THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NOKTH ATLANTIC. 249 



It will be observed that while in the young European specimens the pro- 

 portional length of the whalebone falls below that of the American specimens, 

 nevertheless, the largest Iceland whalebone equals or exceeds that of the largest 

 American specimen. While the discrepancies above mentioned are not explainable 

 at present, it appears that adult European and American specimens have whale- 

 bone of equal length. 



Although the largest whalebone cited in the preceding table is only 7 ft. 4 in. 

 long, various writers on the Colonial Right whale fishery mention lengths for this 

 species of 8 feet and 9 feet. This might he regarded an exaggeration, but there 

 are slabs of whalebone from the Pacific Right whale in the National Museum 

 which measure 8 ft. 2 in. and 8 ft. 6 in., respectively, and the whalebone of the 

 Atlantic species may have formerly reached that length in some cases. 



COLOR. 



The Atlantic Right whale known to American whalers was called by them the 

 Black whale, in allusion to its color. In the European Nordcaper the body in all 

 recorded cases was black. The young San Sebastian whale, judged by the copy 

 of Monedero's drawing given by Graells (52, pi. 1, fig. 2) appears to have been 

 uniform black. The Taranto whale, according to Gasco (47, 14), was also uniform 

 black, as was Segnette's specimen of 1680. Regarding the Iceland whales, Guld- 

 berg remarks as follows (59, 16) : 



"The color of the skin is, as already known, deep black, sometimes with a 

 tinge of blue (einem Stick ins Blaue). This deep black color is spread over 

 the whole body. On this account, I was surprised that Capt. Larsen remarked 

 that the young example caught by him was of a lighter color on the belly. This 

 statement was, however, in part at least confirmed by the fragments of skin sent 

 me, as many of these showed white epidermis layers (Obei'liautpartien), which were 

 sharply contrasted from the black dermis layers (Hautpartien) on the same pieces. 

 In the pieces of skin preserved in alcohol, the unpigmented epidermis layers were 

 yellowish-white, and the boundaries very sharply defined from the deep black pig- 

 mented parts. By inquiry among the sailors and others, who had seen the freshly 

 caught Nordcaper, as well as by direct communication by letter with Capt. Berg, 

 it was, however, established that only single white spots appeared here and there 

 on the otherwise black body. The white spots were found on the extreme tip and 

 surface of the pectorals, on the tip of the flukes as well as in the 'bonnet' on the 

 snout, all places infested by parasites. The spots are small and can hardly be 

 found in all examples. 



" In the specimen figured (59, pi. 1), judging from the photograph, white spots 

 appear to occur around the genitals, but I can not affirm this with certainty." 



The foregoing statements seem to confirm the idea that the European Nord- 

 caper is normally black throughout. The white spots appear to be due to the 

 alteration of the skin produced by parasitic cirri peds, as in the Humpback. The 

 yellowish-white spots in the alcoholic specimens of skin might be attributed to a 

 separation of the epidermis, and accumulation of air or alcohol below. 



