SCANDINAVIAN CETACEA. 263 



extremities, has indicated its specific difference from Rudolphi's Balæna r ostrata, or the one here mentioned 

 as Balænoptera laticeps, Gray, and that it consequently forms a distinct species.^ He has, at the 

 same place, also called attention to the great similarity in the form of the extremities of this whale and 

 the Ostend ivhale, also to the more than probable similarity between them in the peculiarity of the 

 dorsal fin, and says — " I saa Fald alltsaa turde denne bekjendte Ostender Finhval hore til en ganske 

 anden Art end de ovrige ved de europæiske Kyster indstrandede." The reasons given by Eschricht 

 are so striking that they seem sufficient grounds for a certainty rather than for a presumption. This 

 certainty becomes still more corroborated by comparing Dubar's figures of the skeleton of the immense 

 Ostend whale with the same figures by Rudolphi of his little Balæna rostrata, as we find very 

 considerable deviations in the form of all those parts of the skeleton which Dubar has figured, even 

 after making allowance for the indifferent manner in which his figures are executed. Eschricht has, 

 notwithstanding this, in his 6th memoir, joined together both these whales under the name Balæna 

 [Pterobalæna) boops, which name, in all old authors, is of as uncertain application as the names Balæna 

 physalus, B. musculus, and others. There is in the museum in Bergen a skeleton (complete with the 

 exception of the sternum and pelvic bones) of a young Balænoptera laticeps from Norwegian .West 

 Finmark, which in every respect fully corresponds with the figures of this Balænoptera given by 

 Rudolphi. I was therefore enabled by the examination of this skeleton to establish the con- 

 siderable difference existing between it and that of the Ostend whale, and will here briefly state 

 them.^ The skull of Balænoptera laticeps is more narrow and elongated, with the face part or nose 

 narrower, and the lateral borders less arcuate. The lower jaw-bones differ materially. They are 

 shorter in the Ostend whale, and apparently of equal height to the point, where they are almost 

 abruptly truncated. They are also strongly curved. In the other, they taper considerably 

 towards the point, which is rounded, and are but slightly curved. The number of vertebræ in the 

 Ostend whale is, according to Dubar, 55, viz., 7 cervical,^ 14 dorsal, 16 lumbar, and 18 caudal 

 vertebræ.* The dorsal vertebræ are 13, and the lumbar 14, in the Balænoptera laticeps. The atlas, in the 

 former, has long, obtuse, conical lateral processes, and resemble the atlas in jB. musculus very much, but 

 has smaller articulating surfaces and a wider corpus.^ The atlas of -B. laticeps has quite short and compressed 

 lateral processes, the height of which is greater than their leugth. The 1st pair of ribs differ somewhat, 

 but correspond in having the upper end bifurcated. The anterior capitulum in the Ostend whale is not 

 half as large as the other, and does not reach by far to the other ; there is a rather deep notch in the 

 lower end of the rib.^ The two capitula in B. laticejis are certainly not of the same size, but the 

 difference is not so great, and the anterior is the larger; there is no notch on the lower end of the rib. 

 The 2nd rib in the Ostend whale has at its lower end a kind of bifurcation, of which there is no sign 

 in B. laticeps. The scapula of the latter is much broader, and has the acromion further separate from 



^ L. c, pp. 378 and 379. 



" Eschricht had the kindness in Copenhagen to lend me Dubar's treatise, the figures of 

 which I thus had an opportunity of copying, and the comparison is now based upon these copies. 



* The 7th cervical vertebra is considered as dorsal by Dubar, and he has consequently 15 dorsal 

 and 6 cervical vertebræ. 



* One or more of the last caudal vertebræ appear to be missing, because those that now are the 

 last in the figure seem to be too large. 



^ I have seen a very large atlas in the museum in Copenhagen — distance between the points of 

 processus transversi 3' i" ; height of atlas 1' 7" — very nearly resembling that of the Ostend whale. The 

 posterior articulating areas are smaller than in B. musculus, and separated below. 



^ This rib seems to be formed by two ribs grown together. 



