

 body ; belly and throat smooth, without longitudinal plaits or folds of 

 skin ; beak greatly arched, leaving a wide interval between the upper 

 and lower jaws ; pectoral fins short, truncated, very broad ; fingers, 

 five, short ; cervical vertebra anchylosed in one solid mass. 



Genus BAL^ENA/ Linnaeus. 



Baleen very long, thin, narrow at the base ; elastic ; enamel thick, 

 polished ; fringe long, fine, arranged in a single series ; head about one- 

 third of the entire length of the body ; nasal bones long, attenuated in 

 front. 



BAL^BiiTA 1 MYSTiCETTJS, 2 Linnaeus. The Greenland or Bight Whale. 



Synonyms Balcena mysticetus, Linn. O., Fabr., Lacep., Scoresby, 

 Eschricht, Eeinhardt, Lillej. Gray, S. and W., p. 81, 

 Suppl., p. 38. Bened. and Gerv., Get., p. 34. 



Balcena Greenlandica, Linnaeus. 



Balcena angulata, Gray, Suppl. , p. 39. 



Balcena nordcaper, Gray, Suppl., p. 39. 



The Eight, or Whalebone Whale, Dudley, Scoresby. 



The Nord Kapper and Nordcaper of Egede and Anderson. 



The females of this species attain to a larger size than the males, 

 exhibiting a condition of sexual growth the reverse of that shown by 

 the sperm whale. 



From the measurements of many specimens captured, the adult 

 animal was found to vary from 50 to 65 feet in length. The upper 

 portion of the head is high and narrow, but broadens greatly down- 

 wards, where, moulded by the mandible, it becomes broad and flattish : 

 so much so, that, when viewed in front, the head presents a triangular 

 form. 



The bones of the skull are very porous, and thoroughly saturated 

 with oil, and withal so very light as to float in water even when drained 

 of the lighter material. The enormous head, from 15 to 20 feet long, 

 6 to 8 feet broad, and 10 to 12 feet high, presents when the mouth is 

 opened a cavity as large as a room, and " capable of containing a ship's 

 jolly-boat full of men." The plates of baleen, about 300 in each row, 

 proceed from each side of the narrow upper jaw, and, spreading out- 

 wards, inclose at their lower ends the huge, soft, immovable tongue, 

 presenting an ideal resemblance to the canvas falling from the tent-pole 



1 Ualcena, Latin ; tydXaiva, Greek, a kind of whale. 



2 jiivcmy, the nose of a large fish, and KIJTOS, whale, in allusion to the very large 

 head. 



