360 MR. W. H. FLOWER-ON THE OSTEOLOGY OF THE. SPERM-WHALE. 
ing to the pisiform*, they are five in number, differing little from each other, either in 
size or form. Although, as before said, they are so extended as to appear almost to 
form a single row, it may be readily seen that the central bone and that placed at 
either extremity really belong to what is ordinarily considered the proximal row of the 
carpus, while the two others constitute its distal row, thus conforming to what may be 
called the typical form of the Cetacean carpus. 
The determination of the homologies of the carpal bones of the Cetacea with those 
of other Mammalia is beset with difficulties, ‘and has consequently led to some differ- 
ences of opinion among those anatomists who have attempted it. The most recent essay 
on this subject is that of Dr. Van Bambeke}, who, however, laboured under the great 
disadvantage of having very insufficient materials at his command. I have been able to 
examine a considerably larger number of specimens, comprising nearly all the known 
genera, but must still admit that the determination of homologies of parts from the 
comparison of adult, or nearly adult, individuals is but provisional, and awaits, for its 
verification, the opportunity of tracing their development through the earliest stages 
of existence. 
The results of these observations on the carpal bones in the Odontoceti (to which 
group it is alone necessary to refer to illustrate the anatomy of the Cachalot) may be 
stated in the following propositions. It may be premised that every species appears 
liable to certain individual variations, and that sometimes the different sides of the same 
animal are not precisely alike either in the arrangement or even the number of the 
carpal ossifications. Such cases have often afforded a valuable clue to the identifica- 
tion of particular bones. 
1. The pisiform bone is represented in Delphinus tursio by a small ossification on the 
ulnar border of the carpus, and attached to the lower end of the ulna itself. In Inia a 
similar ossification projects from the same border of the carpus, but on a level with the 
bones of the second rowt. In Physeter it occupies a more normal position. These are 
the only instances that I have met with of the occurrence of this element in an ossified 
state in any of the Toothed Whales, though it must be admitted that, as it is a part so 
liable to be removed in cleaning the skeleton, it may be more frequently developed than 
our prepared specimens would indicate. 
2. Excluding the above, the carpus of the Odontoceti appears never to consist of 
more than six bones, three belonging to the proximal and three to the distal row. 
3. The three bones of the proximal row are constant, and may easily be identified as 
corresponding to the scaphoid, semilunar, and cuneiform of anthropotomy, or the 
* This was wanting in the limb figured, having probably been removed during the partial process of cleaning 
it had undergone before I received it. The bone represented in the figure is taken from the hand of another 
specimen, in which it was still in situ. 
+ “Sur le Squelette de ’extrémité antérieure des Cétacés,” Mém. de l’Acad. Roy. de Belgique, t. xviii. 1865, 
+ As in the Chelonians. 
