North- Atlantic Fin-Whale Fishery. 417 



to tlie Norwegians as the kiiolhval, pukkellival, or troMlival. 

 Altlioug-li it was not fully recognized as a European species 

 till theyear 1829, when Riidolphi describe! and figured a 

 specimen cast ashore at the mouth of the Elbe, it has been 

 found fairly plentiful on b)th sides of i\\^ North Atlantic; 

 owing, however, to the fact of its sinking when killed and to 

 its small yield of oil it is not considered a very desirable 

 capture. It is of moderate length, but bulky in proportion, 

 and yields from 600 to 800 gallons of oil: Mr. Haldane, 

 however, heard of a Finmarken specimen^ 50 feet long and 

 16 feet in diameter, which yielded 125 barrels of oil; as the 

 petroleum barrels used by the Norwegians are of the capacity 

 of about 40 gallons, this would represent some 5000 gallons! 



A marked characteristic of this species is the great length 

 of its pectoral fins : in a specimen 40 ft. long the pectoral 

 fin measured 12 ft. in length and 2 ft. 8^ in. in its greatest 

 breadth ; in a 44 ft. example measured by Mr. Cocks the 

 flipper was 13 ft. 9 in. to the skin of the axilla and 3 ft. 7 in. 

 in width ; the height of the dorsal fin was 9 in. The 

 pectorals also vary exceedingly in colour, being sometimes 

 black on the upper surface and white below, or in some 

 instances entirely white on both surfaces. The body-colours 

 are equally variable; the throat and nearly all the underside 

 may be white or entirely black. These variations do not seem 

 to bear any relation to sex or age. Another peculiarity is the 

 extent to wdiich tliey are generally infested by external 

 parasites — Cyamus in abundance and a cirriped {Diadema 

 coromda), the latter in turn bearing the curious Conchoderma 

 auritum. Mr. Cocks also mentions the loud screaming of 

 the humpback when harpooned, which he compares to the 

 gruesome sound uttered by a pig when being killed. The food 

 of this species appears to be rather mixed, consisting of small 

 fish as well as kril ; possibly, as with the common finner, 

 this may be the result of circumstances. The baleen is 

 black, with yellowish-brown hairs, and the longest plates 

 measure about 2 feet. 



The humpback comes on the Finmarken coast very early 

 in the year, having been killed on the 24th of February, and 

 departs in the middle of September. The date of pairing is 

 uncertain, as is also the period of gestation; but foetuses have 

 been found in June (no day mentioned) 12 in. long, again on 

 June 21st 13 in., July 1st and 15th each 13 in., and on the 

 28th 17^ in. (ISorwegian), on August 2ist 34| in. — thus 

 showing a more regular approach to maturity than iu most 

 species. 



Capt. Wiborg informed Mr. Cocks that in 1886 he saw a 

 Ann, cC' Mag. N. Hist. Scr. 7. Vol. xvi. 23 



