OK A aiCANTJO ULUE U'lTALE I'llOM I'ANA.MA. 1087 



Tlie luiiterial Mvailable for com[)arisou iu the Britisli Museum 

 is imforfcunntely scanty, and the best is a skeleton of a IBlue 

 Whale whicli was stniuded at llosslaie, Wexford Bay, on Mar. 25, 

 1891. According to the information given by W. Crouch* and 

 G. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton f, this specimen was probably a 

 female 82 feet long. The examination of its vertebral column 

 sliuws tliiit tlu* 0[)i[»hyKeH of tlio conti'a, nro fieo, or nearly free, 

 :i,]ong the -wliole leiigtli of the column. Tho process may 

 })erhiips liMve commenced in the caudal region. It should be noted, 

 jiowever, that True J quotes an observation by Guldberg, who 

 measured a male J3liie AV'liale as 78 feet 9 inches long, and subse- 

 (juently ascertained that all the epiphyses were ankylosed to the 

 bodies of the vertebrje. Flower § has pointed out that ankylosis 

 of the vertebral epiphyses in Cetacea commences in the cervical 

 and caudal regions, extending from both ends towards the middle 

 of the length of the column, where the process is finally completed. 

 lie distinguishes animals in which this process has commenced 

 but is incomplete as being in the "adolescent " stage, which has 

 thus hardly been reached by the Wexford whale. The Panama 

 vertebra^, on the contrary, have their epiphyses completely 

 united; and it may be inferred from their condition that the 

 animal was full}^ adult, although it is obvious that they give no 

 complete answer to the . question whether all the vertebral 

 epiphyses Avere thus united. 



The axis of the Panama specimen measures 4 feet 7^ inches 

 from tip to tip of the transverse processes, and it thus greatly 

 exceeds in size those of (1) the Wexford whale, with a corre- 

 sponding measurement of 3 feet 8^ inches, and (2) the female 

 specimen recorded by Sir William Turner ||, of an estimated 

 length of " 70 to 80 feet or upwards," stranded at Longniddry, 

 Firth of Forth, November 1869, whose axis measured 3 feet 

 8 inches across. The Panama axis is stiikingly more massive 

 than that of the Wexford whale, as is shown by a comparison of 

 the weights. The ankylosed axis and third cervical vertebra of the 

 Panama whale weigh 112 lbs., Avhile the corresponding bones of 

 the Wexford whale are only 53 lbs. This gives a fair comparison 

 of the actual volume of the bones, even taking into account the 

 ])0ssibility of a slight error due to differences in the amount of 

 animal matter left after cleaning. It is further in accordanbe 

 with expectation, in an animal increasing from 80 to 100 feet in 

 length, a proportion of 4 to 5. The increase in volume should 

 l)e in proportion to the cubes of these numbei'S, and the cube of 

 5 is almost exactly twice the cube of 4. 



• It is of interest to attempt to verify the recorded length of the 

 Panama whale. Truo^f has recorded the mensuroments of a 



* ' Tlic Zoologist,' 1801, p. 215. 



+ Ibid. )i. 300. , 



t Op. cit. p. 151. ' . 



§ I'loc. Zool. Soc. 1861, p. 385. 



II ' Marine Mamnials Atiatom. Mus. Univ. I'idiiibuigli,' London, 1912, pp. 40-50. 



*[\ Op. cit. pp. 180, 184. 



