OEDEE OE CETACEA. 
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laiiceps and S. borealis , from the northern seas ; S. Sclegelii, 
from the Malayan seas ; and S. antarcticus, from the Southern 
Ocean. Balcenoptera he restricts to the comparatively small 
B. rostrata, hut in his appendix he adds B. Swinbaci, from the 
vicinity of Formosa; and B. bonaerensis has subsequently been 
described by Dr. H. Burmeister from a Forqual that was found 
floating on the Fiver Plata about ten miles from Buenos Ayres, 
but this will not improbably prove to be a Pkysalus * When these 
animals become better known it is probable that the number of 
species will be reduced rather than increased. 
Of Physalus antiquorum it is remarked by Mr. F. Brown, that 
“ this species, in common with most of the family Balcenopteridce, 
does not go far north as a rule, but keeps about the Cod-banks of 
Kifkal, Holsteenborg, and other localities in South Greenland. 
They feed upon Cod and other fish, which they devour in immense 
quantities. Desmoulins mentions six hundred being taken out of 
the stomach of one ; I know an instance in which eight hundred 
were found. They often, in common with Sibbaldius borealis and 
Balcenoptera rostrata , wander into the European seas in pursuit of 
Cod and Herrings, and are quite abundant in the vicinity of Foekal. 
A few years ago much excitement was got up about the number of 
‘ Whales* found in that locality, and companies were started to 
kill them, supposing them to be the Fight Whale of commerce. 
As might have been expected, they proved only to be ‘ Finners/ 
which prey on the immense quantities of Cod which are found 
there. This Whale is accounted almost worthless by the whalers ; 
and, on account of the small quantity of oil which it yields and 
the difficulty of capture, it is never attacked unless by mistake or 
through ignorance. I remember seeing one floating dead in Davis 
Strait, to which the men rowed, taking it for a Fight Whale ; but 
on discovering their mistake they immediately abandoned it. They 
had apparently not been the first, for on its sides were cut the 
names of several vessels which had paid it a visit, and did not 
consider it worth the carriage and fire to fry out the oil. The 
blubber is hard and cartilaginous, not unlike soft glue. Its ‘ blow- 
ing ’ can be distinguished at a distance by being whiter and lower 
than that of Balcena mysticetus. The Sibbaldius borealis is popularly 
confounded with it, and the same names are applied to the two by 
* Vide Annals and Magazine of Natural History, third series, vol. xx. (1867), p. 177. 
