.86 C E T O L O G Y. 



ed under favourable circumstances, he is seen to have Britain. Thus^Ju venal, comparing great things with 

 a cylindrical body, the diameter of which is greatest 

 a little behind the swimming paws, whence it tapers 



etologjv 



* 



swimming paws 



considerably towards the tail, and slightly towards 

 the insertion of the head. Near the junction of the 

 tail and body, the skin has a ridged appearance. 



The head is of a triangular shape, with the verti- 

 cal angle at the snout considerably rounded. It is 

 convex above, where, near the neck, there is a consi- 

 derable protuberance, in the fore part of which are 

 seen the blow-holes. The under part of the head, 

 or lower jaw, is flattish, and the two bones by which 

 it is formed are curved, and pointed at the anterior 

 or antinial ends. The lips are of enormous size ; 

 are fixed at right angles to the base of the head ; 

 are firm and hard, and overlap each other in such a 

 manner, that when their opening is viewed sidewise, 

 it has nearly the shape of an 03 placed horizontally, 

 this opening extends towards the base of the swim- 

 ming paws, till it reaches beyond the protuberance 

 at the top of the head. The eyes are covered with 

 large thick eye-lids, though, from the quantity of 

 fat below the skin, these lids are scarcely moveable. 



The tail resembles a cone, with its base arising 

 from what may properly be called the body ; and the 

 two fins in which it terminates behind are broad, and 

 curved at the farthest edge, so as to resemble an Ita- 

 lic S. The whole tail is extremely moveable, and has 

 very powerful muscles attached to it. 



The prevailing colour of this species is a shining 

 black on its upper or back parts, while the fore-part 

 of the under jaw and a little of the belly are white ; 

 and the under part of the body, towards the origin of 

 the tail, is generally grey. The blubber of a healthy 

 whale is generally of a yellow colour. 



The female whale is said to be usually larger than 

 the male, and is generally known at a distance by ha- 

 ving a young one under her protection. These young 

 whales are of a lighter colour than their dams. They 

 have received from the fishermen various names, ac- 

 cording to their age. For the first year after birth, 

 while they remain with the mother, they are called 

 short-heads, and are so fat, that one of an ordinary 

 size will yield 50 barrels of blubber. When two 

 years old, they are denominated slunts; as they thrive 

 so little for some time after quitting the dam, that 

 they will not yield more than twenty barrels of blub- 

 ber. After this, till nearly full grown, they are call- 

 ed skull Jish. 



At present, the large whale seems to be confined 

 to the regions about the north and south poles, espe- 

 cially off the coast of Greenland, Iceland, Spitzber- 

 gen, and Davis's Straits, in the neighbourhood of the 

 former. There is no doubt, however, that this enor- 

 mous animal has been occasionally seen in almost all 

 the watery regions of the globe; especially at the 

 mouth of the river St Lawrence, off Newfoundland, 

 on the western coast of Mexico, off Ceylon, and the 

 island of Socotra, in the neighbourhood of the Per- 

 sian Gulf, on the eastern coast of Africa, and near 

 Madagascar, in the Bay of St Helena, and even off 

 the coast of Guinea. Individuals have now and then 

 appeared in the Baltic, and in the Mediterranean 

 sea ; and more than one instance has occurred of the 

 whale appearing off the British coast. Indeed, if 

 we are to credit the relations of the ancients, the 

 largest whales were formerly seen near the coast of 



small, uses the following illustration ; 



Quanta Ddphinis Balana Britannica major __ Sat. x. 

 Various accounts have been given of the food of Food of 



4 



the whale ; but it is generally believed, that it sub- 

 sists almost entirely on various species of mollusca, 

 especially medusae, the clio-limacina t shrimps, and 

 crabs. When it feeds, it swims with considerable 

 velocity, with its head below the water, and its 

 mouth wide open. Thus, the animals that enter its 

 mouth are entangled by the hairy parts of the whale- 

 bone, as in a net, while the water that enters with 

 them either runs out again at the corners of the 

 month, or, when the animal attempts to swallow, is 

 ejected with great force through the blow-holes. 



The whale is said to be capable of swimming at 

 the rate of eight or nine miles an hour. It seldom 

 remains long at the surface, nor can it stay below 

 water above twenty minutes. It is, however, said to 

 sleep at the surface, with its back and the summit, 

 of its head just out of the water. 



When the female whale has a young one under 

 her protection, she is extremely tender of it, carry- 

 ing it with her wherever she goes, protecting it from 

 injury, and even when pursued supporting it with 

 her swimming paws. When wounded, she still con- 

 tinues to clasp it ; and when she plunges below the 

 surface, and in vain endeavours to escape her pursuers, 

 she carries her young one with her to the bottom, 

 though, more mindful of its necessities than her own 

 safety, she emerges sooner than usual, to allow it to 

 respire. It is considered very dangerous to attack a 

 mother whale, as she is extremely ferocious in de- 

 fence of her young one, lashes with her tail in the 

 most furious manner, and, in rising from the bottom, 

 not unfrequrntly endeavours to overset the boats with 

 her enormous back. 



One might imagine, that an animal of such vast 

 ,,, j j- i -1 i_ i neie 



bulk and prodigious strength, might roam through t ^ e w hale. 



the ocean without the dread of any other created be- 

 ing ; and yet, besides his most formidable enemy, 

 man, he is exposed to the attacks of a great variety 

 of foes. The sword fish (Xiphias Plalyptenis, Lin.), 

 the saw- fish (Squalits preslis, Lin.), and the gladiator 

 dolphin, or sea sword, attack him with the formidable 

 weapons with which nature has provided them, and 

 cut and tear his flesh, till, overcome with pain, fatigue, 

 and loss of blood, he yields to an enemy as insignifi- 

 cant in bulk, when compared to himself, as a pigmy 

 when set beside a giant, and whom a single blow 

 with his tail, were he allowed to strike it fairly, 

 would almost instantly destroy. The gladiators be- 

 set him in numerous packs ; and, when overcome 

 with fatigue in resisting these assailants, he lolla out 

 his tongue, the ravenous animals seize on it, and tear 

 it piecemeal from his mouth. Another species of 

 shark, commonly called the sea-bear, attacks the 

 whale in its belly, where it fastens itself by its five- 

 fold range of pointed teeth, and either gnaws off 

 pieces of flesh and blubber, or sucks the blood of its 

 helpless prey. 



There are two other animals, much less formida- 

 ble, indeed, than those which we have mentioned, that 

 feed on the whale ; a species of lepas, which adheres 

 to his body, especially below the swimming paws, 

 and a crustaceous animal, called the whale-louse, 



Enemies of 







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