The Zoologist — April, 1871. 2553 



The weight of an adult whale of some of the larger species, 

 such as the Greenland or "sulphur-bottom," must be something 

 enormous. I saw the skeleton of a whale, only fifty feet in length, 

 at Barnet's Museum, Niagara Falls, the weight of which, in its 

 entirety, was estimated at seventy tons ! The jaws of this speci- 

 men were only twelve feet long, but stated in the Catalogue to be 

 " sufficiently wide at the base for eighteen people to sit between 

 them," but in my humble estimation the "people" must be in- 

 habitants of Lilliput rather than Brobdignag. Near this skeleton 

 was the under jaw of a sperm whale, which (the jaw) measured 

 eighteen feet long, and contained forty-two teeth in situ. 



Delphinid.e. 

 Delphinus Janira, Gray. No description. 



D. delphis,G\diy. This is probably the "puffin pig" of the 

 settlers, which has a " white belly." 



BELUGID.E. 



Beluga catodon, Gray. No description. 



N.B. Unless the above synovyms, taken from Dr. Gray's ' Whales 

 and Dolphins,' in the British Museum, refer to the " puffin pig," 

 " herring hog" and " white porpus" of the settlers, I am unable to 

 identify thera with any known scientific nomenclature. It must be 

 observed that I obtained no specimens, my identifications being 

 based on the very meagre descriptions of the settlers, who, however, 

 were particular in describing the "puffin pig" with a white belly, 

 and the "herring hog" as yellow underneath. I often saw por- 

 puses playing round the bows of schooners off the coasts of New- 

 foundland, and especially when crossing the Gulf of St. Lawrence, 

 but their visibleness was too transitory to remark much beyond 

 their outline; sometimes they would disport themselves and turn 

 over, showing either a white or yellow belly. 



Stray Notes on a few Salt-water Fishes. 



Two species of sharks are reported by the settlers to be 

 frequently caught in the herring-nets, but I saw no specimens: 

 teeth, however, which were given me from a fish captured in Bonne 

 Bay appear to belong to 



Greenland Shark {Scymnus horealis, Flemming). This species, 

 which is said to grow to a very large size, is frequently found 



