59.9,51B(26.1N) 



Article XVIII. THE NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALE AND 



ITS NEAR ALLIES. 



BY J. A. ALLEN. 

 PLATES XIX-XXIV. 



Contents. 



PAGE. 



I. Introduction 277 



II. Historical 280 



Recognized as different from the Greenland Whale by whalers of the 



17th and 18th centuries 281 



Recognized as a distinct species by 18th century systematists .... 288 



Nineteenth century researches and opinions 290 



Origin of the name Balcena biscayensis 291 



Balcena cisarctica Cope 293 



Eschricht, Gray, and Van Beneden, 1861-1871 293 



Paul Fischer, 1871-1881 298 



Balcena tarentina Capellini 299 



Gasco, 1877-1879 299 



Holder, 1883 300 



Flower, 1864-1891 301 



Guldberg, 1884-1893 302 



Van Beneden, 1885 302 



Graells, 1889 303 



Jouan, 1890 303 



Ridewood, on the structure of the 'bonnet/ 1901 303 



True, 1904 304 



Andrews, 1908 305 



III. Relationships and Nomenclature 306 



Relationships ' 306 



Nomenclature 308 



Synonymy and bibliographical references 310 



IV. Geographical Distribution 312 



V. External and osteological characters 320 



Provincetown specimen 322 



I. INTRODUCTION. 



No indigenous mammal of our fauna has occupied a more important 

 place in commercial history than the Right Whale of the North Atlantic, 



nor is there any other whose history extends so far into the past. Its 



277 



