THE ORDER CETACEA. 13 



Cuvier, in his " Regne Animal," makes it constitute a 

 portion of the eighth order of the mammalia, placing it 

 after the ruminantia.* 



In regard to the cetacea, the usual arrangement of 

 animals by the conformation of their teeth was neces- 

 sarily abandoned by Linnaeus, on referring to their 

 anatomical structure; whilst, in other orders, he con- 

 sidered this as contributing to form a generic character. 



The natural history of the whale is an object well 

 worthy the utmost attention of the zoologist, theologian, 

 and philosopher. In all probability, it was this animal 

 that gave rise to the fabulous inventions of the an- 

 cients respecting hyperborean monsters, such as the 

 kraaken, said to extend many thousand feet in length, 

 and to resemble a bank of sand, or a reef of rocks, upon 

 the surface of the water. Such exaggerations, however, 

 are totally unnecessary for the purpose of exciting our 

 wonder, inasmuch as these stupendous animals are, in 

 their own dimensions, sufficiently gigantic. The size of 

 whales, when sufficient time has been allowed for their 

 full developement, is truly terrific. " There is no 

 doubt," observed the late Baron Cuvier, " that whales 

 have been seen, at certain epochs, and in certain seas, 

 three hundred feet in length, and weighing more than 

 three hundred thousand pounds. Among the individuals 

 of this genus met with at the present day, at a consider- 

 able distance from the Arctic Pole, there are some from 

 seventy to a hundred and twenty feet long."f 



Whatever may have been the length of these animals 

 in former times, previous to their frequent capture on 

 account of their oil, I must dissent from those authors 

 who, even in the present day, declare their average 



* Vide " Translation by Ed. Griffiths, Esq., and others," vol. iv. p. 475. 

 t Idem, vol. iv. p. 47G. 



