158 Prof. M'Intosh's Notes from Ike 



It thus happens that in Orca the long upper union is slightly 

 hollow, whilst the lower is convex, it may be with a median 

 groove. 



The vertebral column, so far as the remnants exist, 

 has the bodies of the vertebrae, especially in the lumbar 

 region, somewhat larger than in the female, and the few ribs 

 present are without traces of injury. The atlas and the three 

 next vertebras have both the spines and the bodies fused. 

 Reinhardt places weight on the occurrence of a rudimentary 

 transverse process on the axis of his Pseudorca crassidens, 

 but in the Killers there is variation, for the male shows a 

 much shorter process than the female. The only other bone 

 available was the typically fan-shaped right scapula, which was 

 somewhat larger than that of the female, the neck broader, 

 and its muscular impressions more pronounced. It 

 measured 14 inches from the dorsal margin to the edge of 

 the glenoid cavity, and its extreme breadth was 19 inches. 

 The abraded acromion was 3 j- and the coracoid 4 inches long. 

 In all respects it bears out Reinhardt's statement that the 

 acromion is placed sufficiently far behind the anterior edge 

 so as not to hide that part of the external surface which is 

 placed before it, whereas in other cetaceans this surface is 

 less easily seen. 



Impelled by the great muscles, the flukes of the tail 

 churn the water like the screw of a powerful steamer, 

 and the rapacious cetacean rushes swiftly on either seal 

 or porpoise, which in vain essays to escape by doubling 

 or diving, for the broad and muscular flippers enable 

 their pursuer to cope with every movement, and the 

 relentless grasp of those ready jaws soon ends the chase. 

 Moreover, the skins of the seals are, by muscular action 

 and gastric juice, by and by removed from the carcass 

 and ejected by the mouth, as Eschricht first noticed — those 

 in the stomach being flayed, whilst a skin with hairs 

 stuck in the mouth and throat. It would also appear 

 (Nilsson and Eschricht) that the seals are often seized 

 laterally, the grasp of the trenchant teeth taking in the 

 parts between the occiput and the sternum. The skins 

 having thus been removed, the soft parts and the bones are 

 rapidly acted on in the stomach. Such forms as the Killers 

 thus keep in check active fish-destroyers like porpoises and 

 seals, for though fishes are occasionally found in their 

 stomachs they appear to relish Avarm-blooded animals more. 

 Moreover, their distribution is so wide that their influence is 

 felt over a great area. It would be equally unreasonable, 



