1086 



,SIU SIUNiiY HAllM'Eli, Ol!f C'KUVlCAL VEllTEBll/E 



In structure the A^ertebrfe sliow an uniisual peculiarity. 

 Alfcliough Balmnoptera is ordinarily distingaislied from Balcana 

 by the fact that all the cervical vertebrje are completely free, 

 these two vertebras are firmly ankylosed to one another by a 

 union, between their centra, principally on the right side, at the 

 periphery, Avhere there is some indication of a diseased condition 

 of the bone. 



The specimen is fuither of interest, from the information it 

 gives as to the size which may be reached by the Blue Whale in 

 Northern waters. Becent unpublislied records of the Southern 

 Whaling Companies establish the fact that the length of 100 

 feet may l)e exceeded in that part of the world, and the opinion 

 has been expressed that the Southern race difl'ers from the 

 Northern by attaining a greater size. Thus Allen (op. cit. p. 249), 

 relying on measurements of Northern Blue Whales made by 



Text-fitrure 1. 



Blue Whale {Bcdcenopteva viuscalvs). Anterior view of the iinkyh^sed axis a);d 

 third cervical vertebra; the neiiial arch of the latter just visihle through the 

 neural canal of the axis. Pauiiiua, F. A. Mitchell-Hedges Coll. 



A scale nearly of 5 feet in length is seen resting on the somewhat i'l.jured 

 neural spine of the axis. 



True and at the Norwegian whaling stations, comes to the con- 

 clusion that 77 feet 2 inches " is probably nearly a true maximum," 

 although he mentions a Norwegian record of S7 feet 6'5 inches. 

 The question had previously been discussed at length by l^rue *, 

 Avho concluded (p. 156) that the maximum length of Newfound- 

 land Blue Whales is less than that of Norwegian specimens, 

 pointing to a difference in size of Blue Whales on opposite sides 

 of the Atlantic. This opinion, which has been quoted in support 

 of the view that the Eastern and Western schools are distinct in 

 that ocean, is obviously affected by the present record. 



* True, F. W., " Whalebone Whales of the Western North Atlantic," Smithson. 

 Contr. Knowledge, vol. xxxiii. (1904). 



