620 THE AAfERICAN NATURALIST, [Vol. XXXVIII. 



ably according to circumstances. The same individuals are seen 

 at times to make a low spout and again, one twice or perhaps 

 thrice as high. Estimates of the height of the column by seem- 

 ingly reliable persons run from ten feet up to fifty. It is some- 

 times stated {cf. Beddard, : oo, p. 153) that the Sulphur-bottom 

 whale may be recognized by the great height of its spout as 

 compared with that of other large species of rorquals. The 

 writer was unable, however, to distinguish between the spouts 

 of the finback {Balcenoptera physalus) and the Sulphur-bottom 

 whale {Bahmoptcm mnscnlns), nor did the men on the whaling 



vessel believe that the height of the spout afforded any criterion 

 for such a distinction. One of the photographs obtained by the 

 writer, however, affords an opportunity for the direct comparison 

 of the relative heights of a man and of the spout of a whale. 



igure 5 shows the captain in the act of lancing a 77-foot Sulphur- 

 bottom which two harpoons had failed to despatch. He stands 

 m the bottom of the boat, alongside the exhausted animal, and 

 the spout, extending up to the skyline in the photograph, is one 

 ot average height. The standing height of the man is about 



