COMMON FINBACK WHALE. 179 



Fossil remains, now considered indistinguishable from B. physalus, have been found in 

 Sweden, and formed in 1860 the basis of Lilljeborg's Balaenoptera robusta. The posterior 

 portion of a cranium dug up in Germany, and in which the condyles are unusually close together, 

 may also be a Finback. It was made in 1863, the basis of Miiller's Balaenoptera syncondylus. 

 Fossil remains are known from the Pleistocene deposits of Canada. 



The type locality given by Linne is the indefinite one of "Oceano Europaeo," but as his 

 name is based on Martens's account, this should be interpreted as the seas between Europe 

 and Spitsbergen. 



The Greek derivation of the scientific name is from tfraXatva, a whale (which in Latin be- 

 comes balaena) and irrtpbv, a wing or fin in reference to the dorsal fin. The specific term phy- 

 .s(///w from <#>6(7oXos, meaning a blow-fish, a species that has the power of distending itself 

 with air seems to refer to the blowing or spouting of the whale, as from a pair of bellows 



(<t>i-ffa) . 



Vernacular Names. 



All the whales of this genus have an adipose fin of varying size on the after part of the back, 

 hence are spoken of collectively as the Finback or Finner Whales. In the present species, how- 

 ever, this fin is largest of all, high and falcate, affording a fairly characteristic field mark. On 

 a'voimt of its general distribution and abundance, this whale fairly merits the name Common 

 Finback Whale bestowed upon it. Among seamen it is also spoken of as the Razorback or the 

 Pike Whale, in allusion to the high dorsal fin, or 'pike' as it is called by the fisherfolk of the 

 Knglish coast because of its fancied resemblance to that ancient weapon. Another term 

 sometimes used by the English fishermen is Sprat Whale, for at certain times of the year it is 

 found following the shoals of sprat or herring. The Scandinavian word 'rorqual' (from 

 ntlir, a tube, and hval, whale, in reference to the folds or plaits on the throat) has been adopted 

 into our tongue for the Finbacks, and was even latinized to make the generic term Rorqualus 

 by Frederic Cuvier. Hence the term Common Rorqual is sometimes used for this species. 

 Among the earlier writers the Finback was often referred to as the Jubartes, or Dubertus, 

 which was further shortened to Gibbar, Jubart, or corrupted to Jupiter-fish. The origin of 

 these names is perhaps from the Latin jubatus meaning 'fringed with long hair,' a term there- 

 fore, descriptive of the long hanging bristles of the whalebone plates. Another and equally 

 probable supposition is that the word comes from the provincial name Gibbar of the Bis- 

 cayne fishermen, which is in Latin gibbero dor so (with a hump on the back). At the present 

 time these names seem to have dropped out of use. 



In other languages the name commonly applied to this whale is an equivalent of Finback 

 or Finwhale thus Finnfisch or Finwal in German. The bristles or hair-like fringes of the 

 whalebone plates, through their fancied resemblance to a hanging beard, have also given 



