482 DR. J. V. HAAST ON MESOPLODON FLOWERI. [June 6, 



Mesoplodonfloweri thus agrees in these particulars with M. sower- 

 biensis. 



Cervical Vertebra. 



Measured along the lower side of their main bodies, the seven cer- 

 vical vertebrae have a total length of 5'75 inches. Of them, the atlas, 

 second, and third vertebrae are united into one large triangular bone 

 8 inches broad and 6* 10 inches high (see no. 16). Only their lower 

 processes, of which those of the second are the largest, are free. The 

 third vertetebra has two distinct transverse processes on each side, of 

 which the higher one (diapophysis) is a thin bone, with its termina- 

 tion pointing downwards. Tbe next four vertebrae are all free ; and 

 if we take into consideration that the skeleton under review belonged 

 to a fullv adult animal, there is no doubt that no further change in 

 their relations to each other would have taken place. 



The upper as well as the inferior transverse processes become gra- 

 dually smaller as we advance towards the thoracic region. In the 

 fourth vertebra the inferior transverse process has still a horizontal 

 direction ; in the fifth it assumes a downward slope, which is con- 

 tinued to the seventh, where it consists only of a small tubercle. 

 Above it, on the side of the body of this vertebra, is the articular sur- 

 face for the head of the first rib. The fourth vertebra had evidently 

 a small spinous process, which doubtless was broken off in cleaning 

 it; in the fifth the spinous process is 1 '05 inch, in the sixth T53 

 inch, and in the seventh 2 inches high, all leaning a little forwards. 

 The bodies of the last four vertebrae are broader than they are high. 

 M.jtoiveri therefore stands so far alone in regard to the arrangement 

 of the cervical vertebrae, as no other Ziphiod Whale, so far as I am 

 aware, has the first three cervical vertebrae ankylosed and each of 

 the next four perfectly free. 



Thoracic Vertebra. 



The species under review possesses ten, of which the bodies 

 are all flattened from top to bottom and become gradually of larger 

 dimensions, the body of the first being T12 inch, and the tenth 

 4*20 inches in postero-anterior length. The spinous process of the 

 first is pointed and stands slightly forwards ; that of the second stands 

 nearly vertical, after which in the remaining eight vertebrae it gra- 

 dually slopes more and more backward and becomes higher and 

 broader. This process in the second and third has rather a rounded 

 apex, after which it becomes more truncated in the rest. 



The height of the spine of the first thoracic vertebra is 4 - 25 inches, 

 of the tenth 9 inches. 



The articulation for the head of the second rib is situated at the 

 posterior end of the first vertebra, low, at the base of the arch ; it 

 rises gradually in the two next, so that in the third vertebra this 

 articulation is placed some distance above that base, a position which 

 it maintains in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, after which it disappears, 

 the following ribs having only one articulation. 



The transverse process, which springs from both sides of the arch, 



