19 
The osteological features of whales of¬ 
fer many intergsiing studies. As with all 
mammals (with the exception of the 
sloths, etc., they have seven vertebrae 
forming the neck, but these are coin- 
pressed into a shorter space horizontally 
than in any of the other mammals, take 
the sloths also they have solid ribs, and 
the cartilaginous attachments are ossified 
to resist the pressure encountered at 
great depths. The ear bones are extreme¬ 
ly strong and hard, anti are only loosely 
attached to the skull. This explains why 
ear bones of whales are sometimes ob¬ 
tained during deep sea dredging opera¬ 
tions. 
The examination and classification of 
the ear bones of the Cetacea would form 
an interesting branch of study for any 
student, attracted to this branch of science. 
'The origin of the whalebone obtained 
from whales is often misunderstood. This 
is not "bone" in the ordinary scn.se of the 
word, hut is evolved from the structure 
of the hard palate. Owing to this won¬ 
derful structure the teeth have atrophied, 
and in thoso whales have become rudi¬ 
mentary. and only appear in early life. 
As these early teeth degenerate, so they 
give way to the large triangular blades 
of whalebone, set at; an angle and frayed 
on the inner side of the jaw. This ar¬ 
rangement allows the whale to progress 
through the water and sieve out the small 
animalcule;, commonly called whale food 
or "Brit," upon which these huge crea¬ 
tures feed. The animal does not swallow 
the excess of water, but having secured 
a mouthful of food it elevates the tongue 
and this drains oft' the liquid through 
the plates of whalebone, the fringes of the 
inner edges retaining the essential por¬ 
tions of the whale's diet, after which the 
mouth is closed and the food duly swal¬ 
lowed. 
The wlmldbone whales (XIvslaooceti) are 
naturally the more valued group com¬ 
mercially. Owing to the cosmopolitan na¬ 
ture of the Cetacean order as a whole it 
is difficult to say with any degree .of 
certainty exactly which species occur 
in Tasmanian waters, but there arc at 
least fom. the most valuable being the 
Southern Bight Whale (Tialena australis). 
'The toothed whales (Odoutoceti) are by 
far the larger group, and the division 
contains many interesting forms varying 
from the huge sperm whale to the smaller 
dolphins. An interesting osleological fact 
concerning this group is that tlm skull 
is nearly always asymetrical to a marked 
degree. The .sperm whale or Cachalot, 
the giant of this division, has this asym¬ 
metry carried to such an extent as to 
close one nostril, thus causing the animal 
to blow a single jet of healed air and 
water instead of two such jets, as in all 
other whales. From this whale 
the morbid secretion known com¬ 
mercially as ambergris is obtained, 
and from which chemists evolve a per¬ 
fume. Whereas the sperm whale may 
grow up to sixty feet in length, there is 
a dwarf species, the short headed sperm 
whale (Kogia.i which only attains a 
length of ten feet. It might be men¬ 
tioned here that the greatest length of any 
species of whale yet authentically recorded 
is under one hundred feet measured be¬ 
tween perpendiculars. The ancients had 
vory large ideas regarding whales, and 
their writings refer to “fish taking up 
more than acres of ground." Or in an¬ 
other instance nine hundred and sixty feet 
in length! Needless to say, such exag¬ 
gerations will not stand investigation. 
The beaked whales (Ziphidce) form an 
interesting group of the toothed whales. 
Such forms as Hyperodon, Mesoplodon, 
and Zipliiue occur in Tasmanian waters, 
but they are seldom obtained, and not a 
great deal is known about them. The 
scientific world will benefit to a great 
extent owing to the work now being 
carried out in Great Britain by the 
British Museum. Owing to an arrange¬ 
ment made with the lighthouse and coast¬ 
guard stations, all stranded whales are 
immediately reported. In this manner 
many interesting specimens are being ob¬ 
tained and information gathered concern¬ 
ing species hitherto considered of very 
rare occurrence. 
The family Delphinida; includes the 
fierce "killers” and the smaller common 
dolphins. 'The latter are usually called 
"porpoises" 'by Tasmanian fishermen, but 
as a mailer of fact, we have no true por¬ 
poises in Tasmanian waters, all being, 
strictly speaking, short-nosed dolphins, or 
true dolphins. The dolphins can be dis¬ 
tinguished by the deep grooves on the 
palatal surface of the maxillaries and by 
the larger number of teeth. 
The common dolphin has been describ¬ 
ed under many species, but as far as 
Tasmania is concerned it would appear 
that, the characters of Delpliinus delphis 
would suffice for most of the specimens 
obtained, but that owing to the fact that 
the Cetacean order as a whole is a 
rapidly evolving one. the question of sub¬ 
sides must be considered. 
The sight we were privileged to see on 
Easter Monday has already been refer¬ 
red to in the general report as well as in 
a paper contributed to the Royal Society 
of Tasmania. The photographs illustrat¬ 
ing this serve to give some idea of the 
event, however, although it was impos¬ 
sible to obtain a view showing the im¬ 
mense number of dolphins in the bay, and 
we have to thank the council of the 
Royal Society for permission to use their 
illustrations, and to Mr. F. B. Cane for 
the time he spent in securing such ex¬ 
cellent photographs of a very difficult sub- 
