December 28, 191 1] 



perfected, stations had sprung 

 Norway in every available place, 

 lishcd on the American shores o 



NATURE 



281 



up on the coasts of 

 and later were estab- 

 f the Atlantic. New- 



1 k;. 2. — Drawing a Blue Whale upon the slip. Japan 



foundlantl was the first cxtcnsix 

 Vincrican whalers,' .•ind duK- ;i | 

 -^ eighteen stations wire' in 

 i-l;i'!(l rind iti thr immediate 

 \icinil\-. 



Ill' L^rcai success of the 

 Ni'i \. -i.-in methods at- 

 ii'.iciid X) much attention 

 ili.-ii -i;!ii()ns wrrf erected 

 ill cx'i r\ j)arl of the world 

 u li"!'.- <-<)iiditi(ins w e r e 

 f.i\()Ui;d)le in H r i t i s h 

 ' (ilumln.i. soulh - eastern 

 \la-I<a, niTinuda, South 

 ■'^'11' riia, and the i-i;nids 

 <'l ill'' Aularclic ; on the 

 tea-,!-. (,!' japan, Korea, 

 •'^'I'i'a. and l\u^->ia. .\us- 

 li'.dia i-> soon to 1).- in\aded, 

 ■"id onl\- a f.-w months ui^'-o 

 'pany annonneed its 

 lor earr\ in^ on 

 '','" ■■lii'ins on a lari^e sc;de 

 in 111.' Al.iilian Kland^, In 

 ^' ■■• /lal ind, liiimphaclc 

 wii.il- an^ h.'iny taken in 

 ^^ "''- ii'-i->, anil s<', in nearl\ 

 '•V(r\- part of ih,. ^.l,,l„- il,',. 

 "'ii'--iiii ,L;"oes on. 



I'll'- lllimher of uli;des 

 ■'■■'■" dnrinp, a season 

 \-'n'_- LM-.ali\- xxiil, tile ' 

 '' ■■ lii'^- . lait ,ai ,,n.' .d' ihr : 

 '^■'■'' Island stations, 

 ' '^'•■■i> lllere in l<,,iS, 

 killed in seven 

 I " a Mn;;K \s , , 



' \'' ■!■ ei. ■ 



u. 2200, vol.. 88] 



e hunting-ijround for 

 ■w years ago as many 

 operation upon rh;it 



one blu?whX^T"' ^'"2"^^* '" f^""- humpbacks, 

 Zf n n.r r V ^"u °."^ ^""^'■- Thus it is obvious 

 that a naturalist who is fortunate enough to remain 

 for some time at one of 

 these shore-stations has be- 

 fore him wonderful oppor- 

 tunities. 



Whales are such enormous 

 creatures that the ordinary 

 methods used in the studv 

 of other animals cannot be 

 applied to them. Instead of 

 liaving actual specimens 

 before him for comparison, 

 a naturalist must depend 

 almost entirely upon photo- 

 graphs, notes, measure- 

 ments, and descriptions. 

 I'ntil shore-whaling began 

 ^uch data were rare and 

 most unsatisfactory. When 

 a whale is "cut in" as it 

 lies alongside a ship it is 

 never possible to se,- the 

 entire animal at once; it is 

 almost impossible to secure 

 photographs of real value 

 for compaiative work; even 

 measurements can be taken 

 only with difficulty, ,and 

 not without a lar,t;e' per- 

 centage of error. Ana- 

 tomical investigations ,ue 

 out of the question, 

 because, as soon as the 

 i)lubber has been stripped off, the carcase is turned 

 adrift. 



By the establishment of shore-stations these diffi- 



^lil Whale. 



'"^-"'^ \vl> i!.s I cullies h.'i\-e liieii ejiminatrd. 'idle wh.ales ,arr usually 



- , diawn entiie|\ out of the w.iler upon a Imiil; iiielined 



.. ... u.,,.^ L..,J, j plaltorm eallid llie ■'slip" wiien-. lie|i,ii' tlie blulibei- 



I is slripprd (ill. !li.\ can !'.■ nieasnied. pliolugtaplu'd, 



