^8 



state of decomposition when I saw it, and besides had been 

 so much cut up, that I must confess it to be out of my power 

 to determine these points. And I trust this uncertainty will 

 be borne in mind when I come to describe the pelvis of the 

 Botany sperm whale, which I have reasons for believing to 

 have been a female. 



In our Sydney whale, the sternal parts of its ribs are all 

 cartilaginous, whereas in the true dolphins they are generally 

 ossified. As I made my drawings of this singular sternum on 

 the spot before the animal was divided, I have no doubt of 

 the accuracy of the manner in which I have placed these 

 bones in the skeleton ; which, besides, is proved by the loca- 

 tion of the bones in the Botany Bay sternum. Their dimen- 

 sions are as follow in the Sydney specimen : — 



Length, of sternum 



Greatest breadth of ditto 



Length of anterior bones 



Greatest breadth of each of ditto 

 Least breadth of each of ditto . . . . 



Length of posterior bones 



Greatest breadth of each, of ditto 

 Breadth of each of ditto at point 



OF THE FINS, OR FOEEPA.WS. 



I need scarcely state to zoologists that cetaceous animals 

 have no clavicles. The scapula of the sperm whale forms a 

 flat sub-triangular piece, having the blunt apex downwards 

 and concave, while the base of this triangle is convex. The 

 anterior margin goes oif into a keel, offering at its external 

 termination a flat triangular and blunt-headed process, repre- 

 senting the acromion ; while the other margin lying close to 

 the ribs, and where the scapula articulates with the humerus, 

 projects forward in the form of a more styliform and pointed 



