152 THE OCEAN. 



of seas where the cold is most intense, yet warm- 

 blooded, and dependent for existence on keeping up 

 the animal heat, the Whale is furnished in this thick 

 wrapper with a substance which resists the abstrac- 

 tion of heat from the body as fast as it is generated, 

 and thus is kept comfortably warm in the fiercest 

 polar winters. Again, the oil contained in the cells 

 of the skin being specifically lighter than water, adds 

 to the buoyancy of the animal, and thus saves much 

 muscular exertion in swimming horizontally and in 

 rising to the surface; the bones, being of a porous or 

 spongy texture, have a similar influence. 



These few particulars in the physiology of these 

 vast creatures may serve to carry our minds up in 

 adoring wonder to the mercy as well as wisdom of 

 the Lord God Almighty, and may give us a glimpse 

 of the meaning of that glorious truth, "And God 

 saw everything that He had made, and behold it 

 was very good." Many other instances of beau- 

 tiful contrivance and design might easily be added, 

 in the construction of the mouth, the eyes, the fins, 

 the tail ; but all would lead us to the same result : 

 and these which I have adduced may be taken as 

 a sample of the rich feast which the study of nature 

 affords to the Christian student. 



The capture of these immense animals, from their 

 vast strength, the fickle element on which it is pur- 

 sued, and the horrors peculiar to the Arctic regions, 

 is'an adventure of extraordinary hazard. The ships, 

 built for the purpose, and strengthened with much 

 oak and iron, leave the northern parts o£ this country 

 «<>rlv in April, and by the end of the m.o^V 



