GETACEA. 63 



C^tac^s, Vuv. Tab. Elem. 1798 ; Duvemoy, Tab. Anim. Vert. 

 Spiracules, J. Brookes, Cat. Mm. 38, 1828. 

 Balsenidse, Riippeli, Verz. Seneh. Samml. 186, 1845. 

 Cetacea vera seu Camivora, Owen, Cat. Mm. Coll. Surg. ii. 439. 



Dr. Peters objects to the tail being considered tb.e representative 

 of tbe hind feet of the Whale. He observes : " Prof. Eeinhardt dis- 

 covered only a rudiment of a femur in Balcena Mystieetus, all other 

 [whales] having the pelvis -without the vestiges of Hmbs. Tou know 

 very weU that the horizontal taU-fin is only an expansion of the 

 soft parts. How did this expression escape you?" — L«««r, 24th 

 Nov. 1864. 



I am stiU not convinced that the tail does not represent the hind 

 members, at least analogically if not actually. 



Belon and Eondelet appear to have known the Dolphin {BeVphimis 

 Delphis), the ' Ondre' (D. Tursio), and the Phocsena (P. vulgaris) ; 

 but their account of the Spermaceti "Whale is very indistinct. 



Clusius, in 1605, first described and figured the Sperm "Whale in 

 a recognizable manner, from two specimens thrown on the coast of 

 Holland in 1698 and 1601 ; and Johnston (t. 41 «& 42) well figures 

 one of these specimens. 



In 1671, Martens, in his 'Voyage to Spitzbergen,' gave a descrip- 

 tion and figure of the Whalebone Whale, the " Fin-fish " (Balceno- 

 ptera Physalus), the Weise Fish (Beluga Catodon), and the Butzkopt 

 (Oca Gladiator') ; and his figures of the first and second have been 

 the chief authorities for these animals xmtil this time. 



In 1692, Sibbald published a small quarto pamphlet, with three 

 plates, describing the Whales which had come under his observation. 

 He divides them into three groups : — I. The SmaU Whales with teeth 

 in both jaws, of which he notices three — the Orca (0. Gladiator), 

 the Beluga, and one from hearsay, which from its size was probably 

 a Porpoise (Phoccena vulgaris). II. The larger Whales with teeth 

 in the lower jaw: — 1. the Sperm "Whale; and 2. the Black Fish. 

 And III. The Whalebone "Whales, of which he describes three speci- 

 mens. The arrangement he proposed is the one used in this Catalogue ; 

 and his work forms the groundwork of aU that was known on the 

 larger Cetacea up to the Linnean time : but Artedi and Linnseus 

 committed the mistake of regarding individual peculiarities resulting 

 from accidental circumstances as specific distinctions, so that three 

 of their species have to be reduced to synonyma. [There is a later 

 edition, edited by Pennant, which appeared in Edinburgh in 1773.] 



In 1725, Dudley, in the ' Philosophical Transactions ' (N"o. ,387), 

 describes aU the "Whales now recognized by the whalers, except the 

 Black-fish : viz., 1. the Eight or "Whalebone "Whale ; 2. the Scrag 

 Whale ; 3. the Fin-back "Whale ; 4. Bunch or Humpback "Whale ; 

 and 5. the Spermaceti Whale. Cuvier, in his historical account, 

 scarcely sufficiently estimates either Sibbald's or Dudley's contri- 

 bution. . 



Bonnaterre, and after him Lacepede, in their Catalogues, coUected 

 together with great industry aU the materials they could find, in 



