288 THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 



The whalebone of specimen No. 1 is described as " light yellow." 

 In Scammon's article, published in 1869, is a more extensive description of the 

 external characters, as follows : 



" The California Gray is unlike other species of Baluena in its color, being of a 

 mottled gray ; some individuals, however, of both male and female, are nearly black. 

 The jaw is curved downward from near the spoutholes to the ' nib end,' or snout, 

 and is not so wide as that of the other species in proportion to the size of body. 

 The length of the female is from 40 to 44 feet, 1 the fully grown varying but little in 

 size; its greatest circumference 28 to 30 feet, its 'flukes' 30 inches in depth and 10 

 feet broad. It has no dorsal fin. Its pectorals are 6^ feet in length, and 2^ feet in 

 width, tapering from near the middle toward the end, which is quite pointed. 2 It 

 has a succession of ridges, crosswise along the back, from opposite the vent to the 

 flukes. 



"The coating of fat, or blubber, is 6 to 10 inches in thickness, and of a reddish 

 cast. The average yield of oil of the female is 40 barrels. The whalebone, or 

 ' baleen,' of which the longest is 14 to 16 inches, is of a light brown color, the grain 

 very coarse ; the hair or fringe on the bone, likewise, is much coarser and not so 

 even as that of the Right whale or Humpback. 



"The male may average 35 feet in length, but varies more in size than the 

 female, and the average quantity of oil it produces may be reckoned at 25 barrels." 

 (83, 40-41.) 



This description was accompanied by two crude figures of the exterior, repre- 

 senting the animal as black, with nearly regular blotches of gray all over the body, 

 without a dorsal fin or furrows on the throat, and with the dorsal line near 

 the flukes broken by a series of rounded sinuosities. 



The species was figured again by Scammon in his Marine Mammals, in 

 1874. Here it appears as gray, with a large amount of white irregularly scattered 

 over the superior surfaces, as if snow had fallen on it. One short furrow is shown 

 on the lower jaw and the dorsal outline is somewhat irregular. 



The description which accompanies this figure contains the following charac- 

 ters, not given in the earlier one : " Under the throat are two longitudinal folds, which 

 are about 15 inches apart and 6 feet in length. The eye, the ball of which is at 

 least 4 inches in diameter, is situated about 5 inches above and 6 inches behind 

 the angle of the mouth. The ear, which appears externally like a mere slit in the 

 skin, 2^ inches in length, is about 18 inches behind the eye, and a little above it." 

 (82, 20.) 



Ball's and Scammon's descriptions agree well together, except that according 



" Forty-four feet, however, would be regarded as large, although some individuals have been 

 taken that were much larger, and yielding sixty or seventy barrels of oil." (Note by Scammon.) 



"The size of flukes and fins usually varies but little in proportion to the whole." (Note by 

 Scammon.) 



