424 ON THE ORKNEY ANIMAL. 



on one side of one of the vertebrae, and that near 

 the axis of the cones. All his other cylinders, in- 

 stead of extending from cone to cone, terminate at 

 a definite line, and at a small distance from the 

 surface of the cone in which they commence. In 

 the vertebrae taken from the animal of Stronsa. 

 the cones thicken from the apex to the base, as in 

 the squalus ; but the thickness of the interverte- 

 bral ligament was very different, even after mace- 

 ration in water. 



There are no osseous laminae radiating from 

 the centre, in Mr Home's figure ; and no mention 

 in his verbal description, of the ligamento- cartila- 

 ginous rings, and the various sulci extending 

 through the cylinders. Perhaps they existed, 

 though he has not described them ; and yet it 

 would be uncandid, without stronger evidence 

 than I have, to suppose such defects in Mr Home's 

 description. 



Since reading the first paper of Mr Home, 

 where he treats of the vertebrae of the Squalus 

 maximus, I have seen another, entitled " An Ana- 

 " tomical Account of the Squalus maximus." In 

 this last paper, he seems to be convinced, that the 

 animal of Stronsa is a Squalus maximus. The 

 scale on which he draws his figure of the squalus, 

 is a scale of half an inch to a foot. 



Measuring by this scale, the head of his squalus 

 is hve feet and a half, from the point of the up- 

 per jaw to the gills. The dried and shrivelled 

 head of the animal of Stronsa, measures only twelve 



