Monographs of the Pacific Cetacea. II. The Sei Whale (Balaenoptera borealis Lesson). 2. Anatomy of a foetus of Balaenoptera borealis.

New York, NY, The American Museum of Natural History, 1916. Large 4to (35.0 x 26.0 cm). Title page, 112 pp. [numbered 391-502]; 15 lithographed plates [numbered XLIII-LVII], ten text figures. Slightly later olive buckram with gilt title on the spine. Edges speckled red. Original printed front wrapper inserted. = A rarely seen monograph with fine illustrations, written by the American zoologist and anatomist Hermann von Wechlinger Schulte (1876-1932), and published in the Museum's Memoirs, New Series Volume I, Part VI. Rare, as nearly all early Memoirs. The fine illustrations depict the external and internal anatomy. The sei whale is "the third-largest rorqual after the blue whale and the fin whale. It inhabits most oceans and adjoining seas, and prefers deep offshore waters. It avoids polar and tropical waters and semi-enclosed bodies of water. The sei whale migrates annually from cool, subpolar waters in summer to temperate, subtropical waters in winter with a lifespan of 70 years. Reaching 19.5 m (64 ft) in length and weighing as much as 28 t (28 long tons; 31 short tons), the sei whale consumes an average of 900 kg (2,000 lb) of food every day; its diet consists primarily of copepods, krill, and other zooplankton. It is among the fastest of all cetaceans, and can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h (31 mph) (27 knots) over short distances. The whale's name comes from the Norwegian word for pollock, a fish that appears off the coast of Norway at the same time of the year as the sei whale. Following large-scale commercial whaling during the late 19th and 20th centuries, when over 255,000 whales were killed, the sei whale is now internationally protected. As of 2008, its worldwide population was about 80,000, less than a third of its prewhaling population." (Wikipedia). Bookplate of a medical school mounted on the front pastedown; front wrapper and title page with a few library marks. The front wrapper - of inferior paper - toned, chipped at edges and detached; the other pages and plates fine. A very good copy.