tal occurrence ; so that the only alternative left them was to compare descriptions, and often very diffuse ones, made by others, instead of judging personally on the objects themselves; and this, according to my views, has led them into error.
There are even authors, who have seen nothing but more or less considerable parts of the skeleton of these whales, and I myself have not been fortunate enough to examine the bones of more than two specimens.
Having, however, read all the works which I could find in which these interesting Mammalia are spoken of, I have come to the conclu- sion, and am fully persuaded (although it is only with unwillingness I am ever induced to contradict the writings of learned naturalists), that several very distinct species of the genus Baleinoptera exist in reality, but I must at the same time own my inability in the present state of my knowledge of these animals to separate them as clearly as I could wish.*
Some of the distinctive characters of the species inhabiting northern Europe are according to my observations the following.
The first species, which attains the largest size, has the baleen en- tirely black, and rather long ; the pectoral fins of one single colour on the outside ; the end of the upper jaw furnished with a terminal tuft of thread-like whalebone in the adult (only ?) ; the back black or blackish (more or less maculate in the old ones) ; the folds of the tho- rax of the same colour as the surrounding skin ; the body much lengthened; the pectoral fins placed further back than the anterior third of the body ; the upper lip of the same colour as the back, and the vertebrae about sixty -three ? in number, f
The second species, which is the smallest of the genus, has the ba- leen entirely white and very short ; never any tuft at the extremity of the upper mandible ; the pectoral fins have a white spot on the out- side ; the thoracic folds are tinted with red ; the back is greenish ; the body oval-elongate ; the pectoral fins placed before the anterior third of the body ; the upper lip always spotted with red, and the ver- tebrae about forty-eight ? in number. J
Eschricht is fully convinced of the existence of four northern species. See Förh.
vid. de Scand. Natf. 1843, p. 203.
f This is the Rorqualus borealis, Cuv., to which belong the specimen stranded at Ostend in 1827, and some others.
+ This is the true Baleina rostrata, Fabr.; Baleinoptera acuto-rostrata, Lacep.; Rorqualus rostratus of some authors ; Rorqualus minor, Knox; and to which belongs the one mentioned in this paper.
