GREENLAND RIGHT-WHALE. 381 



GET ACE A. BALMNIV&. 



(MYSTACOCETI). 



GENUS BAL^JNA (LinnaBus, 1766). 



Generic Character. Baleen long ; no dorsal fin ; skin of throat and belly 

 smooth ; flippers short. Rostrum of skull much compressed and rounded ; 

 rami of lower jaw strongly arched outwards ; cervical vertebrae ankylosed. 



GREENLAND RIGHT- WHALE. 



Balana mysticetus (Linn.) . 



Specific Character. Dark grey, the lower jaw and throat white. Head of 

 adult one-third of the entire length ; baleen long and narrow. Number of 

 vertebrae 54, of ribs 13 pairs, rarely 14. Length of adult, 50 to 60 feet. 



Balcena mysticetus , LINNJSUS, Syst. Nat. I. 105 (1766). 

 Arbek of Greenlander. ATcbek of Westem Esquimo. 



THE term " Right- Whale" has been applied to the mem- 

 bers of the restricted genus Balana, these being the only 

 animals which fully reward the whaler by a full supply of 

 oil and whalebone of the best quality. From the next 

 family, that of the Rorquals or Fin- Whales, the Right- 

 Whales are at once distinguished by the absence of a 

 dorsal-fin, and of folds or plicae on the throat or belly. 

 Their heads are also much larger amounting to a fourth 

 or even a third of their entire length, their baleen is longer 

 and more valuable, their cervical vertebrae are ankylosed 

 into a solid mass, and their nippers have five fingers. 



