26 E. LÖNNBERG, CONTIUBUTIONS TO THE FAUNA OF SOUTH GEORGIA. 



Another narae »Balcenoptera Brasiliensis» connected with a whale with black 

 baleen is more doubtful. It was established by Gray for »specimens of what is 

 called in trade Bahia Finner» and only on the black baleen. When nothing else is 

 known about the animal itself it may be suggested that the »Bahia Finner» in reality 

 was a Megaptera because it was at home in such a warm climate. 



The descriptions in the literature which may with some certainty be referred 

 to the southern Blue whales appear thus to be restricted to Btjrmeistek/s Sibbaldius 

 antarcticiis resp. Balcenoptera intermedia and Hutton's great whale with black baleen 

 from New Zealand. Whether these two are identical or not is not proved. But in 

 addition to these descriptions there is a number of observations made by different 

 expeditions in the antarctic seas. These ha ve been extensively quotecl and discussed 

 by Racowitza (18) in the valuable work in which he has described his own observa- 

 tions on whales, during the expedition with »Belgica». Quite recently E. Wilson 

 (14) has shortly reported on the experience of the »Discovery» Expedition concerning 

 Rorquals in Ross' Sea. Concerning such observations may thus especially be refer- 

 red to the work (18) of Racowitza in which he gives a very interesting account of 

 his experience about the size, movements, respiration etc, of the southern Blae 

 whale. The author mentioned calculates the length of this whale to 20 — 25 m.; the 

 colour of its back is »slate grey, very dark and with bluish shades, uniform with- 

 out spöts.» 



As no whale was caught by the »Belgica» Expedition Racowitza must confine 

 himself to observations of the living animals in the sea. 



During Sörllng's stay at the whaling station in Cumberland Bay, South Ge- 

 orgia, about a dozen Blue whales where caught and brought to the factory. The 

 head and anterior end of one of these is seen in fig. 19 (Pl. V). 



The largest of these specimens brought ashore in Cumberland Bay was 82 feet, 

 the average size 70 — 75 feet. 



The colour of all the specimens landed at this whaling factory is described by 

 Sörling as being bluish slate grey all över, with a somewhat darker shade towards 

 the back. Only the inner side of the pectoral fin was milky white unspotted. 



Also the lower side of the tail flukes were whitish. The furrows of the throat 

 are not lighter than the surroundings. 



Sörling describes a characteristic of the skin of the Blue whale in the follow- 

 ing way: »There are numerous quite shallow pits with irregularly radiating, fine white 

 lines (not thicker than a stroke with a lead-pencil). Each pit is about 2 — 2V 2 cm. 

 in diameter and the depth is quite trifling. These pits are found on the sides between 

 dorsal and ventral surfaces. They are very numerous and situated at a distance 

 from each other about equal to the diameter of a pit. The greatest number is met 

 with on the flanks between the pectoral fin and anus. From that area they decrease 

 in number in every direction. » 



The baleen of the southern Blue whale is completely black. But on the dry 

 blades there are innumerable tiny grey pits perhaps produced by some parasitic or- 

 ganism (Pl. VIII fig. 36). The bristles are coarse blackish brown or black. They 



