The stability of a zonal shear flow to symmetric baroclinic perturbations is examined when the Ekman number,E, is asymptotically small. It is assumed, following Antar and Fowlis (1982), that the zonal Row is generated by imposing a constant horizontal temperature gradient γ* at the horizontal boundaries, and by maintaining a constant temperature difference δT* between them. The boundaries are at rest relative to a rotating frame.