BaljEnid.i;.- 



-MAMMALIA.- 



-CatODONTID/E. 



199 



•we cannot here enter. Full particulars are given in 

 Dr. Sooresby's work. Let it suffice us to observe that 

 between the years 16C9 and 1778 tlie Dutch sent 

 14,167 ships to the shores of Greenland, and of these 

 561 were wTecked, no less than 73 ha\'ing been lost 

 in a single season. 



The Greenland whale has occasionally strayed to 

 the northern shores of Scotland and the Zetland Isles ; 

 those tliat have run aground being always found in a 

 very impoverished condition. Even in this state, the 

 monster was in olden times deemed a " Royal fisli," 

 and according to Pennant, or the still more authorita- 

 tive Commentaries of Blackstone, when the whale was 

 accidentally cast ashore the reignmg monarchs divided 

 the spoil — " the king asserting his right to the head, 

 her majesty to the tail!" 



Of other whales belonging to the genus Baleena, we 

 have only space to particularize the following : — The 

 western Austrahan whale {B. marginuta) which is fur- 

 nished with very long and slender baleen; tlie New 

 Zealand whale, or Tuku Peru {B. antarcticci) which 

 attains a length of sixty feet; the Cape whale {B. 

 australis) which is also au inliabitant of the southern 

 ocean and of a uniformly deep black colour ; the Japa- 

 nese wliale (B. jajiwiica) which is very imperfectly 

 known; and tlie Scrag whale (E. gibbosa) an Atlantic 

 species, which is characterized by the possession of a 

 series of knob-like protuberances along the middle Une 

 of the hinder region of the back, forming a sort of tran- 

 sition to the fin-backed whales. The genus Megaptera 

 is, indeed, closely allied to the above species, and follow- 

 ing the classification and nomenclature adopted by Dr. 

 J. E. Gray in his synopsis of the cetacean families 

 contained in the British Museum, we have further to 

 indicate the principal members of the hump-backed 

 genus, there specified, as follows : — Johnston's Hump- 

 backed whale {Megaptera longimana) which is a com- 

 mon inhabitant of the northern seas — Dr. Johnston of 

 Berwick described it from a specimen accidentally 

 thrown ashore at Newcastle ; the Bermuda Hump- 

 back [M. Americana), whose head is covered with 

 tubercles or nodulations, the hide being black above 

 and whitish underneath; the Cape Hump -back or 

 Poeskop {M. Po Aop) ; and the Kuzira (M. Kusira), 

 the latter being found off the coasts of Japan. The 

 genus Bala:noptera is represented by a single species 

 commonly known as the Pike whale {Balcenoptera 

 roslrata). A great deal of confusion, however, still 

 exists in reference to this species and until the 

 points are more satisfactorily cleared up, we are 

 scarcely in a position to describe it with confidence. 

 According to Dr. Gray, it is identical with the Ror- 

 (jualus Boops of F. Cuvier. It is an inhabitant of 

 the northern seas, and has a black colour above, 

 being reddish-wlute underneath the belly. A speci- 

 men is said to have been captured in the Thames near 

 Deptford, but this example has been considered, by 

 several authorities, only as a yoimg example of the 

 Great Northern Rorqual. Dr. CoUuigwood in his 

 admirable little " Fauna of Blacklieath and its vicmity," 

 has recorded the cu-cumstance as follows : — " On Sun- 

 day, October 23, 1842, a whale was observed in the 

 Thames opposite Deptford Creek. Five men put otf in 



a boat, and attacked it with a large bearded spear; and 

 having pushed it immediately under Deptford Pier they 

 overcame and despatched it. Having by mechanical 

 appliances raised it upon the pier, its dimensions were 

 ascertained to be — total length 14 feet 6 inches; length 

 from nose to angle of mouth, 3 feet 10 inches; tail 

 from fork to fork, 3 feet 10 inches. A full account of 

 this whale is to be found in the Zoologist for 1842, 

 %vith a figure; also an account of its capture, with a 

 sketch of the animal, is to be seen in the Illustrated 

 London News, vol. i. p. 388." Similar difficulties 

 exist in regard to the determination of the specific 

 characters of the Great Northern Rorqual of Dr. Knox, 

 which, according to Dr. Gray, is identical with — 



THE BAZOB-BACE [Physalus Antiquorum) ; and 

 knowing the careful research which tliis eminent mam- 

 malogist has bestowed upon the subject, we shall assume 

 his determinations in this respect to be correct. We 

 have ourselves frequently examined tlie skeleton of Dr. 

 Knox's celebrated specimen, so satisfactorily preserved 

 and exhibited in the elephant-house of the Edinburgh 

 Zoological Gardens, and we can therefore testify to the 

 accuracy of the details given by the three eminent 

 authorities on comparative anatomy who dissected it. 

 Those who are interested in the details should consult 

 Dr. Knox's original description published in the Trans- 

 actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1827, or 

 his more recent memoir — entitled " Contiibutions to 

 the Anatomy and Natural History of the Cetacea" — 

 recorded in tlie 3rd volume of the Journal of the Proceed 

 ings of the Linnaean Society. If Dr. Gray's views are 

 right, it would appear that the whale taken at Black 

 Gang Chine, Isle of Wight, in 1842, is also referable to 

 tliis species ; whilst the same may be said of specimens 

 taken both at Berwick and at Plymouth ui 1831. 

 Anotlier example was taken off the coast of Ostend in 

 the early part of the present century, and the skeleton 

 subsequently exhibited in London, near the King's 

 Mews, Charing Cross. The hide of the Razor-back 

 has a slatish - grey colour, being whitish underneath ; 

 the under border of the baleen, which is short, is 

 blackish, the inner edge being pale-streaked. It is an 

 inhabitant of the northern ocean. Respecting its habits, 

 Mr. Bell remarks, that they " are dift'ereut from those of 

 the common whale. It is less quiet and tranquil in its 

 general movements, seldom lying motionless on the 

 surface of the water whilst blo%ving, but making way at 

 the rate of about five miles an hour. When struck, 

 the velocity of its descent is such as very frequently to 

 break the line, of which Captain Scoresby mentions 

 several mstances." It is very doubtful if this species 

 ever attains a length of upwards an hundred feet, 

 though examples have been recorded wliich were only 

 a few feet short of this measurement. 



Dr. Gray has given the scientific appellation of 

 Physalus Boops to a form which he considers quite dis- 

 tinct ii'om the above, and which we may therefore 

 more simply particularize as Gray's Fin-back whale. 

 A specimen of this whale was captured off the Welsh 

 coast in the year 1846, and it is now preserved in the 

 British Museum under the above title. It is thirty- 

 eight feet in length, has sixty vertebrae, and fifteen pahs 

 of ribs. The head alone measures nine feet in length. 



