THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 185 
Vertebrae: 7,15, 14,24 + = 60 +; several lacking. The last present measures 
43” X 44” and is 2" thick antero-posteriorly. Fifteen should perhaps be counted as 
lumbars. It is uncertain. 
RIBS.! 
The Ocean City whale has 15 pairs of ribs. The majority of specimens of B. 
musculus thus far described have this number, as will be seen by reference to the 
table on p. 181. Gervais, however, insists that the number should be 16 pairs, 
and that when less are reported it is because the last pair is overlooked. This 
hardly seems probable in view of the variability known to exist in all species of 
cetaceans. It was not the case in the Newfoundland fcetuses which I examined, 
two of which had 15 pairs of ribs and one 16 pairs. 
In the Ocean City whale, the 2d, 3d, and 4th ribs have capitular processes. In 
B. musculus, according to Van Beneden and Gervais (8, 215), the 3d and 4th ribs 
are furnished with a neck (col). This information is probably from Malm. Of the 
Hull museum skeleton Flower remarks (45, 412): “The 2d and 8d ribs have both 
well-developed capitular processes extending towards the bodies of the vertebra, 
longer and more slender in the third. In the 4th this process is nearly obsolete, 
and absent in all the succeeding ones.” 
The 1st rib in the Ocean City whale, as normally in B. musculus, is single- 
headed. It is to be remarked, however, that the Ist rib in the Ostend, Belgium, 
skeleton, according to Dubar’s figure and description, is double-headed (34, 38, pl. 8). 
The following table includes measurements of the ribs of various European 
specimens and of the Ocean City, New Jersey, skeleton : 
BALZNOPTERA MUSCULUS (L.). EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN, RIBS. 
l 
Length of 
, Length of | Length of 
Locality. Whale. | Skeleton. ; Author. 
Ist Rib. 2d Rib. 3d Rib. | 6th Rib. 
in. in. in in 
F 7.6 2a 7 
Ositenal, eke 555 |! sas0ce || auoosc (= 2.48 m.)\(=2.1m.)| °° fo Dubar 
N. Berwick, Scotland. | ...... ke gt NER ee he: Sette TP Renee I | eed 46 Knox 
Efollancreynreiter rere eh 25 AG =)! | eeatctess 49.0 EKopehr || ae Gerbaere Flower 
Baltic Sea (1862)..... BTeSie ee eeea AGIOMMT ill. ess efey stor") || acceistg sive || Siete Miinter 
Sylt Id.,Germany.... | 50’ 0” Astor ye Maer Mm sicicers,. \Mhe css rata 598 Mobius 
OceaniCity Ne |ia--6- GON ar rites kes Siteey= «||| VENER eae ey athe races Cope 
SOAPULA. 
The only illustrations of the scapula of the European Sulphurbottom accessible 
are Dubar’s (34, pl. 10), which is obviously inaccurate, and the figure copied by 
Van Beneden and Gervais from Malm’s illustrations of “ 5. caroline” (8, pls. 12-18, 
fig. 38). Outlines of these figures and of one of the scapulze of the Ocean City, N. 
‘No material is available for a comparison of the sternum of the European Sulphurbottom 
with American specimens. ‘Text-figures 49 and 50 show the form in two European examples. 
? Breadth at distal end, 9} in. 
