244 MR. R. COLLETT ON BALZNOPTERA BOREALIS. [Feb. 2, 
these examples either no particulars were obtained, or at most a few 
scanty remarks by casual observers *. 
In 1882 a whaling-factory was established at Sodrver near 
Hammerfest (West Finmark) for the purpose of catching the Blue- 
Whale (B. sibbaldi), wnder the management of Capt. Bull. It 
was soon seen that the greater number of the whales caught here 
were the so-called ‘‘ Sejhval,” a species with which Capt. Bull was 
acquainted through his former whaling-expeditions in the Varanger- 
fjord, but in this Fjord, as well as along the whole of the East 
Finmarken coast, it had only appeared casually. Eight specimens of 
this “ Sejhval”? were caught at Sdrveer the first year, 1882, and in 
the ensuing years it was also taken, though in varying numbers. In 
1883 40 specimens * were caught, in 1884 only 3, this year (1885) 
44. By gradually collecting together the scattered accounts respect- 
ing this whale it soon became evident that it was a species distinct 
from the three other Balenoptere ; and both Prof. Sars and I soon 
came to the conclusion that it might be ‘‘ B. laticeps,’ Gray=B. 
borealis, Lesson, or the same species to which the skeletons just 
referred to belonged, two or three of which (among the few hitherto 
known) had been brought from precisely the same region. 
Last year (1884) Dr. Guldberg, in a paper published in Bull. 
Acad. Roy. de Belg.’, finally proved by the researches he had been 
able to make, at Sdrver, upon some parts of the skeleton (now 
1 These specimens are as follows :— 
1811. One stranded in the Zuyder-Zee, Aug. 1811 (Hschricht, Kgl. D. Vid. 
Selsk. Skr.5 R.1B.). Length 382’, The skeleton is preserved in the 
Leyden Museum. 
1819. One stranded on the coast of Holstein in Feb. 1819, and described by 
Rudolphi as B. rostrata (Abh. konig]. Acad. Wiss. Berl. 1820-21, p. 27). 
Length 323’. The skeleton is preserved in the Berlin Museum. 
1861. A skeleton sent to the museum at Brussels from East Finmarken 
(Norway) through Eschricht (V. Beneden et Gervais, Ostéographie des 
Cét. viy. et foss. p. 201). Length 32’. 
1861. One stranded, June 1861, in Altenfjord, West Finmarken (Norway). 
Length of the skeleton 30' 1" (Swed.) [about 29 feet 34 in, English.— 
A. H.C.]. Described by Lilljeborg (Ups. Univ. Aarsskr. 1862, p. 25, 
Sver. och Norg. Ryggr.-djiir, B. ii. p. 943, 1874). The skeleton is in the 
Bergen Museum. 
1863. One stranded in Skogsvaag, near Bergen (Norway), July 1863. The 
skeleton not preserved. (Dr. Koren in a letter to Prof. Lilljeborg, dated 
Bergen, Jan. 24, 1864.) 
1872. One caught in the Firth of Forth, September 1872, described by Turner 
(Journ. Anat. Phys. April 1882, p. 471). Length 38’ (English). The 
skeleton is in the Anatomical Museum at Edinburgh. 
1874. One stranded in July 1874, at Biarritz (Basses Pyrénées). Length 
7830 mm. (25' Rhen.), and described by Fischer (Compt. Rend. 1876, 
tom. 83, p. 1298, &e.). The skeleton is in the Bayonne Museum, 
1883. One caught on the coast of Essex, England ; described by Flower (Proc. 
Zool. Soe. Lond. 1883, p. 513). Length about 29' (Engl.). Skeleton 
prepared for the Sydney Museum. 
1884. One taken at Goole, Lincolnshire. Skeleton in British Museum. 
? [I fancy there is some mistake about this number, and that 15 was the total 
of this species taken by Capt. Bull in 1883, and that 40 was his total take of 
all species during that season. —A. H. C.] 
