THE RORQUAL, OR FIN-BACKED WHALE,
(Balænoptera boops,)
Is a very large Whale, specimens sometimes measuring as much as one hundred feet in length. It is distinguished by its smaller head, and by the existence of a sort of fin on the lower part of its back. The Rorqual is found in the northern seas, and specimens are sometimes seen off our coasts. It is not of much value, as it furnishes far less blubber than the common Whale, and the baleen or whalebone is so short as to be useless.
THE SPERMACETI WHALE, OR CACHALOT.
(Physeter macrocephalus.)