458 ACCOUNT OF THE ARCTIC REGIONS. 



In some animals, it is striped longitudinally with 

 white. When newly cleaned, the surface exhibits 

 a fine play of colour. A large whale sometimes af- 

 fords a ton and a half of whalebone. If the " sam- 

 ple blade," that is, the largest lamina in the series, 

 weigh 7 pounds, the whole produce may be estima- 

 ted at a ton ; and so on in proportion. The wdiale- 

 bone is inserted into the crown-bone, in a sort of rab- 

 bit. All the blades in the same series are connected 

 together by the gum, in which the thick ends are in- 

 serted. This substance, (the gum,) is white, fibrous, 

 tender and tasteless. It cuts like cheese. It has the 

 appearance of the interior or kernel of the cocoa-nut. 



The tongue occupies a large proportion of the ca- 

 vity of the mouth, and the arch formed by the whale- 

 bone. It is incapable of protrusion, being fixed 

 from root to tip, to the fat extending between the 

 jaw-bones. 



A slight beard, consisting of a few short scattered 

 white hairs, surmounts the anterior extremity of both 

 jaws. 



The throat is remarkably strait. 



The male organ is a large flexible member, and 

 is concealed in a longitudinal groove, the external 

 opening of which is 2 or 3 feet in length. This 

 member, in the dead animal, is 8 or 10 feet in 

 length, and about 6 inches in diameter at the root. 

 It tapers to a point, and is perforated tliroughout its 

 length by the uretlira. 



