SEALS AND WHALES OF THE BRITISH SEAS. 45 



by Professors Eschricht, Reinhardt, Van Beneden, Gervais, and others on the 

 continent. The literature of the subject is widely scattered and difficult of 

 access ; and, although Dr. Gray and Professor Flower have done much to 

 condense and systematize what is known, our acquaintance with the tropical 

 and southern species of this interesting order is not at present sufficient to 

 furnish materials for a monograph worthy of the subject. No class of animals 

 has been called so many names, or so vilely caricatured in portraits, as the 

 unfortunate Whales. 



It is scarcely necessary now to say that the Cetacea hold a fully recognized 

 place in the great class Mammalia, although this honour has not always been 

 accorded to them. Ray classed them with the Fishes ; and although Linnaeus 

 finally placed them in their true position, Pennant, following his earlier 

 mistake, failed to do so. The members of this order, which includes the 

 Whales proper, Narwhal, Dolphins, and Porpoises (with which, until recently, 

 the Dugong and Manatees were improperly associated under the name of 

 Herbivorous Cetaceans), bring forth their young alive. These are nourished 

 by the female, which, for this purpose, is furnished with two inguinal mammae. 

 They are warm-blooded, and breathe by means of lungs, rendering frequent 

 visits to the surface of the water necessary, as the animal can only respire 

 when the orifice of the nostrils, called the blow-hole, which is placed on the 

 top of the head, is above water. The breathing apparatus is very peculiar, 

 being so modified that the air is admitted into the trachea without passing 

 through the mouth ; the Whale can thus breathe freely, provided the blow- 

 hole be above water, even when its mouth is submerged or filled with water. 

 There are no external ears, but a small aperture situated just behind the eye, 

 communicates with a perfectly-constructed internal hearing apparatus, and 

 this, as the water is an excellent conductor of sound, is all-sufficient. The 

 food of the Cetacea consists of various forms of marine animals, from the Seal, 

 which frequently forms a meal to the fierce Grampus, to the minute creatures 



