370 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



its snout five, seven, and even ten feet in length, 

 sometimes finds its way to our shores from the 

 dreary regions of the North Sea, where it habitu- 

 ally resides. The Beluga or White Whale has, 

 although very rarely, paid us a visit, and some of 

 the more common species not unfrequently enter 

 our bays and estuaries. Of all the cetacea, how- 

 ever, the porpoise is the most common. 



There are many considerations of the greatest 

 interest connected with the natural history of all 

 these animals. But we shall refer only to one or 

 two points regarding their structure, many of the 

 peculiarities of which evince in a most striking 

 manner the design of the great Author of Nature. 



There is a remarkable peculiarity in the struc- 

 ture of the tail in the cetacea, which distinguishes 

 all the order from fishes properly so called. The 

 tail of the fish is vertical in its direction, while 

 that of the whale family is horizontal. Now the 

 reason of this peculiarity becomes obvious at once 

 if we consider that all the whale tribe breathe by 

 means of lungs in the same manner as quadrupeds. 

 They require, therefore, to have direct access to 

 the atmosphere, and although living in the sea 

 and capable of remaining submerged for a con- 

 siderable length of time, must at certain intervals 

 visit the surface in order to breathe. Now the 

 horizontal position of the tail is, of all others, the 

 best suited to this purpose. The structure, therefore, 

 has a direct reference to the necessity under which 

 the animal is laid to obtain easy and swift access 



