THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 288 



was white in front and across the throat, with a white fringe on the entire roof of 

 the mouth the rest was jet black." This last statement would indicate that the 

 whale was allied to B. borealis, but coming to me at second-hand, I do not know 

 how much reliance to place upon it. Reducing the measurements above given to 

 percentages of the distance from the notch of the flukes to the posterior margin of 

 the dorsal fin, which seems likely to be the most reliable measurement, we have 

 the following as compared with the Newfoundland specimen of B. physalus No. 7, 

 which was of about equal size : 



Newfoundland San Clemente 



specimen. Id. specimen. 



% % 



Distance from notch of flukes to posterior base of dorsal. . . 100.0 100.0 



Tip of snout to blowhole 71.8 76.6 



Length of pectoral from shoulder 50.0 53.4 



Height of dorsal fin 8.6 10.8 



Breadth of flukes 92.2 93.2 



The approximation shown is interesting, but it is neither sufficiently close 

 nor sufficiently remote to justify any positive assertions in the case. 



It remains to mention the specimen examined by Dr. L. Stejneger on Bering 

 Id. in 1882, which may be supposed to represent B. velifera. It was not a fresh 

 specimen, having lain on the beach for a long time prior to Dr. Stejneger's visit. His 

 description and measurements are given in the Proceedings of tlie National Museum 

 (85, 74, 75). In a general way they agree with B. physalus, but the head is pro- 

 portionately much shorter, and the dorsal fin farther forward (see p. 117). Dr. 

 Stejneger remarks incidentally that the height of the dorsal fin was about -fa the 

 total length, which latter was 6-|- times the length of the pectorals. This would 

 make the dorsal a little higher and the pectorals much longer than in B. physalus. 

 In these respects there is an approach to the proportions of the San Clemente Id. 

 specimen given above and to the proportions casually mentioned by Scamrnon, and 

 it is possible that B. velifera is characterized by larger fins than B. physalus. A 

 rigid comparison of measurements, however, is not feasible. 1 



Dr. Stejneger brought back three pieces of the whalebone of the Bering Id. 

 specimen (14504 U. S. N. M. ; original No. 1629). These are yellowish-white and 

 grayish, and striped precisely as in B. physalus, from which they present no 

 tangible differences. The three pieces are of the following dimensions respectively: 

 (a) length, without bristles, 28 in., width at base 8 in. ; () length 24 in., width 

 71 in. (probably much wider originally) ; (c) length 17 in., width 6 in. The smallest 

 piece is almost entirely translucent yellowish-white, with but two prominent dark 

 stripes, while the largest piece is nearly all dark and opaque in the deeper layers, 

 though in part superficially overlaid with translucent light-colored layers. 



In spite of various apparent deviations, I am of the opinion that the evidence 



' For example, Dr. Stejneger states, as just mentioned, that the height of the dorsal fin was 

 about -fa the total length. In the table of measurements, however, the total length is given as 

 51.69 ft., while the height of the dorsal is 1.37 ft. or about -fa. 



