416 Dr. H. Burmeister on two Species o/-'Balaenoptera. 



The number of the lumbar vertebrse is seventeen in B. pata- 

 chonica and sixteen in B. intermedia. After these vertebrae 

 there come in B.patachonica thirteen, and in B. intermedia six- 

 teen caudal vertebrge, with free lower spines or ha3mapophyses, 

 the last of these spines being in both species open — that is to 

 say, divided into two separate laminae, larger in B. patachonica 

 than in B. intermedia. At last, to the end of the tail, follow 

 nine or ten vertebrge, successively smaller, of which, in both 

 species, the last six have been lost. The fifty-eighth vertebra 

 in B. patachonica has almost the same bulk as the fifty-ninth 

 vertebra of B. interinedia^ but is a little larger in the body ; 

 which permits us to suppose that the total number of verte- 

 bra3 in the two species was not the same, but that B. pata- 

 chonica had several vertebra? less than B. intermedia^ although 

 the last inferior spine is situated in both species on the same 

 vertebra, i. e. the fifty-fourth. All these differences seem to 

 me to indicate a specific difference in the two animals. 



Of the fins only the shoulder-blade and the humerus have 

 been preserved in the skeleton of B. intermedia^ the sternum 

 also is wanting ; but in that of B. patachonica we have the 

 fins almost quite complete, the smallest inner finger alone 

 having been lost. The sternum also has been preserved : this 

 has nearly the shape of the same bone in B. physalus ; but 

 the large central excision of the anterior portion is absent in 

 our species, and in place of it there is a small hole in the centre 

 of the same portion, which measures 17 inches in breadth, and 

 the whole sternum 15 inches in length, the central aperture 

 occupying 2| inches of this extension, and commencing 2^ 

 inches behind the slightly excavated anterior margin. The 

 narrow posterior portion of the sternum is 8 inches long and 

 5 inches broad at first, but 2\ at the end. 



The shoulder-blade presents nothing of importance ; it is 

 23 inches in height and 37g at its greatest breadth. The 

 humerus is 18 inches long ; and each bone of the forearm is 

 25-26 inches in length, the cubitus above having behind a 

 large salient angle. The pectoral fin is 6 feet in length and 

 18 inches in breadth at the beginning of the forearm, the pro- 

 jecting angle of the olecranon being occupied by a large, 

 sharp, triangular cartilage. There are the usual five carpal 

 bones, and in the terminal portion of the fin five fingers, as 

 with all the Balcenopterce. In these fingers the first (external) 

 one has four bones, namely one metacarpal and three phalanges, 

 the four measuring 4|, 4, 3|, and 3 inches in length. In the 

 second finger, which is longer, there are six large bones and a 

 small terminal point as indication of a seventh ; these articu- 

 lations are 5^, 5, 4, 2|, 2, and 1^ inch in length. The third 



