Hector. — Notes on New Zealand Whales. 2^5 



The twenty-ninth, thirtieth, and thirty-first have a well-marked ridge on 

 the side of the body between the lateral and neural processes, lowest on the first 

 and ascending obliquely backwards. There are no perforations in any of the 

 lateral processes, which disappear altogether on the thirty-sixth vertebra ; the 

 thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth are damaged ; the forty-first and forty-second are 

 wanting, judging from the graduation of their diameter; the forty-third and 

 forty-fourth are mere " buttons," and there may have been a few more present, 

 but if so they have been removed with the integument. 



Chevron bones commence at the twenty-third vertebra, and all traces of a 

 neural arch cease at the twenty-ninth. 



The ribs are fifteen on each side. The first is single-headed, with feeble 

 articulation, no angle, 1 3 inches long by 1 *8 wide ; the second is curved and 

 has an expanded neck, 18 inches by 1-7 ; the third is bent at right angles 

 with the neck, and has a distinct capitulum, being 27*5 inches in total length ; 

 the fourth and all succeeding are less bent, the articulation becoming feeble, 

 while the blade of the rib expands to nearly 3 inches in width and is perfectly 



compressed. 



The sternum is a small shield-shaped bone 4 inches by 4-2, with a small 

 blunt keel in the middle and a single articular depression on each side. The 

 sterno-hyoid is curved, and II inches long ; sty.-hyoids are compressed with 

 round ends, 8-5 inches in length. 



The pelvic bones are blunt and curved, 4-5 inches long. 



The scapula is a flat smooth bone without any supporting ridges on either 

 side and with scarcely any perceptible concavity. It has both coracoid and 

 acromion processes ; the glenoid fossa is elongate-oval, 2 inches by 1 -5 ; from 

 the plane of the articular surface the posterior border of the bone is continued 

 backwards in almost the same plane with only a slight curve in the outline 

 close to the articulation j anteriorly the coracoid is strictly in the same plane 

 as the articulation, being a feeble compressed process '5 inch in diameter and 

 1 -3 long ; the acromion is a flat wide process, commencing 1 -5 above the 

 articulation and projecting 1-5 by 1*5 inches in width ; the anterior margin 

 of the bone is nearly at right angles to the posterior margin of the bone and 

 is 7 inches long ) the flippers are 16 inches long by 3*5 wide, with an external 

 lateral lobe; the manus consists of four fingers, one of which is almost 

 rudimentary and the second the longest. 



MEGAPTERA NOV^-ZEALANDLE. Gray, Trans. N. Z. L, V, 156. 



The New Zealand Humpback. 



I have had an opportunity of observing a great many of the bones of this 

 species, and have received two skulls at the museum. One of them, presented 

 by Mr. E. R. Gooch, was killed and prepared by him at the Kaikoura 

 Peninsula, and was determined at the time as being the true humpback 



