126 BALaljrOPTERIDiE. 



Axis vertebra distinct (Cuv. t. 26. f. 19) ; second and third oer- 

 vicals united by spinous apophyses (t. 26. f. 20) ; the fourth (t. 26. 

 f. 21), fifth, sixth, and seventh free. Blade-bone short, much broader 

 than high, with a small acromion (Cuv. t. 26. f. 9). Humerus short, 

 thick ; the forearm-hones elongated ; hand very long ; fingers four, 

 very long, the two middle much the longest (Cuv. t. 26. f. 22). 

 Pelvis crescent-shaped (Cuv. t. 26. f. 24). 



The cervical vertebrae which are in the British Museum (see fig. 19), 

 received direct from the Cape, present several very important charac- 

 ters, especially the square form of the bodies of the vertebrae, which 

 afford most striking specific distinctions ; but perhaps Professor 

 Eschricht may not have been able to examine the form of this part, 

 as the skeleton in the Paris Museum is articulated, and the articular 

 surfaces of the cervical vertebrae are not shown. 



Professor Eschricht, who seems to have formed a theory that the 

 number of species of "Whales was very limited, states that he could 

 not find any distinction in the skeleton of the Cape specimen in the 

 Paris Museum to separate it as a species from the Greenland ex- 

 amples. I cannot make any observation as regards the Paris ske- 

 leton ; but it is said to have been brought by Delalande from the 

 Cape, and is probably from those seas. 



M. Van Beneden, in his " Eesearches on the Cetacea of Belgium," 

 also regards the Cape species as the same as the Greenland one (see 

 Nouv. Mem. Acad. Eoy. Bruxelles, xxxii. 38, 1861). He now con- 

 siders them as distinct, and is about to publish a description of the 

 Paris skeleton. 



1. Poescopia Lalandii. The Cape Humpback. 



Blade-bone with a very small coracoid process (Cuv. Oss. Foss. 

 t. 29. f. 9). Dorsal nearly over the end of the pectoraL Inter- 

 maxillary narrowed and contracted in front. Temporal bone broad, 

 triangular. " Second and third cervical vertebrae united by the 

 upper part of their body." — Cuvier. 



Eorqual du Gap, Ctii: Oss. Foss. v. 370. t. 26. f. 1-4 (skull), t. 26. f.l9- 



21 (yerteb.), f. 9 (blade-bone), f. 22 (fins), f. 24 (pelvis), t, 25. f. 15 



(tongue-bone) : all from Delalande's specimen. 

 Ealsena Poeskop, Desmoidins. 

 Balasna Balsenoptera Poeskop, Desmoulins, Diet. Class. IT. N. ii. 164, 



from Delalande's M8S. 

 Balaena Lalandii, Fischer, Syn. 525, from Cuvier. 

 Balsenoptera Oapensis, Smith, 8. African Quart. Journ. 130. 

 Megaptera Poeskop, Gray, Zool. E. ^ T. 17 ; Cat. Cetac. B. M. 1850, 29. 

 Eorqual noueux, Voy. Pole Sud, t. 24 (fem. not described). 

 Balsenoptera leucopteron. Lesson, N. Tab. JR^g. Anim.. 202. 

 Humpbacked Whales, Hoss, Antarctic Voy. i. 161, 191 (?) ; Mitchell, 



Trav. Austr. ii. 241 (?) ; Beale, H. Sperm W. 12, -30 (?). 

 Megaptera Poescopia Lalandii, Gray, Proc. Zool. Soc. 1864, 207 ; 



Ann. if Mag. N. H. 1864, xiv. 350. 



Tnhab. Cape of Good Hope {Delalande) ; called Poeskop. Skeleton, 

 Mus. Paris. 



