"The baleen of the Balana is alone designated Whalebone (or rather Whale-Fin, as it is usually called) in commerce. The baleen of the other genera of this family is called Finner-Fin or Humpback-Fin. The wholesale dealers in baleen, in the 'London Directory,' are called Whale-Fin Merchants, and whalebone occurs under the name of Whale-Fin in the Price-Current.' In the 'London New Price Current,' for 1843, the South Sea Whale-Fin varied during that year from 200/. to 3051. per ton, and there is no price named for Greenland Whale-Fin. (McCulloch, Corn. Diet.' i. 1344.) "The baleen was formerly thought to be the tail of the animal. (Blackstone, Commen.' i.233, quoted by McCulloch, Corn. Diet.' 1344." Balance mysticetua (the Right Whale). It is the B. Grcenlandica of Linnmus ; B. vu2garis of Brisson ; B. Rondeletii of Willughby ; the Right, Whalebone, Common, or Greenland Whale of English writers. One variety is called the Nord Kapper or Nord Caper, another the Rock-Nosed Whale.
Description.—Colour velvet-black, gray, and white, with a yellow tinge. Back, greater portion of the upper jaw, part of the lower, fins, and tail, black ; lips, fore part of lower jaw, sometimes a little of the upper, and a portion of the abdomen, white ; eyelids, junction of the tail with the body, part of the axilla of the flippers, &e., gray. The older the whale, the more white and gray is there upon it; some are piebald all over. The surface of the body is rather furrowed. The head is very large, forming nearly a third of the whole bulk, the under part, the outline of which is given by the jaw-bone, flat. The lips inclose the cavity of the mouth; the upper jaw is bent down at its edges like a boat upside down, so as to shut in the front and upper parts of the cavity. On the most elevated part of the head are situated the blow-holes, two longitudinal apertures like the holes in the belly of a violin, and from 8 to 12 inches long. The baleen is very long, ranging from 9 to 12 feet. There are upwards of three hundred of these plates of whalebone on each side of the jaw, enclosing the tongue between their lower extremities, and themselves covered by the lower lip. The body is thickest a little behind the flippers, near the middle of its whole length, whence it gradually tapers conically towards the tail, and slightly towards the head. There is no dorsal fin. The flippers, about 9 feet long and 5 feet broad, are placed about two feet behind the angle of the mouth, and caunot be raised above a horizontal position. The horizontal tail is flat and semilunar, indented in the middle ; the two lobes somewhat pointed and turned a little backwards. The eyes, not much larger than those of an ox, have a white iris, and are situated on the sides of the head about a foot obliquely above and behind the angle of the mouth. The sense of sight appears to be acute in the water, but not
above it. The size of this whale has been supposed to have been greatly exaggerated by old statements. Eighty and 100 feet wero mentioned as a frequent length, and many accounts more than doubled that measurement. At present 65 or 70 feet appear to be the extreme length of a full grown Mysticete. The Rev. Dr. Scoresby, who has elucidated the history of this whale as satisfactorily as Mr. Beale has that of the Sperm-Whale, and who was personally concerned in the capture of 322, found not one that exceeded 60 feet. It should be remembered however, in criticising old accounts, that the great persecution which these animals have long undergone and still undergo, while it reduces their numbers, is very unfavourable to longevity.
The habitat usually assigned to this whale is most extensive : thus, M. Lesson states that it inhabits all the seas of the globe, especially the two poles; but it is not improbable that the Whalebone Whalo or Black Whale of the South Seas (Balcena australis, Desmoulins, B. anlarctica, Less.), which has every appearance of being distinct, and moreover of being infested with parasitical cirrhipedes (Tubicinclla, Coronuta, &e.) of different species from those which infest the Green land Whale, has been mistaken for the last named cetacean. Multi tudes of the SOuthern Balcena were seen by Captain James Roes, R.N., in very high southern latitudes during his last expedition.
This species seems to hear acutely any noise made in the water, such as splashing, &e. in calm weather ; but a sound produced in the air, a loud shout for instance, when the whale is only at the distance of a ship's length, is disregarded. The usual rate of swimming seldom exceeds four miles an hour, but they will descend when harpooned at a velocity of seven or eight miles an hour, and one of these whales when alarmed can sink in five or six seconds far beyond the reach of a human enemy. The Mysticete seldom remains at the 'surface to breathe longer than two minutes, during which period it blows eight or nine times. It then descends for five or ten minutes • sometimes, when on its feed, for fifteen or twenty minutes. Though Dr. Scoresby states that it has no voice, it makes, he observes, a loud noise in blowing. The spout is ejected some yards high, and has the appearance of a puff of smoke at a distance. They blow strongest, densest, and loudest when alarmed, or after a long stay under water.