THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOETH ATLANTIC. 



209 



ter. This is the color of the pectoral fin. In his figure of the lower side of a 

 pectoral fin of the Greenland form (37, pi. 8, fig. 2), which was sent to him in salt 

 in perfect condition, the black color is seen to occupy all but a small portion near 

 the root, while in Bocourt's figure of the Bretagne specimen and other European 

 specimens the broad white band is nearly as well marked on the lower side of the 

 pectoral as on the upper. A copy of Eschricht's figure is here given, text fig. 67. Of 



BALMNOPTERA ACUTO-ROSTRATA LAC. GREENLAND. PECTORAL TIN. 

 FIG. 67. (i) ANTERIOR OR OUTER SURFACE. (2) POSTERIOR OR INNER SURFACE. (FROM ESCHRICHT.) 



the Greenland pectoral, Eschricht remarks : " Undeniably the black color has on the 

 side named [the under side] a wider distribution than appears to take place in 

 tlieVaagehval" (36, 347). This may of course be merely an individual variation, 

 but it is at least a very striking difference. 



The Greenland skull figured by Gray agrees well in proportions, as already 

 stated, with European skulls of equal size. If Gray's figure is correct, however, it 

 presents some peculiarities of its own. The most striking of these is the shape of 

 the premaxillse which have considerably curved outer margins, and decrease in width 

 gradually toward the proximal end, so that the nasal concavity is more elongated than 

 in B, acuto-rostrata. The premaxillse are also much more closely approximated 

 in the median line than in the latter species. This and the other characters men- 

 tioned may be due to defects in the drawing, but as the figures in the Zoology of 

 the Voyage of the Erebus and Terror are quite accurate, they are worthy of further 

 attention. 



Gray, who had access to the skeleton from Greenland in the British Museum, 

 and who, as is well known, multiplied species without stint, remarks of this species : 

 " Our Greenland skull does not appear to differ from that of the English skeleton " 

 (53, 192). He combines American and European references in the same synonymy, 

 and cites New York, Greenland, and Norway among the localities for the single 

 species, " B. rostrata" (53, 188). 



