' í r
original drawing from which Duhamel copied the fronl
halt o f this animal. I t shows the appearance o f a keel in
th e middle of th e back, which replaces the dorsal fm. Tab.
5,^is a copy o f a tracing o f this drawing, kindly sent me by
M. De Blainville. It can scarcely be a Beluga.
T h e exte rnal figure o f this animal greatly resembles
th e Hyperoodon, and it agrees in the hinder position of
the b lower; b u t the large size o f th e pectoral, and the
absence o f the dorsal, prevent it being regarded as a species
o f that genus.
P o n t o p o r ia , Gray.
Skull roundish. Beak very long, compressed, with a
strong groove on each side above. Eyebrow with a long,
cylindrical crest. Lower jaw' compressed, with a deep
groove on each side. Symphysis very long. T e e th small,
subcylindrical, smooth, ra th e r hooked, acute.
T h e P o n t o p o r ia . P ontoporia Blaiuvillii.
Tab, 29. Skull.
De lphinus Blainvillii, Fremenville, Mus. Paris.
W h ite , with a black dorsal s tre a k ; skull, with the
tubercles behind the blowholes, broad, slightly convex;
eye-brows with a strong, longitudinal c r e s t; u pper and
lower jaw with a deep, well-defined ridge on each side ;
tee th 14’ small, conical, hooked, smooth ; symphysis more
than 4 the length o f the lower jaw.
Inhab. Monte Video. Skuli, Mus. Paris.
Length o f animal .... 48'0 inches and lines.
„ skull ................. 12-6
„ beak ................. 8 ’0
„ symphysis .... 5'9
„ tee th line .... 5'4
According to Desmarest, Fremenville saw a dolphin on
th e coast of Brazil, which was 15 leel long, with a very
convex fo reh e a d ; ashy, with a white streak on each side
o f the head, on the back, th ro a t and belly.
T h e Delphinus macrogenius, Fischer, Cuvier, Oss. Foss.
V. 312, t. 23, f . 4, 5, / . 9— 11, appears to belong to this
A P P E N D I X .
D uring the time the Pla tes have been engraving, and the
tex t printing, the following new materials have come into
ray hands, which I th in k may be a useful addition lo the
knowledge o f these difficult animals.
From the examination I have been able to make of
the baleen o f Balænoptera rostrata, and o f different
masses o f small blades of Ba læ n a australis, it would a p pear
as i f th ere was, a t least, in those two species, two
series o f Baleen on each side of the palate ; the external
series being formed o f large triangular blades placed a t a
certain distant apart, and the internal, in Balænoptera
rostrata, iotrüQá o f smaller, m uch thinner, triangular pieces,
placed much closer together and forming a very dense
screening ap p a ra tu s; and in Balæna australis, ihamnQx
series is formed of numerous separate narrow strips of
Whalebone, each ending in a pencil of hairs, which vary
in size from th a t o f small twine to that of tape, half an
inch w id e ; these are placed behind the others, aud gradually
increase in size from the innermost, to the broad ex terna
l series.
Th e Baleen or Whalebone, has generally been considered
as the teeth of the wh a le ; but this must be a
mistake, for Professor E sch ric h t has shown th a t the fcetus
o f Megaptera Boops [Banish Trans. 1845, xi. t. 4), has
numerous teeth on the edge o f the jaiv, though they are
never developed. I am inclined to regard the Baleen as a
peculia r development o f hair in the palates o f these animals,
and somewhat analogous to the hair found in the
palates o f th e genus Lepus.
T h e Baleen or W halebone, affords good characters for the
separation o f this family into sections.
The Whalebone o f the smooth-bodied whales without
any back fins, is elongate, much longer than broad a t the
base, and gradually attenuated, and edged with a fringe of
equal, lengthened, fine, soft bristles. T h e Baleen is in te rnally
formed of a thin layer o f fibres covered on each side
with a thick coat o f ‘ enamel,’ when dry and out o f the
whale they are flat. T h e Whalebone of the plaited bellied
whale with a hunch (Megaptera) or a dorsal fin (Balmnop-
tera), is short, broad, triangular, not much longer tlian broad
at the base, and rapidly attenuated, and is edged with a
series (sometimes, ra the r crowded) o f elongate rigid unequal
bristles like fibres, which become much thicker and more
n g id near and a t th e tip, the Baleen is intenially formed of
one or two layers o f thick fibres, covered on each side witli
a thin layer o f enamel, and when dry and out o f the palate
they are curled up and somewhat spirally twisted.
The Baleen o f the BaUence is alone called Whalebone (or
ra th e r Whale-Jin, as it is usually called) in commerce. Tlie
Baleen of the other genera o fth is family is called Finner-Jin
or Hnmphac k-fin. The wholesale dealers in Baleen, in
t h e ‘London Directory,’ are called Whale-Jin Merchants,
and whalebone occurs under the name o f Whale-fin in the
Price-cun-ent. In t h e ‘L o ndonNewP rice-curreiit’ for 1843,
the S outh Sea Whale-Jin varied during th a t year from
¿6200 to ¿6305 per ton, aud there is no price named for
Greenland Whale-Jin.
B a l -e n a . T h e Baleen or Whalebone, is narrow, elongate,
linear, or very gradually tapering, fringed on the inner
edge with numerous fine, soft, flexible fibres o f a nearly
uniform length, consisting internally o f a thin series of
several series of fibres, covered on each side by a lliick coat
of enamel.
Scoresby describes these animals as having a slight beard,
consisting o f a few scattered white hairs, surmounting the
anterior extremity of both jaws.—Arct. Regions, i. 458.
The fins or bones of eacli series together, are called a
“ side of bone,” the largest are in the middle, from whence
they gradually diminish away to nothing a t each extremity:
the largest fin on the side is called the “ sample blade.”
Through the kindness o f Messrs. Smith and Simmonds,
and Mr. Smith o f Messrs. W. Westall & Co., Whale-fin
Merchants, I have been enabled to examine and compare
numerous species o f the received from the different
countries, and to compare their peculiarities as exhibited
during its preparation.
They know in the trade three distinc t kinds. 1. The
Greenland, from Greenland, Davies’ Straits and various
parts of the North Sea, which is th e best. 2. The South
Sea, or B la c k Jish whale-Jin brought by the South Sea
Wha ler^ And, 3. T h e Noi-lh West Coast, or American
whale-Jin, which was first imported about five years ago,
and at first sold for a high price, but it has now fallen, and
is considered as only a large kind of South S e a ; but from
the examination I have been able to make, I should b e lieve
th a t these three kinds are each produced by very
different species o f whales.
The Greenland has the hair on its edge generally stripped
off, and is clean and b right when it is brought h e r e ;
but Ibis may be from the care the North Sea whalers take
in collecting and cleaning it (as described by Scoresby,
Arctic Regions,!. 418), and the bones a reb ro iig h l home
in bundles about 100 weight each. On the other liand,
the North West Coast and the South Sea, has the hair left
on the edges, appears to be brought home in bulk, and is
a,l ways covered with an ashy w hite soft laminar coat, looking
like the rotted external layers of the enamel. Tliis coat
has lo be scraped off with large knives before it is used or
prepared,—and the surface after the scraping is not so polished
and resplendent as th a t of the Greenland “ fins.”
The three kinds are very different in shape. T h e outer
edge of the GreciiZaiirf is curved considerably ; in that of
the Eorlh-west coast, it is much more s traig h t; and in
that of the South Sea, almost quite straight. Figs. 3, 4
and 5, in Plate I, represent the three different kinds in tlie
same position, and on the same scale, being one-fouv-
teenth of the natural length and breadth. T h e fibres on
the edge in the Greenland and Ma rg in ed Whales are very
tine, flexible and long, forming only a thin series; in tlie
Soulh Sea, they are ra the r coarser; b u t in tho North-west
Coast, much thicker and co a rser; quite brisllv, an d much
more so towards the a p e x ; and they are move erect, and
form a thicker series.
T h e Whalebone is boiled for about twelve liours, to re n d
e r it soft before it is divided into strips—it then divides
very easily. The smaller pieces, when softened, arc split
by a small machine into very narrow strips like bristles, and
used for bristles to make brooms, &c. &c.
F o r every purpose the Greenland “ fins ” are preferred,
and last much longer, this is even the case with the
false b ristles; and they will alone do for the finer work,
such as the str¡]is for platting for bonnets, the platting lo
make ladies riding-whips, or the covering of telescopes and
other tubes ; the while strips for these purposes being
taken from pale longitudinal lines on the enamel o f the
Greenland fins.
T h e R ig h t W h a l e . Balæna Mysticetus.
Tab. I , / . 4. Baleen.
_ The Baleen is very long, varying from 9 to 12 feet,
linear, tapers very gradually, and o f nearly the same m oderate
thickness from end to end, and covered with a po lished
grey or greenish black enamel. The internal fibres
occupy a small p a ri o f the substance and are o f a fine
uniform texture , and are black ; while the enamel which
forms by far the greater p a rt of the substance is generally
blackish ; b u t it is sometimes, especially on the inner side of
th e “ fin,” p ale r in longitudinal stripes. The fibres on the
edge, like the internal fibres of which it is a conLiiuialion.
are very fine and black. T h e “ fins” or pieces ol' Baleen,
are flat, or as the merchant calls them “ kindly,” so lliat they
produce straight pieces fit for the better kind o f parasols
and umbrellas, &c., when cu t into strips.
Some twenty-five years, a ship arrived with the “ fins ”
taken from one “ fish,” which was peculiar for all being of
a yellowish white colour, and for having the fibres as well
as the enamel of this pale colour. T h ere is a single “ fin ”
of this animal, nearly 9 feet long, now in possession of Mr.
Brunies, (6, Percy Circus, Spafields). I t agrees in every
other respect with th e common Greenland Baleen, so that
probably the fish was an albino.
A specimen o f tho Greenland whale, 41 feet long, was
stranded in Caernarvon Bay, May 4, 184C, and to n ed
into Liverpool.
The N o r t h W e s t W h a l e . (Balæna Japónica) r
T ab . \ , f . 2. Baleen.
The Baleen is nearly as long as the Greenland, varying
from 7 to 12 feet long, and is slender ; b u t for tlie same
length it is nearly twice as thick in the substance, and it
gradually diminishes in thickness towards the ends.
The enamel, when the outer coat is removed, is not so
polished as th a t o f the Greenland, and when cu t through,
the centre fibres arc thicker, tubular, and occupy about
4 to 4 o f tlie thickness, much more in proportion than
they do on the Greenland fins, and the enamel and fibre
are coarser in texture and much more brittle.
The fins or blades of this Whalebone are generally
ii