164 



SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. 



— these the sailor bears and braves, content if he return 

 home with a rich harvest gleaned from the arctic waters. 

 The Greenland whale, therefore, even in this sense, is 

 one of the most interesting of the Cetacea ; nor is it less 

 so from its habits and manners, which various observers, 

 and in particular Captain Scoresbv, have contributed to 

 illustrate. The ordinary length of this species is from 

 sixty to seventy or eighty feet ; but it is said to attain 

 occasionally to greater dimensions. Seen at a distance, 

 it appears as a dark ill-defined mass floating on the surface 

 of the water, and indeed it is only when lying on its side, 

 after death, that its true outline is to be made out. (Fig. 

 109.) 



109.— Greenland Whale. 



It is upon minute animals, such as small shrimp-like 

 Crustacea, the clio borealis, medusae, &c., that this huge 

 animal supports his colossal frame. Ploughing his way 

 beneath the surface with open mouth, he engulfs his 

 prey by myriads, which become entangled among the 

 filaments fringing the baleen, and thus are as it were 

 sifted from the water, which escapes at the sides. Every 



