GREENLAND RIGHT-WHALE. 381 



OETAOEA. BALMNTTiM 



(M YSTA COOETI). BALMmBJE. 



Genus BALiENA (Linnaeus, 1766). 



Qenerie C%a)-ac<cr. —Baleen long; no dorsal fin; skin of throat and belly 

 smooth; flippers short. Rostrum of skull much compressed and rounded; 

 rami of lower jaw strongly arched outwards ; cervical vertebrse ankylosed. 



GREENLAND RIGHT-WHALE. 



Balmna mysticetus (Linn.). 



Specific CTiaracter. —Dark grey, the lower jaw and throat white. Head of 

 adult one-third of the entire length ; baleen long and narrow. Number of 

 vertebra 54, of ribs 13 pairs, rarely 14. Length of adult, 50 to 60 feet. 



£alwna mysticetus, Jjinsmub, Syst. Nat. I. 105 (1766). 

 A7-I>eh of Greenlander. Akbeh of Western Esquimo. 



The term "Right-Whale" has been applied to the mem- 

 bers of the restricted genus Balmna, these being the only 

 animals which fully reward the whaler by a full supply of 

 oil and whalebone of the best quality. From the next 

 family, that of the Rorquals or Fin- Whales, the Right- 

 Whales are at once distinguished by the absence of a 

 dorsal-fin, and of folds or plicaa on the throat or belly. 

 Their heads are also much larger — amounting to a fourth 

 or even a third of their entire length, their baleen is longer 

 and more valuable, their cervical vertebrae are ankylosed 

 into a solid mass, and their flippers have five fingers. 



