36 THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



whales can remain under a field of ice, or at the bottom 

 of the sea, in shallow water, when undisturbed, for many- 

 hours at a time : whether this is the case is uncertain ; 

 but whales are seldom found sleeping ; yet in calm wea- 

 ther, among ice, instances occasionally occur. 



Mr. O'Reilly, however, was informed by a respect- 

 able Captain of a Davis's Straits' ship, that (some years 

 previous to the year 1817, when that gentleman was in 

 Greenland,) a native paddled alongside, making anxious 

 expressions of useful information which he had to com- 

 municate : it was, that his companions had during three 

 days previously observed a large whale sleeping at the 

 bottom of a neighbouring creek. On sending some 

 boats to the spot, and splicing together some oars, by 

 this means sending down a harpoon, the animal was 

 struck, and subsequently taken. Here is a curious 

 physiological question to solve, Does the action of the 

 lungs in this case remain suspended ? or does the ar- 

 terial circulation proceed so as to supply a sufficient 

 vitality ? 



When I was in Greenland, in 1 824, I noticed that the 

 arterial blood was apparently of a much higher tempera- 

 ture in all the animals we captured than in England ; 

 and, on referring to Mr. O'Reilly's work, I find he cor- 

 roborates my statement. What the temperature is I 

 am unable to tell, our thermometer having been acci- 

 dentally broken during our passage out. 



The male organ of generation is a large flexible 

 member, concealed within a longitudinal groove, the ex- 

 ternal opening of which varies from two to three feet in 

 length. This member in the dead animal is from eight 

 to ten feet in length, and about six inches in diameter at 

 its root. It tapers to a point, and is perforated by the 

 urethra ; it has only one corpus cavernosum. The vent 



