246 



THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 



It will be observed from the table that the largest European specimen is the 

 Iceland one cited by Guldberg, which was 51' 8" long in a straight line. Guldberg's 

 statement regarding it is as follows : " Captain Berg told me that the largest speci- 

 men captured by him measured 50 feet [Rheinland ?] long (in a straight line) and 

 46 feet in maximum girth" (59, 15). 1 



The next largest was that recorded by Segnette as stranded on the island of 

 Re, France, in 1680. It was a female and its length was 50 ft. 7 in. Fischer 

 asserts that this individual was young (44, 16), but there is no evidence that this was 

 the case. He was influenced by the measurements given by Rondelet and Pare for 

 the whale of the Basques. According to these early zoologists, this whale reached 

 a length of 36 cubits (coudees), or as Fischer has reckoned it, 23.4 m., or 76 ft. 9 in. 

 There is no probability that the Nordcaper ever reached such dimensions. 



The American specimens hitherto recorded present the following lengths : 



A comparison of the foregoing measurements of total length with those pre- 

 viously given for the European specimens shows that there is no considerable 

 difference in size in individuals from the two sides of the Atlantic. 



The largest American specimen, as above indicated, was 53 ft. long. The 

 largest European specimen (Iceland) was 51 ft. 8 in. The younger specimens 

 show a parallel gradation in size. It may be stated, therefore, that European and 

 American specimens cannot be differentiated by size. 



EXTERNAL PROPORTIONS. 



The exterior measurements recorded by those who have had an opportunity to 

 examine the Atlantic Right whale in a fresh condition are so meagre and so little 

 conformable that they give but scant assistance in determining the questions at 



1 Guldberg's own measurements appear to be in Rheinland feet (12 in. Rheinl. = 12.357 Eng- 

 lish), but he cited one measurement from Capt. Berg in English feet, which may be the kind 

 intended here, in which case the R Island specimen would be the longest one. 



'See Holder (j6, 112, 120). 



* The length of the skeleton as mounted is probably too great, on account of the exaggeration 

 of the caudal intervertebral spaces. 



4 Type of Balana eisarctica Cope. 



