Hector.—wNotes on New Zealand Cetacea. 483 
The number of vertebre is as follows :— 
al 
Cervical... iis 25 TR. d ne i 
Thoracic isk ied ee ik it 11 
Lumbar ... is 2 Te tem it 18 
Caudal with chevrons d id d o4 29 
Total number 60 
The first six cervical vertebre are soldered into a solid mass by the 
adhesion of their centra and neural arches, the divisions being only dis- 
tinctly visible on the lateral branches of the arches. The cervical mass 
formed by the spinous processes of the atlas, axis, and third vertebra, is 
directed backwards and is separated by a fissure from the posterior spine of 
the mass, which is composed on the left side of the sixth arch only, and on 
the right side by the fifth and sixth, the fourth segment having an incom- 
plete arch. à 
The length of the anchylosed vertebre is 8:9 inches. The seventh vertebra 
is a compressed lammellate bone in all its parts. The centrum is 0-7 inch 
in length, and has a rough patch but no distinct articular facet for the 
attachment of the first rib. 
The arch is directed baekward, and the transverse processes slightly 
downwards. There is no trace of an inferior transverse process. 
The dorsals, 11 in number (Nos. 8 to 18) havea total length of 38 inches. 
They gradually increase in length backwards, the body of the 8th being 1-6 
and that of the 18th 8:6 inches. The transverse process of the ten anterior 
segments are stout and short, with a wide articular facet for the ribs. They 
rise on the side of the arch for the first five vertebræ, and then descend till, 
on the 18th, the process, which is longer and expanded like that of the 
surrounding vetebre, springs from the upper third of the centrum. There 
is no costal articulation on the transverse process of this vertebra. The 
lumbar vertebre are thirteen in number, the first chevron bone appearing 
between the 81st and 32nd vertebre. No. 27, or the ninth lumber, is the 
largest in the spinal column, the length being 4:6 and the diameter of the 
centrum 4 inches, while the total length, including the neural spine, is 12 
inches, and the width through the transverse processes is 13 inches. The 
hæmal surface is compressed and excavated on each side of a mesial ridge. 
The average breadth of the processes is 2:5 inches. 
The caudal vertebre, 29 in number, continue to have centra of equal 
Size as far as the ninth (No. 42), when they become compressed, though 
retaining the same height to No. 48, after which they rapidly decrease in 
size. "The first vertical arterial foramen appears on No. 88, and on No. 42 
the lateral process is reduced to a mere tubercle. The last trace of a spinal 
canal is on No. 48. 
