326 Prof. J. Reinhardt on the Fin- Whale 



siderable a height of this fin in such an exceedingly large whale 

 is indeed surprising, and affords a useful mark of distinction 

 between the '^ Steypirey^r " and certain other northern fin- 

 whales, as will appear from the table below, showing the height 

 of the dorsal fin in several of the latter : — 



40^', measured by Schlegel (1841), 12"* 



(1826), 10|" 



J. Murie (1859), 14|" 



0. Sars (1865), 13" 



„ R. Heddle (1856), 20|" 



Rudolphi (1819), 16" 



Eschricht 14^" 



But, on the other hand, there are also some species, and just 

 those most resembling the " SteypireySr " in colour, which 

 have a similar low but elongated dorsal fin ; and though per- 

 haps, in some of these, differences may yet be found in the 

 shape of the fin, they can scarcely be pointed out from the 

 descriptions at hand. This uncommonly low dorsal fin is also 

 placed unusually far backwards, viz. about the beginning 

 of the last fourth of the body. The pectoral fins seem to 

 present nothing very remarkable in their shape ; and their 

 length is contained from seven times and one-fifth to seven 

 times and two-thirds in the total length (measured along the 

 curvature of the back). 



The information for which we are indebted to Mr. Hallas 

 thus enables us to form an idea about the " SteypireySr " satis- 

 factory in certain respects ; but, in the present state of our know- 

 ledge of the northern fin-whales, it is not sufficient to show 

 quite clearly whether this animal may be referred to any of 

 the earlier observed species or not. It is true that two fin- 

 whales are recorded in cetological literature to which our 

 thoughts will be immediately directed by the description given 

 above, viz. the Greenlandic " Tunnolik," briefly described 

 by Eschricht and H. P. C. Moller J, and usually considered 

 identical with the Ostend Whale, and the species recently de- 

 scribed by Malm under the name of Balcenoptera CaroUnce^, 

 But these two whales seem to resemble each other, and either 

 of them, again, the " Steypirey^r " so much, as far as the co- 

 lour is concerned, that, even if it were quite certain that the 



* All the measurements of this table are in Danish feet and inches. 



t I mention this whale here by the name under which it has been de- 

 scribed, without expressing any opinion as to the validity of the species. 



X K. D. Vidensk. Selsk. Skrifter, ser. 4. vol. xii.'pp. 375-380. 



§ Malm, A. W., Nagra Blad om Hvaldjur i allmanhet ocli Balamoptera 

 CaroUnis i synnerhet. Goteborg, 1867. Monographie illustr^e du Baleino- 

 ptere trouv^ le 29 Oct. 1865 sur la c6te occidentale de la Suede. Stock- 

 holm, 1867. 



