328 Bulletin American Museum of Natural History. [Vol. XXIV, 



dried state, a little short of two meters (1970), of which the upper and fore- 

 arm bones constitute one half; probably in life the carpus and manus would 

 together equal the upper and fore-arm segments. 



Sternum. The sternum (Plate XXIII, Fig. A) is an irregularly oval 

 buckler, convex externally, flat internally, and consequently much thicker in 

 the middle than toward the edges. The upper border is greatly rounded, the 

 lower more pointed. Its greatest diameter is 250 mm., its length 320 mm. 



In form this sternum is quite different from any hitherto figured, but 

 most nearly approaches that of the Chicago Field Museum specimen (True 

 /. c., pi. 46, fig. 3), and the Taranto, Italy, specimen (True, /. c., text fig. 85, 

 p. 258). It is very unlike the figure that purports to represent this specimen 

 given by True (/. c., pi. 46, fig. 4). The sternum of the first American 

 Museum specimen figured by True (/. c., text fig. 87, p. 258) is a restor- 

 ation in wood, doubtless modeled after that of a fin-whale, supplied by the 

 preparator. There is obviously, however, great individual variation in the 

 form of the sternum in this species. The five known examples differ 

 markedly from each other, but the tendency is toward a more or less heart- 

 shaped form, as in the specimen figured by Andrews (c/. antea, p. 181), 

 and in the Iceland specimen figured by Guldberg (/. c., pi. ii, fig. 4). 



Pelvic Bones. Only one of these, the left, is preserved. It was heavily 

 enveloped in dried cartilaginous tissue and is evidently complete. On 

 carefully removing this tissue from the ossified portion, it was found to be a 

 soft porous bone, 220 mm. in length and 70 mm. in greatest width. As shown 

 in Plate XXIII, Fig. I, the lower border is strongly arched. The anterior 

 two-thirds is greatly expanded, rising into a high, obtusely rounded convexity, 

 having an inward curvature. The posterior third is cylindrical. The point of 

 the greatest expansion is a little anterior to the middle of the bone. If there 

 were originally connected with it vestiges of a pelvic limb, these parts must 

 have been overlooked or lost. This seems, however, improbable, as the prep- 

 aration of the skeleton was made under most intelligent supervision; the 

 investing cartilage, which was in tact when these parts were studied, would 

 also seemingly have shown trace of connection with appendages, if they had 

 been as well developed as those shown in Guldberg's plate (/. c., pi. ii, figs. 

 5-7), had any such existed. The pelvic element described by Guldberg has 

 twice the linear dimensions and a much greater mass than in the Province- 

 town specimen, with an attached femur 125 mm. long, and having a thick- 

 ness of 72 to 88 mm. 



In the Amagansett whale, described by Mr. Andrews (antea, pp. 171- 

 182), the pelvic bones are well developed, crescent-shaped, and abruptly 

 expanded in front of the middle, thence tapering rapidly anteriorly, and ex- 

 tending posteriorly as a somewhat flattened, cylindrical bone, becoming 



