TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 113 



from elsewhere contained 10 per cent, stearine. It is easy to imagine the effect 

 that would be produced had the oil from these parts been of similar character to 

 that from the rest of the body, they being so peculiarly exposed to tlie action of 

 cold ; for, on the animal going into freezing water, they (the throat &c.) would 

 become so rigid as to cause it serious inconvenience, if not to endanger its life. I 

 think the fact above observed likely to be of practical value to whalers ; I would 

 recommend them to keep the blubber from the afore-mentioned parts separate, 

 limpid oil being more valuable than thick. 



Specific gravity of oil from throat &c 922-5 



Ditto from other parts of the body 9264 



Average analysis of good blubber-oil G2'0 



Dry gelatine, fibrine, &c ll'o 



WKter 20-5 



1000 



In the spring, and also from the end of Juno to September, the Steypireyor is 

 to be seen in great numbers off the east coast of Iceland ; but up to the last few 

 years they have never been hunted, as their capture was considered a matter of 

 considerable difficulty and danger, owing to their great swiftness and supposed 

 ferocity. They have generally been accredited with very murderous propensities, 

 and with the habit of attacking and smashing the boats of the whalers ; but this 

 is a pure error : I have assisted in the captm-e of a large number, and they have in- 

 variably shown a timid and inoffensive disposition. The reason that they have 

 been accused of such malignity of character has, I think, arisen through several 

 accidents having occiu'red in consequence of their having been attacked with the 

 ordinary harpoon in mistake for the Greenland whale, when, on feeling its sting, 

 owing to their great strength and beautiful proportions, they are enabled to dive 

 with such velocity as frequently to drag boat and crew under water. 



They are exceedingly fond of each other ; when one of a family is wounded, 

 the others, perfectly regardless of their own danger, will remain by it until it 

 dies. I saw one cow whale behave in such an extraordinary manner after her calf 

 had been killed, that I concluded she had gone mad. 



These whales are now captured by means of an implement termed a rocket- 

 harpoon. This weapon is fired from a kind of gun or tube which is balanced on 

 the shoulder of the harpoonsman : on its entering tlie whale, a shell with wliich it 

 is armed explodes, and, provided the rocket has been well-aimed, causes instant 

 death. The shell contains a bursting-charge of one pound of gunpowder. 



Notes on Bmcldsh-vxder Foraminifera. By Henry B. Bkadt, F.L.S., F.G.S. 



The Rhizopoda of thirty-two brackish localities, comprising river-estuaries and 

 lagoons at various portions of the British coast and the "Broads," "Meres," &c. 

 of the Eastern Counties, had been examined, and the following conclusions drawn 

 from the results : — 



1. The different tj'pes of Foraminifera possess variable powers of accommodating 

 themselves to decreased salinity of the water. 



Of the forty-foui- reputed genera constituting the British marine rhizopod-fauna, 

 only twelve are entirely absent from the brackish gatherings. Seven others 

 may be regarded as only accidentally present and not at home in subsaline 

 ■waters. Of the remaining twenty-five, seven, viz. Cormispira, Cristellaria, Poly- 

 morphina, Glohu/erina, Textularia, and Patelliiia, have considerable adaptive power, 

 but brackish specimens are invariably small and thin-shelled; they do not 

 occur where the admixture of fresh water is very great. The genus Lagena is 

 abundant in such localities, together with Bulimma (B. ovata), PlanorhuUna (P. 

 mediterrancnsis) , and Discorhina (D. c/Iohularis and D. rosacea). Lastly, a number 

 of genera flourish in pools which at times contain only traces of saline constituents, 

 viz. Qubiqueloculina, Trochammina, Lituolu, Truncatidina, Rotalia, Pohjstomella, and 

 Nonionina. Specimens of Poh/stomcUa stnatopimctata and Konionina depressula liad 

 been found in fresh water. 



1870. 8 



