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COMMENTS ON DR. PERINGUEY'S NOTE ON WHALES. 
By Arthur F. Bearpark. 
(With one Text-figure.) 
With reference to the note on whales by Dr. Peringuey, published in 
the ' Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa,' vol. ix, pt. 1, I feel 
that certain statements contained therein cannot be allowed to pass without 
challenge. 
To deal seriatim with the points in question, I will first draw attention 
to the fact that the size of a whale cannot be safely estimated from the size 
of its jawbones. The most notable factors affecting the size of the jaw- 
bones are the age and sex of the animal, therefore more evidence is required 
before a length can be assumed for the particular whale which Dr. Peringuey 
describes (p. 73) as about 100 ft. long. 
Balenoptera borealis (p. 74). — It is not easy to understand why Dr. 
Peringuey should say this whale was considered as rare in the Northern 
Hemisphere. The very name suggests the North. Those who have studied 
whales look upon B. borealis as a very common species occurring in both 
hemispheres. For instance, Lydekker, in his ' Guide to Whales,' etc., 
exhibited in the British Museum, p. 20, records that 771 of these individuals 
were captured in Finmark in 1885. Further records of B. borealis in the 
waters of the Northern Hemisphere will be found in the publications of — 
Salvesen, T. E., ' Journ. Roy. Soc. Arts,' March 29th, 1912, p. 522. 
Andrews, R. C, Assistant Curator of Mammals, American Museum 
of Natural History, " Shore Whaling," ' National Geographic 
Magazine,' vol. xxii, No. 5, May, 1911, p. 430. 
D'Arcy, Wentworth Thompson, 'The Scottish Naturalist,' No. 81, 
September, 1918, p. 198. 
Southwell, T., F.Z.S., ' Seals and Whales of the British Seas,' 1881, 
p. 77. 
Beddard, F. E., M.A., F.R.S., 'Book of Whales,' 1900, p. 155. 
Harmer, S. F., Sc.D., F.R.S., ' Cetacea Stranded on British Coasts, 1 
1915, pp. 5, 6, and 11 ; 1918, pp. 5, 12, and 13. 
Bower, T. W., ' Alaska Fisheries, etc.,' Report of the United States 
Bureau of Fisheries for 1918. Bureau of Fisheries Document 
No. 872, p. 64. 
