66 A BOOK OF WHALES 



is not so pressing, re-masticate and digest it at their 

 leisure. Whales often feed among dense swarms 

 of cuttlefish, Crustaceans, etc., and it might seem 

 that here, too, a kind of rumination might take 

 place. The immense amount of food swallowed 

 might be kept in the first division of the stomach 

 and regurgitated for subsequent chewing. The fact 

 that a large number of seals and porpoises, perfectly 

 whole and intact, were found in the first division of 

 the stomach of an Orca seems to favour this 

 hypothesis, as does also the statement of many 

 that whales when captured generally allow some 

 undigested, even unlacerated, food to escape by 

 the mouth. But on the contrary view, which is 

 that usually accepted, we must consider the structure 

 of the mouth, teeth, and tongue, all of which have 

 an important bearing upon the existence or non- 

 existence of prolonged mastication such as charac- 

 terises Ruminantia. The numerous and homodont 

 teeth (see p. 68) are not fitted for chewing, they 

 are fitted simply for catching and retaining slippery 

 fish and squid. The great length of the jaw in 

 many forms does not permit of the essential lever 

 action of the jaws in chewing, and, finally, the 

 immobile tongue is not of any use in aiding the 

 performance of the function of mastication ; a mobile 

 tongue is obviously required to push back the food 

 as it escapes from between the teeth. 



It is thus practically certain that whales do not 

 ruminate. But in that case, of what use is the first 

 stomach, devoid as it is of glands ? In the ruminant 



