54 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC. 



Jouan's memoir on the Right whales and Sperm whales, 1859, 1 is an excellent 

 summary of observations on these forms, with some references to Finbacks, Hump- 

 backs, Blackfish, etc. Though largely based on the data furnished by American 

 whalers, it does not relate especially to whales in American waters. Jouan discusses 

 the different kinds of whales, but is not fortunate in his discrimination of species. 

 Of " B. nodosa Lacep." he remarks : " This is a Humpback, or perhaps a whale that 

 is found in California, which the whalers designate by the names of 'California 

 Grey,' or 'California!! Ranger.'" Of the Humpback, which he places among "les 

 baleinopteres," he remarks : 



" The Humpbacks are encountered in very great numbers in the same places 

 as the Sperm whales and Right whales ; but it is especially on the coasts of Chili, 

 Peru, California, and New Zealand that they are found most abundant. 



" We have seen the bay of San Carlos de Monterey, California, literally covered 

 with these great cetaceans which swim like porpoises, going down head foremost, 

 and elevating their broad tails in the air." 



Pierre Fortin's report on the fisheries of the Gulf of St. Lawrence for 1861 

 and 1862, published in 1863 by the Fisheries Department of Canada, contains, at 

 page 109, a list of cetacea, etc., of the Gulf. The species mentioned are the Right 

 whale, Humpback, Common Finback, and Sulphurbottom. The notes on these 

 whales occupy two pages, the facts cited being of some interest, but hardly as 

 definite as could be desired. His report for 1865 (p. 49) contains a note on the 

 whale fishery, but very little regarding the whales. The Gulf fishery is also the 

 subject of a few paragraphs in the report for 1867 (p. 24). 



The cetological writings of P.-J. Van Beneden, both in number and in scope, 

 greatly surpass those of any other zoologist, and in importance rank with those of 

 Eschricht and Flower. Though he compiled much from the writings of others, 

 and repeated the same matter many times in different publications, the amount of 

 original work he accomplished in cetology constitutes a monument of which any 

 zoologist might be proud, and Van Beneden built himself many such. He had 

 but little American material at command, but was familiar with the writings of 

 American cetologists and included their observations in his summaries, frequently 

 commenting on them at some length, and expressing opinions of his own regarding 

 the facts brought forward. 



His Natural History of the Cetaceans of the Seas of Europe, published in 1889, 2 

 which is a combination of several papers on different groups, published between 

 1886 and 1889, contains references to all of Cope's and Scammon's species of baleen 

 whales, and to some American material in European museums, but nothing not 

 already in the Osteographie and other earlier publications. In 1864, Van Beneden 

 published the results of a comparison of the skeletons of the Humpback whales of 



1 JOUAN, H., Me"moire sur les Baleines et les Cachalots. M^m. Soc. Imp. Set. Nat. Cherbourg, 

 6, 1859, pp. 1-40. 



1 VAN BENEDEN, P.-J., Histoire Naturelle des Ce'tace's des Mers d'Europe. Bruxelles, 

 1889. 8- 



