244 MR. R. COLLETT ON BAL^NOPTERA. 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 Sorvser near 

 Hammerfest (West Finmark) for the purpose of catching the Blue- 

 Whale (S. sihbaldi), under 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 

 acq)iainted 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 Sorvser 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 BalcenoptercB ; and both Prof. Sars and I soon 

 came to the conclusion that it might be " -B. latieeps," Gv&y=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 Sorvaer, upon some parts of the skeleton (now 



' These specimens are as follows : — 



1811. Oae stranded in the Zuyder-Zee, Aug. 1811 (Eschricht, Kgl. D. Vid. 



Selsk. Skr. 5 R. 1 B.). Length 32'. The skeleton is preserved in the 



Leyden Museum. 

 1819. One stranded on the coast of Holstein in Feb. 1819, and described by 



Eudolphi as B. roairata (Abh. konigl. Acad. Wiss. Berl. 1820-21, p. 27). 



Lengtli 32^'. 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, Osteographie des 



Get. viv. 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 3^ in. English.— 



A. H. C.]. Described by Lilljeborg (Ups. Univ. Aarsskr. 1862, p. 25, 



Sver. och Xorg. Eyggr.-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 Pj-renees). Length 



7830 mm. (25' Rhen.), and described by Fischer (Compt. Rend. 1876, 



torn. 83, p. 1298, &c.). The skeleton is in the Bayonne Museum. 



1883. One caught on the coast of Essex, England ; described by Flower (Proc. 

 Zool. Soc. Loud. 1883, p. 513). Length about 29' (Engl.). Skeleton 

 prepared for the Sj'dney 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] 



