18 
Proceedings of the Eoyal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
black with white or grey stripes in its inner part, so that I am disposed to 
regard it as belonging to the Sye Whale. 
Bal^na australis. 
A tympano-petrous bone of the Southern Bight Whale, B. australis, 
was obtained by Mr Coughtrey from a specimen shot in the Schollert 
Channel, Belgic Strait, Graham Land, in March 1914. The animal was 
a female, with blades of whalebone 7 feet long. 
I have measured the tympanic bones and append a Table in which the 
dimensions are given, along with those of other specimens of B. australis \ 
also those of the Eight Whale of the North Atlantic, Balcena hiscayensis. 
These bones are in the Anatomical Museum of the University. 
Dimensions of Tympanic Bones. 
Length. 
Breadth. 
Height. 
Balcena australis — 
Belgic Strait, Graham Land, 1914 
Te Awite, New Zealand 
Balcena hiscayensis — 
St Kilda, 1910 .... 
Tarbert, Harris, 1912 . 
?> 55 ... 
4’7 in., 120 mm. 
126 „ 
124 „ 
127 „ 
129 „ 
128 „ 
3d in., 81 mm. 
75 „ 
73 „ 
90 „ 
88 „ 
93 „ 
4 in., 104 mm. 
105 „ 
109 „ 
113 „ 
112 „ 
113 „ 
In my memoir on the Eight Whale of the North Atlantic, Balcena 
biscayensis* I discussed the question of the relation between B. hiscayensis 
and B. australis, and came to the conclusion that there was no structural 
reason why the Eight Whale of the North and South Atlantic should not 
be regarded as the same species, for difference in habitat did not necessarily 
imply specific difference. 
From a comparison of the measurements of the tympanic bones in the 
Table it will be seen that whilst the specimens from the Eight Whale of 
the North Atlantic were a little larger than those from the Eight Whale 
of the South Atlantic, probably derived from older animals, the length, 
breadth, and height corresponded in their relative proportions ; the height 
in each case also much exceeded the breadth, owing to the strong keel on 
the inferior aspect of the bone. They corresponded also in their general 
configuration. In each bone the outer surface in its upper part had two 
definite convexities separated by a wide, deep, oblique groove, whilst the 
* Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., vol. xlviii. p. 889, 1913, and Marine Mammals in Anatomical 
Museum of University, 1912. 
