GREENLAND RTGIIT-WIIALE. 381 



CETACEA. BAL^NIDyE. 



{MYSTACOCETI). 



Genus Bal^na (Linnaeus, 176G). 



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 vertebrte 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 nari'ow. Number of 

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



Balcena mysticetus, Linn^us, Syst. Nat. L 105 (1766). 

 Arheh of Greenlander. Akhck of Western Esquimo. 



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

 bers of the restricted genus Balcena, 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 plicaa on the throat or belly. 

 Their heads are also much larger — amounting to a fourtli 

 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 flippers have five fingers. 



