FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 629 



cies. The story of its discovery by iSteller in 1741 and of its extinction 

 in 1780 (or, if we may believe Eskimo testimony, in 1854) has often 

 been related and is well known. It is doubtful whether any new infor- 

 mation will hereafter be obtained. The quest for bones, also, has been 

 so great of late years that, doubtless, in a short time it will be well-nigh 

 impossible to collect more of these relics. 



The methods of the American Whale fishery are thoroughly reported 

 upon by Mr. James Temple Brown, and the statistics by Mr. A. Howard 

 Clark, in another section of this Catalogue, and it ouly remains to speak 

 briefly of these animals from a zoological point of view. It is a some- 

 what difficult matter in the present state of knowledge to determine 

 how many species actually inhabit the waters surrounding North 

 America. The difficulty is of a twofold character. Many species have 

 been described from a single specimen, and while this does not in any 

 way invalidate their claim to recognition, the lack of material often 

 leaves room for the suspicion that they represent abnormalities or ex- 

 treme variations of known species. On the other hand, the defects 

 in the published descriptions and figures of even well-known forms, 

 often lead to the creation of new species devoid of value. A third 

 hinderance arises from the frequent confounding of localities. The 

 number of species frequenting North American waters, including cos- 

 mopolitan and doubtful forms, does not exceed sixty-two. The numer- 

 ical relations of these forms to the east and west coasts of the continent 

 are somewhat as follows : 



Total number of species inhabiting North America (including cosmopolitan and 



doubtful species) - 62 



Whalebone whales 17 



Toothed whales 45 



Cosmopolitan and circumpolar species 4 



Species occuring on the east coast, but not on the west coast 36 



Species occuring on the west coast, but not on the east coast 22 



Doubtfully included in the fauna 7 



It is altogether probable that after further comparisons have been 

 made the number of species supposed to be peculiar will be materially 

 reduced. On the other hand, the discovery of new species in the Gulf 

 of Mexico and the Alaskan Seas may be expected when those bodies 

 of water have been more thoroughly explored. The attempt is made in 

 the following table to show what species occur off the coasts of North 

 America, respectively ; what are common to both shores, and what in- 

 habit both the Northeastern and Northwestern Atlantic. To the names 

 of species doubtfully included in the fauna is prefixed the mark of inter- 

 rogation, while the double-dagger is placed before the names of those 



