The Glow Spreads West 57 



Animal Kingdom contains most interesting passages on the whales. 

 For instance, he states: 



Thus the dolphin is directly viviparous, and accordingly we 

 jfind it furnished with two breasts, not situated high up, but in 

 the neighbourhood of the genitals. And this creature is not pro- 

 vided, hke quadrupeds with visible teats, but has two vents, one 

 in each flank from which milk flows; and its young have to fol- 

 low after it to get suckled and this phenomenon has been actu- 

 ally witnessed. The Dolphin, the whale and all the rest of the 

 Cetacea, all that is to say, that are provided with a blowhole 

 instead of gills are viviparous. That is to say, no one of all these 

 fishes is ever even seen to be suppUed with eggs, but directly 

 with an embryo from whose differentiation comes the fish, just 

 as in the case of mankind and the viviparous quadrupeds. 



The dolphin bears one at a time generally but occasionally 

 two. The whale bears one or at most two. The Porpoise in this 

 respect resembles the dolphin and, by the way, it is like a little 

 dolphin in form, and is found in the Black Sea: it differs, how- 

 ever, from the dolphin as being less in size and broader in the 

 back; its colour is leaden black. Many people are of the opinion 

 that the porpoise is a variety of the Dolphin. All creatures that 

 have a blowhole respire and inspire, for they are furnished with 

 lungs. The dolphin has been seen asleep with his nose above the 

 water and when asleep he snores. The dolphin and the porpoise 

 are provided with milk and suckle their young. They also take 

 their young, when small, inside them. The young of the dolphin 

 grows rapidly, being full grown at ten years of age. Its period 

 of gestation is ten months. It brings forth its young in summer, 

 and never at any other season; (and singularly enough, under 

 the Dog Star it disappears for about 30 days). Its young accom- 

 pany it for a considerable period; and in fact, the creature is 

 remarkable for the strength of its parental affection. It lives for 

 many years; some are known to have lived for more than 25; 

 and some for 30; the fact is, fishermen nick their tails sometimes 

 and set them adrift again, and by this expedient their ages are 

 ascertained. 



The allusion to the seasonal disappearance of the dolphin is thought 

 to be not entirely zoologic but to refer to the occultation of the 



