by MM. Van Beneden and Gervais. 201 
tending across the North Pacific as the supposed Balena 
biscayensis 18 said to extend across the North Atlantic : there- 
fore, though MM. Van Beneden and Gervais doubt the exist- 
ence of Macleayius australiensis, of which there are cervical 
vertebrae and, I believe, many other bones in the museum at 
Sydney, and Balena marginata, which is so peculiar for the 
beauty and the small size of the blades of whalebone on which 
it was founded, and of which we have now got the skull, 
they consider established a species which they call Balena 
Japonica, allowing that the only authority on which their 
species rests is a porcelain model of a whale received from 
Japan, the existence of some blades of whalebone from the 
north-west coast, in the British Museum, and the existence of 
a foetus of a whale in the museum at Copenhagen. But they 
do not inform us why they regard this foetus as that of a 
Japanese whale, or give us any particulars of how or whence 
it was obtained. 
Ido not mean to deny that whales are abundant on the 
Japanese coasts; and we know well that they and the Ameri- 
cans and the English formerly did carry on whale-fishing in 
the North Pacific; but I believe that, instead of one whale 
being found in those seas, from the various names which 
whalers give to them, several species exist. Indeed Mr. 
Cope notices that several species, which he believes to belong 
to different genera, are found on the north coast of America; 
and we wait with anxiety for materials from the Japanese. 
(who are excellent whalers) and from the American whalers, 
to make us fully acquainted with the whales which inhabit 
these seas. “ Lumping” them all together into a single 
species, as has been done by these authors, is certainly not 
conducive to the extension ot science. 
just published by Prof. Reinhardt, in 
ser. 5. vol. ix : Kjo 
referred to above. But, unfortunately, the very undeveloped 
State of the skeleton of this foetus does not afford us any 
character to distinguish it from the other whales. 
