BaL^NID/E. MAMMALIA. CATODONTlU.iE. 199 
we cannot here enter. Full particulars are given in 
Dr. Scoresby’s work. Let it suffice us to observe that 
between the years 1669 and 1778 the Dutch sent 
14,167 ships to the shores of Greenland, and of these 
561 were wrecked, no less than 73 having been lost 
in a single season. 
The Greenland whale has occasionally strayed to 
the northern shores of Scotland and the Zetland Isles; 
those that have run agi’ound being always found in a 
very impoverished condition. Even in this state, the 
monster was in olden times deemed a “ Royal fish,” 
and according to Pennant, or the still more authorita- 
tive Commentaries of Blackstone, when the whale was 
accidentally cast ashore the reigning monarchs divided 
the spoil — “ the king asserting his right to the head, 
her majesty to the tail!” 
Of other whales belonging to the genus Balaena, we 
have only space to particularize the following : — The 
western Australian whale {B. marginata) which is fur- 
nished with very long and slender baleen; the New 
Zealand whale, or Tuku Peru {B. antarctica) which 
attains a length of sixty feet; the Cape whale [B. 
australis) which is also an inhabitant of the southern 
ocean and of a uniformly deep black colour ; the Japa- 
nese whale {B. japonica) which is very imperfectly 
known; and the Scrag whale (E. gihhosa) an Atlantic 
species, which is characterized by the possession of a 
series of knob-like protuberances along the middle line 
of the hinder region of the back, forming a sort of tran- 
sition to the fin-backed whales. The genus Megaptera 
is, indeed, closely allied to the above species, and follow- 
ing the classification and nomenclature adopted by Dr. 
J. E. Gray in his synopsis of the cetacean families 
contained in the British Museum, we have further to 
indicate the principal members of the hump-backed 
genus, there specified, as follows: — Johnston’s Hump- 
backed whale {Megaptera longimana) which is a com- 
mon inhabitant of the northern seas— Dr. Johnston of 
Berwick described it from a specimen accidentally 
thrown ashore at Newcastle ; the Bermuda Hump- 
back {M. Americana), whose head is covered with 
tubercles or nodulations, the hide being black above 
and whitish underneath; the Cape Hump -back or 
Poeskop {M. Poeskop ) ; and the Ku'zira {M. Kuzira), 
the latter being found off the coasts of Japan. The 
genus Baloenoptera is represented by a single species 
commonly known as the Pike whale {Baloenoptera 
rostrata). A great deal of confusion, however, still 
exists in reference to this species and until the 
points are more satisfactorily cleared up, we are 
scarcely in a position to describe it with confidence. 
According to Dr. Gray, it is identical with the Roi'- 
qualus Boops of F. Cuvier. It is an inhabitant of 
the northern seas, and has a black colour above, 
being reddish-white underneath the belly. A speci- 
men is said to have been captured in the Thames near 
Deptford, but this example has heen considered, by 
several authorities, only as a young example of the 
Great Northern Rorqual. Dr. Collingwood in -his 
admirable little “ Fauna of Blackheath and its vicinity,” 
has recorded the circumstance as follows : — “ On Sun- 
day, October 23, 1842, a whale was observed in the 
Thames opposite Deptford Creek. Five men put off in 
a boat, and attacked it with a large bearded spear; and 
having pushed it immediately under Deptford Pier they 
overcame and despatched it. Having by mechanical 
appliances raised it upon the pier, its dimensions were 
ascertained to be — total length 14 feet 6 inches; length 
from nose to angle of mouth, 3 feet 10 inches; tail 
from fork to fork, 3 feet 10 inches. A full account of 
this whale is to be found in the Zoologist for 1842, 
with a figure; also an account of its capture, with a 
sketch of the animal, is to be seen in the Illustrated 
London News, vol. i. p. 388.” Similar difficulties 
exist in regard to the determination of the specific 
characters of the Great Northern Rorqual of Dr. Knox, 
which, according to Dr. Gray, is identical with — 
THE BAZOE-BACE {Physalus Antiquorumi ) ; and 
knowing the careful research which this eminent mam- 
malogist has bestowed upon the subject, we shall assume 
his determinations in this respect to be correct. We 
have ourselves frequently examined the skeleton of Dr. 
Knox’s celebrated specimen, so satisfactorily preserved 
and exhibited in the elephant-house of the Edinburgh 
Zoological Gardens, and we can therefore testify to the 
accuracy of the details given by the three eminent 
authorities on comparative anatomy who dissected it. 
Those who are interested in the details should consult 
Dr. Knox’s original description published in the Trans- 
actions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for 1827, or 
his more recent memoir — entitled “ Contributions to 
the Anatomy and Natural History of the Cetacea” — 
recorded in the 3rd volume of the Journal of the Proceed- 
ings of the Linnsean Society. If Dr. Gray’s views are 
right, it would appear that the whale taken at Black 
Gang Chine, Isle of Wight, in 1842, is also referable to 
this species ; whilst the same may be said of specimens 
taken both at Berwick and at Plymouth in 1831. 
Another example was taken off the coast of Ostend in 
the early part of the present century, and the skeleton 
subsequently exhibited in London, near the King’s 
Mews, Charing Cross. The hide of the Razor-back 
has a slatish - grey colour, being whitish underneath ; 
the under border of the baleen, which is short, is 
blackish, the inner edge being pale-streaked. It is an 
inhabitant of the northern ocean. Respecting its habits, 
Mr. Bell remarks, that they “are different from those of 
the common whale. It is less quiet and tranquil in its 
general movements, seldom lying motionless on the 
surface of the water whilst blowing, but making way at 
the rate of about five miles an horn’. When struck, 
the velocity of its descent is such as very frequently to 
break the line, of which Captain Scoresby mentions 
several instances.” It is very doubtful if this species 
ever attains a length of upwards an hundred feet, 
though examples have been recorded which were only 
a few feet short of this measurement. 
Dr. Gray has given the scientific appellation of 
Physalus Boops to a form which he considers quite dis- 
tinct from the above, and which we may therefore 
more simply particularize as Gray’s Fin-back whale. 
A specimen of this whale was captured off the Welsh 
coast in the year 1846, and it is now preserved in the 
British Museum under the above title. It is thhty- 
eight feet in length, has sixty vertebrae, and fifteen pairs 
of ribs. The head alone measmes nine feet in length. 
