2 co A BOOK OF WHALES 



we may safely follow Sir William Flower in holding 

 that there is but one species properly definable, which 

 is of wide range, and may be also of certain varia- 

 bility of outward form. The mysterious " High- 

 nnned Cachalot" will be considered a few pages 

 further on. This single species ranges from China 

 to Peru, in fact it is a denizen of all the oceans ; and 

 as a rule it is found far from land, preferring the 

 deeper waters. 



This whale cannot be confounded with any other ; 

 its thick, blunt head, a third of the length of the 

 body, distinguishes it at once. The muzzle, how- 

 ever, is not so abruptly truncated as is often figured 

 (e.g., by Scammon) ; it slopes forward two metres 

 beyond the front end of the jaw.* The skull, how- 

 ever, does not correspond in form to the head. The 

 whole upper surface of the head is occupied by the 

 "case" in which lies the spermaceti fluid during the 

 life of the animal. The males of the whale are 

 considerably larger than the females. The size of 

 the former appears, however, to have been exag- 

 gerated. Beale gives from actual measurements 

 84 feet as the length. But Sir W. Flower thinks 

 that this measurement and similar ones are not 

 always trustworthy, from the fact that there is no 

 indication whether they refer to actual length or are 

 taken along the curves of the body. From a com- 



* POUCHET and CHAVES "Des formes exterieures du Cachalot," Jonrn. 

 de fAnat., 1890. See also (for internal anatomy) POUCHET and BEAURE- 

 GARD, " Recherches sur le Cachalot," in Noicv. Arch, du Mus. (3), vols. 

 i. and iv. 



