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tions is the opinion of Flower after seeing the figure published by Holder, as follows: "As far as I can make out it is the same as "B. biscayensis"; also that of Dr. J. A. Allen: "Your drawing of the recent [New Jersey] specimen agrees well with the figure of B. biscayensis of southern Europe, which I believe to be identical with Cope's B. cisarctica."

In 1889, Van Beneden stated explicitly his opinion that B. cisarctica was identical with B. biscayensis. He remarks: "The Balana biscayensis of Eschricht is the Sletbag (whale with smooth back) of the ancient Icelandic whalers, the Nord-Caper of the Dutch whalers, and the Sarde of the French whalers (Du Hamel). It is the same animal as that to which Professor Cope of Philadelphia has given the name of Balana cisarctica, and Professor Capellini that of Taranto whale, Balana tarentina (Balana Van Benediana). The Balana Swedenborgii [Lilljeborg; subfossil in Sweden] is also a synonym of this species" (7, 15). Again: "Professor Cope has had the courtesy to send us from Philadelphia an earbone of an adult animal, and by our invitation Prof. Reinhardt has compared it with that of the skeleton from Pampeluna [type of "B. bis cayensis"] which is in Copenhagen. Although the former bone is from an adult animal and the second from a young animal, it is not doubtful, according to Prof. Reinhardt himself, that these bones only present such differences as depend upon age" (7, 17).1

In an article on B. biscayensis, published in 1891, Guldberg treats the descriptions of Cope, Gasco, etc., as referring to one and the same species, occurring on both sides of the Atlantic. This view was not, so far as I can ascertain, based on examination of specimens (58). The same opinion was again broached in 1893 (59).

From the foregoing statements, it will be seen, as pointed out by Holder, that the opinions of those most competent to judge in the matter have leaned strongly toward the identification of B. biscayensis with B. cisarctica. Two important names, however, must be cited among those who take the opposite view,-Reinhardt and Fischer.

Although Reinhardt was joint author with Eschricht of the work Om Nordhvalen, in which, as we have seen, the opinion is set down that the two species are identical, in the Ostéographie of Van Beneden and Gervais we find in connec tion with the account of Reinhardt's comparison of the ear bones of the type of B. biscayensis with one of B. cisarctica, the following: "Prof. Reinhardt does not believe, however, that the Balana biscayensis is a synonym of Balana cisarctica" (8, 107). If Reinhardt is correctly reported in this place, we must suppose that his opinion changed subsequent to the publication of the work Om Nordhvalen, or that the statement in the latter is to be credited to Eschricht alone. No explanation is given by Van Beneden and Gervais of the grounds of Reinhardt's opposition to the prevailing view.

The second cetologist who has dissented from the union of the Right whales of the European and United States coasts in one species is M. Paul Fischer. 'It is difficult to harmonize this last remark with the statements in the Ostéographie (see p. 107 of that work).

In support of his opinion, he brought forward in 1871 (42) two characters as distinguishing biscayensis not only from cisarctica but from australis and antipodarum. The first is drawn from a fragment of a rib found at Biarritz, which is "regularly oval, without appreciable angle, ridge, or crest." The fragment has a maximum diameter of 11 cm. and minimum diameter of 81⁄2 cm. This rib, according to Fischer, is "infinitely more massive, more rounded, and thicker" than in Balana mysticetus, australis, or antipodarum, and lacks the crest found in those species.

As a second distinguishing character of B. biscayensis, Fischer points to the bifid first rib of the type specimen from San Sebastian, not found in cisarctica or australis. He remarks further: "As to the whale of the east coast of North America, nothing proves to me its identity with the Basque whale. The Basque whalers themselves, after having almost destroyed the whales of the Bay of Biscay, spread out westward and in 1372 reached the banks of Newfoundland,' where they saw a whale which they judged different, and called 'Sardaco Baleac.' It was smaller than the Biscay whale" (42, 299).

As regards the size of the rib found at Biarritz, it is to be said that in the skeleton from Pt. Lookout, North Carolina, in the Raleigh museum, the largest rib has a maximum diameter of 12.7 cm., and two others a diameter of 10.2 cm. This was an adult male 50 ft. long. The largest ribs in the skeleton in the American Museum, New York (which is about 40 ft. long), have a diameter of 9.75 cm., and the maximum diameter of the 3d rib in the 39-foot Taranto specimen, as shown by Gasco's figures, is 10 cm. It will be seen, therefore, that Fischer's measurements of the Biarritz rib are not remarkably large. The smoothness of that fragment is hardly a reliable character, as it is well known that the shape of the ribs is quite variable, not only in the same species, but among the various pairs in a single skeleton.

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In considering the importance of the bifurcation of the proximal end of the first pair of ribs in the type of B. biscayensis, the second character brought forward by Fischer as distinguishing that species from cisarctica,—it will be interesting to read Gasco's description, quoted on p. 257. This shows that the bifurcation occurs on both sides, but is of small extent and is unequal on the two sides. As stated by Gasco, the Taranto whale is without this bifurcation of the first rib, and such is the case in all the American specimens of B. cisarctica I have examined. The B. biscayensis at San Sebastian (not the type) has the bifurcation on one side only, and that but slightly developed.

In another paper, published in 1872 (43, 19), Fischer again sums up his opinions regarding B. biscayensis and B. cisarctica, as follows:

"The Balaena biscayensis, the Nordcaper of the Norwegians and Icelanders, and the Hunterius svedenborgi ought, it seems to me, to be assembled in the same genus, if not in the same species, very close to the Hunterius temmincki of the

1

Regarding this statement, see p. 267.

2 See GRAELLS, Mem. R. Acad. Cien. Madrid, 13, pt. 3, 1889, pl. 4, fig. 6.

Cape of Good Hope. These different whales have for common characters a very small head, a bifid first rib, the lower ends of the ribs very thick and almost round.

"The Sarde of the Newfoundland banks, and the Balana cisarctica of the coast of North America, belong to a different group, very near to the Balana australis of the Cape of Good Hope, and the B. antipodum of New Zealand. The head is comparatively longer than in Hunterius; the first rib is simple; the lower extremities of the ribs are compressed.

"There exist then in our temperate regions of the Atlantic at least two species of Right whales."

In 1881, Fischer again raised the question of the number of species of Right whales in the North Atlantic (44, 33-55), but by this time had somewhat modified his views. He reviews the literature of the subject, ancient and modern, and devotes two pages to conclusions. These are in brief as follows:

1. That "it may be considered very probable that (a) the 'Nordcaper,' (b) the 'Sletbag,' (c) Balana tarentina of Capellini, and (d) Balana biscayensis belong to the same species, as well as the fossil species B. lamanoni, glacialis, and svedenborgi."

2. That "the Sarde' and B. cisarctica of Cope are synonyms and (awaiting fuller information) distinct-at least as a race-from the whale of the Basques, by the longer head. The skeleton is otherwise similar."

3. That Halibalana britannica, B. vanbenedeniana, and B. mediterranea "have not sufficient characters to be classified," and can be as well associated with the Nordcaper as with B. mysticetus.

Fischer adds the following: "A species, among cetaceans, is perhaps what we call a genus; and in that case, the Nordkaper would be a single one, with two or three races, with distinct geographical distribution."

The second of the foregoing opinions is that which is of most interest in the present connection. On page 41, Fischer makes the remarkable statement, already mentioned elsewhere (see p. 13), that armed with the compass and "balestrille" the Basques roamed westward in the Atlantic and in 1372 discovered the banks of Newfoundland, where they saw whales in abundance. This statement appears to rest on a memoir prepared by the merchants of St. Jean de Luz and Cibourre in 1710, and published in 1857.1 The whale which they first found here, according to Fischer, they considered different from the whale of the Bay of Biscay, and called Sardaco Baleac, or the whale which goes in herds or schools, in contradistinction to the former, which appears singly. Continuing their explorations, they entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence where they found still another and better whale which they called Grand Bayaco Baleac or Grand Bay whale. They afterwards recognized this as the same as the Greenland whale, B. mysticetus, found at Spitzbergen.

The character of the evidence on which these statements rest is unknown to "Mémoire addressé en 1710 à M. de Planthion, syndic général du pays de Labourd, par les négociants de Saint-Jean-de-Luz et de Cibourre." (Journal La Gironde, 29 Avril, 1857.)

me, but it appears singular that the matter has not attracted the attention of American historians, considering its importance in connection with the history of the discovery of America.

The "Sarde" should, of course, be the Right whale of the Atlantic coast of the United States, Canada, and Newfoundland, B. cisarctica Cope. Fischer, even, seems to have little doubt of that fact. He recalls Gray's claim that it is distinct because it has 14 pairs of ribs, while the San Sebastian whale has 151 and furthermore has the first pair bifurcated, but is not impressed with the importance of these distinctions. He adds:

"The notable difference which I find between the B. cisarctica and the Biscay whale is the greater relative length of the head of the former. According to the measurements given by Cope, the length of the head in B. cisarctica is to the total length as 1 to 3.69; in Segnette's whale the proportion is 1 to 4; in the young whale of San Sebastian the proportion is still less, and approaches 1 to 5. We shall see further on that the whale stranded at Taranto in 1877 has the head extremely small, 1 to 5." 2

What is meant by the "head" in this and other discussions of proportions by various European authors is not clear. The length of the skull as compared with that of the skeleton is as follows in various American and European specimens:

BALENA GLACIALIS BONNATERRE. AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN. LENGTH OF SKULL.

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It will be observed that the proportion is remarkably constant in both the American and the European specimens, considering the uncertainties involved in comparing measurements made by different observers. The Taranto skeleton alone offers a marked departure. Considering the whole series, it hardly seems probable that there is any real foundation for the character brought forward by Fischer.

'Incorrect-Gasco gives 13 pairs, but considers that there may have been 14 pairs.

"From the animal in the flesh; but from the skeleton this proportion is not more than

I to 3.98, or in round number, 1 to 4." (Foot-note by FISCHER.)

Type of B. cisarctica, Cope's measurements.

'See Fischer's foot-note.

My own measurements give 3.84.

NOTE.

Since the foregoing account of Balana glacialis was written, I have received from Mr. J. Henry Blake of Cambridge, Mass., some measurements of the male specimen found dead off Highland, Cape Cod, Mass., April, 1895. These are as follows:

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A large, flat knob, or "bonnet," near tip of upper jaw.

Several large, long knobs on the median line of the caudal peduncle superiorly, near the flukes. Notch of flukes narrow and deep.

Whalebone all black.

This individual is figured on plate 46, figs. 1, 2.

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