124 Rudimentary Hind-limb of Megaptera longimana. | February, 
ception, lost their egg-sacs. It is possible that the males would 
be more frequently met with in June or July. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE III. 
(The drawings are all outlined by Zeiss camera lucida, and reduced by one-third.) 
Fig. 1, Gundlach 11577 X Zeiss Oc. II. 
4 
Fig. 9, Zeiss Hom. Im. 3th x Oc. 11. 
Fic. 1.—MWyicola metisiensis Ramsay Wright, Ọ from above. 
“ 2,—Head and part of Ist thoracic segment from below. 7, rostrum, a!, ante- 
rior, a?, posterior antenna; Zæ, labrum; mz, mandible; mx, maxilla; mx, 
anterior maxillipede; m7, metastoma; s¢, the somewhat complicated sternal 
apparatus of the Ist pair of natatory feet. 
3.—Posterior antenna, tanger the chitinous framework of the different 
joints. 
«© 4.—Maxilla ‘ 
5 saute maxillipede. g 
6.—First pair of natatory feet. 
“ 7.—Fifth pair. 
* 10,—Posterior üúkiilipéde of 3. 
A’ 
s. 
ON THE RUDIMENTARY HIND LIMB OF MEGAP- 
: TERA LONGIMANA} 
BY JOHN STRUTHERS, M.D. sil ay 
f author remarked that the interest attaching to the struc- 
ture of whales depends largely on the fact that they present 
-numerous rudimentary structures. Megaptera is extremely rare 
on British coasts. This one appeared in the Firth of Tay, and 
after sporting for some weeks in sight of the inhabitants of 
Dundee, was at last mortally wounded, and towed ashore dead 
at Stonehaven, near Aberdeen, on January 8, 1884. It was a male, 
forty feet in length. The pectoral fin, the chief character of this 
species, was twelve feet in length. The parts containing the rudi- 
mentary hind limbs were removed and carefully examined in the 
anatomical rooms at Aberdeen. The presence of a rudimentary 
1 Abstract of a paper read before the biological section of the British Association — 
for the Advancement of Science at Montreal, August, 1884. 
