248 



THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTEBN NOETH ATLANTIC. 



The first point that arrests one's attention in comparing these measurements is 

 that the distance from the tip of the snout to the eye in the San Sebastian (Spain) 

 whale is very short. This has been iusisted on in all the accounts of this whale 

 and appeal's in Monedero's drawing, copied by Fischer (44, 18, fig. 1), Van Beneden 

 and Gervais, and others. The appearance of the head in the figure is so peculiar 

 as to lead one to think this young specimen was either abnormal, or that the draw- 

 ing was inaccurate. Nothing is to be seen of this peculiarity in Guld berg's photo- 

 graphic figures of older individuals. The Re Island (France), Egg Harbor (New 

 Jersey), and Cape Lookout (North Carolina) specimens show a reasonable agree- 

 ment as regards this measurement. 



In the length and breadth of the pectoral limb the European and American 

 specimens show a very close agreement, amounting to identity of proportions. 



In the measurement of the flukes, on the contrary, the European specimens 

 neither agree with each other nor with the American specimens, nor do the lat- 

 ter agree among themselves. In all species of whales the expansion of the flukes 

 appears subject to a considerable amount of individual variation, but this would 

 not account for the marked discrepancies observable in the foregoing table. As 

 regards the Taranto (Italy) whale, it would appear that the measurement of the 

 flukes from tip to tip is incorrect, because while this is much below that of most of 

 the other specimens, the measurement of the length of one of the lobes of the 

 flukes is only a trifle less than that of the American specimen having the widest 

 spread flukes ; in other words, the length of one lobe of the flukes is recorded as 

 two thirds the distance from tip to tip, which is highly improbable. 



The measurement for the Charleston (South Carolina) whale is still smaller, 

 2Y.3 % of the total length, while the Egg Harbor (New Jersey) whale has the 

 maximum proportion of 35.4 %. There appeal's to be no way in whicli to reconcile 

 these differences. 



The length of the whalebone in the European and American specimens differs 

 considerably. In the Taranto whale it was but 6.6 % of the total length of the 

 whale, and in Guldberg's Iceland specimen of 1889, 1.1%. In the Charleston 

 whale, which was 3 feet shorter than the last mentioned, the whalebone was 10.3%. 

 The various absolute measurements are as follows : 



BALMNA OLACIAL1S BONNATERRE. KUROPEAN AND AMERICAN. WHALEBONE. 



