different from — in fact, so contrary to — those of almost all other whales, that further knowledge of its nomadic, but doubtless systematic roamings would be very interesting.
"It is remarkable," says Mr. Lee, "that whilst other roving whales, like the migratory birds, seek a warmer temperature in lower latitudes on the approach of frost, the Beluga, on the con- trary, prefers to pass the coldest season amidst the ice and gloom of the Arctic Seas, and the hottest months of the year in com- paratively warm water and under sunny skies. It thus exhibits greater capability of enduring a considerable range of temperature than any other whale."
The skin of the Beluga is not invariably creamy while, like that of the specimens brought to England. Capt. Scoresby describes some which he saw as having been of a yellow colour approaching to orange, and others as tinged with a rosy hue. The young are bluish grey, sometimes mottled with brown spots. Like the Common Porpoise, it is far from being a timid animal, when not hunted and persecuted. "Schools" will often accompany a ship and gambol round it for days. The whalers, however, seldom interfere with them. It is difficult to strike them on account of their great activity, and if the skin is pierced it is so tender that the barbs generally draw out. Moreover, when the animal is secured, the blubber is not of sufficient value to pay the crew for their time, labour, and personal risk.
The size to which this species attains has been much exaggerated. Lacépède gives it a length of from twenty to twenty-three feet, but it probably or never exceeds sixteen feet. Mr. Lee states that the longest skeleton he knows of — that in the British Museum — measures only fifteen feet. The condition of the epiphyses of the bones in a skeleton of this whale twelve feet six inches long, in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, shows that ossification was nearly complete, and therefore that the animal had all but reached its full growth.
Mr. Lee has been at some pains to trace the history, so far as known, of this singular animal, and has brought together some curious particulars concerning it. Amongst other things he slates that it is erroneous to suppose that the conveyance of live Cetacea for long distances dates merely from the recent exhibition of specimens in this country and in America. Many persons, pro- bably, will be surprised to learn that in olden times it was not only
