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flexiious, or “ not kindly,” so th a t when cut into strips,
they have the defect of being variously bent, and tapering
towards th e end, which, with th eir brittleness, greatly re duces
their value.
T h e C a p e W h a l e , Bala;na australis.
T ab . 1 , / . 3. Baleen.
T h e Balcenis about G feet long, elongate triangular, rather
rapidly tapering.to a fine point. T h e internal fibres are
ra th e r coarse, b u t much finer th an the former.
T here are sometimes imported with these Baleen, a few
yellowish white “ fins,” which seldom exceed 2 feet in
length ; in these, the fibres as well as the enamel is white,
they are not so transpa rent as the white Greenland fins
before referred to, b u t have th e same coarse tex tu re , and are
b rittle like the b lac k southern specimens, and as they do
n ot take so good a polish, they cannot b e used for making
shavings for platting, &c.
T h ere has lately been brought by the South Sea ships,
several hundred weight of a very small kind of W halebone,
which is implanted in th e remains o f the pala te , in three or
four series gradually diminishing in size tow-avds the innermost
series j each piece is linear, compressed, almost J to 4
o f an inch wide, rounded on the edge, varying from o to 8
inche s in length, aud ending in a tuft o f black hair-like
f ib re s ; in texture , colour, and exte rnal appearance it ex ac
tly agrees with the Baleen of th e Southern Whales, and
I suspect it must form the inner p a rt o f the “ screening
a p p a ra tu s” o f th a t an im al; an d if th a t is the case, the ex istence
of these separate pieces n ea r the middle o f the
roof o f th e mouth will form a very peculia r character in
this kind of whale. I am further strengthened in this belief
by perceiving amongst some short pieces of “ Southern
Whale-fin,” probably forming the end p a rt of a side, a t the
inner or shorter or p alatine edge o f each blade, two or three
lion), the account of fishing for the Cape Whales at
T able Bay, is placed under the M a n a te or Sea-Cows, apparently
because “ Cow or female whale are principally
taken ! ” p. 182.
In the Miisetim o f the Bristol Instituiion, Mr. Stutchbnry
informs me there are two lower jaws o f the “ Cape W hale,”
one 15 the other 10 feet long— aud the ribs an d scapula.
Mr. Warwick p repared the skeleton of the young one
mentioned in the tex t, and sold it to M. Boissenaux of Paris.
Mr. Warwick has kindly sent me a measurement o f a
female whale of this species taken a t False Bay Fishery,
said to be full-grown, and considered by the whalers as of
large size :—
Ft. In.
T otal length 68 0
H e ig h t of the body 14 0
Length o fh e a d 16 0
AVidlh o f tail 15 6
Lengih of ribs 10 6
Diameter o f gullet 2
small separate linear processesof Whalebone endiiigaparcel
of hairs similar to the pieces and form, above described, but
of a smaller size and ra the r more wavy. Scoresby, who gave
a very detailed ac count o f the position of the Baleen in
Greenland Whales, [Arct. Reg. i. 457, and ii. 415), does not
mention anything of the kind in th a t animal.
Th e Baleen o f th is animal is sometimes called the Whale-
fin o f the “ Black Fish,” the name th a t is sometimes ap plied
to the Physe ter Microps. I t may be th is species th at
Beale and other Souih Sea whalers refer to under the name
o f B la c k Fish.
M. Schlegel and F . Cuvier, are much distressed because
in describing the D e lphinus Capensis, I wrote by mistake
shortness instead of lengih, [see Faun. Ja p a n , 13; F. Cuvier,
Cetac. 147). Yet, M. Schlegel is liable to the same mistake.
Th u s in p. 23, he has evidently written B . A n ta rc tique
for B . Arctique, and tbe Plates 26, Balænoptera A n tarctica,
though it is th e same animal as Balæna A n ta rc tica,
in p. 27 ; but if such oversights are to be couslantiy
refeiTed to, we should liave little else to do,—and as to M.
F. Cuvier, Schlegel has pointed out many important mistakes
in his description of the Cape W liale.— Ja p . 2.
In th e translation o f Cuvier’s Animal Kingdom, published
by Henderson (which is a reprint o f the American transla-
I could not pass my hand through it. Number of
vertebræ 52. From all the conversations I have had with
the whalers, I do not think the Cape Wha le ever attains
the size of the Greenland species. These whales o f the
Cape, I constantly found covered with Tuhicinella Balæ -
va rum and Coronula Balænaris ; b u t the Spermaceti
W h a le was seldom or never so covered : they occur p rin cipally
on th e head, where they are crowded, and b u t rarely
on the body, and then only single scattered ones.”
W e s t e r n A u s t r a l ia n W h a l e . Balæna marginata.
Tab. 1 ,/. 1. Baleen.
The Baleen very long, slender (nearly eight times as
long as wide a t the base), pure white, thin, with a rather
broad black edge on the outer or straight side.
Inhab. W. Australia.
T h is species is only known from three laminæ o f Baleen
which have been kindly given to me by Mr. Warwick. It
0 much smaller and broader, compared with its width at
the base, and so differently coloured from the Baleen of
any o f tbe other species, th a t I feel called on to consider
it as distinct.
Length, 20 inches, width a t the base, 2 inches 6 lines.
The following are the measurements o f the samples of
the different kinds of “ Whale-Jin ” in the British Museum.
Greenland. North Western. Southern.
Lengih of blade, entire
Width a t base
„ at middle
„ a t 4 length ....
„ o f hair a t end
Thickne.ss a t base
„ a t middle
„ 4 th e length ....
In. L. In. L. In. L.
144 0 ... . 112 0 ..... 90 0
11 0 ... . 10 0 .... 9 0
6 0 ... 4 0 .... 3 6
.... . 2 4 .... Q 0
10 0 ... 7 0 .... 7 0
4 4 ... . 4 5 .... 0 H
4 4 .... 0 44.... 0 24
0 2 i-... 0 34.... 0
B a l æ n o p t e r a .
T h e Baleen of this genus, and of the hump-back, is short,
broad, triangular, ra the r longer than broad a t the base, and
edged with a series o f elongate, unequal, bristle-like fibres,
which become much thicker an d more rigid near the upper
lip. I t is internally formed o f one or two crowded layers
of thick tubular fibres, covered on each side with a thin
coat o f enamel, which becomes thinner and thinner near
the edge, where the fibres are free; it is always twisted,
and is only used to sp lit into false bristles, b u t in this
they are inferior to the Soutliern or lowest kind o f Baleen
of the Balænæ.
These animals are often called Razor-backs, by the
sailors.
Balænoptera sulcata Jacob, [Dublin Journ. Science,
1825, 333.)
Dr. Jacob attempts to prove th a t Balæna Boops, B . ros-
iraia, B. musculus, and B .ju b a r te s , are b u t one spec ie s;
and he has taken considerable trouble to bring together the
measurements and proportions o f th e different specimens
which have been described.
H e gives an outline o f his specimens, and contrasts it “ with
an outline o f Hunter’s P ik e d Whale, drawm according to
the measurements given by him ;” and he observes, “ that
the proportions of th e body (of these two specimens) vary
in a remarkable manner, n o t only as to the situation of the
umbilicus and other parts, b u t in th e breadth of the tail,
the length o f the fin and arms. Th is, however, is what
should be expe cted, supposing Mr. H u n te r’s to have been
a young animal, because such proportional superiority in
size of the extremities is characteristic o f the earlier periods
o f life.”
In the following table (observes Dr. Jacob), the first
column contains the dimensions o f each p a rt in feet and
in c h e s; the second, th e proportion which each measurement
bears to the entire length o f the animal, which is sup
posed to be 1,000.
i Hunter, Scoresby, Neils, Sibbald, Dr. Jacob, Sibbald,
! 17 feet. 17 ft. 6 in. 43 feet. 46 feet. 70 feet. 78 feet.
Length of arm ............................. i 2 4 1.37 2 0
257
114 5 0 116 5 0 108 7 0
200
100
18 6
.10 0
237
128
Navel to tail ................................. 8 0 470 30 0 428
Anus to tail..................................... 4 4 264 14 0 304 20 0 285
Fin to tail ..................................... 4 9 279 4 6 257 12 0 279 8 6 184 20 0 285
Gape ............................................. 3 3 194 3 6 200 14 0 10 0 217 16 0 214 13 0 166
Horny plates ................................. 0 5 24 0 6 28 1 6 34 3 0 42 3 0 38
1 0 58 1 3 71 2 6 58 2 6 35 2 0 25
Bladebone to snout ...................... 2 6 147 3 0 171 6 8 144
Eye to ear ..................................... 1 0 58 3 6 50
Height of fin ................................. 0 9 42 2 6 68 1 6 21 3 0 38
Professor E sch ric h t o f Copenhagen, who has devoted
much time to th e study o f the anatomy and development
of the Northem species o f this genus, and has published
several papers in th e Danish language on the subject, in
transa ctions of the Danish Academy’ for 1845-1846, has
kindly translated for me the following passage in his last
published paper, as the then re sult o f his exam in a tio n s:—
“ Of all th a t h a s been communicated in this chapter, it
appears to me to be proved, th a t amongst the F in whales,
at least, three different species have their abode in the
Northern S e a s :—
T. I n the Group o f ihe Longimana.
^ 1. The Greenland Keporkak. B . Boops, 0 . Fab. B
iongimana, Rudolphi.
I I . In th a t o f the Short-handed.
2. The Norwegian Vaaga kval, B . minor ; and
3. The common great short-handed, B . Boops.
T o be almost proved th a t besides there exists,
4thly. A peculiar large short-handed species. T h e Ba -
lænopterus Muscuhis.
And, at least, it is highly probable, th a t—
5thly. The Greenlandian Kepokartrak is the representative
of a particular form : and even that—
6lhly. The Greenlandian Tikagalik or Balæna I'osiratu,
O. F ab,, may h e a different species from the Norwegian
“ Vaagekval." —E sch rich t, 4th Mem. p. 157.”
M. E s ch ric h t is now engaged in examining the specimens
of Balænoptera, to be seen in the different Museums
of N orthern Europe , to attempt to settle the synonima of
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