114 THE WHALE. 



external skin, consisting of cuticle and rete mucosum, 

 was on the body an inch and three quarters thick, 

 beins: about twice the thickness of the same mem- 

 branes in a full grown animal. The blubber, on an 

 average, was five inches in thickness. The largest 

 of the whalebone measured only twelve inches; 

 about one half of which was imbedded in the gum. 

 The external part of these fringes, not exceeding six 

 inches iu length, did not seem sufficient to enable the 

 little whale yet to catch, by filtration out of the sea, 

 the shrimps and other insects on which the animal, 

 in a more advanced stage, is dependent for its nourish- 

 ment: maternal assistance and protection, therefore, 

 appeared to have been essential for its support. 

 The muscles about the neck, appropriated to the 

 movements of the jaws, formed abed, if extended, of 

 nearly five feet broad, and a foot thick. The cen- 

 tral part of the diaphragm was two inches in thick- 

 ness. The two principal arteries in the neck (the 

 carotid,) were so large as to admit a man's hand and 



arm. 



The brain lies in a small cavity in the upper and 

 back part of the skull. The cavity included with- 

 in the pia mater, exclusive of the foramen magnum, 

 measured only eight inches by five. The upper part 

 of the brain lies very near the surface of the skull. 

 The convolutions of the cortical substance lie in 

 beautiful fringed folds, attached to the medullary 

 portion, which is white, as in the human brain. The 

 general appearance of the brain is not unlike that of 

 the other mammalia, but its smaliness is remarka- 



