23 



as it were, into the anterior bifurcation of the same apophyse 

 in the following vertebra ; the root of the tail, which requires 

 more flexibility and power of motion from side to side, has 

 equal strength given to it by the manner in which every two 

 consecutive vertebrae of the first thirteen caudals are bound 

 by tough cartilage to the twelve connecting V bones.* The 

 twenty-seventh and three following vertebrae have their trans- 

 verse apophyses perforated at the sides for the passage of 

 tendons which appear to have the same object of uniting 

 strength with perfect mobility of this part of the spine. 



The last eleven of the caudal vertebrae are without pro- 

 cesses of any kind, and rapidly diminish in size down to the ter- 

 minal bone of tail, which is nearly globular, and scarcely one 

 inch in diameter. 



Now taking the two most perfect sperm skeletons hitherto 

 described, namely, Cuvier's London, and Beale's Yorkshire, 

 we find that the last has forty-four vertebrae, like our Sydney 

 specimen ; but that the first has fifty -five vertebrae, account- 

 ing the six last cervical vertebrae to be anchylosed into one. 

 The following table will show the differences more clearly. 



If Cuvier's London skeleton really has the number of ver- 

 tebrae he assigns to it,t the animal must have been thoroughly 



* Beale's Yorkshire skeleton has, according to him, only ten V bones, 

 another proof of the species being distinct. Besides, the second Vbone is the 

 longest in his whale, whereas the third in our specimen is much the longest. 



t There is no doubt that the number of vertebrae in different species of 

 Cetacea varies much. liight whales and Rorquals generally have more than 

 fifty, and in fact forty-four is upon the whole a small number of vertebrae 

 for a cetacean animal. 



