Hxcron.— Notes on the Whales of the New Zealand Seas. 839 
respect with the one under consideration, so that there is no doubt that the 
presence or absence or relative position of the rudimentary teeth in the 
ziphioid whales is a matter of no specific value, contrary to the assertion 
of Dr. von Haast.* 
The three first cervieals only are anchylosed, as described by Prof. 
Flower, but the neural arches of the posterior cervicals are complete and 
not open, which is one point of difference between the two skeletons. 
The total number of vertebrs is 47, or one less than in the College of 
Surgeons specimen, and yet extreme care was taken to secure the whole of 
the small tail bones. There is also a slight difference in the number of 
vertebre in the regions of the spinal column, as described by Prof. Flower, 
from the skeleton now in the Colonial Museum, thus :— 
FLOWER. 
Cor. Mus. 
Cervieals s es 7 s es 7 
Dorsals T Ee 101 x he as 10 
Lumbars F ss 12 Aa Fx is 13 
Caudals with facets for chevrons 12 TA xd sl 10 
Tail proper e s$ F -á en 7 
Only the six last chevron bones were present, being attached to the 
36th-42nd vertebre, and although the four preceding vertebre, 31st- 
95th, have distinct hæmal facets, none of the corresponding bony arches 
were present. It is useful to note such discrepancies, as showing the 
amount of individual variation which may exist in the same species. 
The number of phalanges in the digits of the manus, which Prof. Flower 
suggests were imperfect in his specimen, are in my specimen I.-1, II.—6, 
III.-5, IV.-4, V.-3. 
9. MzEsoPLODON HECTORI. 
Mesoplodon hectori, Gray ; Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., VIIL., 117. 
Plate XVII. 
It is very doubtful if this species should be separated from M. sowerbyi, 
De Blainville, which seems to be subject to great variation in the position 
and development of the mandibular teeth, the length and basal width of the 
beak of the skull, and the presence or absence of a meso-rostral callosity. 
There appear, however, to be two extreme forms in the New Zealand seas, 
one representing the type of M. sowerbyi, of which the skull in the Canter- 
bury Museum, which I formerly described as a variety of M. hectori,t is 
probably an instance ; but a still more extreme form in the same direction 
of development is found in a skull in the Otago Museum, of which I am 
* Trans. N.Z. Inst., IX., 455. 
f Twelve thoracic vertebra are mentioned in the text, though elsewhere described as 
ten, 1. c., p. 
1 Trans. N.Z. Inst., V., 168. 
