60 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 



figures of specimens of different species examined by the author, measurements, 

 descriptions, etc. These relate chiefly to the species of the North Pacific. The 

 figures of the Right whale and Gray whale are interesting for comparison with 

 those of Scammon, though both are inaccurate to a certain degree. 



In 1871 P. Fischer published some brief notes on the Basque whale (Balvena 

 biscayensis) in which he refers to B. cisarctica and to the whale fishery of the 

 Basques on the Newfoundland banks, which he asserts they reached in 1372. 1 



Fischer's article on Documents relating to the History of the Basque Whale, 

 187 1, 2 contains further references to the Basque whale fishery in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence, and other matters concerning Right whales in the North Atlantic. 



Prof. A. W. Malm published in 1871 an annotated list of specimens of ceta- 

 ceans in Swedish museums, 8 in which he mentioned a specimen of a Humpback 

 from Greenland, and one from St. Bartholomew Id., West Indies. The former 

 he places under Megaptera l&ngimana and for the latter he accepts the name M. 

 americana from Gray, with a query. He gives number of vertebrae, measurements, 

 and other data. The West Indian specimen is especially interesting, as Cope got 

 the type-specimen of his M. bellicosa from the same island and the same collector. 



Mr. Henry Reeks published a series of articles on the zoology of Newfound- 

 land in the Zoologist in 1871, among which is one on cetaceans. 4 An endeavor 

 was made by Dr. Theo. Gill, at Mr. Reeks's request, to connect the common names 

 current in the island for various species with scientific names, but on account of the 

 vagueness of the information furnished this was not particularly successful. 



Dr. Thos. Dwight published in 1872 a brief description of a Common Finback 

 [Baloenoptera pliysalus (L.)] which stranded at Point Shirley, Boston Harbor, Nov. 

 25, 1871. 5 He gives measurements, color-description, and other data. In the same 

 year he published a detailed description of the skeleton of a Common Finback cap- 

 tured off Gloucester, Mass., in Oct., 1871. He gives measurements and five figures 

 of the exterior, full descriptions and measurements of the skull, vertebrae and other 

 bones, and numerous figures of different parts of the skeleton, and discusses the 

 relationships of the specimen and its probable specific identity. 6 The paper con- 

 tains more detailed information and more and better figures than any other paper 

 on Balcenoptera hitherto published in America. 



In- 1874 a brief note to the following effect appeared in the Proceedings of 

 the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences: 



1 FISCHER, P., Sur la Baleine des Basques {Balana biscayensis). Comp. Rend., 72, 1871, p. 298. 



* FISCHER, P., Documents pour servir a 1'Histoire de la Baleine des Basques (Balcena biscayensis). 

 Ann. de Sci. nat., 187,1, Art. 3, pp. 1-20. 



' MALM, A. W., Hvaldjur i Sveriges Museer, Ar 1869. K. Svensk. Vetensk. Akad. Handl., 9, 

 No. 2, 1871, pp. 1-104, pis- 1-6. 



4 REEKS, H., Notes on the Zoology of Newfoundland. Zoologist (2), 6, 1871, pp. 2550-2553. 



' DWIGHT, THOS., JR., Description of the Whale {Balcenoptera musculus) that came ashore in 

 Boston Harbor, Nov. 25, 1871. Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 15, pp. 26-27. 



' DWIGHT, THOS., JR., Description of the Vfha.\e(Balanoptera musculus Auct.) in the possession 

 of the [Boston] Society [of Natural History]: with remarks on the classification of Fin Whales. 

 Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 2, pt. 2, 1872, pp. 203-230, pis. 6-7. 



