THE WHALEBONE WHALES OF THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC. 97 



The same measurement for the first lumbar, taken anteriorly, is 17^ in. ; for the 

 tenth lumbar, 16 in. The depth of the centrum of the first lumbar (Vert. No. 22) 

 is 9 in. ; of the tenth lumbar, 11 in. 



The total height of the second caudal vertebra (Vert. No. 33), measured an- 

 teriorly, is 26 in. ; posteriorly, 25^- in. ; height of neural arch and spine, anterior, 

 13^- in.; posterior, 13 in.; top of zygapophysis above top of centrum, 5 in. 

 Height of neural arch and spine of first caudal, 15 in. Diameter of last caudal in 

 position, 4 in. in either direction. The caudal series is incomplete. The skeleton 

 shows places for 10 chevrons. Seven are in position. 



As already stated, the skeleton, as at present mounted, has 14 right ribs and 13 

 left ribs. The first right rib has a length of 36 in., measured in a straight line from 

 the center of the distal end ; greatest breadth at the distal end, 9 in. Length of 

 first left rib, 37 in. ; breadth at distal end, 7i in. 



The total length of the right pectoral limb as mounted is 106| in. ; of the left, 

 107^ in. The breadth of the radius at the proximal end is 8 in. ; at the distal 

 end, 13 in.; breadth of the ulna at the proximal end, 7 in. (greatest), at the distal 

 end, 8 in. 



9. MEGAPTERA BELLICOSA Cope. 1871. 



Original description: Proceedings, American Philosophical Society, 12, 1873, 

 pp. 103-107. Bead October 21, 1870; published October (?), 1871. 



Type-locality : Off the coast of Santo Domingo, Haiti, West Indies, or St. Bar- 

 tholomew Island, West Indies. 



2ype-specimen : Skeleton of an individual 32 ft. long, forwarded to Philadel- 

 phia. Preserved in the museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. 



The skull and other portions of the type-skeleton of M. bellicosa are figured on 

 plates 29, 30, 31, 34, and 35. 



This species was first described by Cope in 1871. It was based on a skeleton 

 of an individual 32 feet long, obtained by Dr. A. Goes, colonial physician at St. 

 Bartholomew Island, in the West Indies, either off Santo Domingo, Haiti, or at 

 St. Bartholomew Island. Cope is not explicit on this point, but as Dr. Goes sent 

 some parts of a Humpback skeleton to the Boyal Museum, Stockholm, from St. 

 Bartholomew Island in 1868, it is likely that the type of M. bellicosa was also from 

 that locality (see 66, 38). The skeleton was "forwarded to Philadelphia," but 

 Cope does not state whether it went to the Academy of Natural Sciences, or not. 

 At all events there is in the museum of the Academy a skeleton whose dimen- 

 sions agree so closely with those given by Cope that there cannot be any reason- 

 able doubt that it is the type of the species. 



Cope's description of this species is rather fuller than in previous cases. He 

 states that the skeleton lacks " the sternum, pelvic bones, and perhaps four caudal 

 vertebrae. Of the latter, one is a large anterior vertebra, two are median, and one 

 between the latter and the distal. The whole number thus restored will be Cerv. 7, 

 D. 14, L. 10, Caud. 20 ; total, 51." 



As regards the number of dorsal and lumbar vertebrae this skeleton shows no 



