". 



ikey 





*** * w^^^ * 



CETO 



bed by Cuvier. (Anat. Com par. torn. Ji. p.GT.'J, &c.) 

 The manner in which the animal employs thitruo| 

 tun-, will appear from the following con.. 

 The cetaceous animaln, in their usual att: 

 incapable of breathing through the mouth, h.ivr 

 'lH>ut. provided with nostrils, whose external opening is so bi- 

 tuated as to project above the surface of the water, 

 while all the rest of their head and body are below it ; 

 either for the purpose of concealment from their ene- 

 mies, or for the pursuit of their prey. In the latter case, 

 as they swim with great velocity with their juws dis- 

 tended, they receive into the mouth a great quantity 

 of water, which they would be obliged to swallow 

 were it not for that peculiar organi/ation, which ena- 

 bles them to free themselves of this incumbrance du- 

 ring expiration. Now, the blow holes serve both for 

 nostrils, by which to receive the external air into the 

 lungs, when their head is nearly covered with water, 

 and as spouts for ejecting the water received into the 

 mouth with their food. To effect this latter pur- 

 pose,' the animal first moves its tongue and jaws, as 

 in the act of swallowing, and closing its pharynx, it 

 forces the water to ascend into the membranous tube, 

 which we described as proceeding from the gullet, and 

 thence into the blow holes, where its motion is acce- 

 lerated by the muscular fibres, so as to enable it to 

 raise the valve, and push its way into the membranous 

 bags above. Once arrived here, the water may re- 

 main till the animal chooses to eject it. When about 

 to do this, he closes the valve, in order to prevent the 

 water in the bags from regurgitating into the nos- 

 trils, and then forcibly compresses the bags by means 

 of the muscular expansions with which they are sur- 

 rounded. The water thus compelled to issue out by 

 a very narrow opening, is impelled into the air, where 

 it sometimes rises to a very considerable height. The 

 larger whales are said to be capable of forming a jet 

 at least 40 feet high. The noise of these spouts is 

 often heard at a considerable distance, and affords 

 one of the methods by which the fishermen discover 

 that a whale is near. 



SECT. VI. Absorption. 



ibsorp. It does not appear, that the absorbent system of 



ion, cetaceous animals differs in any remarkable circum- 



stances from that of quadrupeds. 



SECT. VII. Secretion and Excretion. 



Few of the secreting organs in the cetacea require 

 particular notice. 



No saliva- The salivary glands are entirely wanting in those spe- 



ry glands, c | es tnat are dt stitute of teeth, and in the toothed spe- 

 cies these glands are extremely small. Most of them, 

 however, have a pancreas, which is a long flat body, 

 having its left end attached to the right side of the 

 first stomach, and passing across the spine at the 

 root of the mesentery to the hollow curve of the du- 

 odenum, to which it adheres. Its duct enters that of 

 the liver, near the termination of this latter in the 

 duodenum. 



Liver. Th e i Jver diff ers little from that of mammalia. It 



is divided into two principal lobes, and is closely at- 

 tached to the stomach on the left side. There is no 

 gall bladder. 



Spleen. In most of the cetacea the spleen is single, as in 





:u wiin UlOQCl 



first 



'I'll'- ::..nt 

 that peculia 

 maceti. T 

 f t w 



from 









arkable secretion in these animuli, u 

 :y substance commonly called per. 

 i'y,...:. i. found in all the species of 

 are thence called spermaceti whales, 

 though it is most abundant in the large bp'.-rmaceti 

 whale, (phijM'.ter macrocephalus). It is found in al- 

 most every part of the body mixed with the common 

 fat, but is in greatest quantity and most distinct 

 within the upper part of the head. Hence, the older 

 naturalists have mistaken this fat for the brain of 

 animal, to which it bears no analogy, and is evidently 

 only a firmer kind u; 



There are two principal parts of the head in which 

 the spermaceti is contained, some of it being found in 

 the lower part of the cranium, though by far 

 greater portion lies along the upper part above the 

 cavity of the Lrain. Here it is lodged within large 

 cells, divided from each other by ligamentous b: 

 and cellular membrane. These cells are smallest 

 about the nose, and the fat found in theee small cells 

 is considered as the purest. 



In its natural state, spermaceti is not nearly so so- 

 lid as that which we meet with in commerce ; a cir- 

 cumstance which arises from its being more or less 

 mixed with the ordinary fat, or blubber. There are, 

 however, often found lumps of a more solid texture, 

 and these are generally preferred by the fishers, and 

 sent home as the best spermaceti. 



The urinary organs of cetacea have few peculi- Urinary 

 arities. The kidneys consist of several small glands, organ*, 

 connected together by cellular membrane, blood ves- 

 sels, and urinary tubes, and not by continuity of sub- 

 stance. The whole together form an oblong flat bo- 

 dy, broader and thicker at its atUatal than at its sa- 

 cral extremity. From this latter proceeds the ureter 

 to the bladder. 



The bladder is of an oblong form, and compara- 

 tively small, and is perforated by the ureters very near 

 the origin of the urethra. 



The renal capsules are also small, of a flattened 

 oval figure, and composed of two substances, of which 

 the more central or internal has most of a fibrous ap- 

 pearance. 



Of that peculiar excretion (as it is generally es- 

 teemed) called AMBEKGRIS, we have already suffi- 

 ciently treated under that article. 



SECT. VIII. Inlegumalion. 



The integuments of cetaceous animals, like those Integu- 

 of quadrupeds, consist of a cuticle, rcte rnucosum, mou*. 

 true skin, and cellular membrane, containing a pro- 

 digious quantity of fat. 



The cuticle resembles that on the sole of the hu- Cuticle, 

 man foot, consisting of several layers, forming alto- 

 gether a dense, tough, inelastic substance. Its out- 

 er surface is smooth, and often bright and resplen- 

 dent, owing to the quantity of oil with which the 

 membrane is imbued. It is perfectly free from hairs 

 or scales, but is pierced with a multitude of large 

 holes or pores. Its inner surface is rough, and in 

 some of the larger species resembles the pile of coarse 

 velvet. The cuticle is of various colours in, the dif- 

 3 



