355 



lUmtfaHons of the CetethercBt including the' Loripeda, SemU 

 peda^and Pinnipeda, or Loripeds, Semipeds, and Pinnipeds: 

 being the arrangement of the Seals^ Dugongs, Whales, and 

 their Allies ^ indicated in Outline. 



Wol-fischt or WalloW'^sh, whence our modern Whahy like 

 the xajTOf and cete of ancient naturalists, although restricted in 

 their present meaning, would seem to have been once very 

 general terms, indifferently and loosely applied to indicate 

 many marine animals of uncouth form and exceeding size, 

 without reference to their structural affinities ; thus were they 

 equally applied to the porpoise and the shark : indeed, so little 

 were anatomical peculiarities once valued, that Aristotle's pro- 

 posal to separate the Cete from fish, and to consider them as a 

 different genus, observing that there might be established the 

 genus of Birds, that of Fishes, that of Cetacea and others, was 

 neglected for upwards of 2000 years ; nor was it till the time 

 of Linnaeus, that the whales were esteemed other than warm- 

 blooded fish. Even our celebrated Ray, who spurned the idea 

 of considering the bat a bird, because it is viviparous, lactes- 

 cent, and destitute of feathers, although, like birds, it has a 

 double heart, warm blood, and breathes by lungs — still suc- 

 cumbed to popular prejudice with regard to the dolphin and 

 the whale, by classing them with fish : while the distinctions 

 are much greater between the true pisces and his " Pisces 

 cetacei seu belluae marinae," than between the very properly- 

 separated bats and birds. The watery habitat of the whale, it 

 doubtless was, that so long cherished the vulgar error to which 

 its external ichthyoid-form at first had given rise ; and to suit 

 this prejudice, the old definition of fish was in such manner 

 framed, that some of the most essential and distinctive charac- 

 ters were of necessity omitted. Thus the cetacea have all a 

 double heart and warm blood, while fish have cold blood and a 

 single heart ; these breathe by gills, those by lungs ; these are 

 oviparous and destitute of breasts, those viviparous and suckle 

 their young, &c. &c. But what is the definition given in the 

 Ichthyologies of Willughby and Ray? — ** Animal aquatile san- 

 guineum, pedibus carens, pinnis natans, vel squamis, vel cute 



