74 COMMON BRITISH ANIMALS 



The nostrils or blow-holes are placed on the highest 

 part of the head ; therefore, when the animal breathes, 

 which is only necessary to him at longer intervals 

 than in the case of land animals, his body is not 

 exposed above the surface of the water. He expels 

 through the blow-holes the exhausted air from his 

 nostrils, and in so doing produces great jets of steam, 

 because the exhausted air, whicli is hot and charged 

 with water vapour, condenses in the cold atmosphere, 

 as our breath does in winter. 



Sometimes the animal will begin blowing out 

 before the nostrils are above the surface of the water, 

 in which case water will be blown up with the jets 

 of steam. But the idea that whales blow out water 

 taken in at the mouth is quite erroneous, though 

 many think it to be the case. 



Milton says : 



" And at his gills draws in, and at his trunk spouts out a sea." 



We will try to consider the special features in the 

 construction of this animal which equip him so 

 admirably for the element in which he lives. To 

 begin with his body is shaped like a boat ; there is 

 no neck, and his tail, which is his principle organ of 

 locomotion, is shaped like the screw of a steamer. 

 A hairy covering is characteristic of mammals, but 

 whales are hairless, except in the case of some 

 species which have a few scattered bristles round 

 the mouth. The skin is remarkably thin, smooth 

 and shiny, like well-oiled leather. Beneath the skin 

 is a thick coating of fat eight to sixteen inches thick, 

 known as the " blubber," which serves to retain the 

 heat of the body. 



