﻿63 101 



sale". "Le premier épineux, de la dorsale qui est petit, et le second, (|ui est tres-f<rantl sont 

 articulés sur d'immenses osselets interapophysaires, dont l'extrémité s'étend jusqu' au corps 

 des vertèbres ". 



In the addition made by Lauiui.i.ari) in the 2n(l edition of Cuvikr's Leçons (7b, p. 228^ it 

 is only said, that the first four vertebræ have the bodies swollen at both ends, with very 

 long and broad transverse processes, and that the extremely high, i)osteriorly directed spinous 

 processes cause the dorsal fin to lie on the posterior ])art of the body. Brüht, (ob, i). 51), 

 who has only seen an imperfect specimen in the Paris Museum, probably the one that served 

 for the notes in (".uvirn and possibly for Agassiz, gives only 4 abdominal vertebræ with bico- 

 nical bodies and large transverse processes. Heckei. (15, p. 223) noticed that the last 4 "rays" 

 in the anterior dorsal fin extend in between the spinous processes without showing any arti- 

 culation, from which he concludes thai they lack inters|)inous bones, like the corres])onding 

 l)arts in Amphisite. The same observation with the same interpretation was made by Knkr 

 fel b, p. 26257), Note 2). Regarding the large spinous ray of this fin FIeckki, observed that it "sich 

 bei einer gewissen Wendung so weit nieder legen lässt, dass er die nachfolgenden steifen 

 gelenklosen Strahlen zum Theile unter seine rinnenförmige Aushöhlung aufnehmen kann. 

 Ferner wird der sehr schief liegende Träger dieses Strahles, welcher sich zwischen die Dorn- 

 fortsätze der vorderen mitsammen verwachsenen Wirbelkörper einschiebt, durch eine feste 

 Membrane mit einem voranstehenden noch stärkeren Träger verbunden. Diese letztere Haupt- 

 stütze, auf welcher auch der sehr kleine erste Rückenfiossenstrahl sitzt, dient zugleich dem 

 beinahe leistenförmigen Rückenschilde als Auflage, wird aber selbst wieder an jeder Seite von 

 zwei kräftigen Endspitzen festgehalten, welche ein, mit den drei ersten breiten Querfortsätzen 

 verwachsenes aufrichtes Gerüste, gleich Strebepfeiler ihm entgegen sendet". 



What Hfxkei. here calls "Rückenschild" must be the upper exjjanded margin of the first 

 two interspinous bones (see fig. 2, PI. II) and his "aufrechte Gerüste" is the dorsal armour, 

 the structure and other relations of which he thus does not seem to have understood. The 

 same may also be said regarding Günther, whose description (14 a, p. 521) is in extenso as 

 follows: 



"The vertebral column is composed of eight abdominal and sixteen caudal vertebræ; 

 the former are distinguished by their strength and large size, a peculiarity which is in inti- 

 mate connexion with the circumstance that they form the base of other strongly developed 

 bones; their parapophyses are strong, rather long, and those of the first four vertebræ have 

 their extremities united. The bony strips, which are visible externally, and which we have 

 mentioned in the description of the outward characters, are modified ribs with their epi- 

 pleurals. The neural spines of the three anterior vertebræ are strong, especially that of the 

 third, which coiresponds to the interneural of the second dorsal spine. This interneural is 

 situated behind the third neural, and ends in three articular [processes which receive two 

 others of the dorsal s|)ine between them". 



By far the most complete information on the anterior part of the vertebral column is 

 given by W.Sørensen (32, p. 63 etc.); it is not only correct in all essentials, but likewise com- 

 plete. As his paper is written in Danish and therefore not so readily accessible, I may give 

 here a full translation of his remarks. 



"The necessary support for the interspinous bone (of the large s|)ine) is obtained in a 

 very complicated manner. The transverse processes of the first vertebra, which are not a 

 little shorter than those of the following vertebræ, fit into a pair of transverse depressions 

 on the side of the foramen magnum; these depressions are formed chiefly by a prominent 

 transverse ridge on the lateral occipitals which lies under the transverse processes of the 

 first vertebra. Movement in the articulation formed in this manner arises for a very small 

 part from articulating surfaces, mostly from ligamentous connective tissue. The articulation 



