THE ORDER CETACEA. 43 



body, and so redoubling the heat, as all fat bodies are 

 less sensible to the impression of cold than lean ones.* 



The blubber is well furnished with arterial blood, thus 

 giving the fat somewhat of a pinkish appearance ;f it is 

 however in some animals a yellowish -white, yellow, or red. 

 In the very young animals it is always a yellowish- white ; 

 in some old animals, it resembles in colour the sub- 

 stance of the salmon. The lips appear to be wholly 

 composed of blubber, and will yield from one to two 

 tons of pure oil each. The adeps on the tongue affords 

 less oil than any other part of the body : in the centre 

 of this organ, it is found mixed with muscular fibres. 

 The lower jaw (with the exception of the jaw-bones) is 

 almost entirely formed of pure fat ; on the crown-bone 

 there is a very considerable coating. The fins are prin- 

 cipally blubber, bones, and tendons, and there is a very 

 thin stratum of fat upon the tail. 



The blubber is found on examination to be contained, 

 like the fat of other animals, within the cells of the cel- 

 lular or adipose membrane, which are connected toge- 

 ther by a powerful reticulated combination of tendinous 

 fibres. These fibres are condensed at the surface, and 

 appear to form the substance of the skin. The oil is 

 expelled when heated, and in a great measure discharges 

 itself out of the cells whenever putrefaction in the fi- 

 brous parts of the blubber takes place. The blubber 

 and the baleen, or whalebone, are the parts of the whale 

 to which the attention of the whaler is particularly di- 

 rected. The bones and flesh (excepting occasionally the 

 inferior jaw-bones) are rejected. In its recent state, the 

 blubber is perfectly free from any unpleasant smell ; 



* Dr. Rees's " Cyclopedia,'' — Art. Blubber. 

 t Dewhurst's " Dictionary of Anatomy." 



