72 E. BROWN ON THE CETACEA OF GREENLAND. 



a velvet-like substance in the month. It is said that the laminae, 

 after once being produced, do not increase in number, but that 

 the interspaces of the laminae increase in width. This interspace 

 in adult Whales is from about half an inch to one inch in width. 

 Occasionally two splits are found growing together in the gum, 

 but separate below. The length of the whalebone depends, it is 

 said, on the size on the head, and bears no ratio to the length of 

 the body. Occasionally a long Whale has small and short whale- 

 bone, whilst a short dumpy individual (for there are individual 

 differences in these as in all other animals, not referable to spe- 

 cific difference) may have much longer. The longest lamina of 

 whalebone which I have heard of being obtained was 14 feet. 

 I have personally known of another 13 feet 3 inches long; but 

 the average length is 12 feet and under. This is the middle 

 split already spoken of, known to the whalers as the " size-split ; " 

 but in the measurement of this the tuft of " hair," Avhich some* 

 times reaches six or seven inches in length, is not included — a 

 very important matter, as much depends upon the size of this split. 

 The breadth and thickness of the laminas depend upon the age of 

 the animal. It is a common belief that the laminae of whalebone 

 in the female Whale are broader but shorter than in the male. 

 The colour of the whalebone likewise varies; in the young the 

 laminse are frequently striped green and black, but in the old 

 animal they are frequently altogether black ; often some of the 

 laminse are striped in alternate streaks of black and white, whilst 

 others want this variegation. Whalebone is said to be occasionally 

 found white, without the animal dift'ering in the slightest degree. 

 That bought from the western Eskimo in the spring is often 

 whitish, because they have kept it lying about or steeped in water 

 all the winter. It also does not necessarily follow that because 

 one whalebone brings a different price from another, the animals 

 that j3roduce them are of different si)ecies. For instance, the 

 whalebone brought by the American whalers from Kemisoak 

 (Cumberland Sound, or Hogarth's Sound of Penny) used to bring 

 a less price in the market than that of the English whalers from 

 Davis Strait, Baffin's Bay, and Spitzbergen, because it had lain 

 exposed during the winter and was accordingly worse prepared ; 

 therefore, without at all underrating the importance of pressing 

 every point into our service in discriminating the different species 

 of Balcpnidce, as the whalebone is subject to so much variation, 

 and undergoes so many artificial changes before coming into the 

 hands of the zoologist, I think that we nuist proceed with the 

 utmost caution in forming species on the mere differences presented 

 by isolated lamina3 of whalebone.* 



* Of latG years whalebone has been bringing a better price than formerly, 

 new uses for it having been discovered. A large amount is now used to 

 stiffen silks by being woven into the fabric. By an old feudal law the ^(^7 of 

 all Whales belonged to the Queen, as a perquisite to furnish Her Majesty's 

 wardrobe with whalebone (Blackstone's Commentaries, vol. i. p. 233, ed. 

 1783). In commercial parlance whalebone is called " whale-fins." 



