52 COMMON WHALE. Class IV. 



of the longeft four yards in length •, of thefe there 

 are commonly 350 on each fide, but in very old 

 fifh more; of thefe about 500 are of a length fit 

 for ufe, the others being too fhort. They are fur- 

 rounded with long ftrong hair, not only that they 

 may not hurt the tongue, but as ftrainers to pre- 

 vent the return of their food when they difcharge 

 the water out of their mouths. 



It is from thefe hairs that Arifiotle gave the name 

 of MvriKYpr<fs 9 or the bearded whale, to this fpecies, 

 which he tells us had in its mouth hairs inftead of 

 teeth*; and Pliny defcrihes the fame under the 

 name of Mufculusf. Though the antients were 

 acquainted with this animal, yet as far as we re- 

 collect, they were ignorant of their ufes as well as 

 capture. 



Aldrovand% indeed defcribes from Oppian, what 

 he miftakes for whale fifhing : he was deceived by 

 the word Hnro^ which is ufed not only to exprefs 

 whale in general, but any great fifh. The poet here 

 meant the Jhark, and (hews the way of taking it 

 in the very manner pracYifed at prefent, by a 

 ftrong hook baited with fkfh. He defcribes too 

 its three-fold row of teeth, a circumflance that at 

 once difproves its being a whale : 



* sn 3s xai b (jLvrluYiTog q$ov%$ (aev £j/ toj rfaan nt£ sx e h 

 Tf/x«S 5e o^waj «e/«5. Hift. an. Lib. III. c. 12. 



f Lib. XI. c 37. 

 % De Cetis. 261. 



Aetvxc 



