.i/.i.l/.i/.i/./.i. 445- 



the foetal animal, ilaiuma! piKlviulal. Tiulividiiuls of this family grow to 100 feet 

 in length, and yield 600 to 800 jilati.-s of whalebone 12 to 15 feet long. The lower 

 jaw is furnished with flesliy lips only, but neither teeth nor ' baleen.' 



liAL.n.voiTKn.v, Laccpcde. 



Head one-f(]urth of total length. An adipose liu on tlio baelc. lUIIy marked 

 with longitudinal grooves. 

 B. ixDioA, Blytli. 

 The Indian Ronpial, Fiuner, or Pike-whale. 



Length of animal .... 1008 inehes. 



,, ramus of mandible . . 250 ,, 



,, radius .... ^5-6 ,, 



Breadth of ditto .... 6-50 ,, 



This animal was stranded on tlie Arakan coast. 



B. Edexi, Anderson. 



The Tsittoung or Eden's whah\ 



Length of animal. .... -lofi inehes. 



,. of mandible . . . . 11'.),, 



Curvature of do. ..... 11'5 ,, 



This animal was stranded in the Thaybyoo ehoung. 

 B. Blythii, Anderson. 



Intermediate in size between B. indica ami II. Eileni, and supposed by Anderson 

 to grow to (iO feet. 



Of necessity the materials for the study of these huge animals are fragmentary 

 and imperfect, but Dr. .-Vnderson has shown fair grounds for diseriminating the above 

 tlu'ec species in Indian seas. 



Family Catodontidae. 



Head enormous. Jaws armed with teeth. 



To this family belong the sperm whales, so called from yielding the ' spermaceti ' 

 of commerce, which is found fluid in large ccUuhir cavities in their heads, but 

 solidifies on cooling. Their hardened excrement constitutes ' ambergris,' once so 

 valued for its appetising smell and balsamic properties, and respecting which Balfour 

 records that an excreted mass, picked up in Japan in 1693, and weighing 185 pounds 

 Dutch, was purchased by the Dutch East India Company for £2000. Milton, it 

 may be remembered, makes allusion to the culinary vii-tues of this substance. 



" He spake no dream, for as his words had end 

 Our Saviour, lifting up his eyes, behold 

 In ample space, under the broadest shade, 

 A table rieldy spread in regal mode, 

 "With dishes piled, and meats of noblest sort 

 And savour, boasts of chase or fowl of game. 

 In pastry built, or fi-om the spit, or boiled, 

 Gris-amber steamed." — Par. Reg. ii. 337. 



Doubtless the origin of this substance in the bowels of a whale was unknown to 

 our ancestors who flavoured their dishes with it. 



The temper of the Cachalots is fierce and uncertain, and they arc dangerous 

 animals to wound or meddle with. 



Famili/ Delphinidse. 

 Teeth numerous, conical. Head moderate. 



