THE ORDER CETACEA. 107 



portion of the B. jubartes. The oil serves them partly 

 for fuel, the preparation of their food, and affords them 

 light. The delicate pieces of baleen, or whalebone, they 

 make into threads for the manufacture of fishing nets, 

 lines, &c. The lower jaw-bones are used as portions of 

 sledges, handles of instruments, &c. ; sometimes the 

 ribs form the frame-work of the cabins ; the nerves 

 answer the purpose of cord ; and the various portions 

 of the stomach and intestines form vessels to contain 

 their drink and oil. The skin, which they rudely tan, 

 they form into sandals, bags, and harness. 



I may observe, in reference to the foregoing, that the 

 harpoon does not generally kill the whale, at least the 

 B. mysticetus; for one which I saw captured, in 1824, 

 had a harpoon (nearly bent double) cut out from near 

 the left fin, which had been struck by a harpooner of the 

 ship Majestic of London,* Captain Lawson commander, 

 in 1819, where it was firmly imbedded. The harpoon 

 was brought home, and presented by Captain Ainslie to 

 the owners of the vessel, Messrs. Benson and Hunter 

 of Shadwell, London. 



SPECIES IV. 



BAL^ENO'PTERA RO'RQUAL, or BROAD-NOSED 

 WHALE.t 



The natural history of the species of whale, whose skele- 

 ton]: I shall shortly proceed to describe, is as follows. 



* Tbis fine vessel was subsequently wrecked ; it was the property of 

 William Mellisb, Esq. 



t Synonymes. — Balana Musculus, Linnaeus. Balanoptera Rurqual, 

 La Cepede. In Iceland it is called the Steipe Rey-das. The Broad- 

 Nosed Whale of the whalers. 



X In April 1822, I published a long article illustrative of the zoology 



