The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-05-05

this is not the case, but that whales are
as truly mammals as are oxen and
pigs; and are probably descended from
hoofed animals which, ages ago, took
to aquatic life first in fresh water and
afterWard in the open sea, The hsh-
like form of these gigantic creatures is
entirely due to the conditions under
which they live, and is in no sense indt-
catlVe Of relationship. Whales fall
naturally into two great groups-those
with teeth and those which possess
none, but have the upper jaws fringed
with baleen, the "whalebone" of COM
merce. To the first group belong the
| sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
from which are obtained spermaceti
ambergris and sperm oil-and the dol
phins; to the second, the Greenland or
right whale (3alaena mysticetus), the
humpback (Megaptera boops), and the
| finners or rorquals (of the genus Bal
oenoptera). The whales of this second
group live on small marine animals.
In feeding, a great gulp of water, con-
tanning an immense number of these
tiny creatures, is taken in and the
mouth closed. The whalebone allows
the water to run off and retains the
prey to be swallowed
| The great object of the northern
whale fishery in both hemispheres was
the right whale, and the pursuit was
at one time highly remuneratiVe. In
the early part of this century the Brit
ish whaling fleet consisted of over one
hundred and fifty ships, of which Lon
don furnished about half, while Bris-
toll and Whitby sent considerable
number. Now Dundee and Peterhead
are the only whaling ports, and the to-
tai number of ships is probably under
dozen. Indeed, owing to the scarcity of
right whalers in northern waters, a
| fleet of four Whalers was sent in 1892
from Dundee to the Antarctic in search
of these animals which Sir James Ross
reported as occurring in abundance in
that region. About the same time the
Jason-in which Nansen made his first
voyage to the Arctic regions-Was de-
spatched from Norway on a similar er-
rand, and other Norwegian whalers
have since visited the same seas. The
result has been extremely disappoint-
ing.
A naturalist who sailed in one of the
Dundee whalers says: "Whalers were
the objects of our voyage, and we saw
many, but none that was worth the
catching" and he adds that none of the
vessels found any signs of a whale in
the least resembling the Greenland
species, although they were in the ice
for a period extending over two months.
1t is, of course impossible to say
whether Ross was mistaken. His
statements are definite enough, and he
also speaks of the sea being full of the
small crustaceans and mollusks which
form the food of the right whale. But
neither right whales nor their charac-
teristic food gladdened the eyes of
Scotch or Norwegian whalers, though
fin whales and their characteristic
food We're met Within plenty.
The whales now Y Astounding on the
coast of Newfoundland probably be-
long to five distinct species, contained
in two genera. These range over the
North Atlantic and are found in nearly
all seas, and there is no doubt that
specimens of all the forms have, at one
time or other, been met with on our
own shores. The humpback (Megapte-
IA boops) Is so called by WhalerS from
the low, humplike form of the dorsal
fin, which varies greatly, in shape and
size in different individuals and is gem
orally spoken of as "the hump" The
skin underneath the throat is gathered
into folds and ridges, as it is also in the
finbacks; the pectoral limbs or fins, "
corresponding to the human arms and
to the forelegs of an OK or a horse, are
disproportionately long. 1t has been
characterized as decidedly ugly and
it is certainly far from being symmet-
rical in form as most Of the finbacks.
The usual length is said to be from for
ty to fifty feet but Scammon records
one which yielded seventy-one barrels
of oil, and was "adjudged to be seven
ty-five feet in length" Estimated
lengths are extremely untrustworthy,
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