2 CETACEA. 



in a recognizable manner, from two specimens thrown on the 

 coast of Holland in 1598 and 1601 ; and Johnston (t. 41 & 42) 

 well figures one of these specimens. 



In 1671, Martens, in his 'Voyage to Spitzbergen,' gave a de- 

 scription and figure of the Whalebone Whale, the " Fin Fish " 

 (Balccnoptera Physalus), the Weise Fish (Beluga Catodori), and 

 of the Botzkopt ( Orca Gladiator) ; and his figures of the first and 

 second have been the chief authorities for these animals until this 

 time. 



In 1692, Sibbald published a small quarto pamphlet, with three 

 plates, describing the Whales which had come under his observa- 

 tion. He divides them into three groups : I. The small Whales 

 with teeth in both jaws, of which he notices three : the Orca 

 (O. Gladiator), the Beluga, and one from hear-say, which from 

 its size was probably a Porpesse (Phoccena vulgaris). II. The 

 larger Whales with teeth in the lower jaw : 1 . the Sperm Whale ; 

 and 2. the Black-fish. And III. The Whalebone Whales, of 

 which he describes three specimens. The arrangement he pro- 

 posed is the one used in this paper; and his work forms the 

 groundwork of all that was known on the larger Cetacea up to 

 the Linnsean time : but Artedi and Linnaeus committed the mis- 

 take of regarding individual peculiarities resulting from accidental 

 circumstances as specific distinctions, so that three of their spe- 

 cies have to be reduced to synonyma. [There is a later edition, 

 edited by Pennant, which appeared in Edinburgh in 1773.] 



In 1725, Dudley, in the ' Philosophical Transactions' (No. 387), 

 describes all the Whales now recognized by the whalers, except 

 the Black-fish; viz. 1. The Right or Whalebone Whale. 2. The 

 Scrag Whale. 3. The Fin-back Whale. 4. Bunch or Hump- 

 back Whale. And 5. The Spermaceti Whale. Cuvier, in his 

 historical account, scarcely sufficiently estimates either Sibbald's 

 or Dudley's contribution. 



Bonnaterre, and after him Lacepede, in their Catalogues, col- 

 lected together with great industry all the materials they could 

 find, in every work that came in their way ; hence they, the latter 

 especially, formed a number of species on most insufficient au- 

 thority : for example, they made a genus on the otherwise good 

 figure of the Sperm Whale figured by Anderson, because the artist 

 had placed the spout on the hinder part of the head ; and a divi- 

 sion of a genus for the Fin-fish of Martens, because he did not 

 notice in his description or figure the fold on the belly. Yet the 

 characters given by Lacepede, and genera formed by him, have 

 been used in our latest works, some even in Cuvier's last edition 

 of the ' Animal Kingdom ' ; and many of these species still en- 

 cumber our Catalogues. 



Cuvier, dissatisfied with this state of things, in his ' Ossemens 



