Order iv. Cetacea, Cetaceans. 



The CETACEANS, abounding in all the seas of the Globe, and also 

 even in some of the larger rivers of both Hemispheres, live entirely 

 in the water, in which their young are brought forth ; and they never 

 appear upon the land unless accidentally thrown upon the beach by 

 the waves. The Order contains the largest of living mammals, the 

 Yellow-bellied Whale, B. sulfurea, measuring ninety-five feet in length 

 and weighing one hundred and forty-seven tons. Dependent upon air 

 received into the lungs for respiration, whales are forced to rise at 

 intervals to the surface, when the lungs are emptied with considerable 

 force, causing a cloud of vapor to be lifted high in the air, which 

 gives rise to the term "spouting" or "blowing," and by this act the 

 animal betrays its presence to the whaler. Admirably adapted to a 

 life in the water, these animals, although possessing a fish-like form, 

 have an entire structure characteristic of the Mammalia. The 

 Cetacea have two anterior limbs, and traces of a hinder pair. The 

 forward pair is covered with a leathery skin, in shape like a flat- 

 tened paddle, while the hinder limbs are not visible externally. 

 Within the body there are indications of a pelvis, and two small 

 bones that may represent the ischia. From want of use in the 

 element in which they live, the hind limbs have become atrophied. 

 The stomach, like that of the ruminants, is complex, and divided 

 into several compartments, varying in number with the different 

 genera, from three or four in PHOC^ENA to eight in ZIPHIUS, while 

 the Sperm Whales have three, and the Whalebone Whales are stated 

 to have four. These last, comprising the family BAL^ENIDAE, are 

 distinguished from the rest by the absence of teeth in both jaws, 

 although, singularly enough, these are present in the early develop- 

 ment of the embryo. The baleen, or so-called "whalebone," is a 

 series of flattened horny plates (varying in number, amounting in 

 some cases to as many as four hundred), which are placed on each 

 side of the palate, leaving an open middle space. They serve as 

 strainers, being in close proximity, and retain the small molluscs, 

 fish and other creatures, when the water that has been taken with 

 them into the mouth is ejected. The color of the baleen varies from 

 jet black through different shades to creamy white. Baleen Whales 

 are distinguished by their enormous heads, which are about one- 

 third the total length of the animal, a curved mouth extending 

 behind the blow-holes, apparently pigmy eyes (although they are 

 four times the size of those of an ox) ; short heavy pectoral fins, and 



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