no 



THE NATURAL HISTORY OF 



The narwhale has no teeth, 

 as the annexed cut of the 

 lower jaw proves; its principal 

 food consists of the mollus- 

 cous animals, the smaller 

 kinds of flat fish, and other 

 marine animals. In the sto- 

 machs of several opened by 

 Captain Scoresby, there were 

 numerous remains of sepiee 



or CUttle-fish. Lower Jaw of the Narwhale. 



I have said that the females have no tusks, but Sir E. 

 Home found two milk tusks in a skull brought on purpose 

 to ascertain this object by Captain Scoresby, exactly re- 

 sembling those of the male ; they were eight inches long 

 and imbedded in the skull, their points being only two 

 inches and a quarter from the front of the skull. The 

 only account on record appearing authentic of this cir- 

 cumstance, was by Anderson, who relates that Dick 

 Peterson brought to Hamburgh, the skull of a female 

 narwhale with two tusks, the left seven feet five inches 

 long, and the right seven feet. Of such value were these 

 tusks anciently considered, that even medical virtues 

 have been attributed to them, and they have even been 

 numbered among articles of regal magnificence. A 

 throne made for the Danish monarch is said to be still 

 preserved in the castle of Rosenberg, composed entirely 

 of this substance, the material being considered as more 

 valuable than gold. 



The narwhale swims with considerable velocity; when 

 respiring at the surface of the water, they frequently lay 

 motionless for several minutes, with their backs and 

 heads just appearing above the water. They are of a 

 somewhat gregarious disposition, often appearing in 



