148 PROFESSOR STRUTHERS. 



Table I. — Measurements of the Skull — continued. 



table may seem unnecessary, but they may be useful in the 

 study of the skull in fin-whales. In making the measure- 

 ments and the observations which follow, I had the skulls 

 of the Megaptera and the B. musculus placed together, so 

 that they could be approached on all sides and studied com- 

 paratively. 



2. Length and Proportions of the Skull. — The length of 

 the skull, taken to the point of the upper jaw, is less than that 

 given as the length of the head (Table I. Part III.), by the 

 amount of projection of the mandible beyond the beak and of 

 the soft parts in front of the mandible. The amount to which 

 the condyles project behind the rest of the skull falls to be 

 deducted in estimating how much the head forms of the total 

 length. The comparison of the parts in the two skulls in the 

 following observations is between the actual sizes, but it is to 

 be borne in mind that the Megaptera was 40 feet long, the skull 

 125 inches in length, the B. musculus 50 feet long, the skull 

 145 inches in length. In the true comparison of the lengths of 

 the several parts of the skulls, therefore, about a seventh has to 

 be deducted from those of B. musculus, or a sixth added to 



