BALJiNOPTERIDiE. 113 



bitod some years ago at Charing Cross ; and as this animal was 87 feet 

 in length (larger than the ordinary size attained by the common 

 Fin-Whale), he has given it the specific name oi </ic/as. Unfortu- 

 nately this skeleton, having been shipped for the United States, is 

 no longer available for examination ; and the only descriptions and 

 drawings we have of it are not made with the scientific accuracy 

 necessary to settle the question. It certainly agrees in many important 

 points — the number of vertebrae (54, a few wanting Ixom the end of 

 the tail) and of ribs (14), the double head of the first rib, and the 

 small broad sternum. Its generic identity is therefore undoubted. 



" One difficulty which arises in my mind is about the size. The 

 32'-long examples of Sihhaldius at Leyden and Brussels are, as I 

 have said, in the young stage ; but still the general condition of the 

 bones shows them to be by no means in the earliest period of youth. 

 A common Fin-Whale {Phi/sahis antiquomm) that I examined at 

 the Hague, 40' long, had the bones much softer, more spongy, and 

 incomplete at the ends of the processes than in either of these ; 

 w^hereupon I should a priori have said that the latter belonged to a 

 sjiecies which, when adult, was smaller than the common one. As far 

 as we know at present, the young of Fin-Whales are from one-fourth 

 to one-third of the length of the mother at the time of birth, which 

 would give a very early age to our specimens if derived from such 

 a parent as the Ostend Mliale. As these speculations upon the size 

 and growth of Whales are, however, based upon very slight founda- 

 tion, I must still admit the possibility of the specific relationship of 

 the Ostend Whale with the representatives of Sihhaldius laticeps in 

 the museums of Berlin, Leyden, and Brussels." — Floiver, P. Z. S. 

 18G4, 399, 400. 



The examination of the skeleton has shown that there are several 

 species found in the North Sea, characterized by the bones of the 

 neck and by the external colour ; and I think there is little doubt 

 that, when we have had an opportunity of comparing the skeletons 

 of the Finner Whales found in other seas, especially of those in the 

 southern hemisphere, it will be seen that they arc perfectly distinct 

 from those here described. 



SVXOPSIS OF THE GrENERA. 



I. Dorsal Jin loir, broad. Pectoral Jin very long, ivitli 4 ver;/ lonr/ Jinr/crs 

 of manji p/iala)if/eii. J'crtebrce 55 or 60. Cervical vprfchrci'. often 

 anclit/loscd. Lateral process of avis tardilji ossijied. Nearal canal 

 larqe, Jiii/h, triangular. Pihs 14 or 15. Megapterina, or Hunch- 

 backed W hairs.' 



1. Mkgai'TKRA. Hlade-bone witliout acromion or coracoid process. JJody 



of cervical vertebrc'c subcircular. 



2. PoEscoi'iA. Blade-bone with small coracoid process. Body of cervical 



vertebrte nearly square. 



3. EscKRicHTius. Blade-bone witli large coracoid process. Body of cer- 



vical vertebrre separate, sniidl, roundish, oblong. The nem-al canal 

 very broad, high. 



I 



