2. ETJBAi^NA. 97 



front. The head is two-fifths of the entire length ; the pectoral fin 

 large, pointed. — Temm. 



Balsena Sieboldii, Gray, Ann. Sf Mag. N. H. 1864, xiv. 349. 



Balsena australis, Temm. Fauna Japan, t. 28 & 29. 



Balsena Japonica, Cfray, Zool. E. Sr T. 15, 47. 1. 1. f. 2 (baleen) ; Cat. 



Cetac. B.'M. 1850, 17. 

 PBalsena Japonica, Lacip.Mem.Mus. iv.473 ; Desm.Mamm. 628, 802 ; 



Fischer, Syn. b'ii2. 

 ? Balsena lunulata, Lacep. M6m. Mas. iv. 475 ; Desm. Mamm. 528, 803 ; 



Fischer, Syn. hi% 



Inhab, Japan, visiting the coast periodically. The head is often 

 covered with barnacles (cirripedes). 



This species is only described and figured from a model, made in 

 porcelain-clay by a Japanese, under the inspection of a Japanese 

 whaler and M. Siebold ; but no remains of the animal were brought 

 to Europe ; so that we do not know whether it is a Eubalcena or a 

 Hunterivs, or if it may not be an entirely new form. 



B. Japonica and E. lunulata, Lacep., are from Chinese drawings 

 They differ in colour from Temminck's figure. 



Var. ? 1. North-west Whale, Balcena Japonica ?, Gray, Zool. 

 Erebus & Terror, 15. 1. 1*. f. 2 (baleen). Var. 1. Gray, Cat. Cetac. 

 B. M. 1850, 17. 



a, h. Two plates of " North-west Coast Whalebone." North-west 

 coast of America. Presented by Messrs. Smith and Simmonds. — 

 The specimens figured in the ' Voyage of the Erebus and Terror,' 

 p. 47. tab. 1. fig. 2. 



c, d. Two plates of " North-west Coast Whalebone." North-west 

 coast of North America. 



The baleen is nearly as long as the Greenland, varying from 7 

 to 12 feet long, and slender j but for the same length it is nearly 

 twice as thick in substance, and it gradually diminishes in thick- 

 ness towards the ends. The enamel, when the outer coat is removed, 

 is not so polished as that of the Greenland, and when cut through, 

 the central fibres are thicker, tubular, and occupy about one-fifth to 

 one-eighth of the thickness — much more in proportion than they do 

 in the Greenland fins, and the enamel and fibre are coarser in tex- 

 ture a,nd much more brittle. 



The firis or blades of this whalebone are generally flexuous, or 

 " not kindly," so that when cut into strips they have the defect of 

 being variously bent, and tapering towards the end, which, with 

 their brittleness, greatly reduces their value. 



Mr. Bennett observes that " the Eight Whale, so abundant and 

 so little molested in the northernmost waters of the Pacific, or off the 

 north-west coast of America, is probably identical with the Green- 

 land species " (Whaling Voyage, ii. 229). The whalebone or baleen 

 shows it is more aUied to the Cape species, but apparently distinct 

 from it. 



" There are three vertebrae, a pair of humeri, and a pair of scapulae, 

 which I have referred to Balcma australis, DesmouUns, in the Museum 



H 



