8 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



In the late Baron Cuvier's great work on the animal 

 kingdom, very little information is given on the natural 

 history of the cetacea, the descriptions being extremely 

 superficial, and mostly gleaned from preceding writers. 

 The description given by the Baron of the most im- 

 portant distinguishing characters of the baleendptera 

 rorqual is incorrect, as I shall take occasion to point 

 out more particularly in the proper place. I must not 

 omit to mention the works of Captain Scoresby on the 

 Arctic Regions and the whale fishery, inasmuch as 

 they abound with valuable information on the zoology 

 of the Arctic Seas. The principal fault of Mr. Scoresby's 

 works is, that in many points they are too superficial 

 in regard to some animals, and particularly the fish tribe 

 of the Polar Regions. At the same time, naturalists are 

 indebted to him for the best and most accurate account 

 of the monodon monoceros or narwhale, as also the 

 medusa*, which form no inconsiderable portion of the 

 oceanic Arctic inhabitants : and to the works I have 

 mentioned it is my duty candidly to state that I am 

 indebted for much valuable information on this interest- 

 ing department of natural history. 



AN ICEBERG IN LATITUDE 7^° 35 



