368 NIMROD OF THE SEA ; OH, 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



Head of the Right Whale. Description of Drawings of Whale's Head. 

 Contrasts between the Right and Sperm Whales. Different Manoeuvres 

 of Boats necessary in attacking the two. Dispositions of these Whales. 

 Natural History of the Right Whale better understood. The Sperm- 

 whale a Mystery. The weak Point in the Right Whale, not mentioned 

 by Scoresby. Instant Arrest of forward Motion. Pricking the Nose to 

 direct the Course of the Whale. Immediate Consequences of touching 

 the Small. Fastening to Right Whale. Winrows of Brit, and Whaling- 

 ground off Chiloe Island ; go on Whale. Struck Blubber, and Iron 

 failed to enter. An Iron in Blow-hole, and Effect illustrated. Large 

 Right Whales. Dimensions in Detail of Right Whale. The upper Jaw 

 considered as a Dining-room. Tongue equals ten Oxen. Mode of work- 

 ing its sifting Apparatus. Dimensions continued. 



IN the baleen, or bone whales, there are no teeth ; instead 

 of which, the mouth is provided with five or six hundred 

 plates of a horn-like consistency (known as whalebone), at- 

 tached by a deep gum to the upper jaw, and extending from 

 the throat to the end of the narrow roof. These plates run 

 parallel on either side, transversely with the sides, and are 

 about one-fourth of an inch apart. The inner edge of the 

 slab terminates in a -hairy fringe, .which, interlacing, forms 

 an admirable sieve to retain the small mollusks, medusa, and 

 jellies which form the food of the gigantic creatures. The 

 gullet is very small, and said to be too contracted to admit 

 even a herring ; but this may be fairly questioned, when we 

 consider the mass of water and minute food which must be 

 taken in at a swallow. The cavity of the mouth, when the 

 lips are closed, exclusive of the tongue, is equal in capacity 

 to three hundred barrels, and the mass of the tongue may 

 occupy two hundred and fifty barrels, leaving about fifty 



