 section 11 of the book of whales this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Mike Botez the book of whales by Frank Evers Bedard chapter 6 part 1 the right whales the whale bone whales Mr. Quassetti are separated by all naturalists from the toothed whales as a distinct division which is characterized by the possession of whale bone this is not however the only feature which distinguishes the whale bone whales from the Odontoceti the skull is nearly symmetrical in fact it is not perceptibly asymmetrical the nasal bones are equal or sub equal in size and in their characters more like those are they ordinary mammals they are placed side by side have truncated ends and roof over the nasal passage to the extent of their length the frontal bones are not overlapped by the maxile as they are in toothed whales there is a distinct lacrimal bone the two rummy of the mandible meat only at the very end and for a very short space they are more over as a rule connected at their junction by ligament only they are much bowed outwards and enclose a spoon shaped area the skull as a whole is more or less arched most so in the right whales this structural peculiarity is obviously connected with the presence of whale bone and is less developed in the raw quills where the whale bone is shortest the ribs are never attached to the vertebrae by more than one head which is the tubercular head ie that articulating with the transverse process of the vertebrae the sternum is always in one piece and only a single pair of ribs articulate with it it is always very small in proportion to the size of the body and does not represent a fused sternum of several segments but the manubrium only it is usual perhaps to divide the mista cosetti into two families the Balenide and the Balenocteride this arrangement is that followed by gray in his catalog it is the arrangement found in many textbooks of zoology in his supplement however gray laid still greater emphasis upon the structural divergences to be seen among the whale bone whales and arranged them thus suborder one Baleno idea containing but a single family Balenide and sub-order to Balenocteride containing the families Agafelide Megapteride Fissalide and Balenocteride the other extreme is accepted by most writers who allow but a single family Balenide I am disposed to allow the two families Balenide and Balenocteride but there is something to be said for but a single family chiefly on account of the characters of Rackia Nectis and Neo Balena it is rather curious that Dr. Gray with his liberality in the manufacture of families did not dignify the last named by creating a special family for it especially as he divided the roar calls into two families both Rackia Nectis and Neo Balena to some extent interfere with the naturalness of the families Balenide and Balenocteride and so does that less known genus Agafelos if really distinct with which cope at first United Rackia Nectis Rackia Nectis has the general outline of a roar call but there is no dorsal fin and the throat plates of Balenocteride are reduced to two the Balene however is short as in the roar calls the skeletal characters are also to some extent intermediate the cervical vertebrae are free as in roar calls the sternum is as in that group and so on the whole is the form of the skull but when the skull is seen from the side the pre maxillaries are as obvious as in the Greenland whale and the four part of the skull is narrow as in that cetacean the scapula moreover is not so elongated as in the roar calls but has more the shape of that in the genus Balena Neo Balena is placed by gray among the Balenide but it has several Balenocteride characters it is however a true Balena in the length of the Balene and in the consequent arching of the skull but the frontal bones are rather the processes of those bones which cover over the orbit are broad as in Balenocteride and not so narrow as in the right whales the skull as a whole is not so disproportionate to the body as in the genus Balena it is more like a roar call in this particular finally the scapula is roar call like in its anteroposterior elongation it is not nearly so high as in the right whale on the other hand the sternum marks affinities of Neo Balena with Balena I should be disposed to describe Neo Balena as a Balena with affinities to Balenocteride and Rachea Nectis as a Balenocteride with affinities to Balena concerning Agafellus we have less information of the two genre just mentioned there are skeletons in the British Museum which I have been able to study Agafellus has no dorsal fin and is said to be without throat plates but this has been stated of Rachea Nectis which is figured by Scamman as having two of those plates on the other hand the Balena is like that of Balenocteride in being short the scapula is like that of the same genus further information is required before the genus can be placed with an approximation to accuracy family Balenidae skull very much arched and narrow anteriorly lower jaw without marked coronoid process cervical vertebrae fused Balen very long pectoral limbs short no grooves on throat the last character may prove to be not applicable to Neo Balena which is as already explained somewhat intermediate between the right whales and the rock walls this family of whales contains but two genre and these include between them probably not more than three species of which two are referable to Balena genus Balena size large 50 to 60 feet no dorsal fin had more than one fourth of the length of the body orbital process of frontal not wider than downward process of maxilla scapula rather high 12 to 15 pairs of ribs hind limbs consisting of a pelvic bone femur and tibia the right whales as it is usual to term the Greenland whale and the southern whale bone whale are so termed on account of the fact that they are the right kind of whale for the whaler to attack their well bone is finer and longer than that of others and the oil is more abundant and of a superior quality these whales are characterized in addition to the characters given in the definition which are not found in the allied genus Neo Balena by the enormous head and the peculiar form of the mouth which is shown in the accompanying illustration the skull is mainly distinguishable from that of neo Balena by the characters of the frontal and maxilla given in the diagnosis this character is very plain on an examination it is an interesting fact to note from professor Huxley's figure of a fetal southern right whale given in his anatomy of vertebrates that in the fetus the frontal in its proportions more approaches that of neo Balena and the raw quills this is so far confirmatory evidence of the view that this genus is the most modified of whale bone whales on the other hand it must be remembered that the greater perfection of the hind limb points to a less modified condition than that which is exhibited by Baleno ptera where the limb is still further reduced and further more the ribs point to a more primitive stage in Balena in the raw calls and neo Balena very few have capitular processes in a specimen of Balena discayensis at the British Museum of the 14 ribs present the first two had no capitulum but ten following on each side were provided with capitular processes there would seem to be some little vagueness about the number of ribs in this genus vagueness is however readily produced by deficient specimens and this fact may easily account for some of the discrepancies but there would not seem to be any method by which a less number of ribs should be converted into a greater the Greenland whale is characterized by mr. Lidica as possessing but 12 ribs and thus distinguished from its southern congeners which has 15 the skeleton of Balena misty setus at the Brussels is described by Sir W flower as having 14 pairs of ribs though the usual number is stated as 13 the sternum of Balena is not cross-shaped as in raw calls it is oval decreasing in diameter behind or somewhat heart-shaped in contour the scapula is high thus contrasting with a more elongated scapula of the raw calls it is or perhaps rather has been a matter of dispute as to how many species of whale are embraced in the general expression right whale it is the prevailing opinion at present that there are but two properly established forms i.e. the Greenland whale and the southern right whale Balena australis but it may be that there are others Scorsby rights of tribes of whales inhabiting different regions which are to be distinguished by different proportions of head and trunk those inhabiting southern latitudes he observes have commonly long heads and bodies compared with their circumference moderately thick blubber and long whale bone those of the mean fishing latitude that is 78 to 79 degrees have more commonly short broad heads compared with the size of the body in some individuals the head is at least one third of the whole length of the body but in others scarcely two sevenths in as much as whale bone whales undoubtedly belonging to this genus Balena occurring all the ocean from north to south from east to west it is at least possible that there are different races but on the other hand the facts which have been gathered in support of such contention are not convincing certainly it does not appear justifiable to erect as has been done a large number of distinct genre for the inclusion of these right whales thus the late Dr. Gray allowed in his catalog besides Balena, Eubalena, Hunterius, Caperia and Makleius. Neobalena on the other hand which will be dealt with presently is clearly entitled to generic rank as to Makleius it appears to have been founded on a mistaken impression gathered from an imperfect photographic representation at best it depends entirely and only upon the cervical vertebrae of which the Altas was at first thought by Gray to be distinct this would be if it were true a difference but though that character is dropped by Dr. Gray in his supplementary catalog from further information received the genus is valiantly retained Hunterius Taeminchi was based upon a young and incomplete skeleton in the Leiden Museum described also by Schlegel and Flower its chief character is that the first rib is very broad with two heads attached to the transverse process of the first and second dorsal vertebrae as a matter of fact the statement itself is inaccurate for Sir W. Flower pointed out that the attachment was in all probability to the last cervical and first dorsal the apparent position being due to a mistake on the part of the articulator of the skeleton this character may surely be dismissed as an abnormality for in the figure which is given the rib is clearly two unkylosed ribs it is biffid not only at the head but at the other extreme and moreover the same state of affairs was found by Sir W. Flower in an example of the southern right whale B Australis furthermore in the thinner Baleoptera rostrata a similar double rib has been recorded and in the British Museum the skeleton of Iraqi anectis shows an identical state of affairs van beneden asserts the same as an occasional character of the purpose and globisophilus the only other character of importance mentioned in the diagnosis of the genus is the existence of 15 pairs of ribs a character which exactly fits in with the assumption that this whale is nothing but a specimen of ballena australis caperia the New Zealand whale has even less claims if possible to be considered a valid genus it is practically based upon a slight difference in the form of the tympanic bone the slight development of the acromion is apparently a question of age and deficient ossification finally there is a ballena to be considered the main characters of this are that it has 15 pairs of ribs of which the first is not biffid it seems to be merely a variation on the theme of ballena australis as to the species of this genus ballena there can be no question of the existence of two the Greenland whale be misty setus and the southern right whale be australis the former is extremely limited in range being entirely confined to the polar seas the latter is worldwide and probably includes all the whales already spoken of under the various generic names already criticized ballena misty setus the species may be thus characterized length 50 to 65 rarely 70 feet head one third of the length of the body whale bone 10 to 11 rarely 13 feet in length color black under part of Joe white 13 pairs of ribs about 54 vertebrae this is the Greenland whale right whale or whale bone whale is a purely polar species never descending as far as our coasts the reputed occurrences of right whale in British seas seem to concern ballena australis this great creature bulky though it undoubtedly is has been very much overrated as to its size scores be whose experience was large says in his account of the Arctic regions that such dimensions as 80 or a hundred feet are quite absurd of 322 individuals in the capture of which scores be was himself concerned not a single one exceeded 60 feet in length the largest ever measured by himself was only 58 feet then unusual specimen caught off Spitzbergen at the beginning of the century was barely 70 feet in length though its whale bone was as long as 15 feet even the older observers who had a tendency to exaggerate the size of these sea monsters or not always unreliable upon this point edge at the beginning of the 17th century contended himself with describing the Greenland whale as a sea beast of huge bigness about 65 foot long the head of this whale is about a third of its total length there is a slightly hairy covering in the form of a few scattered short white hairs at the extremity of both jaws though the whale is usually black scores be relates that he has seen specimens that were piebald all over an exaggeration of the occasional white tracts that are normal for the species this whale has no voice though they make a loud noise in spouting it swims slowly usually at the rate of four miles an hour but when diving they reach a velocity of seven to nine miles an hour this velocity is so great that whales have been found to dive to the bottom of the water a mild in depth and to break the lower jaw by the violence of the impact the time which whales can remain under water has been also exaggerated it has been asserted that they can endure submersion for many hours as a general rule five or ten minutes is the period varied by two minutes breathing space but when feeding 15 or 20 minutes is not unusual scores be mentions a harpooned whale as having dived for a period of 40 minutes and scumman assigns one hour and 20 minutes as the limit of endurance the Greenland whale produces a single fall or a sucker at birth the young creature when born is 10 to 14 feet long the mother does not desert it until the expiration of a year or so and the amount of maternal affection exhibited has been often commented upon scores be who was compelled to mingle commercial enterprise with due regard to the sentimentality of the 20s remarks that there's something extremely painful in the destruction of a whale when thus evancing a degree of affection in regard for its offspring that would do honor to the superior intelligence of human beings yet the object of the adventure the value of the price the joy of the capture cannot be sacrificed to feelings of compassion this whale is not really gregarious when a number are seen together it is an accident due to their having congregated at the same feeding spot there are various thrilling stories of adventures with harpooned whales but it seems that the dangers are not due to any ferocity on the part of the animal itself which is one of the most timid of beasts so much so indeed that a bird lighting up on its back sometimes sets it off in great agitation and terror it is in this respect markedly unlike the fierce and malicious Californian whale the accidents that have happened to the whalers are simply due to the struggles of the great beast when harpooned they are not purposely directed at its enemies at all but it is said that a Greenland whale cannot throw up into the air in the way that scores be depicts in an oft copied picture about and its crew since a whale of 60 feet in length would weigh 100 tons it is not at all surprising that the lashing of its tail and its terrified rushes may prove extremely dangerous it has been mentioned that there are slight variations in the Greenland whale chiefly concerning the proportions of the head and trunk scum on distinguishes the bowhead or great polar whale from the right whale of the northwestern coast Balena see a baldy of gray but this latter whale is probably Balena australis which will be dealt with on another page this whale has the longest whale bone of all whale bone whales in a whale of 47 feet long the bone was as much as 10 feet six inches long the length may even reach 12 feet and the color is black not piebald or white which is met with other whales there may be 350 or more of the lamine of whale bone on each side of the mouth scum on relates that 370 layers of whale bone is the largest number that he ever counted the typical bowhead which scum on does not differentiate from the Balena mistisatus occurs chiefly in the vicinity of Bering Strait in the sea of Ocotsk there is to be found in addition to the typical Greenland whale a smaller variety called in the vernacular of the American whalers Poggy this creature yields but a small quantity of oil as compared with its larger relatives they yield per whale from 75 to 200 barrels the Poggy only furnishes from 20 to 25 barrels many whale men proceeds captain scum on are of the opinion that this is a different species there is little doubt however of this being a young whale of the same species as its blubber is close and fine producing but little oil in proportion to size of body as is the case with all calves or young whales of every description nevertheless scum on is of opinion that this sea does contain a distinctive variety of the common Greenland whale which he terms and figures as Roy's bunch back its most characteristic feature is a small hump or bunch a little in front of the tail a structure which resembles the series of low humps found on the back of the sperm whale and is no doubt the vanishing equivalent of the strongly marked dorsal fin of other whales it is said that these whales yield a larger amount of bone in proportion to oil and that the blow holes are situated higher up and of section 11 recording by Mike Botez section 12 of the book of whales this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Mike Botez the book of whales by Frank Evers Bedard chapter 6 part 2 the right whale and the following statements apply of course to the southern as well as to the polar right whale feeds as is well known upon minute biologic creatures the minuteness of the food led the ancients to the belief that they lived up on water only pteropods and crustacea form the bulk of its food which it has not therefore too laboriously collect the Arctic seas are often died for acres with these small floating animals and thus as Dryden accurately observes in the Anus Mirabilis the whales need to give no chase but swallow in the fry which through their gaping jaws mistake the way but when engaged in feeding the whale hardly lies behind some promontory as another poet suggests but as scum better puts it moves through its native element either below or near the surface with considerable velocity is jaws being open whereby the body of water enters its capacious mouth and along with it the animal kule turned by the whale man right whale feed or Brit the whales mouth is enormous and its capacity is enlarged by the outward sweep of the rummy of the lower jaw which have together a spoon like contour the plates of whale bone act as strainers and the method of their action has been elaborately described by the late captain Gray the following account an abridgement of his is borrowed from Sir William flower how these immensely long blades depending vertically from the plate were packed into a mouth the height of which has scarcely more than half their length was a mystery not solved until a few years ago captain David Gray of Peterhead at my request first gave us a clear idea of the arrangement of the baleen in the Greenland whale and showed that the purpose of its wonderful elasticity was not primarily at least the benefit of the corset and umbrella makers but that it was essential for the correct performance of its functions the length and delicate structure of the baleen provides an efficient strainer or hair sieve by which the water can be drained off if the baleen were as in the rock walls short and rigid and only of the length of the aperture between the upper and lower jaws when the mouth was shut when the jaws were separated a space would be left beneath it through which the water and the minute particles of food would escape together but instead of this the long slender brush like and of the whale bone blades when the mouth is closed fold back the front ones passing below the hinders ones in a channel lying between the tongue and the bone of lower jaw when the mouth is opened their elasticity causes them to straighten out like a bow that is unbent so that at whatever distance the jaws are separated the strainer remains in perfect action filling the whole of the interval the mechanical perfection of the arrangement is completed by the great development of the lower lip which rises stiffly above the jaw bone and prevents the long slender flexible ends of the baleen being carried outwards by the rush of water from the mouth when its cavity is being diminished by the closure of the jaws and raising of the tongue the food thus filtered off by the action of the whale bone and the raising of the tongue is shutting off the jaws is left stranded up on the gigantic tongue and then swallow down the narrow throat it is accordingly not advantageous that this tongue should be mobile and muscular it is as a matter of fact mainly formed of a mass of spongy fat intermixed with sinewy flesh the second species Balena australis de moulin must probably include the following rather formidable list of synonyms be biskayensis gray be siabaldi gray be japonica gray hunterius teminkii gray be antipodarum gray be antarctica schlegel be mediterrena gray be angulata gray be north copper gray be capensis gray be sysarctica cope be eubalena flower hunterus svedenborgi lilyaborg mcleius australiensis gray m britannicus gray be tarantina cappellini be allotiensis fan benedin be culeomoc camiso be culamaca camiso it may be thus defined head relatively smaller than in be misty setus two sevenths minus two eighths of body lens whale bone also shorter ribs 15 57 vertebrae this list of synonyms includes the names given to the whales which were probably at most no more than local races of but one species but with all of them it is by no means easy to be certain of the justice of this view thus since mcleius britannicus is only known by its cervical vertebrae it is conceivable though not in the least likely that it is a different form but of those whales with different names that much is known about there seem to be but little doubt that they are all one and the same species to believe in existence of 20 species of right whales in addition to the Greenland right whale is too large a draft upon credulity to be honored at present at every page in describing the natural history of whales it is necessary to make statements with great care and to allow a due amount of qualification it may be that the large number of synonyms which it appears to me to be necessary to include in the description of these species are really proper varieties at least or even distinct forms as has before been stated there does not appear much reason to accept the numerous genre which gray allowed but as the species the affair is different since these whales do not live or at least are not common in the tropics but prefer the temperate waters both north and south of the equator it might be urged that the northern were distinct from the southern species and this is and has been the opinion of many on the other hand Sir William flower is inclined to believe in the existence of but a single ballena beside the Greenland Whale and with this opinion I associate myself the most marked characteristics of this whale has been given in the above diagnosis of ballena australis but the number of ribs appear to be a character that is not absolutely fixed as a rule ballena misty setus has but 13 ribs while be australis has as many as 15 sir W flower however described some years since and undoubtedly Arctic whale with 14 ribs the last being rudimentary and only 18 inches in length still here are 14 ribs with this fact must be compared the figure of ballena japonica here regarded as synonym of be australis which according to a Japanese artist has also 14 pairs of ribs the accuracy of the Japanese is so well known that we must hesitate before rejecting the fact neither apparently can the length of the plates of the ballin be absolutely relied upon as a character diagnostic of ballena australis generally the ballin is coarser and shorter than that of ballena misty setus it is figured for example by Scammon is rather more than one fourth less in length than that of its ally six feet is the length assigned by gray to the ballin of a ballena australis but of a ballena sea Baldi the ballin is stated by the same author to be nearly as long as the Greenland varying from 7 to 12 feet long and slender the difference therefore is in the latter instance not great a very singular feature of ballena especially of the present species is the so-called bonnet this is a horny irregular mass drawing on the snout the regular shape and pitted appearance of the bonnet gives one the impression that it is a pathological structure a kind of corn perhaps produced by the animal rubbing itself against rocks as this species has been observed to do in order to get rid of the barnacles which are apt to infest it it is not large 11 inches being about the length of a large one and this was 8 inches in width it is spoken of as a rudimentary frontal horn by gray and a comparison with an ungulate horn especially that of a rhinoceros is highly interesting in view of the disputed affinities of whales we cannot however press this comparison at present as to the habits of this whale they seem to be much those of its nearest ally they go about singly in pairs or three together towards the end of the session scumman tells us that they congregate in herds which are technically known as gams this is previous to migration and whales of the southern hemisphere are also migratory ballena australis has the same strong maternal affection that characterizes ballena mistis etus this is illustrated by the recital of the capture of a whale in the Bay of Saint Sebastian quoted by M. Fisher to whom science is indebted for a great deal of collected information about this and other whales when the mother whale so her young captured instead of flying she made unheard of attempts to free it describing a circle around the boats without hurting them sometimes she pressed the cub under her great fins and try to drag it away sometimes she dived with it disappeared and reappeared at some distance but the enterprise was not easy the ropes were strong and the three harpoons well embedded later on the cub escaped through the mother breaking by a stroke of her powerful tail the ropes attached to the harpoons but the young one died and the mother followed and remained nearest dead body regardless of basket shots fired at her and only went away on the following day this whale which was once more abundant on the coast of Europe than it appears to be now has been much hunted especially by the Basques who have left their mark upon the whaling industry by the very word harpoon of this industry a number of important observations on the spot and references to the literature have been collected by M. Fisher and the memoir just referred to and nearly the same time by Mr. now Sir Clements Markham it would seem that they were fished up on the shores of Flanders so long ago as the year 875 but in these remote periods it is by no means always certain that whale is meant by the descriptive expression used even Balena itself does not always apply in these early records to the whale bone whale and the term crassus peaches is clearly even more vague in its possible significances we learn that in all times the habits and customs of the Basques resemble those of their not very distant neighbors the Normans they lived along the shores and as a rule picked up leaving there when the fishery was not productive they occupied themselves in pillaging inland the whales were attacked when they approached the shore to bear their young they were driven on the shore and dispatched there the earliest document relative to this fishery is dated from the year 1150 it is in the shape of privileges granted by Sancho the wise to the city of San Sebastian a little later in 1197 John Lackland King of England gave to Vital de Bioli and his heirs to take 50 Angevin pounds on the two first whales captured each year at Beiritz in exchange for the fees which King Richard his brother had given him on account of the fishery of Guernsey the pursuit of the Biscayan whale was at its height at this period and for some time afterwards its importance is shown by the fact that a whale is incorporated into the coast of arms of many cities lying upon the Bay of Biscay this charge remarks Sir C. Markham is in the arms of Fuentara Bia over the portal of the first old house in the steep street of Guettaria there is a shield of arms consisting of whales amidst waves of the sea at Motrico the town arms consist of a whale in the sea are pooned and with a boat with men holding the line the same device is carved on the wall of the town hall of Lequito the arms of Bermeo and Castro Udiales also contain a whale other traces of the former prevalence of this industry are to be seen in the remains of Vigias or lookout towers whence the whales were first espied and fleet of boats sent out in pursuit in the 16th century the trade was still important we find Rondelecius 1568 remarking upon Bayone as a center of the trade and the flesh especially the tongue was eaten being exposed in the markets of Bayone, Biaritz and other towns a curious example is given by Sir Clemens Markham in proof of the importance of the industry even so late as 1712 in the records of a marriage at Lequito the bride and bridegroom between them possessed all the necessary outfit for a whaling voyage Ambra's pair quoted by Fisher has given an elaborate account of whale fishing in the Bay of Biscay in the year 1564 a part of which we shall quote here as serving to illustrate how the Biscay and whale was hunted at that period it is taken at certain times of winter in many places including the coast of Bayone near a little village distant three leagues or about from the said town and named Biaris opposite that village there is a hill upon which from a long time back has been built a tower one of the Vigias already referred to entirely for this pursuit day and night to discover the Baleins which pass and perceiving them coming partly by the loud noise they make and partly by the water which they throw out by conduit which they possess in the middle of the forehead and when they perceive them to come they ring a bell at the sound of which promptly all those in the village run with their apparatus which is requisite to take these animals they have several boats and skiffs in some of which there are men whose only duty is to fish up those who may have fallen into the water the others are used for the combat and in each of them there are 10 men strong incapable of rowing well and several others with barbed darts which are marked with their mark to recognize them again attached to cords and which are thrown with all their force at the whales after the whale is killed the whalers feast font go de care and depart each with his share which is calculated by the harpoons already in the body and of course known to their possessors this author from whom we have just quoted remarks upon the affection of females for their young and the comparative case therefore with which they are captured after the beginning of the 18th century the industry seems to have decayed on account of the growing rarity of the whales in the 19th century but two or three records of this occurrence in the Bay are to be found the genus Neobalena maybe thus characterized size small 20 feet about head not large no throat grooves a small falcate dorsal fin frontals broad 17 pairs of ribs very broad and flat vertebrae C7 fused D18 L2 CAU 16 well bone long scapula broad not high this very remarkable genus of whale bone whales there's the same kind of relation to the great Balena that kojia does to its equally gigantic ally fissure in both cases also the dwarf form is to some extent intermediate in its characters thus illustrating a generalization applicable to a good many groups that archaic characters are not usually coupled with extremes of size to dr. Gray may have been justly allowed some jubilation concerning this whale he separated it as distinct on account of its whale bone and as it has turned out very rightly as no Balena is represented by but a single species it is clearly impossible to disentangle from each other the characters which belong to Neobalena as a genus from those which should be held to distinguish Neobalena marginata as a species indeed the two skeletons of this whale in the fine collection of cetaceans in the British Museum shows certain differences which may be specific if they are not sexual it is from an examination of those two skeletons that the following notes have been drawn up Neobalena has a very short vertebral column the total number of vertebrae being only 43 the complete fusion of the cervicals allies the genus to the right whales the most noteworthy point that I observed concerning the dorsal vertebrae was the fact that the first dorsal apparently bears no rib as this was the case in both specimens it seems unlikely that it has dropped off the number of the dorsal vertebrae is therefore one in excess of the number of ribs this number was not constant in the two specimens the larger had 18 the smaller whale 17 dorsal vertebrae in any case no Balena has more dorsals than any other cetacean it has also fewer lumbar there are two in one and one in the smaller specimen the only other cetacean in which anything like so smaller series of lumbers occurs is Inia see page 297 and there the number is three the ribs of this cetacean are remarkable for many reasons their number 17 is in excess of that known elsewhere in one specimen it is true there are but 16 a number which occurs in the largest whale bone whale Baleno Terra see Baldy as already observed the first rib is attached to the second dorsal vertebrae a remarkable state of affairs upon which I have commented elsewhere the ribs are attached only to the transverse processes of their vertebrae and they're apparently not very firmly the second to the fifth ribs however have a neck and head produced beyond the tuberculum towards the centrum which however they do not seem to reach if now Balena is an especially diving whale capable of longer submersion than some others the lax attachment of the ribs may conceivably be explained as furthering this capability for it will allow it of a greater expansion of the contained lungs another feature in which the ribs are remarkable is the great breadth and flatness this brings them close together into a thick armature for the protection of the underlying viscera the condition of the ribs is suggestive of the sirenia and of many on gulates Neobalena marginata of gray perhaps capyria antipodorum gray IB page 101 in part is the only species of the genus end of section 12 recording by Mike boat has section 13 of the book of whales this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Mike Botez the book of whales by Frank Evers Bedard chapter seven part one the Roarquals family Balenocteride this family may be distinguished from that of Balenide by the following definition head less than quarter of the length of the body dorsal fin usually present throat with longitudinal plates more or fewer in number bones of skull but slightly arched tympanic bones more elongated coronoid process of mandible more or less developed cervical vertebrae usually free hand narrow and tetradactylus Balin plates short secum present this family of whales comprises at least three well marked genre the Roarquals genus Balenocteride the humpbacks genus Megaptera and finally the recently known California gray whale Raki anectis we shall commence with a consideration of the Roarquals which will be here included with a single genus this is probably the prevailing opinion at present the main naturalists even Sir William flower in his earlier memoirs have divided the existing Roarquals into three or even more genre we shall clear the ground by defining the genus of which of course the definition will be in the opinion of some applicable to a subfamily genus Balenocteride dorsal fin present and falcate throat plates numerous scapula low and broad with long acromion and coracoid process and considering whether or not it is advisable to divide the only four really definable species into different genre we may at once discard benedinia found it up on an immature specimen Rudolph use which is the same as sebald use the two names having been given to identical species sebald use and flover use again have both been applied to what we term here Balenocter Borealis so that one of them at least may be discarded and that one must obviously be flow various as it is the newer name Balena is clearly to be left out of consideration as it is or rather has been in the hands of older authors of wide applicability embracing all the whale bone whales fissalus is an older name than to Balena for the same species and the same applies to Ogmo Balena so we may in this way weed down the generic names of the rock walls to Balenocter sebald use and fissalus these three genre were accepted by flower in his paper on the skeletons of whales in the principal museums of Holland and Belgium and proczoal sock already referred to if we add to these covieros for the fourth species described in the present work as Balenocter sebald we shall have exhausted the possible generic names for the only four species known but are they wanted it seems to be a reasonable procedure in zoological nomenclature to invent generic names for the due pigeon hauling of a group which embraces a large number of species it facilitates memory and expresses a notion of classification but when a group is so restricted as is that of the rock walls this procedure seems to be superfluous especially since the utmost differences between the recognized forms are so small all these great creatures are so much alike that their confusion one with another is almost inextricable when species has been so confounded and confused with species it seems to be a deliberate sarcasm to attempt generic definitions besides now that the group has emerged from the complexity in which the labors of dr. Gray involved it we are able to see clearly how slight are the anatomical differences which distinguish the different forms we think therefore that the best plan will be to give some sketch of the external characters and osteology of the rock walls and to mention the differences which enable the different forms to be distinguished from each other the number of vertebrae differs and the following table shows the number for a series of individuals B musculos C7 D 15 L 14 or 15 C a 26 B borealis C 7 D 13 or 14 L 13 14 or 16 C a 19 B rostrata C 7 D 11 L 12 C a 17 B C Baldy C 7 D 15 L 15 C a 28 it is the rule for the whales of this genus to have all the cervical vertebrae free from each other not ankylosed in the typical whale fashion but occasionally two or three are partially fused this is described by flower as occurring and B rostrata nor is this occasional peculiarity confined to the species rostrata it has been mentioned as occurring and B borealis as to the number of vertebrae it is not worthy that it bears some relation to the size of the creatures thus the smallest species be rostrata has the smallest number of vertebrae and the largest species B C baldy the largest number of vertebrae it is a feature of this genus for the first rib to be beefy'd this structural feature as has been pointed out occurs in other cetacea and has been made use of for systematic purposes the late professor van beneden however observes that it is wrongly that the zoologists have thought it their duty to attach a certain importance to this arrangement which is purely individual but it is very general thus van benedin remarks that it has been found to characterize all the examples of B borealis that have been examined from this point of view with the exception of a specimen studied by Sir W. Turner in 1882 this state of affairs characterizes the two specimens in the British Museum and therefore the number of ribs allowed in the table on page 147 must be increased by one for there can be no doubt that this two-headed rib represents two as it is articulated with a transverse process of the two vertebrae as is the case with all mista cosetti except rocky anectis the first few ribs have capitular processes but these processes do not articulate directly with a centra of their respective vertebrae in B musculos the first three ribs have these processes in B borealis I noticed four in B sebaldi there were again only three the last two of which were so much longer that they may perhaps articulate directly with the centra professor delage has directed attention to the fact that the only rib the first which articulates with a sternum does so by two heads it is first of all attached by an articular surface and then by a pseudo-articular fibrous surface this double attachment is it seems paralleled in identites the sternum of baleenoptera is usually somewhat cruciform bone such as is displayed in the figure on page 44 the cross like outline is not always so well marked and differences in the proportions of the limbs of the cross are evident and are certainly in some cases due to varying condition of maturity thus Sir W flower has figured the sternum of B borealis in which the ossified portion consisted only of a roundish piece of bone the cruciform shape of the entire sternum being however shown in the surrounding cartilaginous regions as to the number of phalanges in the hand of various species of baleenoptera the following table from Cookentale gives the ascertained facts be Sibaldi 1 1 2 5 3 7 4 7 5 4 be borealis 1 1 2 4 3 7 4 7 5 4 be musculos 1 1 2 4 3 7 4 6 5 4 be musculos 1 0 2 5 3 6 4 7 5 4 be musculos 1 1 2 4 3 6 4 6 5 5 be rostrata 1 1 2 4 3 8 4 7 5 4 be rostrata 1 0 2 4 3 7 4 6 5 3 but these tables according to Cookentale have to be corrected by his discovery of a rudimentary finger figure 2 page 9 lying between the third and the fourth of the above enumeration this consisted in an embryo of baleenoptera musculos of three slender phalanges lying at the upper free end of the interspace between the digits already mentioned in this case the reputed thumb will be a prepolix and the missing digit will be number three an obvious conclusion with regard to this rudiment is to regard it as a division of a digit such as has been described in the beluga but certain considerations derived from the distribution of the nerves in the hand of this whale seem to negative this view and to establish the theory that it is really digit 3 which has thus nearly disappeared the whales of the genus baleenoptera have a much more elongated form than those of the genus ballena they are also to be distinguished by the presence of a dorsal fin not large in proportion to the body which is situated quite at the posterior end of the body the elongated form conduces towards a greater swiftness of movement and for this among other reasons the finners as these whales are termed are not such profitable creatures to pursue as are the more lethargic right whales besides the whale bone is short and the blubber less in amount and inferior in quality some two feet is the average of length of the whale bone which contrasts with the 12 or 13 feet in length of the bone of the Greenland whale more accurate measurements of the whale bone of the oracles is given under the definitions of the four species below nevertheless the oracles are hunted particularly from the coast of Norway and an interesting account of some facts in the fishery has been recently communicated to the zoological society of London by professor collet it is a curious thing that these whales are sometimes pursued with poison harpoons the poison consists in the decaying flesh of a dead whale and its effect is to set up septicemia the simplicity of this mode of poisoning the prey is curiously paralleled by the poisoned arrows of certain African tribes who use the decaying mud of marshes the effect in this case being tetanus the oracles are among those whales that have preserved a trace of the primitive hairy covering there are a few hairs present in the adults of these whales and in a embryo of b cibaldi van benedin figures 11 hairs on each side of the upper jaw and four on each side of the lower a highly characteristic feature of the oracles is the series of longitudinal folds in the throat region they share these with the genre rachyonectis and megaptera alone among whale bone whales but the zephyoids have a few folds in the same region which are possibly comparable the number of these folds in species of baleenoptera varies somewhat b rustrata has been stated to possess 54 to 60 in b cibaldi turner counted 60 a larger number according to murie characterizes b mesculus for in a specimen of that whale he estimated the total number at about 100 these folds although spoken of as throat folds really reach back then the throat region indeed to a point considerably behind the attachment of the pectoral fin cocontile as well long before him as recht have pointed out that these folds are not found in the youngest embryos a fact which renders their comparison with the apparently corresponding folds of the zephyoid whales unlikely in b musculus they were first visible in a embryo of more than 60 centimeters long the meaning from a physiological point of view of these folds is to be sought from the fashion in which the whales take in its food like the genus ballena baleenoptera takes in huge masses of crustacea and other minute organisms which are swallowed after the accompanying water is strained off through the whale bone but in ballena the mouth is especially huge owing to the arched form of the skull a feature so characteristic of that genus and one which distinguishes it from ballenoptera to make up for the reduced size of the mouth cavity the equally colossal ballenoptera can expand this cavity by means of the said folds which then enable the skin to be puffed out when the need for the increase in mouth capacity is past the folds form again a ballenoptera without throat grooves has been mentioned by olufsen and povelsen quoted by efku via but the veracity were at least powers of observation of these two writers is discounted by the fact that they assign a length of 200 feet to the right whale and speak of the marmanil or marine man as an extinct fact but perhaps after all they had seen rachyonectis unknown of course to kuvia as to the different species of ballenoptera there are as it appears certainly four we shall therefore deal with these four and then say a few words about finners which have got different names doctor collet in a paper already alluded to in relation to the fishery of the whales has in a convenient way summed up the specific characters of these four northern whales we say northern though as will be pointed out it is probable that the southern forms are really of the same species ballenoptera sebaldy gray equals b lati rostris flour and has probably other synonyms has a length of 70 to 85 feet robust in form for a rockwell proportions of height and length being as one five and a half color dark bluish gray dorsal fin at commencement of last quarter of the body vent situated in front of vertical line from anterior margin of dorsal fin pectoral fins large one seventh of the total length of the body baleen and bristles black number of plates up to 400 their length 930 millimeter this the greatest of whales and indeed of all animals living or extinct is named in honor of sir robert sable author of the phalaenologia nova and inventor question mark of the high finned cash a lot it is to be distinguished from other rockwells by its superior size and by the various other characters given in the above description of its essential features the whalers know it by its large size and by the height to which it spouts its speed to when going rapidly is great something like 12 miles an hour are accomplished by a ballenoptera sebaldy when putting its best foot foremost it is a species that feeds upon crustacea mainly appears upon a species of euphogia known to the scandinavian whalers as krill these crustacea have been discovered in vast numbers in the stomach of captured whales ballenoptera sebaldy is a species that lives mainly in pairs and reproduction seems to take place every three years more slowly than in the case of the smaller species of ballenoptera ballenoptera borealis lesson equals b rostrata rudolfi b laticeps gray is in length 40 to 50 feet height to length as one to five and a half color bluish black above below white upper surface with oblong light spots dorsal fin high a little in advance of last third of the body vent exactly below behind the edge of dorsal fin pectoral fins small one eleventh of the total length of the body ballin black with white bristles number of plates 330 greatest length 650 millimeters c figure 22 of these species known as rudolfi rockwall and by the norwegians as sebal a very complete account of external characters and habits is given by professor collet as will be seen from the dimensions given in the above definition this is a moderately sized rockwall it seems clear therefore that even allowing for the inevitable exaggeration that seems to have accompanied most descriptions of whales at any rate in the past it cannot be identical with the austen whale referred by gray under this specific heading for the latter measured 102 feet two exclamation marks it is probably a b c baldy as to color i give professor collet's statements under this head as part of the specific definition but sir william flower in describing a specimen stranded near the mouth of the river crouch in sx quotes mr carrington to the effect that the whale within two days of its capture was a rich glossy black which shaded into a brilliant white on the under parts but little of this whale was known until the establishment of a whale factory at sorvir near hammer fest in 1882 the main object of this establishment was the capture of the great baleno pterasi baldy which as the largest is the most valuable of the rorkles but the present species proved to be the commoner of the two it had been thought to be a rare whale up to and including 1884 but nine individuals had been stranded on the european coasts when the actual fishery began as many as 40 whales were taken in 1883 and 44 in 1885 the intervening year produced but three this whale goes about in shawls collet mentions 13 and five as numbers of individuals in such companies but it appears that as many as 50 is the limit in size of these shawls baleno ptera borealis is inoffensive in character and accidents are the result of accident as is generally the case with whale bone whales accepting only the fierce rachyonectis under the description of the right whale the time that it can remain under water is given as a little over one hour at most but as to the present species and remarks appear to fit all the species of baleno ptera professor collet says all the whalers are unanimous in opinion that be borealis as well as be musculos and b c baldy can remain under water for a far greater time than is generally supposed the duration of this time is estimated to be from eight to 12 hours this is if true a most extraordinary fact the whales are fished from the shore and the best period is from the 24th of june to the 8th of july after this they leave the shore on the advent of be musculos and b c baldy be borealis seems to feed entirely on crustaceans chiefly the little cope pod callanus fumarchicus this species may be recognized by its very high dorsal fin the two sexes show no difference in size the furrows on the throat are about 38 to 58 in number the adult female has 26 hairs on each side of the lower jaw in the fetus there are more 34 or counted on the lower and 11 on the upper jaw the baleen plates are usually black and the bristles white but there is something a mottling or even a few of the foremost plates may be white the blowholes lie in the two long furrows between which is a shorter furrow balanoptera rostrata gray length 25 to 33 feet proportion of the height to length as one to five color grayish black above white below dorsal fin high at commencement of last third of the body vent below hind edge of dorsal fin pectoral fin 1 eighth of the total length of the body plates of baleen about 325 greatest length 200 millimeters this is much the smallest of the rock walls it is particularly to be distinguished from other rock walls by the white band which crosses the pectoral limb and by the sharp snout hence the specific name of rostrata the bone to is always of a pale color and there are but 11 ribs hence the species of balanoptera is exceedingly easy to characterize this whale which appears to have a liking for the society of the larger balanoptera pursues fishes and hunter noted the discovery of dogfishes in the stomach of an individual which he dissected it has been noted too that the stomach contains pebbles this is curious for in the other whales and in sea lions the same observation has been made possibly in both cases the stones were taken up accidentally while in pursuit of fish one can hardly believe that any idea of ballast entered into the mind of the cetacean mind of the cetacean balanoptera musculos linois known also as b fissalus fabricius b roquel lacepidae fissalus anticuorum gray is in length 60 to 70 feet height as to length as one to six and three quarters color gray slate above white below dorsal fin low with straight margins placed slightly in front of last fourth of the body vent corresponding in position with its anterior margin pectoral fin one ninth of the total length of the body plates of baleen dark bluish black also bristles number of plates up to 370 length 950 millimeters this is perhaps speaking from standard examples the communist species of roquel specimens are stranded remarks mr. lidaker on the british coasts more especially those of the southern parts of england almost every year generally after stormy weather and very frequently during the winter dr. miry who described many points in the structure of a 60 foot long individual which was killed at graves end in 1859 describes the number of throat plates as somewhere about 100 in this individual the dorsal fin measured only 15 inches in height a curious asymmetry in the coloration of this species has been noted by more than one observer a sort of plural nectis fun benedin terms it the body is sometimes paler up on one side than up on the other apparently there is no constancy as to which side is the paler or the darker this baleen optara devours fish and as many as 800 individuals of osmeros arcticus have been found in the stomach of a whale it is chiefly herrings that it pursues on the coasts of norway and great britain the four species just characterized are the only species that are really known to exist but the genus is by no means confined to the northern hemisphere whence the individuals have been found who study has allowed of the compilation of the above diagnosis there are plenty of baleen optara in the southern hemisphere of the coast of patagonia cargillon in the indian ocean and elsewhere these whales have been placed in different species by gray and others it may be that such a placing is correct and at any rate we have before us an instance of a large whale which has an extremely restricted range in the true greenland whale possibly also rachaeonectus is another but not withstanding this priori consideration there seem to be no substantial grounds for retaining such species as be indica be patagonica be sklegely etc as to external characters the bulk of these extra european baleen optara are not known and it is always possible that there may be such characters which would justify their separation specifically but as to such parts of the skeleton as are known there is no such justification sir w turner in his account of the citation remains collected by the challenger had no hesitation in referring these bones to some of the four known species of rocquals two pacific whales are known by different names and as observation upon some of their characteristics are mentioned by scammon some little account will be given here but it is probably that b suffureus is nothing more than b sibaldi while the white band upon the flipper of b davizoni seems to show its identity with b rostrata end of section 13 recording by mike botas