194 



THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 



to a dirty white at the free, fringed extremities. The snout was quite pointed and 

 evidently the upper jaw when closed fitted into a deep groove in the lower, which 

 was considerably longer and projected beyond the upper." The colors of the body 

 and of the whalebone are those of B. acuto-rostrata. 



Mr. Thompson made the following measurements on the Portland specimen : 



Total length, end of snout to forking of the flukes 15 ft. 4 in. 



Approximate girth at deepest point (this could not be accurately taken). 9 " o " 



Pectoral fin (left side), length 2 " 2 " 



" greatest width o " 7 " 



1 distant from corner of mouth 2 " i '' 



Dorsal fin, length obliquely i " o " 



' height approximately o " 8 " 



' distant from fork of flukes 5 " i ' 



Caudal fin, extreme width, point to point 4 ' 2 " 



" from fork to anus 4 ' 3 " 



End of snout to spiracles 2 ' 6 " 



" " " " corner of mouth (upper jaw) 2 ' 8 " 



" (lower jaw) 3 ' 3 " 



While these measurements show a reasonably close approximation to those of 

 B. acuto-rostrata given by various European authors, the latter unfortunately pre- 

 sent so little uniformity among themselves that they are hardly available for the 

 discrimination of closely allied species. The measurements of ten specimens from 

 the coasts of France and Great Britain, and those for the Portland specimen and 

 the New York specimen cited by DeKay in 1842 (32, 130), are given below. For 

 convenience of comparison they are all reduced to percentages of the total length. 



BALMNOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. 



1 Straight, to posterior margin of flukes. 



*Ant. border, curved. (From axilla, straight = 9.3$.) 



1 Straight. 



4 French measure. 



Length " external to integuments." 



6 This measurement must be erroneous. 



' To " extremity of tail," straight ; along curve of 



back = 13' 8J". 

 8 Length of " inner side." 



