ORDER OF CETACEA. 93 



Inticrjis nncl S. horealis, from the northern seas; S. Sclegelii, 

 from the MaLayan seas ; and 8. antarcticus, from the Southern 

 Ocean. Balmmptera he restricts to the comparatively small 

 B. roatrafa, but in his ai^i^endix he adds B. Sidnhaci, from the 

 vicinity of Formosa ; and B. honaiireims has subsequently been 

 described by Dr. II. Burmeister from a Rorqual that was found 

 floating on the River Plata about ten miles from Buenos Ayres, 

 but this will not improbably prove to be a PlujsaliiH* When these 

 animals become better known it is probable that the number of 

 species wiU be reduced rather than increased. 



Oi PhijsaJus anflquontm it is remarked by Mr. R. Brown, that 

 " this species, in common with most of the family Bakenoptcridw, 

 does not go far north as a rule, but keeps about the Cod-banlis of 

 Kifkal, Holsteenborg, and other localities in South Greenland. 

 They feed upon Cod and other fish, which they devour in inmiense 

 quantities. Desmoulins mentions six hundred being taken out of 

 the stomach of one ; I know an instance in which eight hundred 

 were found. They often, in common with Sibbaldiiis horealis and 

 Balmioptcra roslrata, wander into the European seas in pui-suit of 

 Cod and Herrings, and are quite abundant in the vicinity of Roekal. 

 A few years ago much excitement was got up about the nund^er of 

 ' Whales' found in that locality, and companies Avere started to 

 kill them, supposing them to be the Right Whale of commerce. 

 As might have been expected, thej^ proved only to be ' Finners,' 

 which prey on the immense quantities of Cod which arc found 

 there. This Whale is accounted almost worthless by the whalers ; 

 and, on accoimt of the small quantity of oil which it yields and 

 the difficulty of capture, it is never attacked unless by mistake or 

 through ignorance. I remember seeing one floating dead in Davis 

 Strait, to which the men rowed, taking it for a Right AYhale ; but 

 on discovering their mistake they immediately abandoned it. They 

 had apparently not been the first, for on its sides were cut the 

 names of several vessels which had paid it a visit, and did not 

 consider it worth the carriage and fire to fry out the oil. The 

 blubber is hard and cartilaginous, not uxilike soft glue. Its ' blow- 

 ing ' can be distinguished at a distance by being whiter and lower 

 than that of Balcena mysticetus. The Sibhaldius horealis is popularly 

 confounded with it, and the same names are applied to the two by 



* Fide Annals and Magazine of Natural Eistory, third series, vol. xx. (1867), p. 177. 



