SIZE OF WHALE'S CALF. 97 



" Could merit more than that small infantry 

 Warred on by cranes ; though all the giant brood 

 Of Phlegra with the heroic race were joined 

 That fought at Thebes and Ilium, on each side 

 Mixed with auxiliar gods ; and what resounds 

 In fable or romance, of Uther's son, 

 Begirt with British and Armoric knights." 



The size of a sixty foot right whale, which 

 is, perhaps, that of the average, can be some- 

 what clearly apprehended by Captain Scoresby's 

 estimate of its weight at seventy tons, or equi- 

 valent to the weight of near two hundred fat 

 oxen, of which the blubber in a fat subject will 

 be nearly thirty tons. Some whalemen judge 

 it does not attain its full size until twenty-five 

 years, by certain notches which they think they 

 can observe in the slabs of whalebone. But 

 this cannot be clearly ascertained. The natural 

 life of the animal is undoubtedly much longer. 

 Analogy would lead to the inference that it 

 might be as long lived as the elephant, to which 

 it bears a resemblance in certain other parti- 

 culars besides its size. 



The calf of a large right whale at birth is 

 about fourteen feet long, and weighs a ton. The 

 milk of the cow is then very abundant. I have 



H 



