140 LIFE OF FLOWER 



accepted by all his followers ; so that a fresh and totally 

 unnecessary source of confusion has been introduced of 

 late years into a subject which had already sufficient 

 difficulties of its own. 



In regard to the discrimination of species, Flower 

 took a view almost the reverse of that held by some of 

 his predecessors and colleagues ; and, as he says himself, 

 he may have consequently erred in a direction the very 

 opposite of theirs. " As species have not generally 

 been recognised as such," he wrote in the British 

 Museum List of 1885, "unless presenting constant 

 distinguishing characters capable of definition, it is 

 probable that, in the imperfect state of knowledge of 

 many forms, some may have been grouped together 

 which a fuller acquaintance with all parts of their 

 structure, external and internal, will show to be 

 distinct." 



Apart from his explaining to popular audiences that 

 whales were mammals and not fishes, Flower emphasised 

 three points very strongly in regard to the organisation 

 and physiology of these animals. First of all, he 

 pointed out that, as a rule, they do not " spout " water 

 from their " blowholes." " The ' spouting,' or more 

 properly the ' blowing ' of the whale," he wrote, " is 

 nothing more than the ordinary act of expiration, 

 which, taking place at larger intervals than in land 

 animals, is performed with a greater amount of emphasis. 

 The moment the animal rises to the surface it forcibly 

 expels from its lungs the air taken in at the last inspira- 

 tion, which is of course highly charged with watery 

 vapour in consequence of the natural respiratory 

 changes. This, rapidly condensing in the cold atmo- 



