In 1741 appeared the first edition of Egede's Description of Greenland. Egede was for twenty-five years a missionary in that country and must have had many opportunities for obtaining information regarding whales. He mentions and briefly describes various cetaceans, including "the Whale" (Bowhead), the "Finned whale" or "Fin-Fish," the "Nord Caper," and the "Cachelot." The matter relating to the "Nord Caper" appears to have been extracted from some earlier author, but the remainder is original. It is for the most part accurate, and is of interest on account of the frequency with which it is quoted by later writers.'

In 1746 John Anderson, burgomeister of Hamburg, a scholarly writer and painstaking naturalist, published an excellent résumé of what was then known of whales in northern waters, in his Nachrichten von Island, Grönland und der Strasse Davis. He appears not to have acquired any knowledge of the natural history of the cetaceans by direct observation, but diligently pursued inquiries among the whalers and fishermen who came to Hamburg. He took every opportunity to examine the treasures in the various European museums then established, and assembled a natural history cabinet of his own.

In the course of his essay on Greenland and Davis Strait, Anderson stops to consider the cetaceans. He includes and comments on the various species mentioned by Paul Dudley in 1725, and the earlier anonymous writer in the Philosophical Transactions. His classification and the species of whalebone whales mentioned are as follows:

(1) Whales with smooth backs. [=Balæninæ.]

(a) The true whale, or Greenland Right whale. [=Balæna mysticetus.]

(b) The Nordcaper. [=B. glacialis or biscayensis.]

(2) Whales with the back grown out. [=Balanopterinæ.]

'EGEDE, H., A Description of Greenland. Translated from the Danish. London, 1745, pp. 65-82, pls. 5 and 6. I have not seen the original edition. 'Hamburg, 1746, pp. 95-103, 185-230. Anderson comments on the fact that the Greenland whalemen have not seen any of the second class, and states that he would disbelieve in their existence but for Sibbald's observations. Sibbald, however, while speaking of nostrils really describes the blowholes, having apparently become confused between the simple blowhole of the toothed whales and the double one of the whalebone whales.

(1) With a dorsal fin. [=Balanoptera.]

(a) The Finfish. [=Balanoptera physalus.]

(b) The Jupiter, or Jupiter-fish. [Includes (with a query) the Humpback of the Bermudas, and the Balana vera of Rondelet, and Balanoptera physalus.]

(2) With one or more knobs [Puckeln].

(a) "The Swordfish of our Greenland voyagers." [=Orcinus.]

(b) The American "Pflockfisch." [=The Humpback of Dudley.]

(c) The "Knotenfisch" or "Knobbelfisch." [=Scrag whale of Dudley.]

On page 197, Anderson discusses the identity of the Jupiter-fish and remarks that he cannot state positively what it is. He gives, however, an excellent description, derived from certain fishermen, of one killed in 1723, which is clearly Balanop tera physalus. He suspects that this is the same as the whale occurring in the Bermudas, described by the anonymous writer of 1665 in the Philosophical Transactions, and there said to resemble the "Jubartes "1; but in this he was mistaken as the whale there described was the Humpback. He gives Latin polynomial names to Dudley's Humpback and Serag whale, but adds nothing to their natural history. Anderson's classification is less formal than Klein's and is hardly an improvement upon it. The general accuracy of his natural history notes, however, and his earnestness and instinct for suspecting errors, though he could not always prove them such, are especially noteworthy. His only contributions to the natural history of species of whalebone whales occurring in American waters are the notes on the Greenland whale, B. mysticetus, which he had from the whalers, and possibly the description of B. physalus (?), under the name of Jupiter-fish.

Brisson's Rêgne Animal, published in 1756, contains mention of the species described by earlier authors, but no new information. All the whalebone whales are included in the genus Baleena. The species to which American localities are assigned are the "common Greenland whale" (= Balena mysticetus), "the whale of New England" (= the Humpback of Dudley), and "the whale with six humps" the Scrag whale of Dudley). To these is added "the Gibbar," which is "frequently found in India and in the New World." The synonymy given in connection with this species includes most of the natural history writers who preceded Brisson, and it is not clear from which of them he derived the information that it occurred in America, though probably he took it from Klein, who in turn refers back to Dudley's account of the Finback, in the Philosophical Transactions.

=

The next work to be considered the tenth edition of Linnæus's Systema Naturæ (1758)-though it marks the beginning of a new period as regards zoological classification and nomenclature, is of very little importance in relation to American cetology. But four species of baleen whales are mentioned, and the statement that Balaena mysticetus "lives in the Greenland Ocean" is the sole allusion to anything American. Even this may refer to Spitzbergen rather than to Greenland proper, or "Old Greenland." The twelfth edition (1766) mentions that Balena physalus "lives in the European and American Ocean," but nothing

'Philos. Trans., 1, 1665, No. 1, p. 12.

2

Page 106.

else of interest in the present connection. The various editions of the Systema after the twelfth, published in German, Dutch, English, etc., contain no original American matter on cetaceans, and, except Gmelin's (1788), no improvements as regards classification.

The earliest is Houttuyn's Dutch translation (1762), which appears to have no original information. All the baleen whales remain together under the head of Balance. The Linnæan species mysticetus, physalus, boops, and musculus, are described and commented on under their Latin names, after which occurs the "Neiuw Engelandsche Penvisch" and the "Knobbel Visch." These are Dudley's Humpback and Scrag whales, but our author obtains his knowledge of them through Brisson and Anderson. Farther on we come upon Acosta's fable of the Indians killing whales by plugging their blowholes, which is inserted without comment or indication of its origin.'

The only American references in Boddaert's edition (1772), are as follows: "Vinvisch" (a) with two blowholes, and a knob on the back. Lives in New England. "Knobbelvisch" (b) whale, with two blowholes and six knobs on the back. These are, of course, Dudley's Humpback and Scrag whales.

In 1773 Müller published an annotated edition of the Systema, based on the twelfth edition and the work of Houttuyn. He has the four Linnæan species of whalebone whales, all in the genus Balana, and adds three others (without Latin names) which he found in later authors. Two of these are Dudley's Humpback and Scrag whales, under the names of "Pflockfish" and "Knotenfish," which Müller doubtless knew only indirectly through Anderson, or some other writer.

Gmelin's edition of 1788, or the thirteenth Latin edition, is considerably fuller than the tenth or twelfth, but contains only one added species of whalebone whale, -Balana gibbosa. This is made up of Dudley's Serag whale and Humpback combined, though all the references are at second hand. The two forms are designated as a. and b., but not named as varieties. It is an interesting question whether the name gibbosa can be applied to the Humpback. Another nominal species included with the baleen whales is the Balena rostrata of Müller's Prodro mus. This is, however, probably the Hyperoödon. The Nordcaper is included as "b," under Balena mysticetus, but without a Latin varietal name; and Egede, Anderson, and Cranz are quoted in the synonymy.5

In 1800 William Turton published an English translation of the Systema from Gmelin's edition of 1788. Only two baleen whales have American habitats assigned to them, B. physalus ("Fin-fish "), which inhabits "the American and European seas"; and B. gibbosa. This latter is called "Hump whale" by Turton and is said to inhabit the "coasts of New England." It is made by uniting Dudley's

2

'HOUTTUYN, F., Natuurlyke Historie volgens Linnæus, 1, pt. 3, 1762, pp. 441-500.

* Boddaert, P., Kortbegrip van het zamenstel der Natuur, van den Heer C. Linnæus, 1, pt. 1,

1772, P. 93.

3

P. 493.

MÜLLER, P. L. S., Des Ritters Carl von Linné vollstandiges Natursystem, 1, 1773,

'See Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 21, 1898, p. 633.

GMELIN, J. F., Systema Naturæ, 13th ed., Leipzig, 1, 1788, pp. 223-226.

Humpback and Scrag whales under one name as in Gmelin's work. Turton omits all bibliographical references.1

While these various editions and translations of Linnæus's works were in course of publication, numerous other systematic works on a more or less independent basis made their appearance. One of the earliest of these was O. F. Müller's Prodromus of the Zoology of Denmark (including Greenland), published in 1776. It is a list of species under Latin binomials and polynomials, or diagnoses, with the Norwegian, Icelandic, and Greenlandic names added. The baleen whales are all included in the genus Balana, and the following have Greenlandic names: B. mysticetus, Arbec or Arbavirksoak [Bowhead]; B. physalus, Keporkak, or Keporkarsoak [Finback]; B. albicans, Killelluak [White whale].

3

The next important systematist, Erxleben, prefaces the list of cetacea in his excellent Systema Regni Animalis (1777) with the remark that the species are but imperfectly known. The baleen whales are all retained in the genus Balena, and the species are the Linnæan ones with the addition of B. gibbosa. Of B. mysticetus he gives the habitat as toward the North Pole, chiefly about Greenland and Spitzbergen, and among his numerous authorities cites Egede, Anderson, and Cranz. He is in doubt about the Nordcaper, and does not separate it formally from mysticetus. B. physalus is given as occurring "in the European and American Ocean," and the authorities cited include Egede (Finne-fiske), Anderson, and Cranz (Finnfisch). Erxleben is in doubt about the Pflockfisch (Dudley's Humpback), but thinks it may belong with physalus, which is, of course, incorrect. The habitat given is "about New England." He cites it at second hand from Klein, Anderson, and others. The habitat of B. boops is in "the northern ocean." Anderson and Cranz (Jupiterfisch) are cited among the authorities. B. gibbosa is Dudley's Scrag whale, which he takes at second hand from Klein, Anderson, and other compilers. No habitat is given.5

Three years later, in 1780, Otto Fabricius, who was for several years a missionary in Greenland, published his well-known Fauna Groenlandica, a very concise and judicious work, and one whose influence on zoological nomenclature has continued to the present day. In treating of the cetaceans it is hardly to be expected that he would escape errors entirely, especially considering the backward state of cetology at the time, but his descriptions are for the most part remarkably clear.

'For Czenpinski's Totius Regni Animalis Genera in Classes et Ordines Linnæana methodo digesta, 1778, see Allen's Bibliography, p. 468, No. 346.

2 MÜLLER, O. F., Zoologia Danica Prodromus, 1776, pp. viii, 6-8.

'On p. viii of the introduction Müller transfers this name to B. boops [Humpback] on the authority of Fabricius.

'Pp. 601-611.

'Dr. J. A. Allen in his Bibliography of Cetacea, p. 467, No. 341, remarks that B. gibbosa of Erxleben is not the Scrag whale of Dudley," as usually stated, which is one of the 'species obscuræ ' not formally recognized." This is an error. The only one of the "species obscura" from Dudley cited by Erxleben, on p. 617 is the "Dudleji Balana Klein." This is Dudley's sperm whale. On the other hand, all the bibliographical citations under B. gibbosa and the diagnosis refer back to Dudley's Scrag whale.

The whalebone whales are brought together under the genus Balana as follows: Balana mysticetus [Bowhead], B. physalus [Common Finback], B. boops [Humpback], B. rostrata [Little Piked whale], and B. musculus. This last was not known to Fabricius himself, and he remarks regarding it: "A whale known under a Greenlandic name allied to the preceding [B. boops], and rarely seen, which indeed its name indicates. I am perplexed regarding the synonyms of it and the wonderful confusion of them among authors; and being denied by fate to see one of them, I am able to determine nothing with certainty."

1

In 1818 Fabricius gave a further description of the Greenland Humpback, under the name of "Stub-Hval." He treats of its name, external characters and coloration, distribution and migrations, food, uses, enemies and parasites, and synonymy. The figure which accompanies the article, though interesting, is grossly inaccurate in many particulars. It is quite as good, however, as many others of its time. That it was not made use of by compilers subsequently is somewhat singular.

An important list of American cetaceans was published in 1782 in a work whose title-Letters from an American Farmer-one would hardly expect to find in a bibliography of cetology. The author, Hector St. John de Crèvecœur, seems to have had more or less knowledge of the whaling industry from practical experience, and states that he was "well acquainted" with one kind of whale. His list purports to comprise the species known to the people of Nantucket, and reflects an accuracy of knowledge which is remarkable for its time.

"The river St. Laurence whale [he remarks] which is the only one I am well acquainted with, is seventy-five feet long, sixteen deep, twelve in the length of its bone (which commonly weighs 3000 lb.), twenty in the breadth of their tails, and produces 180 barrels of oil." a

3

This is, of course, the Bowhead, and its mention in this manner seems to support the assertion made by Thomas Edge more than a century before (1625), that the Bowhead at a still earlier date was taken in the "Grand Bay of Newfoundland" [Strait of Belle Isle]. See page 11.

De Crèvecœur proceeds: "The following are the names and principal characteristics of the various species of whales known to these people [of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard]:

"The River St. Laurence whale, just described.

"The disko, or Greenland ditto.

"The right whale, or seven feet bone, common on the coasts of this country, about sixty feet long.

'FABRICIUS, O., Zoologiske Bidrag. 2det Bidrag. Om Stub-Hvalen, Balana Boops. K. Danske Videns. Selsk. Skrivter, 6, 1818, pp. 63-83, 1 pl. (unnumbered), fig. 1.

'Letters from an American Farmer describing the British Colonies in North America, London, 1782, pp. 167–169. Allen (Bibliog., p. 472), states that "In the French edition of 1767 [lege 1787], the letter about the whale-fishery is dated 'Nantucket, 17 Octobre, 1772.'"

Op. cit., p. 167.