Abstract
THERE is probably no order of Mammals which during the last twenty-five years has been more worked at than the Cetacea. The result has been that we now possess a valuable body of information on both the classification and anatomy of this most interesting group of animals. On the continent of Europe, the names of Eschricht, Reinhardt, Lilljeborg, Van Beneden, and Gervais stand out most prominently as authorities; whilst in this country Sir Richard Owez, Profs. Flower, Struthers, and Turner, Dr. Murie, and Prof. Macalister, have all written valuable memoirs which have added largely to our knowledge of the whales. Through the combined labours of these anatomists the order has been rescued from the state of confusion into which it had been thrown by some systematic writers, who, by regarding almost every specimen stranded on our coasts as a new species, had introduced a complexity of nomenclature which was most puzzling.
The Anatomy of the Humpback Whale (Megaptera longimana).
By John Struthers (Edinburgh: 1889.)
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
The Anatomy of the Humpback Whale. Nature 40, 592 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/040592a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/040592a0