ADVERTISEMENT 



Dr. Frederick W. True, the author of the present memoir, has here brought 

 together extensive original data relative to the external and osteological characters 

 of the large whales of the western North Atlantic, for the purpose of determining 

 whether the species are the same on both sides of that ocean. The facts have 

 been derived from a study of fresh specimens at the Newfoundland whaling 

 stations, the collection of the United States National Museum, and the skeletons 

 in other large museums of the United States. Special study was given to the 

 type-specimens of American species proposed by Professor E. D. Cope and Captain 

 C. M. Scammon, all of which, with one exception, were examined by the author. 



The investigation is preparatory to a study of the geographical distribution 

 and migrations of the larger cetaceans in the North Atlantic, which could not be 

 undertaken until the identity of the species themselves was determined. Numer- 

 ous facts, however, relating to the occurrence of whales at different points off the 

 coasts of North America, and the seasons of their appearance and disappearance, 

 have been assembled. 



The results of the investigation show that several American species which 

 have been proposed are quite certainly nominal, and that, as a whole, the species 

 of the Atlantic coast of North America cannot be distinguished from those of 

 European waters. 



Some attention has been paid to the whales of the North Pacific. The in- 

 formation previously recorded has been brought together in orderly sequence and 

 various new facts added, but the amount of material at present available is insuffi- 

 cient to serve as a basis for discrimination of closely allied species. It is certain, 

 however, that the whales of the North Pacific, with one exception, bear an ex- 

 tremely close resemblance to those of the North Atlantic. The California Gray 

 whale, Rliachianectes glaucus, has no counterpart in the Atlantic. 



One well-known European species, the Pollack whale, Balcenoptera borealis, 

 not previously known in North American waters, was observed at the Newfound- 

 land whaling stations while this volume was passing through the press. 



The illustrations include views of the type-specimens of the species proposed 



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