of the Greenland Whale. 19 



The whale, then, has the blubber, which I consider to be the 

 true skin and the cellular membrane united ; a very indistinct 

 rete mucosum ; and, above this, a firm elastic substance, re- 

 sembling a second cuticle, with vertical fibres ; and which is 

 itself covered by a common cuticle, having horizontal laminae. 



Whether this substance, just noticed, possesses sensation or 

 otherwise, I have not been enabled to determine, but I could 

 perceive no nervous filaments or blood-vessels, to enter its 

 structure, either in that of the whale or sea unicorn, when placed 

 under a high magnifying power ; it is, therefore, probably, in- 

 sensible. The blubber, on the contrary, or the true skin, from 

 its vascular and nervous organization, is, doubtless, highly en- 

 dowed with sensibility. Thus constructed, the skin of the 

 whale is, as before-mentioned, pecuUarly soft, smooth, and 

 flexible; and although, as Mr. Scoresbyhas observed, the pres- 

 sure to which it is liable in the depths of the ocean, is sufficient 

 to force water through the pores of the hardest wood, yet its 

 inherent qualities render it impermeable to the action of that 

 fluid. All these parts of the external clothing are so pervaded 

 with oil, that the latter affords nourishment to several species 

 of small marine animals, which are generally found adhering to 

 the skin ; and in those parts of the seas where whales abound, 

 an oily exudation floats on the surface of the water. 



On such a scale of dimensions has the Creator been pleased 

 to construct the Greenland whale, that I have myself seen jaw- 

 bones of this animal, which have measured twenty feet in 

 length ; what is called a double oyster-barrel, appears to me to 

 convey the most accurate idea of the size of some of its ver- 

 tebrae. Its tongue, which is of an oval form, is sufficiently 

 large to fill four butts, when cut into pieces, or to weigh two 

 tons ; and to yield one hundred and twenty-six gallons of oil. 

 Of so enormous a size are its lips, and so much do they abound 

 in blubber, that one alone has aftbrded sufficient of the latter 

 to yield four butts, or two tons of pure oil ; and you are aware 

 that the body of this creature acquires from fifty to seventy 

 feet in length. 



The velocity of motion, possessed by so huge a body as that 

 of the common whale, has always been a source of astonish- 

 ment ; but it is sufficiently obvious, that, having been destined 



C2 



