of the Greenland Whale, J3 



mate. This substance, called whalebone, which thus supplies 

 the place of teeth, consists of a peculiar kind of horn. Its 

 plates differ in their length and strength, in different parts of 

 the mouth, but the outer row of plates are by far the strongest 

 and the longest, especially those which are midway between 

 the throat and the snout. Internally, supposing ourselves to 

 be placed beneath the roof, and regarding it from below, from 

 the lower edges of the outer plates, (those which they inclose 

 becoming shorter and shorter, as their origin is more internal, 

 or nearer the centre of the roof,) we see the lower edges of all 

 uniting to form one inclining plane, extending obliquely up- 

 wards to the roof. And, as the fibres of every plate are loose 

 and separate at its inferior edge, forming a deep pendent 

 fringe, by the gradual splitting away of its substance in propor- 

 tion as it is used, we perceive the entire vaulted sides of the 

 roof of the mouth to be, in fact, by these means, deeply lined 

 with a clothing of thick and coarse hair, whence the ancients 

 gave to this species of whale the name of Mysticetus. 



Now, beneath this vault of hair, lies the enormous tongue of 

 the whale, and exterior to it, is the immensely high lower lip, 

 which, when the jaws are closed, shuts up over all externally 

 to the very origin of the whalebone above, so as to entirely 

 conceal it from view. By means also of this formation of the 

 lip, and the circumstance of the upper jaw shutting into a car- 

 tilaginous groove at the extremity of the lower one, the most 

 perfect valve is formed, which any pressure from without, only 

 tends to render more secure from the ingress of the water. 



The fringe, which I before mentioned, produced by the whale^ 

 bone, (as it is constantly and gradually extending itself in 

 length, by the growth of the whalebone behind it, in proportion 

 as it is worn away,) is thus always in a proper state of adapta- 

 tion to the marvellous economy of the creature ; for the most 

 curious part of this beautiful mechanism is the net or sieve 

 which it thus forms ; an instrument which has been granted 

 to this largest of creatures, for the purpose of straining or 

 separating its minute prey from the body of water necessa- 

 rily taken into the mouth with it, in feeding. For, in this 

 whale, the mouth is of such enormous proportions, as to receive 

 at once, even tons of water, and yet of such wonderful per- 



