136 THE WHALE. 



coats and tent cloths, and sew with great taste and 

 nicety the different articles' of dress they manufac- 

 ture; and the whalebone and other superior pro- 

 ducts, so valuable in European markets, have also 

 their uses among them. 



I shall conclude this account of the mysticetus, 

 with" a sketch of some of the characters .which be- 

 long generally to cetaceous animals. 



Whales are viviparous: they have but one young 

 at a time, and suckle it with teats. They are fur- 

 nished with lungs, and are under the necessity of 

 approaching the surface of the water at intervals to 

 respire in the air. The heart has two ventricles 

 and two auricles. The blood is warmer than in 

 the human species; in a narwal that had been an 

 hour and a half dead, the temperature of the blood 

 was 97°? and in a mysticetus recently killed 102°. 

 All of them inhabit the sea. Some of them pro- 

 cure their food by means of a kind of sieve, com- 

 posed of two fringes of whalebone; these have 

 no teeth. Others have no whalebone, but are 

 furnished with teeth. They all* have two lateral or 

 pectoral fins, with concealed bones like those of a 

 hand; and a large flexible horizontal tail, which is 

 the principal member of motion. Some have a 

 kind of dorsal fin, which is an adipose or cartila- 

 ginous substance, without motion* This fin, vary- 

 ing in form, size, and position, in different species, 

 and being in a conspicuous situation, is well adapt- 



