THE ORDER CETACEA. 163 



the lower jaw, eleven on each side ; but according to the 

 most respectable naturalists the teeth are forty-two in 

 number. The upper jaws have cavities for receiving 

 the teeth of the lower ; and between them there appears 

 to be short blunt teeth, almost entirely hidden by the 

 gums. Each tooth extends to a finger in length, and is 

 about one inch and a half broad, the longest occupy- 

 ing the middle part of the jaw, the smaller being at the 

 extremities. The snout ends in a blunt surface, and 

 according to most naturalists the lower jaw is the longest. 

 The Greenlanders say that this whale has teeth in the 

 upper jaw, but this is not clearly ascertained. 



The swimming-paws are about four feet long. The 

 dorsal fin is straight, high, and pointed, and by some 

 zoologists has been compared to a needle. The whole 

 length of the animal usually exceeds fifty feet, and the 

 skin is of a black colour. It is found in the Arctic 

 Ocean, and has occasionally made its appearauce in the 

 North Sea. Sir Robert Sibbald mentions one, which 

 was cast ashore on the coast of Scotland ; and so lately 

 as 1769, one of this species was stranded at Cramond, 

 a little above Leith, in the Firth of Forth, and attracted 

 many thousands of spectators from Edinburgh and the 

 surrounding country. Count La Cdpede relates an ac- 

 count of seventeen which appeared in 1723, in the mouth 

 of the Elbe, and were mistaken by the fishermen of 

 Cuxhaven for so many Dutch fishing-boats. 



This animal attacks not only porpoises and other 

 small cetacea, but likewise the largest species of the 

 balsenopterce, especially the B. Acuto - Rostrata, on 

 which it fastens with its crooked teeth, and tears im- 

 mense pieces from their bodies. It is also said to pur- 

 sue the young Greenland whale, which it compels to fly 

 for refuge through the boundless ocean. 



m 2 



