Waite — Two Australasian Blue Whales 165 



Sternum. The sternum of this species, as evidenced by our specimen, is 

 very (Hfferent from that of B. ph\saius, for example. True (^■') reproduced 

 the figures of a large number of sterna of the latter species which may be con- 

 trasted witii the ijhotograph here sulnnitted (Plate xxiv, fig. 3). In our exam- 

 ple the bone forms a butterfly-like figure, twice as broad as long, the major 

 (liniension heins^' 1 metre. Unlike the condition in many examples of B. physaiiis 

 the anterior part of the bone consists of a boss, whereas the hinder part is 

 deeply notched, a condition foreshadowed in a specimen of B. musculus, from 

 Ostend. as illustrated by Fischer {fide True). 



Vertebrae. Though not fused together the seven vertical vertebrae form 

 a compact mass. In the atlas ( PI. x.x\-, fig. 1) the processes are feebly curved 

 backward, the transverse diameter of the bone being 1 -029 m. The Axis 

 (PI. XXV. fig. 2) is a massi\e member with the diameter of 1 ■ 14S m. ; the pro- 

 cesses are curved backwards, and the superior and inferior apophyses are 

 strongly ankylosed and enclose the lateral foramina. The processes of the 

 third vertebra are weak and are also directed backwards, while those of the 

 fourth have a lateral direction : the apophyses of the fifth and sixth vertebrae 

 are directed forwards; in the latter the extremity of the diaphophysis is expand- 

 ed and approximates the parapophysis of the fifth ; the parapophysis of the 

 sixth \ertel)ra is very short. In the last cervical the superior process is 

 large, whereas the inferior one is represented by a tubercle only. The pro- 

 cesses of the last cervical and first dorsal are in apposition and are connected 

 by a pad of cartilage arising from a bony boss on the cervical, and a cup 

 with raised bony margins on the dorsal : the latter condition is shown on 

 Plate XXV, fig 3. The processes of each side are not ankylosed in the third 

 to sixth vertebrae. The diapophyses of the cervicals are set vertically to 

 the body ; those of the first few dorsals are oblique and of the remainder 

 throughout, subhorizontal.. As will be seen in the illustration, the extremity 

 of the neural spine of the first dorsal is not thickened, nor is the character 

 apparent in the next two vertebrae. The first lumbar is shown on Plate xxvi, 

 fig. 1. The third to sixth lumbars are the largest vertebrae, the span of their 



(13) True, Smiths. Contrib , loc. cit.. pp. 140, HI. 



