1886.] 



MR. R. COLLETT ON BAL^NOVTERA BOREALIS. 



2G1 



obtained on the same day both large and small foetuses. So far as 

 my knowledge goes, a foetus has never been met with under 2 feet 

 in length. 



The four foetuses examined by me were taken out between the 

 16th and IDth July, and were from .5 to 9 feet (1-.5 to 2-8 m.) in 

 length, as will be seen by the following measurements: — 



16 July. ' 18 July. 

 No. l,5.No. 2,c?. 



Totallength 



Snout to angle of mouth 



Angle of mouth to flipper 



Length of the flipper 



Width of the flipper I 



Snout to the dorsul fin 



Dorsal fiu to end of the tail 



Snout to the navel 



Greatest height of the body 



Height at the beginning of the dorsal 



fin 



Height at the middle of the tail 



The least height of the tail 



Length of each iluke 



jnillim. 



1.550 



2.50 



220 



240 



50 



1030 

 520 

 700 

 240 



170 

 140 

 100 

 200 



millim. 



1830 



320 



2.50 



250 



.54 



1180 



650 



940 



300 



230 

 160 

 120 

 250 



19 July. 18 July, t 



No. 3,c5'. No. 4,(j'.| 



millim. 



2410 



410 



3.50 



370 



millim 



2830 



460 



360 



410 



1.550 I 1810 



8I>0 I 1020 



1230 j 1340 



330 390 



310 

 220 



320 

 2:0 

 170 

 340 



The colour of these foetuses was homogeneous, a reddish-brown 

 on the upper and under sides, without any appearance of white on 

 the belly. It was only in the largest ones that there was any indi- 

 cation of the baleen. Their covering of hair, on the contrary, as 

 previously stated, was considerable. 



Twins. — On the 27th Jidy, Capt. Bruiin captured at the entrance 

 to the Varangerfjord a female 43 feet lontr, which contained two young 

 ones, each six feet seven inches long. So far as I know, twins have 

 never been observed by others. 



XIII. Food. 



In all the examples I examined in the middle of July the stomach 

 and intestines were filled with a fine gritty mass, which consisted 

 entirely of Calanus Jinmnrchicus^ (figs. F, G, p. 262). These were 

 half digested, but among the hairs of the baleen-plates they 

 occurred in great numbers and in a tolerable state of preservation. 

 The faeces had the same intensely red colour as the contents of the 

 intestines and stomach. Calamis Jinmarchicus is known to occur in 

 two forms, one large, the other small. The form here met with was 

 the latter. How far this Copepod formed the only nourishment of 

 this species during the time they remained under the Finmark 

 coast is doubtful. In East Finmark it probably formed their only 



^ Monoculus finmarchicus, Gmmerius, 1705; C//ciops fiiiinarchlcus, Miill. (ex 

 Gunn.) Zool. Dan. Prodr. p. 201 (1776). 



