/. SlBHALDirs. 179 



+1, " V',"" J^^'J'^lf" Museum during the present year (18fi4) has received 

 the skeleton of a Fin-Whale taken on the north-west coast of the island 

 ot Java I he hands, from the carpus downwards, the pelvic bones, and 

 some ot the terminal caudal vertebra3 are wanting, also the lacr^-mals 

 and inaLars from tlie skull ; in other respects the skeleton is complete. 

 XNot being yet articulated, the separate bones could be examined 

 with great lacihty. _ Both epiphyses are anchylosed to the bodies of 

 tne hrst three cervical vertebra;; the anterior epiphyses only are 

 united on the fourth and fifth. From this, as far as the ninth caudal 

 inclusive, they are detached ; on the tenth caudal the hinder, and 

 on the succeeding ones both epiphyses are firmly united. On the 

 humerus the upper epiphysis is partly, and the lower one completely, 

 umted to the shaft, all traces of the original separation of the latter 

 having disappeared. The upper epiphyses of the radius and uMa 

 are m the same conthtion; but those at the lower end are separate. 

 1 he transverse processes of the cervical vcrtebrte show, from the 

 condition of their terminal surfaces, that they are not quite complete, 

 ine upper edge of the scapula appears completely ossified in the 

 mickUe, but must have been cartUaginous towards the two extremities. 

 Ihese conditions taken together show that the animal was in the 

 adolescent stage, and had probably attained very nearly its fuU size. 

 The skull IS 9 8_ long in a straight line; the vertebra;, placed 

 c ose toge^ther and without their epiphyses, measured 30"; so that, 

 allowing for the epiphyses, intervertebral spaces, and the end of the 

 tau, the animal could not have been less than 45 feet long 



" The number of vertebra; present is 54 ■ and 3, or probably 4 of 

 me caudal are wanting, raising the total number to 57 or 58 Of 

 these, 7 are cervical, 14 dorsal, and about 13 or 14 lumbar; but 

 the articular surfaces for the anterior chevron bones not bein- weU 

 marked, I could not be certain where the tail should be considered 

 to begin. There are fourteen pairs of ribs. 



" The skull presents the general chai-acters of the genus SMaldhis. 

 Ihe only important difterence that I could find between it and the ■ 

 specimen from the coast of Holland is in the foi-m of the orbital 

 process of the frontal bone, which is narrower at its outer end ' " 

 approaching more to the form characteristic of Physalus, althouo-h by 

 no means so narrow as in this. The nasals (fig. 13, e, p. Ill) are Ion- 

 and narrow, nearly flat on their upper surface, and shghtly shelving 

 do^-n wards from the midcUe Une. Their anterior border is rathe? 

 less produced near the middle line than at the sides— the reverse in 

 this respect to the Zuyder Zee specimen. The tympanic bones are 

 4 -b long 3 -5 in greatest breadth, and 2"-5 thick. Their fonu is 

 seen in the annexed woodcut (fig. 47). The lower jaw has a veix 

 slight cur^■e and a low coronoid process, the highest part of which is 

 20 trom the hinder end of the bone. It is triangular in form 

 rounded at the apex, with a base about 4" in breadth, and rism- 

 about 2\ in height. The principal dimensions of the skull in 

 inches are given in the foUowing Table, compared with those of 

 the skulls of the two other specimens of the genus mentioned in this 

 notice. 



n2 



