of the Greenland WtiaU. II 



** There are," he says, ** some animals, which receive and 

 return the water, for the same reason, as others which respire, 

 receive and return the air:'* — here he of course alludes to 

 fishes, which, in the act of respiration, receive the water through 

 the mouth by the expansibility of their fauces, and return it 

 through the beautiful laminated surfaces of their breathing 

 organs, or gills : — '* but there are others," he adds, '' which 

 do so," that is, receive and return the water, *' on account of 

 the nourishment contained within it; and, since they receive 

 their food in water, it is necessary that they should have an 

 organ by which the latter (the water) may be returned or 

 ejected; such animals, therefore, which employ the water in a 

 manner analogous to respiration, have gills; but those san- 

 guineous (warm-blooded) animals, which employ the water on 

 account of the food it contains, have spiracles, or blow-holes.'^ 

 This, it will be observed, is a very interesting distinction be- 

 tween the fishes, and the creatures on which we are now treating, 



Aristotle's observations on the sense of hearing, and on the 

 voice of these animals, are also highly philosophical ; after 

 showing the incompatibility of voice with the structure of 

 fishes, allowing, however, that many do produce certain sounds, 

 he adds, in regard to the cetacea, ** the dolphin likewise pro- 

 duces a stridulous sound, and murmurs when he comes into 

 the air ; yet not like these fishes, for the sound emitted by the 

 dolphin is voice, since he possesses lungs and an air tube^ 

 although he cannot produce articulate voice ; " and again, he 

 says, in regard to his respiration, ** when caught in nets, he is 

 soon suffocated, in consequence of not respiring, although out 

 of water he lives a long time, murmuring, and making sounds 

 analogous to those of other animals which respire air." 



After these and many other equally admirable observa-* 

 tions on the part of Aristotle, it appears surprising that the 

 cetaceous animals should ever have been erroneously asso- 

 ciated with fishes in the works of more recent naturalists, from 

 their mere possession of a fish-like form, and the consequent 

 absence of hinder limbs; conditions which are rendered neces- 

 sary by their fish-like progression. 



Yet not only Ray and Willoughby, but even Linneus, in his 

 earlier works, improperly placed them at the head of that class. 



