194 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[September 1, 1898. 



opportunity of doing so) will not fail to realize how cleverly 

 economy of space and material has been effected in the 

 construction of the models. This has been done by taking 

 the mounted skeleton of the specimen to be operated upon, 

 and building upon one side of it a hollow half-model of 

 the external form. As the right aide of the body baa 

 been thua modelled in the whalebone whales, and the left 

 aide in the toothed whalea, it results from thia ingenious 

 plan that whereas the visitor on entering the gallery sees 

 the external form of the species that have been modelled, 

 when he moves to the opposite side he is confronted with 

 a view of the skeleton surrounded by the outline of the 

 bodily contour. By thia means not only are the skeletons 

 as accessible aa before for the purposes of anatomical study, 

 but the relationship of their component portions to the 

 bodily form is moat clearly diaplayed. Accuracy in the 

 modelling has been secured from the circumstance that 

 the skeletons of most, if not all of the specimens, are thoae 

 of stranded individuals, whose form and proportions have 

 been recorded while in the flesh from measurements and 

 drawings or photographa. 



In its preaent condition the gallery containa models of 

 six of the larger apeciea, namely, the southern right 

 whale [Bnlmna mistratis), Eudolphi's rorqual { Bolmnoptera 

 horealis), and the common rorqual {fialcenoptera iinixcxdm), 

 among the whalebone whales ; and the gigantic sperm 

 whale {Plujseter macroceplialus), the killer {Orca gladiator), 

 and the white whale {Delphinaiiti nis li^ucas), among the 

 toothed whales. Of these, the killer differs from the others 

 in that it is represented by a complete model, alongside 

 of which is mounted the bare skeleton. The first of the 

 four larger models attempted waa that of Eudolphi's 

 rorqual, which was undertaken somewhat as an experiment 

 to see how the idea would work. As this is a comparatively 

 small species (scarcely reaching fifty feet in length at ita 

 maximum) it obviously did not give an adequate idea of 

 the huge dimensions attained by other membera of the 

 group, and, consequently, a model of the much larger 

 common rorqual was subsequently executed. This accounts 

 for the circumstance that while the rorquals are represented 

 in the gallery by two species, there is at preaent no model 

 of the allied but very different hump-backed whale 

 (Meijaptefd), for which room doea not now remain. But it 

 may be hoped that an extenaion of the limits of the 

 building may ere long admit of thia very important species 

 being added to the exhibition. 



The finners, or rorquals, are noted among whalers for 

 their extreme speed, and, consequently (especially as their 

 short whalebone is of but httle value), escaped persecution 

 until the introduction of steam vessels and harpoon guns ; 

 and the models, in comparison with the one of the southern 

 right-whale, clearly show how their long slender bodies 

 are adapted fot the attainment of such rapidity of move- 

 ment. In these specimens the whalebone has been placed 

 in its natural position in the skull, and thereby exhibits 

 its characteristic shortness. Another feature shown almoat 

 for the first time in these models ia the capacious dis- 

 tensible pouch occupying the throat of the rorquals, the 

 flexible longitudinal bands in the pouch constituting the 

 characteriatic groovings seen in the akin of this part of 

 these animals. On the skeletal aspect of the common 

 rorqual the tiny bony nodule, which alone represents the 

 thigh-bone, or femur of ordinary mammals, can scarcely 

 fail to arrest attention, and affords a most interesting 

 example of a rudimentary, or, rather, vestigiary organ. 

 Although the common rorqual, which grows to sixty-five 

 or seventy feet in length, is not the largest member of the 

 group, being exceeded in this respect by the blue rorqual 

 (B. aihhaldi), which reaches eighty or even eighty-five feet, 



yet the model in the gallery serves to show that very 

 exaggerated ideas of the dimensions attained by these 

 monsters formerly prevailed, and even yet do not appear 

 whoUy extinct. And it may be hoped that with the 

 opening of this gallery to the public we shall hear the 

 last of blue rorquals measuring a couple of hundred feet 

 in length. 



Passing on from the model of the common rorqual to 

 that of the black or southern right-whale, the visitor will 

 have impreaaed on hia memory the esaential difference 

 between a rorqual and a right-whale in a manner never 

 to be forgotten. The contraat between the comparatively 

 abort and thick body of the latter, ita narrow and vaulted 

 upper jaw, the highly convex border of the enormously 

 deep lower lip, and, above all, the immense space left 

 between the upper and lower jaws for reception of the 

 huge plates of whalebone, and the corresponding pro- 

 portions of the rorqual are apparent at a single glance, and 

 appear more wonderful still on minute inspection. A few 

 of the whalebone plates belonging to the skeleton of the 

 model have fortunately been preserved, and are inserted 

 in their approximate position in the upper jaw; and it ia 

 probable that thia is the only idea that the public will ever 

 gain of what the fuUy-armed mouth of a right- whale looks 

 Uke in nature. Even if the present specimen possessed ita 

 full complement of whalebone, it would not come up to 

 a Greenland right- whale similarly provided, for in that 

 apeciea the head is considerably larger and the whalebone 

 plates are longer than in its southern relative. Plates of 

 both species are exhibited on the wall adjacent ; and an 

 idea of the leading differences between the two forms may 

 be gathered by comparing a small model, with the whale- 

 bone in position, of the Greenland species placed beneath 

 the head of the southern kind. This small model was 

 presented by Captain D. Gray, who, in the course of hia 

 numerous cruises, has done so much to acquaint ua with 

 the anatomy and habits of the Greenland right-whale. In 

 addition to the features already mentioned, the small 

 model shows the peculiar conformation of the lower lip, 

 the marked constriction immediately in advance of the 

 enormoua " flukes," and the white areas on the lower lip, 

 at the base of the flipper, at the root of the flukes, and 

 round the eye, which form such striking marks of distinc- 

 tion between the northern and southern right-whales. 



Beneath the head of the model of the southern right are 

 placed the two halves of the lower jaw of a Greenland whale, 

 which was evidently a much more gigantic animal than 

 the specimen above. To this jaw a somewhat melancholy 

 history attaches. Captain Gray had the laudable intention 

 of procuring for the Museum the entire skuU of the finest 

 specimen of the fast-vanishing Greenland right-whale he 

 could capture. In " .JubUee " year he had alongside his 

 vessel the carcass of a splendid bull ; after the whalebone 

 and blubber had been removed, preparations for removing 

 and hoisting on board the head were about to be taken, 

 when, as Ul-luck would have it, other whales hove in sight, 

 and the boats' crews were of course in requisition. As a 

 result of the interruption all that he saved of the skull 

 was the lower jaw in the Museum. To make mattera worse, 

 neither of the whales which caused the diversion were 

 secured. It was, I believe, the ambition of Captain Gray 

 to see the skull exhibited with its whalebone in position in 

 the Museum, but as the " bone " yielded by this particular 

 specimen realized some two thousand pounds, financial 

 considerations might have interfered with the accomplish- 

 ment of his desire. There is, however, yet opportunity 

 for some millionaire to preaent such a specimen to the 

 Museum before the species becomes entirely extinct. And 

 here I am reminded that thoae of my readers desirous of 



